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A work by Vaughan Williams, who is our birthday honoree (1872), does indeed begin the evening, but it’s a short one: Fantasia on “Greensleeves.” The featured works of our first hour encompass the Baroque and the Classical periods. Georg Muffat was a leading composer in the city of Salzburg during the last years of the 17th century. His chamber suite, the Sonata No 5 in G, is played for us by the Freiburg Baroque Consort, a group devoted to “historical performance practice” not only in their choice of authentic instruments but also in their style of playing and interpretation. Mozart needs no introduction of course, and we are sure you’ll enjoy Sir Charles Mackerras’s way with his Symphony No. 12, as he leads the Prague Chamber Orchestra in this early work, written when Mozart was only 15.

Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No 5 in D begins hour two, his compatriot Sir Adrian Boult leading the London Philharmonic. The oldest member of Le Six and the least known by the public, Louis Durey was also one of the group’s most interesting composers. We’ll enjoy his Concertino for piano and winds (1956–57), played by Philippe Biros and the Ensemble Erwartung.

Brahms’s String Quartet No. 2 is given an exemplary reading by the Takacs Quartet in the evening’s second half. Speaking of exemplary—in the evening’s final hour, tenor Ian Bostridge, well supported by pianist Julius Drake, can be heard singing the entire Schumann cycle, “Dichterliebe.” Incidentally, he’ll be at Carnegie Hall on October 16th, singing Schubert’s “Winterreise.” Check it out!