Programs & Hosts

Five O’Clock Favorite

Hosted by
Christa Wessel

Five O’Clock Favorite

Every weekday at 5pm PT

Every weekday at 5:00 PM PT, All Classical Radio and host Christa Wessel invite listeners to be part of the programming. During the Five O’Clock Favorite, you’ll hear a listener-suggested piece of music along with a personal story about their choice. With pieces that are fun and familiar, music for remembrance and reflection, and everything in between, the Five O’Clock Favorite is a perfect way to ease your commute, end your workday, or start off your evening soundtrack on All Classical Radio. 

graphic for five o clock fav

Your Host
Christa Wessel

Weekdays at 5:00, you’ll find me in my happy place on the radio: sharing your Five O’Clock Favorite. This special program is an opportunity for me to celebrate listeners’ memories and favorite pieces of classical music. Our stories connect us to each other, and this daily segment allows us to hear what’s in the hearts of our friends and neighbors. I hope you’ll submit your suggestion for a future Five O’clock Favorite!

Christa Wessel
woman with glasses sitting on a blue couch, leaning slightly forward — Photo by Christine Dong

Submit your favorite piece:
Suggestions are easiest to honor if they’re 20 minutes or less.

Recent Favorites

Air date: January 8, 2024

Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Opus 66, Frederic Chopin

Suggested by Mary Sue in Beaverton, Oregon

My mother was a gifted pianist; gifted and frustrated. Her primary musical outlet in our small town was playing for weekly services - 55 years worth - at a church whose members would have appreciated more Buck Owens and less Bach.   My sister and I provided her other musical outlet: when her anger at our quarrelsome ways boiled over, she would head for the piano and pound out one of her "mad songs": Mendelsohn’s Rondo Capriccioso, or Grieg’s Piano Concerto, or some up-tempo Chopin. We have yet to find a version of one of these pieces played with her particular vigor.   Were she still alive, January 6 would have been her 100th birthday. Perhaps one of her more reflective mad songs would fit the bill today? How about Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu in C Sharp Minor? It captures her spit and vinegar, her wistfulness and sadness - and possibly some of ours today, as well.

Air date: January 5, 2024

Danny Boy, Traditional Irish

Suggested by Elaine in Oregon City, Oregon

I would love to hear a choral version of this beautiful piece!

Air date: January 4, 2024

Theme from Inspector Morse, Barrington Pheloung

Suggested by Michael in Oregon City, Oregon

At 65 years young I started late in life listening to classical music. Years ago, my mother and I watched English detective shows on TV such as Inspector Morse. (Still my favorite!) This theme song led to listening to music like The Magic Flute and it just kept going. I have listened to The Five O'clock Favorite almost daily and have learned about so much good music such as Song for Bob, Gabriel's Oboe, The Flower Duet, and a bunch more. Also Thursdays @ Three introduced me to Zuill Bailey and his Bach cello suites. Thank you for all you do and keep inspiring us.

Air date: January 3, 2024

A Mountain Vision, Ole Bull

Suggested by Miriam in London, England

I often work late nights over in the UK enabling me to listen to the 5 O'Clock Favourite alongside my grandma in Oregon. Last year, around this same time, I sent in a 5:00 Favorite suggestion for her (Janet), which she absolutely loved. It was so special to hear that message on the radio. I hope my grandma will hear this song and feel some comfort. The music always makes me think about seeing Mount Hood emerge through the clouds when I fly over Oregon. Thank you Christa for sharing hidden meanings behind music.

Air date: January 2, 2024

Standchen (Serenade), D. 957, Franz Schubert

Suggested by Helena in Portland, Oregon

This song helped me through a pretty difficult time. It calms me down like nothing else, and I don’t know where I’d be without it.

Air date: January 1, 2024

Candide: Make Our Garden Grow, Leonard Bernstein

Suggested by Ann in Salem, Oregon

I would love to hear the choral version of Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow". Bernstein embraces the pain and suffering in the world and offers the simplest of refuges: to build a house and grow a garden. It brought me to tears when I saw "Maestro" on Netflix. I know of nothing more comforting to offer our troubled world.

Air date: December 29, 2023

The Pirates of Penzance: I Am The Very Model of A Modern Major General, Sir Arthur Sullivan

Suggested by Jacqueline in McMinnville, Oregon

I had a friend who was known as the "singing mailman of McMinnville." He did a lot of theater work, and had a fabulous voice. He died at age 56 of cancer, and I was devasated by the loss. He loved the Pirates of Penzance, and I'd love to hear this in his honor.

Air date: December 28, 2023

Girl with the Flaxen Hair, Claude Debussy

Suggested by Laurie in Silverton, Oregon

Beaverton, Christmas break 1960: my sister, who was majoring in Music at Whitman College, came home with the assignment to learn by heart Debussy's piano solo The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (La fille aux Chevaux de Lin). She spent many hours mastering the piece, while I curled up at the base of the piano making her play over and over this beautiful music. It is still my favorite piece, and my daughters (both flaxen-haired) had it played as their husbands escorted me down the aisle at their weddings.

Air date: December 27, 2023

Piano Sonata No. 14, “Moonlight”: 1. Adagio sostenuto, Ludwig van Beethoven

Suggested by Michael in Tucson, Arizona

It resounds in my mind over and over again.

Air date: December 26, 2023

River, Joni Mitchell

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

It's a beautiful song, and perfect for this time of year.

