SATURDAY 01 FEBRUARY 2025
SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m00275d3)
Reveries: Fauré, Hahn and Dubois
The Classica Quartet plays chamber works by three French composers in a musical journey that traverses Romanticism, Symbolism and Impressionism. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)
Piano Quintet in F sharp minor
Classica Quartet, Meagan Milatz (piano)
01:01 AM
Theodore Dubois (1837-1924)
Piano Quartet
Classica Quartet
01:32 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Piano Quintet no 1 in D minor, Op 89
Classica Quartet, Meagan Milatz (piano)
02:05 AM
Theodore Dubois (1837-1924)
Chant Pastoral
Kalevi Kiviniemi (organ)
02:09 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Cello Sonata no 2 in G minor, Op 117
Andreas Brantelid (cello), Bengt Forsberg (piano)
02:31 AM
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
L'Arlesienne, Suite No 1
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Marko Munih (conductor)
02:49 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Op 31
Mark Padmore (tenor), Thomas Muller (horn), Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Duncan Ward (conductor)
03:13 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Sonata for solo violin no 2, BWV.1003
Rachel Podger (violin)
03:36 AM
Johannes Cornago (fl.1450-1475)
Donde estas que no te veo
Montserrat Figueras (soprano), Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall (director)
03:39 AM
William Byrd (1543-1623)
Browning à 5
Rose Consort of Viols, John Bryan (viol), Alison Crum (viol), Sarah Groser (viol), Roy Marks (viol), Peter Wendland (viol)
03:44 AM
Chan Ka Nin (b.1949)
Four seasons suite
Ottawa Winds, Michael Goodwin (conductor)
03:56 AM
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
Nocturne for flute and piano
Valentinas Gelgotas (flute), Audrone Kisieliute (piano)
04:00 AM
Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Krakowiak
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jan Krenz (conductor)
04:04 AM
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Folk sketches for small orchestral ensemble
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jan Krenz (conductor)
04:09 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Hymn to St Cecilia for chorus, Op 27
BBC Singers, David Hill (conductor)
04:20 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
The Four Seasons - Spring
Davide Monti (violin), Il Tempio Armonico
04:31 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Romance for viola and piano
Steven Dann (viola), Bruce Vogt (piano)
04:38 AM
Philip Glass (b.1937)
Music in similar motion for ensemble
Ricercata Ensemble, Ivan Siller (director)
04:50 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
The Hebrides overture, Op 26, 'Fingal's Cave'
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Marek Janowski (conductor)
05:00 AM
Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704)
Sonata Prima a 4 (Opera Decima Sesta)
Maniera
05:10 AM
Roger Quilter (1877-1953)
7 Elizabethan Lyrics, Op 12
Kathryn Rudge (mezzo soprano), James Baillieu (piano)
05:25 AM
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Las cuatro estaciones portenas
Musica Camerata Montreal
05:48 AM
Francesca Caccini (1587-1640)
Excerpts from Act One of La Liberazione di Ruggiero
Suzie Le Blanc (soprano), Barbara Borden (soprano), Dorothee Mields (soprano), Christian Hilz (baritone), Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs (director)
06:08 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Swan Lake Ballet Suite
Scene; Waltz; Swan Dance; Scene; Czardas
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Marko Munih (conductor)
SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m0027bzr)
Start your weekend the Radio 3 way, with Saturday Breakfast
Join Emma Clarke to wake up the day with a selection of the finest classical music.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast."
SAT 09:00 Saturday Morning (m0027bzt)
Hannah with violinist María Dueñas and pianist-composer Stephen Hough
Hannah French with star violinist Maria Duenas, pianist-composer Stephen Hough, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack for your Saturday morning!
Spanish violinist and former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist María Dueñas is taking the classical music world by storm. Her dazzling technique and bold interpretations have inspired rave reviews and earned her performances with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. Hannah French talks to María about her latest release out in February, which showcases the Caprices of Paganini and explores other virtuosic caprices from Saint-Saens to Gabriela Ortiz.
In a week when the world reflected on the Holocaust and commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Hannah talks to the Icelandic writer Arni Heimir Ingolfsson about his new book, Music at the World's End. It's an inspiring story about 3 Jewish musicians who escaped the Nazi Regime by moving to Iceland where they played pivotal roles in the development of Icelandic musical culture and the huge musical revolution that took place there from the 1940s.
Plus the continuation of BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far. Pianist and composer Stephen Hough wrote a Nocturne for Elisabeth Brauss, which commemorates the eve of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3"
SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m0027bzw)
Classical, blues and jazz for the weekend
Jools shares his lifelong passion for classical music. With fascinating guests each week who bring their own favourite music and occasionally perform live in Jools's studio.
Today, Jools's choices include music by Luigi Boccherini, John Field and Percy Mayfield, with performances from Abdullah Ibrahim and Jordi Savall. His guest is the poet Wendy Cope who introduces music she loves by Bach, Beethoven, Handel and Clarke.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Earlier with Jools Holland".
SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m0027bzy)
Satire and the Stave
Parody, Homage and Pastiche
In the final episode of this six-part series, writer and satirist Chris Addison (The Thick Of It, Veep) explores how music has long been used as a tool for satire and parody.
