This year, Labor Day Weekend leads us to the exciting re-opening of concert halls across the Rocky Mountains and Front Range; a transition from summer. From Thursday, September 6 at 3pm to Monday, September 6 at 9pm MST, CPR Classical airs 100+ hours of the music you love and the composers to know.
Essential Classics Weekend launches with the “Peer Gynt” Suite by Edvard Grieg, “revolutionary” piano hits of Frederic Chopin and the complete “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” by Benjamin Britten. Hear essential recordings from Colorado including the Colorado Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, National Repertory Orchestra, and Colorado Music Festival. Want more? Dive deeper into Rossini's rousing overtures with Behind the Baton conductor Scott O'Neil throughout the holiday weekend.
Scroll down our highlights and monumental works from five solid days of Labor Day Essential Classics.
Thursday, September 2
- 3pm -- GRIEG: Peer Gynt Suite #1
- 4pm -- CHOPIN: “Revolutionary” Etude
- 5pm -- BRITTEN: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
- 7pm -- LISZT: Mephisto Waltz #1
Friday, September 3
- 6am -- DEBUSSY: Clair de lune
- 9am -- LISZT: Hungarian Rhapsody #2
- 10am -- PÄRT: Spiegel im Spiegel
- 11am -- BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto #4
- 12pm -- MARY D. WATKINS: Soul of Remembrance
- 4pm -- MORRICONE: Cinema Paradiso, Love Theme
- 6pm -- FLORENCE PRICE: Symphony #1
Saturday, September 4
- 9am -- NKEIRU OKOYE: Dusk
- 11am -- VERDI: Requiem
- 1pm -- ROSSINI: Thieving Magpie Overture - Behind the Baton
- 2pm -- HOLST: The Planets
- 3pm -- SMETANA: Ma Vlast
- 5pm -- KENJI BUNCH: Serenade for Flute, Violin, Viola*
*exclusive from the CPR Performance Studio
Sunday, September 5
- 10am -- HANDEL ”Harmonious Blacksmith” Variations
- 11am -- VIVALDI: Four Season, "Autumn"
- 3pm -- WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Mother and Child
- 4pm -- DOBRINKA TABAKOVA: Cello Concerto, II "Longing"
- 8pm -- J.L. ADAMS: Become Ocean
- 9pm -- RESPIGHI: Ancient Airs and Dances
Monday, September 6
- 6am -- COPLAND: Our Town
- 10am -- SHEKU KANNEH-MASON: Melody
- 12pm -- TARREGA: Memories of the Alhambra
- 1pm -- BEETHOVEN: Symphony #9, "Choral"
- 3pm -- PHILIP GLASS: Heroes Symphony
- 4pm -- CHEVALIER de SAINT-GEORGES: Symphony #1
Listen to CPR Classical by clicking "Listen Live" on this website. You can also hear CPR Classical at 88.1 FM in Denver, at radio signals around Colorado, or ask your smart speaker to “Play CPR Classical.”
