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Welcome to Intermezzo from Interlochen Public Radio, where we take a few minutes to bounce some ideas around about classical music.
This Friday is the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Christy L'Esperance and her two co-hosts, Lara and Gabriel, talk about the games, Italian culture and classical music associated with some of the sports events.
The Winter Olympics will feature 16 different sport disciplines, and we'll look at 5 of them this week. So far we've looked at the downhill ski and figure skating events. Today's event of interest is cross-country skiing.
There's probably not a lot of room in the streets of Milan for cross-country skiing, so that event during these winter games will be held at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in the Val di Fiemme, a valley which is known for its beautiful trails with plenty of room for spectators.
We're going to hear a work about cross-country skiing, but the kind without crowds of people cheering all the way. "A Lonely Ski Trail" by Jean Sibelius.
Jean Sibelius - "A Lonely Ski Trail"
This week's Mystery Melody
It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out together. It relates to our topic. (We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.)
If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.