Air date: December 21, 2023

Ave Maria, Franz Schubert

Suggested by Jayne in Gleneden Beach, Oregon

Back in the 1990s I returned to New Jersey to spend the holidays with my mother in the farmhouse of my childhood. This was the first Christmas after my father died during the previous holiday season. My mother and I sat in the living room with the warmth of her beautiful Christmas tree listened to a TV special with Andrea Bocelli. It was the first time we heard him and marveled at both how wonderful he was to listen to and how brave he was to perform. I think we each fell a bit in love with him that night.

All Classical likely receives many requests for various Ave Marias this time of year, but I would love to hear Andrea Bocelli sing the Ave Maria again and journey back to that magical night.

Air date: December 20, 2023

O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Traditional

Suggested by Finley in Portland, Oregon

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a piece of music that sits quite close to my heart, not only because the first time I got to perform this piece with my high school choir, it was on my birthday in our state capitol building, but this is the piece that jump-started my fascination for Choral and Classical Music and it's all thanks to my high school choir teacher, Mr. Silva. Every winter, without fail, Mr. Silva pulls out an arrangement of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel that he himself arranged, and I can say that without a doubt I have yet to find another arrangement that holds a candle to his. Choir of King's College is about as close as I have gotten. I am ecstatic to see them perform it again at The Grotto this year, which just so happens to fall on my birthday again! Thanks Mr. Silva, this is for you.

Air date: December 19, 2023

The Trees: The Spruce, Jean Sibelius

Suggested by Iria in Salem, Oregon

I grew up in a family of 11 children in a Nordic European country. Every one of us played an instrument and on Christmas Eve we all had a “showcase.“ My favorite moment from those showcases is one of my sisters playing a less-heard piece by Sibelius, The Spruce. It is perfect during this holiday time. As I hear the composition, I can smell the fragrance of spruce tree, decorated in Christmas glory. I can almost hear the children singing the carols and see the candles lighting the night…

Air date: December 18, 2023

Black Swan (Original Score): Perfection, Clint Mansell

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

I saw this film, and though it's definitely not a family movie, the music was great. A cool blending of original music and Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, Swan Lake.

Air date: December 14, 2023

Pirates of Penzance: Overture, Sir Arthur Sullivan

Suggested by Tina in Portland, Oregon

Gilbert and Sullivan shows were such a big part of my childhood and early adulthood. I love HMS Pinafore, The Gondoliers, and the Mikado, but Pirates will always be my favorite G & S show. My family belonged to an amateur Light Opera Company in the San Francisco Bay area, and the group would put on two large productions every year. When we did Pirates of Penzance in 1986, I was captivated by the music (and the lyrics, of course, but the music particularly). The music is so clear in its intent and feeling that you don't have to have seen the show to get a sense of what was happening onstage. My whole family took part in that 1986 amateur theater production - my dad onstage, my mom playing piano in the orchestra pit, and my sister and I working backstage on sets and props. It was a magical world to grow up in, and I really treasure those memories and the lifelong friendships made through a shared love of music and musical theater.

Air date: December 13, 2023

The Turtle Dove, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Suggested by Maurice in Roseburg, Oregon

I came to know this piece by way of my dear friend Chuck who introduced it to me my freshman year of high school. It has stayed with me ever since, gracing me with its glorious presence.

Air date: December 12, 2023

Symphony No. 2 “Romantic”: Movement 3, Howard Hanson

Suggested by John in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

In 1957 I was a sophomore in college. My roommate had a recording of Howard Hanson’s Second Symphony - the “Romantic”. While listening to it, I was deeply moved. This was an American symphony with interesting orchestration and great sound! Every time I hear it, I remember how deeply I was touched when I heard the recording for the first time. Recently the Madison Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra programed a concert of all American music, and the 2nd Symphony was part of the program. After 66 years, I was able to hear a live performance of the symphony! I particularly love the 3rd and final movement of the symphony.

Air date: December 11, 2023

Victory at Sea: Beneath the Southern Cross, Richard Rodgers

Suggested by Elizabeth in Lake Oswego, Oregon

My father is the reason I love classical music. He was often away and listening to classical music was how we shared good times together. In the beginning, it was listening to his record "Victory at Sea" which the above selection is from. From there he introduced me to others including choral music which I adore. Later we added season tickets to the ballet broadening the ways we listened to music together. (The piece above went on to be a commercial success when Oscar Hammerstein gave it words but I like the original orchestral the best.) LOVE THIS PART OF MY DAY!!

Air date: December 8, 2023

Ma Vlast: The Moldau, Bedrich Smetana

Suggested by Galen in McMinnville, Oregon

Years ago, I took an outdoor photography class, long before digital cameras, back when 35 mm Kodachrome slides were king. The instructor introduced us to the class format by playing the Moldau. We had several field trips: to the Cascades. the upper McKenzie River, the Willamette River and the Oregon coast. The results of our class effort was a slide presentation to the music of The Moldau; drops falling in a mountain stream, a river growing in size, and finally the river reaching the sea. It was a fun project, and although the slide presentation did not survive, I still love to hear the music and I picture the slides in my mind.

Air date: December 7, 2023

Caucasus Sketches: In a Mountain Pass & Procession of the Sardar, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov

Suggested by Kirke in Albany, Oregon

I was looking through some long-play records that I inherited from my parents and discovered a record of the Caucasus Sketches released in 1952. I'm hoping All Classical Radio has a more recent recording that you can share as one of your 5 O'Clock Favorites. :)

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