WETA Classical

07/04/2025

Happy Fourth of July! 🎆

Explore how our fight for independence inspired Mozart, Beethoven and more on the latest blog from James Jacobs!

Explore the profound impact the American Revolution had on classical music with James Jacobs.

07/01/2025

The classical music world recently lost one of the most revered pianists of his generation, Alfred Brendel. He was also an essayist, poet, composer and humanitarian, and his music touched the hearts of many for decades, and his recordings will continue to brighten our days for decades to come.

WETA Classical host shares what Alfred Brendel meant to him, especially as a budding musician and music lover in his adolescent years. Do you have a favorite recording by the maestro?

Evan Keely celebrates the life and artistry of the late pianist Alfred Brendel and shares his reflections on the impact Brendel had on him as budding musician and music lover.

06/27/2025

🎶𝑾𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚🎶

Piano superstar Jean-Yves Thibaudet comes to Wolf Trap to play Gershwin's Piano Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra on July 18! Program also includes Scheherazade and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It will be a magical evening under the stars. ✨

Be sure to stop by for a pre-concert discussion with our host Nicole Lacroix before the concert!

🎹𝑬𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒐.

🎹𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒚 3.

🎹𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐: https://www.wolftrap.org/calendar/performance/25filene/0718show25.aspx

06/26/2025

How is everyone doing in this heatwave?

Cool off, musically speaking, with a water playlist! From the British seas to American rivers and beyond, composers show off their aquatic prowess, bringing to life the cooling waters through music.

Need ways to cool down from the heat? Check out our Water Playlist, full of classical music evoking various forms of water to divert our thoughts away from the heatwave!

06/25/2025

Summer is definitely here! 🥵

It may be hot, but it also means our annual Summer Recommended Listening episode of Classical Breakdown is here!

As we wrap up Season 6, John Banther shares four new albums to check out and explore until Season 7 returns in September. The albums take us on a journey to ancient cities, flirtatious oboe playing, an emotional rollercoaster, and more!

And a very heartfelt thank you for listening, rating, and sharing the podcast as it continues to grow year after year with your help! Here's to a musical summer and Classical Breakdown will see you in September!

https://weta.org/fm/features/classical-breakdown/recommended-listening-4-new-albums-listen-summer-0

06/24/2025

🎆𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲🎆

Hosting a Capitol Fourth Watch Party? Test your American history knowledge and enter to win a gift basket with various gift cards worth $500 total to host the ultimate watch party! The contest ends June 26.👇
https://action.weta.org/page/84564/action/1?

In the spirit of Independence Day, be sure to check out our playlist of music that represents the American spirit by American composers! 👇
https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/america-singing-americana-playlist

A Capitol Fourth The Boeing Company WETA

In celebration of the 247th anniversary of our independence, Evan Keely shares thirteen works by Americans, each one of these pieces representing something unmistakably American.

06/21/2025

Join us for Wolf Trap Opera's production of Pulitzer Prize-winning opera by Kevin Puts, composer, Silent Night, based on a historical truce on Christmas Eve 1914 during World War I, recorded from the Barns at Wolf Trap. Today at 1PM ET on Opera Matinee!

06/16/2025

Join us for an epic program, as Fairfax Symphony returns on Front Row Washington tonight at 9 with a program of Wagner's Prelude from Tristan und Isolde, Malek Jandali's Clarinet Concerto, which infuses Arabic folk and musical material while calling for peace and human rights for all with New York Philharmonic's Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill, and Richard Strauss' Don Juan.

06/13/2025

An epic Verdi opera for an epic Friday night awaits tonight at 9 on WETA PBS! Tune in or stream on weta.org for PBS Great Performances at the Met: Aida! A 2025 production of The Metropolitan Opera featuring opera star Angel Blue.

Want a quick overview and quick facts ahead of the broadcast? Our in-house opera guru, Linda Carducci, shares the plot, synopsis, and history of this operatic favorite in the link below!

https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/aida-verdis-epic-opera-explained

Discover the history, plot, and synopsis of Verdi's epic favorite, Aida, ahead of the PBS Great Performances at the Met presentation of the 2025 production on WETA PBS and Metro.

06/11/2025

Calling all Mozart and opera lovers!

We are excited to present Wolf Trap Opera's 2024 production of Mozart's beloved comic opera, Così fan tutte, this Saturday at 1PM ET on Opera Matinee, recorded from the Barns at Wolf Trap. Join us for this comedy of the fickle nature of love, featuring glorious ensemble sets.

Così fan tutte is one of three operas which were a result of the fruitful collaboration between Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, the other two being The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. Learn more about this collaboration on our Classical Score blog, linked below!

https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/opera-dream-team-mozart-and-lorenzo-da-ponte

📸Shannon Flack

06/10/2025

If you wanted to dive into a Mahler symphony but the magnitude and complexities of them seem daunting, fear no more! The latest episode of the Classical Breakdown podcast introduces Mahler's iconic Symphony No. 5, guiding you through the symphony through bite sized pieces.

This work marks a departure from his previous symphonies, which were linked together by vocal music. But what is this? Is this Mahler working through his mortality and uncertainty, or something else? John Banther and Evan Keely show you what to listen for, how Mahler achieves his unique sound, and what it could all mean.

Listen from your favorite podcast app or from the link below!

This work marks a departure from his previous symphonies, which were linked together by vocal music. But what is this? Is this Mahler working through his mortality and uncertainty, or something else? John Banther and Evan Keely show you what to listen for, how Mahler achieves his unique sound, and w...

06/04/2025

Pictures, philosophy, and film come alive through music on NSO Showcase tonight at 9!

Gianandrea Noseda and National Symphony Orchestra Musicians bring to life Nietsche’s philosophical novel with Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, Zeffirelli’s film La Strada with Rota’s ballet suite of the film score, and Mussorgsky/Ravel’s beloved Pictures at an Exhibition.

Explore the fascinating interplay between music and visual arts on our latest blog linked below!

https://weta.org/fm/classical-score/when-music-and-art-come-together