Open sesame!

It’s an Aladdin’s cave of delights this afternoon on The Classical Network.

At 4:00, we’ll have two works inspired by the famous fairy story from the Arabian Nights, both of them by Scandinavian composers. They’ll highlight an hour of music for the young and the young at heart, including Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony,” in a recording conducted by Princeton alumnus Gilbert Levine, on his birthday. We’ll also hear birthday celebrant Myung-Whun Chung conduct Carl Nielsen’s “Aladdin Suite.”

The 5:00 hour will bring a Romantic symphony by Charles Tournemire. In addition, we’ll mark the anniversaries of the births of French composers Claude Balbastre and Henri Dutilleux.

Then we’re off to Tuscany on “Music from Marlboro” at 6:00, with a guitar quintet by Luigi Boccherini and the string sextet “Souvenir de Florence” by Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky.

The musical riches are piled high, from 4 to 6 p.m. EST. Your wish is our command, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.