Chris has chosen tracks spanning centuries, which have parody and pastiche at their very heart. This programme features music by PDQ Bach, Gustav Mahler, Camille Saint-Saëns, Teresa Carreño, Joseph Haydn and more.
In this series, Chris Addison - himself a classical music devotee, keen amateur choral singer and opera buff - takes listeners on a tour of how composers have used their music to question, parody, and challenge power and ideas over the years. Classical music can amplify power, but it can also undermine it - satirising and thumbing the nose at the status quo. Composers have used classical music to critique, undermine and even lampoon - often in cleverly nuanced, surprising ways that reconnect us to the flawed humans - and shared humanity - beneath the pomposity. Each episode in this series takes a big idea, and illustrates it with a playlist of entertaining and diverse music spanning the entire history of Western classical music.
Josquin des Prez: Missa L’Homme Armé - Kyrie
Oxford Camerata
Jeremy Summerly (director)
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E flat, Op. 33 No. 2 (The Joke) - 4. Presto
Lindsay String Quartet
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 – 3: Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein (conductor)
PDQ Bach (Schickele): The Short-Tempered Clavier - I. C major
Christopher O’Reily (piano)
Bela Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra – 4: Intermezzo interrotto
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Pierre Boulez (conductor)
Teresa Carreño: Gottschalk Waltz, Op. 1
Alexandra Oehler (piano)
Ernst von Dohnányi: Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op 25 (extract)
Sofja Gülbadamova (piano)
Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Modestas Pitrėnas (conductor)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Ein musikalischer Spass – 4: Presto
The English Concert
Andrew Manze (conductor)
Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals - 14. Finale. Molto allegro
Claude Frank, Lilian Kallir (pianos)
Philadelphia Orchestra
Eugene Ormandy (conductor)
Produced by James C Taylor
An Overcoat Media Production for BBC Radio 3
SAT 14:00 Record Review (m0027c00)
Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 15 - KV 533/494 in Building a Library with Kenneth Hamilton and Andrew McGregor
Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.
1405
Yshani Perinpanayagam explores an exciting selection of new releases
1500
Building a Library
Kenneth Hamilton chooses his favourite version of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 15 in F Major, KV 533/494
1545
Record of the Week: Andrew’s top pick.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Record Review”
SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m0027c02)
And the Beat Goes On: percussion in film
Matthew Sweet bangs the drum for the inventive ways films use percussion. There's Tan Dun's taiko masterclass of a score in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the delicate and lyrical marimba in American Beauty, John Williams' ritualistic drums in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Justin Hurwitz's obsessive kit in Whiplash.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Sound of Cinema".
SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m0027c04)
Jess Gillam with...Huw Montague Rendall
Jess Gillam's guest this week is baritone Huw Montague Rendall. Together they share some the music they love, with music from Mozart to METRONOMY, and Mahler to Marvin Gaye. Huw talks about growing up in an operatic household, finding his own musical tastes, and how to decompress after a performance.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play This Classical Life’
SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m0027c06)
Verdi's Aida
Fom the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Verdi’s monumental tragedy of forbidden love in ancient Egypt. Aida is an Ethiopian princess held captive in Egypt, and in love with the Egyptian General, Radamès. When Radamès is chosen to lead a war against Ethiopia, Aida is torn between love for him and for her country. Soprano Angel Blue stars in the title role with tenor Piotr Beczala as Radamès. Mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi is the pharaoh’s daughter Amneris, also in love with Radamès, and baritone Quinn Kelsey is Aida’s father Amonasro, king of Ethiopia.
Presented at the Met by Debra Lew Harder and Ira Siff.
Aida - opera in 4 acts
Aida ..... Angel Blue (soprano)
Radamès ..... Piotr Beczała (tenor)
Amneris ..... Judit Isabela Kutasi (mezzo-soprano)
Amonasro ..... Quinn Kelsey (baritone)
Ramfis ..... Morris Robinson (bass)
The King of Egypt ..... Harold Wilson (bass)
A Messenger ..... Yongzhao Yu (tenor)
The High Priestess ..... Amanda Batista (soprano)
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Opera on 3".
SAT 21:30 Music Planet (m0027c08)
Frigg meets the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Celtic Connections
Kathryn Tickell transports us to Glasgow’s kaleidoscopic wintertime celebrations of local and global folk music at Celtic Connections, with a live recording of Finnish folk heavyweights Frigg playing alongside the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Plus music from other artists also performing at this year’s festival, including an unaccompanied Gaelic song from Scottish trio Sian, energetic polyrhythms from Tanzanian duo The Zawose Queens, and a surprising collaboration between Senegalese kora player Ablaye Cissoko and French accordionist Cyrille Brotto.
Produced by Gabriel Francis
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Planet.”
SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m0027c0b)
Éliane Radigue world premiere
Kate Molleson introduces some of the latest sounds, including a performance of Beat Furrer's astonishing Piano Concerto and the world premiere of the most recent instalment of Éliane Radigue's epic Occam series. Recorded at Wigmore Hall a fortnight ago at the culmination of London Contemporary Music Festival's 10th anniversary programme, Ensemble Klang performs Occam Delta XXIII by the 92-year-old composer, one of the early pioneers of drone music. And, at the BBC Studios in December, Nicolas Hodges is the soloist in Swiss-born Austrian composer Beat Furrer's Piano Concerto. A work which ranges, from the subtlest articulations to an almost brutal power, it explores piano sound, especially its "resonances, overtone spectra and pedalizations," and ends in a vortex of notes hammered out in the highest register.
