The young Beethoven borrowed a song that everybody was singing in Vienna, a tune from a popular opera. Beethoven made it very much his own by writing nine playful variations. On today's show, hear an all-star performance of Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio, from a concert in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in D minor, Op 3 No. 11, RV 565: Movements 3 & 4
Daniel Hope, violin; Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Daniel Hope plays Vivaldi
DG 4777463

Michael Kurth: Sonata for English Horn and Piano
Emily Brebach, English horn; Tim Whitehead, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Pre-Concert Chamber Music Series, Symphony Hall, Atlanta, GA

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Oboe and Violin in B flat Major, RV 548
J A Smith, oboe; O Dalby, violin; G Nuttall & L Sohn, violins; M Bhasin, viola; J Roman, cello; D Balliett, double bass; P Muzijevic, harpsichord
Chamber Music Series at Spoleto Festival USA, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, SC

George Gershwin: Second Rhapsody
Jeffrey Siegel, piano; Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
The Complete Gershwin
Vox 5007

Hour 2

Claude Debussy: Preludes, Book 2: Feux d'artifice (Fireworks)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano
Shadowlines
Honens 201501

Dmitri Shostakovich: Trio No. 1 in C Minor for Violin, Violoncello, and Piano, Op. 8
Naumburg Trio: Frank Huang, violin; David Requiro, cello; Gilles Vonsattel, piano
University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Ramsey Concert Hall, Athens, GA

Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto for Viola, Strings, and Continuo in G major, TWV 51:G9
Todd Phillips and Bella Hristova, violins; Pierre Lapointe, Matthew Lipman, violas; Brook Speltz, cello; Anthony Manzo, double bass; Michael Sponseller, harpsichord
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, New York, NY

Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer Trio"
Mark Nuccio, clarinet; Anne Martindale Williams, cello; Wendy Chen, piano
Strings Music Festival, Strings Pavilion, Steamboat Springs, CO