St. Louis Symphony - Beethoven's Emperor Concerto - Radiant Vision

By Sam Wisman

Published April 3, 2026 at 4:21 PM CDT

Dedicated to Music Director Stéphane Denève and the SLSO, Kevin Puts’ Concerto for Orchestra is a complex, beautiful, and satisfying emotional journey. This music resonates in Powell Hall alongside a new work by Chinese composer Jasmine Guo and Beethoven’s heroic Emperor Piano Concerto, performed with finesse by acclaimed pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.

An agreement with the St. Louis Symphony allows us to share audio for this program up to two weeks after the program's original air date. You can find more episodes here.

Host

Rod Milam
St. Louis Public Radio

Commentator

Lauren Eldridge Stewart
Assistant Professor of Music at Washington University

Conductor

Stéphane Denève

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven's The Consecration of the House Overture

Jasmine Guo's the sound of where i came from (乡音 Xiāng Yīn)

Kevin Puts' Concerto for Orchestra

Backstage interviews

Backstage interviews with SLSO Music Director, Stéphane Denève, artistic partner and Live at the Pulitzer curator, Christopher Stark, and piano soloist, Víkingur Ólafsson

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
Víkingur Ólafsson, piano

Alessandro Marcello's (trans. by J.S. Bach) Oboe Concerto in D minor - II. Adagio (encore)
Jean-Philippe Rameau's Le Rappel des oiseaux (second encore)
Johann Sebastian Bach's (arr. by Víkingur Ólafsson) Air on the G String (third encore)

These broadcasts are produced by St. Louis Public Radio and made possible in partnership with St. Louis Public Radio and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.