SUNDAY 02 FEBRUARY 2025
SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m0027c0d)
Berlioz and Korngold from Estonia
Olari Elts conducts the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. They are joined by South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim for Korngold's Violin Concerto. The concert also includes Ester Mägi's Church Bell and a new work by Erkki-Sven Tüür, Sulavad kellad.
12:31 AM
Erkki-Sven Tüür (b. 1959)
Sulavad kellad (Melting Bells)
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts (conductor)
12:38 AM
Ester Mägi (1922-2021), arr. Rasmus Puur
Church Bell
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts (conductor)
12:44 AM
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35
Bomsori Kim (violin), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts (conductor)
01:10 AM
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Polish Capriccio
Bomsori Kim (violin)
01:13 AM
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts (conductor)
02:06 AM
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1814-1865)
Variations on The Last Rose of Summer
Ju-young Baek (violin)
02:12 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto grosso in F major, Op 6 no 9
Estonian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Paul Magi (conductor)
02:31 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in D major, Op 64 no 5, 'Lark'
Tilev String Quartet, Gueorgui Tilev (violin), Svetoslav Marinov (violin), Ogunian Stantchev (viola), Yontcho Bayrov (cello)
02:49 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony no 7 in C major, Op 105
BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena (conductor)
03:10 AM
Johan Duijck (b.1954)
Cantiones Sacrae in honorem Thomas Tallis, Op 26 Book 2
Flemish Radio Choir, Johan Duijck (conductor)
03:30 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Sopranino Recorder Concerto in C major, RV.444
Michael Schneider (recorder), Camerata Koln
03:39 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Clair de lune (no 3 from Suite bergamasque for piano)
Jane Coop (piano)
03:45 AM
Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-1990)
Three Gymnopedies
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Myer Fredman (conductor)
03:54 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fugue for lute in G minor, BWV.1000
Konrad Junghanel (lute)
04:00 AM
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Psalm 110: Le Toutpuissant a mon Seigneur et maistre
Netherlands Chamber Choir, Peter Phillips (conductor)
04:08 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Scherzo Capriccioso, Op 66
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (conductor)
04:21 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Adagio and allegro in A flat major, Op 70
Lise Berthaud (viola), Adam Laloum (piano)
04:31 AM
Richard Addinsell (1904-1977)
Warsaw concerto for piano and orchestra
Patrik Jablonski (piano), Polish Radio Orchestra, Wojciech Rajski (conductor)
04:41 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Aria 'O let me weep' from the Fairy Queen
Irena Baar (soprano), Tomaz Lorenz (violin), Maks Strmcnik (organ)
04:49 AM
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762)
Concerto no 1 in D major (after Corelli's Op 5)
Andrew Manze (violin), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)
04:57 AM
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Kol Nidrei, Op 47
Shauna Rolston (cello), Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)
05:09 AM
Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377)
Ballade 32, 'Ploures, dames'
Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly (conductor)
05:18 AM
Heikki Suolahti (1920-1936)
Sinfonia Piccola
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kari Tikka (conductor)
05:40 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
La Bonne chanson Op 61, arr. for voice, piano & string quartet
Ruby Hughes (soprano), James Baillieu (piano), Signum Quartet, Lachlan Radford (double bass)
06:05 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata no 10 in C major, K.330
Geoffrey Lancaster (pianoforte)
SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m0027d9q)
Start your Sunday the Radio 3 way with Tom McKinney
Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of Sunday morning. Email 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast."
SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m0027d9s)
Your perfect Sunday soundtrack
Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh.
Today Sarah’s choices include comforting music from Amy Beach, Herbert Howells, Rachmaninov and Gustval Holst as well as barnstorming classics including Henry Litolf’s Concerto Symphonique, the last movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and the overture to Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
There’s also a trip to Broadway thanks to music by Leonard Bernstein and romantic music from a prolific yet almost completely unknown French composer, Hedwige Chrétien.
Plus, Sarah continues to mark BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25: Sounds of the Century –with another of the brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far.
A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m0027d9v)
Professor Anthony Kessel
Professor Anthony Kessel has a double life – or at least two very different roles. As the National Deputy Medical Director of NHS England, he’s one of the senior leaders responsible for improving the quality of our health services and patient care. He’s an international authority on public health and played a key role in the NHS’s response to the Covid pandemic.
He’s also a writer, with a prize-winning series of detective novels for young adults called Don’t Doubt the Rainbow – the most recent is American Mystery. The books are adventure stories and also aim to give young readers insights into how the mind works, and to improve their psychological well-being.
Anthony's music choices include Brahms, Dvořák, Astor Piazzolla and Chilly Gonzales.
SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002754l)
A journey to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14, more commonly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is one of Beethoven’s most famous works.
In this sonic journey, Sara Mohr-Pietsch maps the sonata in a wider musical landscape - exploring it through a playlist of moonlit melodies and free-flowing fantasies. Journey through the sound worlds of Mozart, Holst and Saint-Saëns, before arriving with Beethoven to discover the feeling of floating under the moonlight.
