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: August 28, 2024

Mo Ghile Mear (My Galant Hero), Sean Clarach Mac Domhnaill (Arr Desmond Earley)

Suggested by Kenneth in Brush Prairie, Washington

Just recently our company lost a coworker. It has left a hole for many of us. She was a wonderful person full of spirits and smiles. It took some time to mourn but it was this music that helped me find peace. It is also fitting music for that woman's soul. Now I would like to share this wonderful choral sound to give tribute to that wonderful lady that we have just lost.

Air date: August 27, 2024

This is My Song (Finlandia Hymn), Jean Sibelius

Suggested by Vic in Salida, Colorado

Uplifting and serene, this excerpt from Finlandia has often been proposed as the Finnish national anthem. Performed covertly under Russian occupation, this piece is the symbol of the Finns' fight for independence. A piece of such transcendent beauty, it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, and bring a tear to your eye.

Air date: August 26, 2024

Mysterious Mountain: Movement 1, Alan Hovhaness

Suggested by Kelsey in Kalamazoo, Michigan

This is one of the first pieces we heard on All Classical Radio many years ago. My husband had learned of the station on a work trip and when we tuned in, this piece was playing. What a beaut! We’ve been all in on All Classical ever since :)

Air date: August 23, 2024

Divertimento for Strings: 3. Allegro assai, Bela Bartok

Suggested by Albert in Vancouver, Washington

When I entered college in the early 1950s, I was a utter misfit. Having skipped grades in elementary school, I was 16 when I arrived on campus, a nerdy Jewish scholarship student from an academically oriented public high school. I had only one purpose in being at college- earning a degree in a field that would lead to a decent job. My only other interests were chess and music, classical and jazz.

Mild hazing was constantly inflicted on freshman. We were required to wear funny little hats called “dinks,” at all times. Attending events like pre-football-game pep rallies was mandatory. All this was in the name of building “school spirit,” which I totally lacked. I’d gone to an excellent high school, so I found most of my courses a breeze, often concerned with material I already knew. I was quite lonely and having difficulty in making friends.

While I was in high school, the Philadelphia public schools had furnished peanut gallery tickets to concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra for a quarter. I went often. But the small industrial city where the college was located offered little in the way of music. Consequently I was very excited when I learned that the Boyd Neel Orchestra was scheduled to play in the auditorium of a local junior high school in late October. I was crestfallen when I subsequently discovered that the time and date coincided with a pep rally where attendance would be taken.

At the rally I sat near an exit and quietly slipped out as soon as I could. It was a rainy night and I arrived at the concert wet and late. I was in time, however, for Bela Bartok’s Divertimento for Strings. I’d never heard Bartok’s music before. It sent shivers down my spine. I found the pizzicato passage near the end of third movement especially thrilling. Leaving at concert’s end, I unexpectedly encountered a classmate. On our way back to campus we stopped for coffee and talked about the program and music in general.

That night was the start of a friendship that lasted well beyond undergraduate years and a lifelong appreciation of Bartok.

Air date: August 22, 2024

La Valse, Maurice Ravel

Suggested by Mo in Aurora, Colorado

When I was young, my mother forbade pop music, so I grew up on classical. One album we had was 'Ports of Call', which was all impressionistic composers. (I think my mom got it for "Bolero") In addition to impressionistic music I also love waltzes, and this piece combines both. I used to dance around my living room to it. In 11th grade, I danced it for my final in PE, all 15 min. It raised my grade from a "C" to an "A". I couldn't do that now, but I still love it.

Air date: August 21, 2024

A Single Petal of a Rose, Duke Ellington

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

Duke Ellington is usually thought of as a jazz artist, but I find this similar to Edward MacDowell's piece called a "To a Wild Rose." This is also a soothing piece for the commute.

Air date: August 20, 2024

Fratres for 8 cellos, Arvo Part

Suggested by Vic in Salida, Colorado

This piece, while both gentle and subtle, commands your attention. One of the most beautiful pieces ever written!

Air date: August 19, 2024

Symphony No. 4: 1. Allegro molto moderato, Franz Schmidt

Suggested by Beth in Forest Grove, Oregon

When I was growing up, this record was one of my very favorites of the many albums in my parents' classical record library. I even tried for a while to learn to play the horn, inspired by that long gorgeous solo that opens the work. I would be THRILLED to hear it again, after 50+ years without.

Air date: August 16, 2024

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Overture & Incidental Music, Felix Mendelssohn

Suggested by Bruce in Portland, Oregon

I'm a longtime listener to KQAC, way back since the station was at Benson High School, and I also am an amateur astronomer. As an astronomer, I noticed that the middle of Summer, between the summer solstice and the fall equinox, falls in this month of August. As there aren't any other major holidays to celebrate in August, I am sharing this with you as a suggestion for a nice Summer event to celebrate with music. For the music; "A Midsummer Night's Dream" comes to mind, but actually the time called midsummer happens on the Summer solstice on June 20. So I needed to make a new name for it, so I now call the halfway point of Summer "Summer Middle." It's always good to find another excuse to celebrate a special time. Thanks for all the great music. You really make my days.

