Poster A candid photo of two smiling men sitting in an auditorium
Wynton Marsalis and Cristian Macelaru
© Luigi Beverelli
Performance Today®

Cristian Macelaru and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Performance Today - July 28, 2025

This fall, the renowned conductor Cristian Macelaru begins his tenure as the Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO). One piece he recently shared with Cincinnati audiences is by one of his favorite composers: Wynton Marsalis. On today's episode, we'll hear Macelaru lead the CSO in a performance of Marsalis's Blues Symphony.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Robert Schumann: Marchenerzahlungen, Op. 132: Mvt 1
Jurg Dahler, viola | Gilles Vonsattel, piano | Francois Benda, clarinet
Album: Fairy Tales Without Words
Genuin

Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water
Lara Downes, piano
Album: Some of These Days
Flipside Music

Johannes Brahms: Horn Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40
Ben Goldscheider, horn | Grace Park, violin | Gilles Vonsattel, piano
Camerata Pacifica, Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, CA

Wynton Marsalis: Blues Symphony: Mvt 4
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra | Cristian Macelaru, conductor
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH

Hour 2

Reena Esmail: Varsha
Claire Bryant, cello
Album: Whole Heart
Bright Shiny Things 178

Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo from "Cavalleria rusticana"
Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra | Xiaoou Zhao, conductor
EBU, Grand Neobay Cultural Arts Center, Shanghai, China

Reena Esmail: Saans
Benjamin Beilman, violin | Paul Wiancko, cello | Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, SC

Amy Beach: Gaelic Symphony: Mvts 1, 2, 4
German Symphony Orchestra | Marie Jacquot, conductor
EBU, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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