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map'.
SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m00275dc)
St John's College, Cambridge
Last Wednesday's service from the Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge.
Introit: Refugee (Joanna Marsh)
Responses: Sasha Johnson Manning
Psalms 122, 132 (Atkins, Robert Sharpe)
First Lesson: Haggai 2 vv1-9
Canticles: Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (Gipps)
Second Lesson: John 2 vv18-22
Anthem: Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël (Poulenc)
Hymn: Hail to the Lord who comes (Old 120th)
Voluntary: Fiat lux (Dubois)
Christopher Gray (Director of Music)
Tingshuo Yang (Organ Scholar)
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m0027d9x)
John Coltrane - Billie Holiday - Marian McPartland - Joe Harriott
Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles as requested by you including music from saxophonists John Coltrane, Tubby Hayes & Joe Harriott, keyboard players Joanne Brackeen, Barbara Dennerlein & Marian McPartland plus vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Get in touch: jrr@bbc.co.uk or use #jazzrecordrequests on social. To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Jazz Record Requests”
SUN 17:00 The Early Music Show (m0027d9z)
Ensemble Augelletti: Parisian Charm
Hannah French is joined by Olwen Foulkes and Carina Drury of Ensemble Augelletti to present their latest studio recording as part of the Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble scheme.
The music has a Parisian theme, inspired by the 300th anniversary of the first Concert Spirituel series in the city.
"I seemed to breathe another kind of air, to be living in another element", wrote a teenager as they looked upon the golden platform of Paris’s first public, non-subscription concert series - the Concert Spirituel. In this programme Ensemble Augelletti performs glittering instrumental chamber music by Vivaldi, Corelli, Telemann, and Leclair which inspired the young listener to exclaim "the sound practically lifted me out of my seat! I was overcome with giddiness...I was unable to imagine I could reach this height of pleasure through the music’s charms".
To listen to this programme using most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play The Early Music Show".
SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m0027db1)
Playing Cards
From the royal court made from cards in Alice in Wonderland, to the games of the heroines of novels by Charles Dickens and Toni Morrison, to the murder during a card game that only Sherlock Holmes can deduce, and the poker played in Paul Farley's poem. Composers have also been inspired by card characters and we'll hear from a harp concerto by Per Norgard called King, Queen and Ace and from Hildur Guðnadóttir's score for the film Joker, plus Stravinsky's Jeu de Cartes. Our readers are Sophie Thompson and James Cartwright.
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production Co-ordinator: Julie Downing
SUN 19:15 Between the Ears (m0027db3)
East Piano
The frontline sonic journal of a Ukrainian musician-soldier.
Wartime soundscapes recorded by Ukrainian experimental musician-turned-soldier Timur Dzhafarov: sketches on a broken piano in an abandoned house near Bakhmut, rain on a field hospital roof, dogs howling in tune to the sirens…
Before Russia's full-scale invasion, Timur made experimental electronic music in Kyiv under the name John Object. He walked through life with open ears, picking up unusual sounds to use in his compositions. Then on the third day of the invasion, he joined the Ukrainian Army. As a soldier, Timur still finds a few moments to tune into the sounds around him: the staccato firing of a rifle, the dissonant tone of air-raid sirens, a pianist playing in the mess hall. But his relationship to the aural environment is to change as the war drags on.
Location recordings by Timur Dzhafarov
Music by Timur Dzhafarov (recording as John Object)
Producer: Cicely Fell
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Three.
SUN 19:45 Sunday Feature (m0027db5)
New Generation Thinkers: Clay and Collapse
Medieval historian Eleanor Barraclough heads to Highgate Woods in London, the site of ten former Roman kilns, which were operated from c40-150 CE.
Here she sees a replica kiln in action – as skilled potters create pots using historically accurate materials, tools and decorations - and hear what brought the Romans and pottery clay, to the Thames.
And she'll explore the biggest mystery in British pottery history: after the Roman's left, why did potters abandon their wheels, and return to simpler hand building techniques?
Contributors:
Monika Buttling-Smith, member of the Society of Thames Mudlarks
Nick Peacey, Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln
Shem Morgan, Senior Technician at Turning Earth Highgate
Graham Taylor, Potted History
Producer: Becca Bryers
SUN 20:00 Drama on 3 (m001nh39)
Emperor and Galilean. Part 2: Emperor Julian
The second part of Ibsen's epic two-part stage play telling the story of Julian the Apostate and his ill-fated attempt to abolish Christianity in the Roman Empire. In the aftermath of his wife's murder, Julian is proclaimed Emperor. Writer Ben Power's version premiered at the National Theatre in 2011.
Julian ..... Freddie Fox
Maxima ..... Siân Phillips
Peter ..... Jonathan Forbes
Gregory ..... Samuel James
Agathon ..... Nye Occomore
Eutherius ..... Gerard McDermott
Ursulus ..... Ewan Bailey
Jovian ..... Joshua Manning
Ammian ..... Will Kirk
Myhhra ..... Kymberley Cochrane
Publia ..... Leah Marks
Written by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Ben Power from literal translations from Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife and Marie Wells
Production Coordinator ..... Jonathan Powell
Sound Design ..... Peter Ringrose, Caleb Knightley, Alison Craig, Keith Graham
Directed by Carl Prekopp
A BBC Audio Production for Radio 3.
