Tarmo Peltokoski conducts Schoenberg, Strauss, and Wagner — With Renaud Capuçon

The violinist gets things started with Schoenberg's diabolically difficult Violin Concerto, which the legendary Jascha Heifetz purportedly told the composer would require an extra finger to play, making it all the more incredible what Renaud Capuçon does with five. Next up, Peltokoski conducts perhaps the most beloved of Richard Strauss's tone poems: Also sprach Zarathustra, guaranteed to grab you with its iconic opening—one of the only classical motifs to rival the opening of Beethoven's Fifth in notoriety—and keep you hooked through all nine of its evocative sections. They finish off in grand style with the famed Overture from Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, an expansive and majestic encapsulation of the only comedy among Wagner's greatest operas.

This program is only available live—be sure to tune in during the broadcast!

Photo © Simon Fowler