More Free Classical Music Podcasts: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner and Some Yo-Yo Ma

We spent some time this weekend overhauling our Arts & Culture Podcast Collection (plus creating a

new Science Podcast Collection), and, along the way, we dug up several good free podcasts for classical music fans. Here’s a quick overview of what we found:

With last year being the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, there was no shortage of podcasts dedicated to Mozart’s masterpieces. First, Radio Sweden (iTunes  Feed  Web Site) reissued a digital archive of Mozart recordings by the Royal Swedish Opera from the 1940s and 1950s. And, along very similar lines, Danmarks Radio (Feed  Web Site) issued podcasts of nine Mozart symphonies recorded by the Danish Radio Symphony
Orchestra. (You’ll find here symphonies numbers 15, 17, 23, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, and 41.) Since the web site is in Danish, we’d recommend accessing
these high quality MP3’s through the rss feed listed above. Lastly, we should mention here that, as part of last year’s festivities, The International Mozart Foundation published online for the first time the entirety of of Mozart’s musical scores.

Along with Mozart, you can find plenty of Beethoven. We have highlighted here before, but it’s worth noting again, Deutsche Welle’s podcast collection called Beethovenfest (iTunes  Feed  Web Site). You’ll want to give it a look, and also see the podcast collection put together by the Boston Symphony Orchestra Conservatory (iTunes  Feed  Web Site). This educational series offers an extensive overview and recordings of Beethoven’s work, as well as that of Arnold Schoenberg. You can also catch more Beethoven (as well as a little Mozart and Bach) with the podcast series called The Concert (iTunes  Feed  Web Site), which features recordings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Speaking of Bach, you may want to give some time to these two podcasts: Bach Festival of Philadelphia (Feed  Web Site) and Bach Podcast from Magnatune.com  iTunes  Feed  Web Site).

Let’s now leave you with a few other good finds. Wagner Operas Podcast (iTunes  Feed  Web Site) lets you listen in on recordings from the annual Bayreuth Festival, plus more. The Gramophone Podcast (Feed  Web Site) offers "a monthly window into the world’s most authoritative classical
music magazine, featuring an overview of the best releases, news,
exclusive interviews with leading figures from the music world, and
lots of great music." An Intimate Tour Through the Music of Yo-Yo Ma (iTunes  Feed  Web Site) offers essentially what the title says. Finally, we’d recommend Classical Performance (iTunes  Feed  Web Site), which consists of classical music performances from WGBH’s Studio One in Boston. Hope this fills your weekend (and your iPod).

Get more classical music podcasts here.

See Open Culture’s podcast collections:

Arts & Culture – Audio Books – Foreign Language Lessons – News & Information – Science – Technology – University (General) – University (B-School)