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Playlist: BRIAN BELL's Portfolio

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Program #1: All-American

From WMNR | 01:57:59

A program suitable for the 4th of July: American music that is loved or unfairly neglected, with a large dose of humor in many selections.

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Copland: An Outdoor Overture (Fiedler Pops)

Gershwin: Three Preludes (Fiedler Pops)

Fine: Toccata Concertante (Leinsdorf BSO)

Anderson: A Trumpeter’s Lullaby; Bugler’s Holiday (Fiedler Pops)

Torke: Javelin (Williams, Pops)

Williams: Born on the 4th of July; A Hymn to New England (Williams, Lockhart Pops)

Bernstein: West Side Story (Williams, Pops)


Bauduc/Haggart: South Rampart Street Parade (Williams, Pops)

Berlin: God Bless America (TFC, Lockhart, Pops)

DeSylva/Brown/Henderson: Variations on Varsity Drag (Fiedler, Pops)

Hershy Kay: Stars and Stripes (Fiedler Pops)


Program #2: Early repertoire plus the Shostakovich 9th

From WMNR | 01:57:59

We listen to some of the music that the BSO played during their first concerts in 1881, as well as enjoy one of their most recent Grammy award winning discs, the Shostakovich Symphony No. 9.

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Schubert: Rosamunde: Ballet Music #1 and #2 (Davis)

Shostakovich Symphony #9 (Nelsons)

Brahms: Tragic Overture (Munch)

Schumann: Symphony #4 (Leinsdorf)

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: selections (Ozawa)


Program #3: Copland & Saint-Saens, April 1959

From WMNR | 01:57:59

April 1959 was a feast of great recordings, Copland conducting his Appalachian Spring and the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony with Charles Munch. The program also features Erich Leinsdorf conducting Beethoven (1969), and Rachmaninov from the legendary Serge Koussevitzky (1945).

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Copland: Appalachian Spring (Copland conducting)

Beethoven: Symphony #8 (Leinsdorf)

Rachmaninov: Isle of the Dead (Koussevitzky)

Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony (Munch)


Program #4: Great Soviet soloists

From WMNR | 01:57:59

Beginning in 1955, the Soviet Union allowed some of their greatest musicians to perform and record in the United States. We hear three who came to Boston: David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich.

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Chausson: Poeme (Oistrakh, violin; Munch)

Beethoven: Piano Concerto #1 (Richter, piano; Munch)

Shostakovich: ‘Cello Concerto #2 (Rostropovich, ‘cello; Ozawa)

Kodaly: Peacock Variations (Leinsdorf)


Program #5: Great traditions

From WMNR | 01:57:59

We explore music of four composers that the Boston Symphony has a special affinity for: Berlioz, Prokofiev, Sibelius and Ravel.

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Berlioz: Corsair Overture (Munch)

Prokofiev: Violin Concerto #2 (Heifetz, Munch)

Sibelius: Symphony #3 (Davis)

Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales (Haitink) 

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet: selections (Ozawa)


Program #6: Tanglewood, 1945

From WMNR | 01:57:59

We take the wayback machine to Tanglewood and the summer of 1945, and hear the music performed at the initial Bach/Mozart concerts, a portion of which comes from the first-ever commercial recordings made at Tanglewood, August, 1945.

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Bach: Orchestra Suite #3 (Koussevitzky)

Mozart: Symphony #39 K. 543 (Leinsdorf)

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #5 (Lukas Foss, keyboard; Koussevitzky)

Mozart: Symphony #41, Jupiter, K. 551 (Jochum)


Program #7: Summer recordings

From WMNR | 01:57:59

With the Boston Symphony and Pops performing during the summer, RCA Victor would record the orchestra shortly after a Tanglewood concert. We’ll hear some classic Beethoven and Debussy captured in this manner, as well as the result of a Boston Pops session, where the Hall was so hot the orchestra stripped down to their underwear! Also a jewel from the BSO’s 75th anniversary, the Symphony #6 of Bohuslav Martinu.

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Beethoven: Symphony #6, Pastorale (Munch)

Strauss: Citronen Waltz (Fiedler, Pops)

Debussy: La Mer (Monteux)

Martinu: Symphony #6 (Munch)


Program #8: Great guest conductors and the Shostakovich 6th

From WMNR | 01:57:59

Any assessment of the Boston Symphony’s last half century would not be complete without acknowledging two principal guest conductors, Sir Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink. We relish some of their finest BSO collaborations. There’s also a BSO recording of the Shostakovich Symphony #6, arguably the finest the work has received.

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Shostakovich 6 (Nelsons)

Sibelius: Pohjola’s Daughter (Davis)

Brahms: Symphony #1 (Haitink)

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (conclusion) (Haitink)


Show #9: Happy birthday Seiji, plus the Tchaikovsky Serenade

From WMNR | 01:57:59

Seiji Ozawa was born on September 1st, 1935, and thus 2020 marks his 85th birthday. We present a number of choice samples from his vast BSO discography. There’s also the full BSO string section under Serge Koussevitzky, in a jaw-dropping rendition of the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings.

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Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Ozawa)

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (Koussevitzky)

Respighi: Feste Romana (Ozawa)

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (selections) (Ozawa)