SUN 21:20 New Generation Artists (m0027db7)
The Romantic Forest - Schumann's Forest Scenes
Forest Scenes: Schumann's Waldszenen from pianist Eric Lu and one of CPE Bach's Flute Sonatas from Elizaveta Ivanova.
Robert Schumann wrote his Waldszenen in 1848 and early 1849 as he battled against cycles of debilitating depression. These woodland scenes are symbols of mystery and certainly have their darker moments, so much so that Clara Schumann found some scenes too upsetting and chose not to play them. Eric Lu gave this performance at Wigmore Hall in 2022 when he was a member of Radio 3's prestigious young artist programme. Also today, current members, soprano Johanna Wallroth and flutist Elizaveta Ivanova are heard in recent recordings made at the BBC studios, including a sublime song by Nadia Boulanger.
CPE Bach: Sonata In G Major Wq.133 (Hamburg)
Elizaveta Ivanova (flute), Sanja Bizjak (piano)
R. Schumann: Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op. 82
Eric Lu (piano)
Nadia Boulanger: Le Ciel en Nuit s'est déplié
Johanna Wallroth (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
SUN 22:00 Ultimate Calm (m0024r0n)
Ólafur Arnalds: Series 3
Take flight with the sound of birdsong ft. Jacob Collier
Across three series of Ultimate Calm, there is one particular sound that seems to feature more than any other - birdsong. Birds have been inspiring humans with their songs, their flights and fancies for centuries - this episode is dedicated to them.
Ólafur Arnalds shares a selection of music that features birdsong, or is inspired by the birds themselves, from the likes of Patricia Wolf, Ottorino Respighi and the duo of Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita.
Plus we get to hear another, very unusual, kind of birdsong through the safe haven of the inventive singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier. He shares a field recording he made during a concert in Helsinki, and explains how chaos brings him a feeling of calm.
Produced by Kit Callin
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 3 Unwind
SUN 23:00 The Night Tracks Mix (m001h69h)
Music for the night
Sara Mohr-Pietsch with a magical sonic journey for late-night listening. Subscribe to receive your weekly mix on BBC Sounds.
SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m0027dbb)
Unclassified Live: Nwando Ebizie, Divide and Dissolve and Bill Ryder-Jones
Join Elizabeth Alker at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank for an evening of genre-defying musical collaboration featuring new commissions and arrangements from Divide and Dissolve, Nwando Ebizie and Bill Ryder-Jones, all performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra under the baton of André de Ridder.
Bill Ryder-Jones is one of England's most distinctive musical voices, blending a boldness of approach and unbending curiosity with a deeply human intimacy. Having gained major success as a founding member of Liverpool band The Coral, his solo career - featuring albums such as ‘Yawn’, ‘West Kirkby County Primary’ and last year’s ‘Iechyd Da’ - has allowed the multi-instrumentalist to find ways of combining his deeply felt pop sensibility with an ever-increasing fascination with classical and experimental music.
Divide and Dissolve is a doom metal band founded by Melbourne’s Takiaya Reed, who recently appeared in the Unclassified Listening Chair. She is a classically-trained saxophonist and guitarist playing music that is often heavy in tone and driven by a fiercely political edge. It is, she says proudly, genreless - so playing new arrangements with the BBC Concert Orchestra is a very natural fit.
Nwando Ebizie is a brilliantly original performer and composer whose music inhabits liminal and mythic spaces, using “art personas, experimental theatre, neuroscience, music and African diasporic ritualistic dance” to encourage audiences to question their perceptions around reality. She has taken her entirely unclassifiable blend of Afro-futurism, ritual and science fiction around the world and is sure to light up the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Produced by Geoff Bird
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Unclassified”
MONDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2025
MON 00:30 Through the Night (m0027dbd)
BBC Proms 2023, Paradise and the Peri
A rare chance to hear Schumann's opera-oratorio about the child of a fallen angel and a mortal who makes a sequence of offerings to the guardians of paradise. Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra and an international cast of soloists. Presented by Penny Gore.
