No, Leah and Darko did not dress up Mozart in a Santa outfit, but do have a riotous time parsing about the MSO holiday offerings this week! Find out what Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, Brazil and Orthodox chant have in common!

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Leah and Darko take on the hottest Hungarian pianist of all time to find out what inspired him in writing his famous rhapsodies.

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Leah and Darko examine the life and work of Richard Strauss, who came to fame with works about racy subjects such as Don Juan, Salome and Rosenkavalier.

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This months featured composer is Giacomo Puccini of operatic fame, the creator of La Boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca. Get ready for some melodramatic moments and find out how and why the Star Spangled Banner appears in one of the most famous Italian operas!

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Leah and Darko explore the best of Joe Green, aka Giuseppe Verdi. A story of a boy from a rural family who rose to become a member of parliament and whose funeral still marks the greatest public gathering in Italy. Andiamo!

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Leah and Darko put their ballroom best on, and explore the swirling rhythms and enchanting melodies of the Waltz King, Johann Strauss II.

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What do Bo Derek, Frontotemporal Dementia, the Sarajevo Olympics and Dudley Moore have in common? Ravel's Bolero - or as he himself christened it - "that piece for orchestra without music". Join Darko and Leah as they go behind the scenes of one of the most popular and hypnotic works ever written.

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Leah and Darko investigate the background story of one of the best symphonies ever written - the Fifth of Shostakovich. We go behind the scenes of this intense work - perhaps the best known symphony of the 20th century - and reveal the nightmarish circumstances that led to its creation.

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Join Leah and Darko as they embark on a voyage of discovery of the most popular piece of classical music ever written - the Fifth of Beethoven! Joined by cameos from Sex and the City and Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band. How can four notes have such a lasting impact?

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Join Darko and Leah as they discuss the music of Mahler - the twisted, tortured artist whose music came to embody the struggles of the twentieth century. We explore the things that made his music tick - the unusual obsessions with funeral marches, heart-on-sleeve lyrical outpourings, military marches and summer on the lakes.

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