All look very much the same, though the Cleveland’s violas sit where the New York has its cellos, and Szell uses one more trombone and one less horn than Erich Leinsdorf does in Boston.

On paper, the lineup for pianists Víkingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang’s duo recital on Friday at Symphony Hall didn’t make much sense. John Cage and Conlon Nancarrow, for instance, don’t normally share ...