12:31 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Paradise and the Peri, Op 50 - Parts 1 & 2
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jeanine De Bique (soprano), Magdalena Kozena (mezzo soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor), Linard Vrielink (tenor), Florian Boesch (bass baritone), London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle (conductor)
01:23 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Paradise and the Peri, Op 50 - Part 3
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jeanine De Bique (soprano), Magdalena Kozena (mezzo soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor), Linard Vrielink (tenor), Florian Boesch (bass baritone), London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle (conductor)
02:00 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Sonata no 1 in F sharp minor, Op 11
Martin Helmchen (piano)
02:31 AM
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Symphony no 2 in B flat major, Op 15
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Susanna Malkki (conductor)
03:05 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Trio for piano and strings in D minor, Op 120
Grumiaux Trio, Luc Devos (piano), Philippe Koch (violin), Luc Dewez (cello)
03:27 AM
Christopher Tye (c.1505-1572)
Omnes gentes, plaudite for 5 voices
BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)
03:32 AM
Mieczyslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909)
Chant de l'eternelle aspiration
Orchestre Francais des Jeunes, Marek Janowski (director)
03:44 AM
Giovanni Benedetto Platti (1697-1763)
Trio in C minor for oboe, bassoon and continuo
Ensemble Zefiro
03:53 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
From "Legends" (Molto maestoso) in C major, Op 59 no 4
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi (conductor)
04:00 AM
Graeme Koehne (b.1956)
Divertissement: Trois pieces bourgeoises
Australian String Quartet
04:12 AM
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Plainte d'Armide from Les Amours deguises
Isabelle Poulenard (soprano), Ricercar Consort, Henri Ledroit (conductor)
04:20 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Symphony in C major, Op 10 no 4
La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider (conductor)
04:31 AM
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
The Bartered Bride - overture
BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth (conductor)
04:38 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), arr. Alban Berg
Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Woman and Song) waltz
Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Raffi Armenian (director)
04:48 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
O clarissima Mater (respond)
Rondellus
04:58 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Dance Intermezzo, Op 45 no 2
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
05:01 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Concerto for 2 violins and string orchestra, BWV.1043
Sigiswald Kuijken (violin), Lucy van Dael (violin), La Petite Bande
05:18 AM
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)
Dance Preludes, for clarinet and piano
Seraphin Maurice Lutz (clarinet), Eugen Burger-Yonov (piano)
05:28 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
4 Notturni
Vancouver Chamber Choir, Wesley Foster (clarinet), Nicola Tipton (clarinet), William Jenkins (bass clarinet), Jon Washburn (director)
05:36 AM
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
Satrarii, Suite for Orchestra, Op 2
Romanian National Radio Orchestra, Horia Andreescu (conductor)
06:01 AM
Charles Mouton (1626-1710)
Pièces de Lute in C minor
Konrad Junghanel (11 string lute)
MON 06:30 Breakfast (m0027bxc)
Classical music to start the day
Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's award-winning classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning. Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk. To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast.”
MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m0027bxf)
Your perfect classical playlist
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
MON 13:00 Classical Live (m0027bxh)
Tenebrae live from London's Wigmore Hall
Tom McKinney presents specially recorded music from across the UK and Europe. The programme begins with a recital from the vocal ensemble Tenebrae live from London’s Wigmore Hall. The group will perform various hymns and prayers including a sublime setting of Psalm 84, shimmering pieces by Joanna Marsh and James MacMillan, and Holst’s heavenly Nunc dimittis.
There will also be a focus on BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists with a specially recorded recital from Birmingham. Violist Timothy Ridout and pianist Jonathan Ware perform music by Louis Vierne and the Aris Quartett showcase music by Schubert.
Plus, Tom begins a week-long feature of music written by composers in their twilight years. Today we will hear Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in D major performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Leonard Slatkin.
Live from Wigmore Hall and presented by Fiona Talkington.
Philip Moore
3 Prayers Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Morning Prayers
Caroline Shaw
And the swallow
Benjamin Britten
Hymn to St Cecilia Op. 27
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Rest
Joanna Marsh
Evening Prayer: In Winter’s House
James MacMillan
Miserere: I saw Eternity the other night
Gustav Holst
Nunc dimittis
Tenebrae
***
Johan Wagenaar
Cyrano de Bergerac, Op. 23
Ulster Orchestra
Jac van Steen (conductor)
Franz Schubert
String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde Quartet), D. 804, Op. 29
Aris Quartett
Louis Vierne
Soir, Op. 5 No. 1
Timothy Ridout (viola)
Jonathan Ware (piano)
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No.104 in D major (H.
1.104) "London"
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin (conductor)
Johann Strauss II/Ignaz Friedman
Voices of Spring
Joseph Moog (piano)
Maurice Ravel
Ma mère l'oye
Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra
Tarmo Peltokoski (conductor)
MON 16:00 Composer of the Week (m0027bxk)
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
A New Mozart
With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.
A censored portrait, an ambitious mother and a few puppets... In the first act of his story, meet our young hero, Jakob, who, at a very young age, is already a piano prodigy, but also has to face religious discrimination.
Robert le diable
Act II: Duo. "Avec bonté, voyez ma peine"
Erin Morley, soprano
John Osborn, tenor
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Marc Minkowski, conductor
Le pardon de Ploërmel, or Dinorah
Act I. "Ce tintement que l’on entend"
Deborah Cook, soprano
Alexander Oliver, tenor
Alastair Miles, bass
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields
James Judd, conductor
L’Africaine, or Vasco de Gama
Act IV, No 15. Entr’acte, Entrée de la Reine, Marche indienne
Frankfurter Opern- und Museumorchester
Antonello Manacorda, conductor
Der Fischer und das Milchmädchen (excerpts)
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice
Dario Salvi, conductor
Der Admiral, or Der verlorene Prozess [in collaboration with Abbé Vogler]
Overture
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice
Dario Salvi, conductor
Gott und die Natur
No 7, "Es geht aus seinem Strahlentor" (arr D. Salvi for voice, strings & piano)
Andrea Chudak, soprano
Jakub Sawicki, piano
Neue Preussiche Philharmonie
Dario Salvi, conductor
Das Brandenburger Tor
Einleitung
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice
Dario Salvi, conductor
Jephtas Gelübde
Overture (arr D. Salvi for piano and strings)
Jakub Sawicki, piano
Neue Preußische Philharmonie
Dario Salvi, conductor
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Julien Rosa
A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3
MON 17:00 In Tune (m0027bxm)
Live music at drivetime
Katie Derham is joined for live performance for songs with soprano Miah Persson and tenor Stuart Jackson. Plus, author Kate Mosse celebrates the 20th anniversary of her novel, Labyrinth.
MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m0027bxp)
Power through with classical music
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical favourites including music by Mendelssohn, Dvorak and Finzi.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Mixtape”
Producer: Ella Lee
MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m0027bxr)
Elgar Cello Concerto and Stravinsky Firebird
The BBC Philharmonic is joined by Chief Conductor John Storgårds for music from the early twentieth century.
A Russian fairy tale is the starting point for Stravinsky's The Firebird, written for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The Firebird's magic feathers offer protection to Prince Ivan and help to conquer the evil sorcerer Kashchei in this colourful score. Stravinsky left Russia at the start of the First World War, and the October Revolution in 1917 left him unable to return to his homeland. After living in Europe, he moved to America, in 1945 becoming a US citizen and creating this Suite from the ballet.
For the tenth anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution, the 21 year old Shostakovich was commissioned to write a piece by the Propaganda Department; he responded with his Second Symphony, his shortest. A factory siren highlights Communist industrial ideology and the chorus shouts 'Lenin'.
We open with Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad Rhapsody. Written in 1913 it takes as its inspiration songs which Butterworth had written to poems from Housman's 'A Shropshire Lad'. The poems explore lost youth and became companions to soldiers serving in the Boer and First World Wars. Butterworth's music is imbued with poignancy; he was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Senja Rummukainen joins the orchestra for Elgar's Cello Concerto, a lament written in the aftermath of the First World War, for things lost, and a very personal search for a way forward.
Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad 'Rhapsody'
Elgar: Cello Concerto
8.15
Music Interval
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2 (To October)
Stravinsky: The Firebird, Suite (1945)
Senja Rummukainen (cello)
CBSO Chorus
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
John Storgårds (conductor)
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".
MON 21:45 The Essay (m0027bxt)
Musicians on the Couch
City of Dreams: Vienna, Psychoanalysis and Me
Writer and music lover Amanda Dalton’s childhood was dominated by her love of playing the piano and loathing of the intensive psychoanalytical psychotherapy she underwent for five years. Coupled with her long personal interest in how the brain and the body work together, this series takes an unusual look at music.
The essays focus on human stories exploring interactions between music and a troubled mind, discussing some of the key historical and current thinking regarding the relationships between creative individuals with mental health challenges or damaged minds - and music. Some of these will be well known, some less so – all afford rich material to explore the themes. Always returning to the human and personal story, the series references the research and insights of neuroscientists and psychologists, such as Daniel Levitin, Oliver Sacks and Anthony Storr. As arguably the birthplace of psycho analysis and home to a multitude of iconic classical musicians – the starting point is Vienna.
Essay 1: City of Dreams: Vienna, Psychoanalysis and Me.
Vienna’s incredibly rich musical history as home to many of history’s most famous composers and musicians is well documented. Equally, it’s known as the birthplace of psychoanalysis, being the long-time home of Sigmund Freud and several of his colleagues. This essay explores how the two worlds of music and psychoanalysis collided in this extraordinary place, including the occasion in 1910 when Mahler visited Freud for analysis, the experience of other composers who underwent psychological treatments, and Freud’s own ambivalent relationship to music. It’s woven through with an introduction to Amanda’s own personal encounters with music and psychotherapy, beginning for her aged seven.
Amanda Dalton is a playwright, poet and essayist. She has three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books, most recently Fantastic Voyage (2024). Smith|Doorstop published a pamphlet of two long poems, Notes on Water, a version of which she re-created for two voices and soundscape for BBC Radio 3’s Between the Ears.
Amanda writes extensively for BBC Radio 3 and 4 including original drama, poetry-dramas, re-imaginings of silent movies and classic film, lyric essays and adaptations of fiction. Her theatre writing also includes text for outdoor and site-specific performance, and work for young people with commissions from Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres and Keswick’s Theatre By The Lake. Until 2019 she was a senior leader at the Royal Exchange Theatre where she also worked as an Associate Artist, theatre maker and project director, in partnership with communities across the North West and beyond. Alongside her work as a writer, Amanda designs and delivers a wide range of writing workshops, mentors a number of poets and playwrights, and regularly curates and co-delivers collaborative cross-artform projects, most recently with Wainsgate Dances, Manchester Camerata and Quarantine. Her website is https://www.amandadalton.co.uk
Writer and reader: Amanda Dalton
Producer: Polly Thomas
Sound: Alisdair McGregor
Exec Producer: Chantal Herbert
A Thomas Carter Project production for BBC Radio 3.
MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m0027bxw)
Immersive music for after-hours
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
MON 23:30 'Round Midnight (m0020htj)
Hiromi picks her Flowers
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene and spotlights the best new music alongside incredible acts from past decades.
Japanese piano player and composer Hiromi is Soweto's guest this week. Fresh from releasing her album Sonicwonderland at the end of last year, she'll be in the UK this week performing at Love Supreme Festival.
