Hi Classical Music Happy Hour listeners! I’m your host, Manny Ax. I’ve heard from so many of you over the course of this season and I’m so proud of this show and the community we are creating. We’re working hard on another season with amazing guests, fun games, your listener questions, and of course great music. But in the meantime, we’re going to try something a little different. So, for the next few months, I’ll be introducing you to new shows, sharing some music, dropping a few surprises, and as always, having a bit of fun along the way. 

But as we get ready for a new season, we’d also love to hear from you! What were some of your favorite moments from the show? Who would you love to see as a guest? What are some questions you’d like to hear answered? Use this form to submit your questions or send them to us at [email protected]. We want to hear your thoughts!  

Grab a drink and stick around as we continue to celebrate our love for all things classical!

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Violinist and social media guru Ray Chen wraps up this season of Classical Music Happy Hour with an in-studio live performance. He chats with Manny about video games, performance anxiety, and his practice app Tonic. In our game, he joins Manny in our game called Is It a Composer or Is it Cheese?

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Ray Chen performed an excerpt from JS Bach’s Chaconne from Partitat No. 2 for Solo Violin, BWV 1004.

Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, MWV O14: III. Allegro molto vivace

Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2 Andante teneramente

Le sorcier: Overture

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Paquito D’Rivera is composer, saxophonist and clarinetist whose work spans classical, jazz and latin music.  Born in Havana, Cuba,  D’Rivera started his career playing with the National Theater Orchestra at the age of 10 and has been on stage for seven decades.  During their  chat, Paquito and Manny discuss what beef and beans have to do with Benny Goodman playing Carnegie Hall, what kind of music teacher his father was, and all things clarinet. He also joins Manny for an in-studio performance of one of his compositions. In our game, Manny and Paquito decide if a sound is made by a musical instrument or an animal. 

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

The piece Paquito D’Rivera and Emanuel Ax perform is Contradanza for Bb Clarinet and Piano, composed by our guest, Paquito D’Rivera.

3 Movements from Petrushka: No. 3, La Semaine grasse

Symphonie Fantastique Op. 14, H.48, Ronde du Sabbat

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pianist Yefim Bronfman, “Fima,” chats with Manny about their decades-long friendship, their love of sports, their surprising anxiety around live broadcast performances.  They’ll answer listeners’ questions about recovering from injuries and picking repertoire, even the stuff no one heard of!  Fima and Manny work together in our Newly Dead game to identify odd ways composers have died.

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8: II. Adagio

Sinfonia avanti il Barcheggio for Trumpet, 2 Violins and Continuo

Armide, Act III Scene 4: Je responds a tes voeux

Solomon, HWV 67: Pt. III: Air. Ev’ry sight these eyes behold

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

The piece Paquito D’Rivera and Emanuel Ax perform is Contradanza for Bb Clarinet and Piano, composed by our guest, Paquito D’Rivera.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Comedian Isabel Hagen is a classically trained violist, and a filmmaker. As a comedian, she has been featured on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and was a New Face of Comedy at the Just for Laughs festival in Montréal. She talks to Manny about how the viola can be funny and make people love classical music by making them laugh!

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

The Star-Spangled Banner

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The New York Times has called Nicholas Britell: “The composer at the frontier of film music.” Britell has written scores for Hollywood movies including:The Big Short, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could talk. Listeners might best recognize his work from the theme of the HBO series “Succession” for which he’s won the Emmy for the iconic theme song. He’ll talk about writing for the big screen and he’ll play one of his most recognizable pieces live-in studio.  

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 "Enigma": Var. I (C.A.E.)

The Planets, Op. 32: I. Mars, the Bringer of War

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30, TrV 176: Introduction

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor Op. 13, Pathetique”

Fantasia in C minor, K. 475

Symphony No. 64 in A Major, Hob. 1:64 (Tempora mutantur)

Le Sacre du Printemps

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Actor David Hyde Pierce has had a long career in film, television and the theater.  He’s best known to listeners for his portrayal of Niles Crane on the sitcom "Frasier."  He joins Manny to talk about his life and love of classical music and listen to some of their favorite recordings.  They also play a game called “Animal or Instrument.” 

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Fantasia in C Minor, Op. 80 "Choral Fantasy": Fantasia in C Minor, Op. 80

Piano Trio No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 97 "Archduke": III. Andante cantabile

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73 "Emperor": I. Allegro

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Composer Jeanine Tesori is a two time Tony Award winner, a two time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and in 2024, she became the first woman composer to open the Metropolitan Opera Opera season in its 139 year history. On this edition of CMHH she tells Manny about her time living in a lighthouse, about her love of Stravinsky, and why she decided not to be a doctor. 

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

3 Movements from Petrushka: No. 1, Danse russe

Carmen, Habanera

Turandot, SC 91: Nessun dorma (Live)

Carmen: Act I: Habañera: L'amour est un oiseau rebelle

Boléro, M. 81

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Live from Tanglewood, cellist Yo-Yo Ma chats with Manny about their long musical relationship and friendship.  The two treat the live audience to a few musical performances, and they take questions from the audience about their burning musical questions, like “why does a piano have three pedals?”

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Music Performed in Today’s Episode:

Lieder ohne Worte (Song without Words)

Ave Maria

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Columbia University Professor of Linguistics John McWhorter, chats with Manny about swear words, Broadway, and tackles the conundrums of musical etymology.  McWhorter also makes the case for the brilliant first movement of Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet in B minor. The two then square off in a game about famous classical pieces that bombed at their premieres.

Our theme song is Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18 performed by our host, Emanuel Ax.

Music used in today’s episode includes:

Strike Up the Band: The Man I Love (Arr. For orchestra)

Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, I. Allegro

Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3 “The Hunt”

Herzgewächse 

Symphony No. 5 in D Major, I. Preludio. Moderato. Allegro

Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178

Listen and Subscribe to Classical Music Happy Hour wherever you get your podcasts. 

Credits

Classical Music Happy Hour is supported in part by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation and by Linda Nelson.

Our production team includes Lauren Purcell-Joiner, Eileen Delahunty, Laura Boyman, Elizabeth Nonamaker, David Norville, Christine Herskovits, and Ed Yim.

Our engineering team includes George Wellington, Irene Trudel, and Chase Culpon.

Classical Music Happy Hour is produced by WQXR in partnership with Carnegie Hall.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.