Air date: August 15, 2024

Piano Sonata No. 31, Op. 110, Ludwig van Beethoven

Suggested by Manuela in Cornelius, Oregon

This is a favorite of mine. I grew up listening to classical music, inspired by my father’s love for it. He could whistle parts of any classical music. He had perfect pitch! No he was not a musician he was a doctor. But he loved music!

Air date: August 14, 2024

Symphonic Dances (arr. for 2 pianos), Sergei Rachmaninov

Suggested by Rusty in Portland, Oregon

Several summers ago, when Alan Iglitzin was still the artistic director of Concerts in the Barn in Quilcene, WA, I attended a performance that was to conclude with Schubert's Piano Quintet in A Major, Opus 114. Following the intermission, Iglitzin came out and announced that the violinist from Boston had become ill the day before and was unable to make the performance. With little time to spare, Iglitzin and the pianist from the quintet pulled together and performed Rachmaninoff’s challenging piece, the Symphonic Dances for 2 Pianos. It was stunning and the power of the four hands only enhanced the intensity of the piece as well as capturing the range of emotions, something the symphonic version can’t begin to replicate. It was a profound success, and the audience went wild. The two pianists were drenched in sweat, and it wasn’t only because of it being an August afternoon. I was mesmerized by this experience and remain so each time I play it at home. I would love for All Classical to play this piece with two pianos so your listeners can hopefully be as moved as I was.

Air date: August 13, 2024

Die Fledermaus: Overture, Johann Strauss, Jr.

Suggested by Patty in Portland, Oregon

When I was ten, our Ukrainian school in Philly moved from a very old building. In the process, the janitor came across several crates of instruments from the old country. He replaced strings, bridges, tuned and put together an orchestra. He taught all the instruments to the children, including clarinet and brass. He spoke little English but managed to communicate. Our first performance was Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus. Today I play violin in a string orchestra and give thanks to our enlightened janitor.

Air date: August 12, 2024

Horn Concerto in E-flat, Karl Mathias Reinhardt

Suggested by Mark in Seaview, Washington

I’m far from a classical connoisseur despite 5 years of playing violin (terribly) in my youth. That said, as a “senior citizen” I very much appreciate All Classical as the soundtrack to my daily life. I heard this piece one day and was inspired to request it as a Five O’Clock Favorite because it has the bright, bouncy, playful harmonic energy that just “hits the spot” sometimes. I’d be less than completely honest if I didn’t also say that the low notes scattered in the piece didn’t give my inner 10-year-old a giggle for their similarity to a little musical, shall we say, flatulence. Hope they might bring a smile to you, too. Thanks again for being there!

Air date: August 9, 2024

The Rustle of Spring, Christian Sinding

Suggested by Pie in Portland, Oregon

I have a red book of piano music with this song in it. I started to learn to play it but I got sidetracked by life. I think I can try again now even though I am very rusty and old

Air date: August 8, 2024

Suite from “The Victorian Kitchen Garden”, Paul Reade

Suggested by Alice in Hood River, Oregon

There are two pieces of English music whose spirit makes me smile and tap my toes. Malcolm Arnold's "Hobson's Choice" and Paul Reade's "The Victorian Kitchen Garden." Both seem very British and pastoral to me, and I can't choose which one I'd like to hear. Please choose for me, Christa!

Air date: August 7, 2024

Scenes From An Imaginary Ballet, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Suggested by Jane in Scappoose, Oregon

Christa, I heard you play this on-air a few weeks ago, and it's still capturing my imagination, pun intended. I loved the opportunity make up my own story while listening to this music, and I would really enjoy hearing it again so as to give myself permission to let my mind wander.

Air date: August 6, 2024

Spem in Alium, Thomas Tallis

Suggested by Christine in Lexington, Kentucky

I find the piece to be calming and a complete masterpiece.

Air date: August 5, 2024

Clair de Lune, Claude Debussy

Suggested by Nate in Portland, Oregon

If ever there was a piece of music that can evoke so many images at once for me it has to be this. I’ve loved this song all my life and since I work nights the moonlight has been my sunlight since I can remember.

Air date: August 1, 2024

Fanfare For The Common Man, Aaron Copland

Suggested by Rick in Salem, Oregon

The first time I heard this piece was at a dress rehearsal for the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. I was sitting in a nearly empty LA Memorial Coliseum watching the proceedings when the USC Marching Band appeared all around the stadium, in the seating area. They started to play and I started to sob for reasons unknown to this day. The sound of those horns blasting and drums pounding and echoing around the Coliseum was indescribable. Every time I heard it after that I had the same response, though not nearly as dramatically as the first time.

Air date: July 31, 2024

Hungarian Dance No. 5, Johannes Brahms

Suggested by John in Gresham, Oregon

When I moved to Portland I got into the Junior Symphony Orchestra as a violinist when I was about 12 years old. Mr. A, the conductor, asked me to switch to viola about 4 weeks before the Christmas concert, Originally I said no but eventually relented. So there I was: a was a newly minted violist who could not read the clef sitting at the back of the section. In one rehearsal he had some problem with the principal violist so he sent her to the back of the section and I went up to second chair. We were learning Brahms Fifth Hungarian Dance. Now, whenever I do not want to do something out of fear, I play this piece to remind me that I can.

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