Hiromi will be taking part in Flowers - a segment which gives artists the chance to celebrate fellow musicians they feel deserve recognition and respect. Her first bouquet goes to Gustavo Dudamel.
TUESDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2025
TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m0027bxy)
For the Tongues of Angels and Souls Purified by Fire
The German Radio Philharmonic and Munich Radio Choir join forces in the ornate Ottobeuren Abbey for Bruckner's Te Deum, a work that the composer deemed the 'pride of his life.' Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Symphony no 9 in C major, D.944 'Great'
German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Saarbrucken Kaiserslautern, Pietari Inkinen (conductor)
01:20 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Te Deum
Meredith Wohlgemuth (soprano), Marie Henriette Reinhold (mezzo soprano), Matthew Swensen (tenor), Manuel Winckhler (bass), Munich Philharmonic Choir, German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Saarbrucken Kaiserslautern, Pietari Inkinen (conductor)
01:44 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Impromptu no 4 in A flat major - from 4 Impromptus for piano, D.899
Sook-Hyun Cho (piano)
01:50 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Concerto for violin and orchestra in D major, Op 77
Sarah Chang (violin), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Juraj Valcuha (conductor)
02:31 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Serenade to music
Bette Cosar (soprano), Delia Wallis (mezzo soprano), Edd Wright (tenor), Gary Dahl (bass), Alexander Skwortsow (violin), Vancouver Bach Choir, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bruce Pullan (conductor)
02:44 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
String Quartet no 12 in F major 'American', Op 96
Prague Quartet
03:08 AM
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
Aubade for wind quartet
Nicolae Maxim (flute), Radu Chisu (oboe), Valeriu Barbuceanu (clarinet), Mihai Tanasila (bassoon)
03:28 AM
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
3 Preludes for piano
Donna Coleman (piano)
03:36 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Symphony no 1 in D major, Op 25 'Classical'
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Michel Tabachnik (conductor)
03:51 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Partita for solo violin no 1 in B minor, BWV.1002
Rachel Podger (violin)
04:06 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Havanaise for violin and orchestra, Op 83
Moshe Hammer (violin), Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi (conductor)
04:16 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Song and chorus 'Sound Fame' from Act IV of 'Dioclesian', Z.627
Paul Elliott (tenor), Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet), David Staff (trumpet), Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)
04:22 AM
Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)
3 Pieces for cello and piano
Zoltan Despond (cello), Vesselin Stanev (piano)
04:31 AM
Uuno Klami (1900-1961)
Overture: Nummisuutarit (The Cobblers on the Heath)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
04:39 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Variations in E major on a German National Air
Ludmil Angelov (piano)
04:47 AM
Mel Bonis (1858-1937)
Suite Orientale, Op 48 no 2: Prelude & Danse d'almees
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba (conductor)
04:54 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury for 3 trumpets
Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble
04:57 AM
Anonymous, orch. Christian Gregor
2 Moravian Chorales
American Brass Quintet
05:00 AM
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (1602-c.1678)
O quam bonus es - motet for 2 voices
Cappella Artemisia
05:11 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in B minor, K.87
Chen Halevi (clarinet), Daniel Borovitzky (piano), Gringolts Quartet, Agustin Diassera (percussion)
05:19 AM
William Walton (1902-1983)
Variations on a theme by Hindemith
BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena (conductor)
05:41 AM
Augusta Holmes (1847-1903)
La vision de la reine
BBC Singers Women's Voices, Morwenna Del Mar (cello), Alison Martin (harp), Annabel Thwaite (piano), Hilary Campbell (conductor)
05:59 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
String Quartet in F major
New Helsinki Quartet
TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m0027d07)
Classical sunrise
Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's award-winning classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning. Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk. To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast.”
TUE 09:30 Essential Classics (m0027d09)
Great classical music for your morning
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
TUE 13:00 Classical Live (m0027d0c)
A live concert from soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou, the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Corinna Niemeyer
Tom McKinney presents specially recorded music from across the UK and Europe.
There will be a focus on BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists with a specially recorded recital from Birmingham. Violist Timothy Ridout and pianist Jonathan Ware will perform a world premiere - Nahre Sol’s Shadow Waters (world premiere) and César Franck's Sonata in A for viola and piano.
Also in todays programme, a live concert from the BBC Philharmonic. Beginning with the spirited brilliance of Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute, a sparkling introduction bursting with energy, drama and iconic operatic sounds.
Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs was composed in the final years of his life. Conducted by Corinna Niemeyer and showcasing the soaring soprano vocals of Aphrodite Patoulidou, this poignant masterpiece reflects on the beauty and transience of life itself.
Finally, delight in the charm of Respighi’s The Birds, where elegant orchestration brings avian sounds to life. Inspired by Baroque melodies, Respighi captures playful chirps, flutters and the sounds of nature in this colourful piece.
César Franck
Sonata in A for viola and piano
Timothy Ridout (viola)
Jonathan Ware (piano)
Nahre Sol
Shadow Walkers (World Premiere)
Timothy Ridout (viola)
Jonathan Ware (piano)
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto in A minor for Two Flutes and Violone, TWV 53:a1
Clara Andrada de la Calle (flute)
Sebastian Wittiber (flute)
Peter-Philipp Staemmler (cello)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Jonathan Cohen (conductor)
Camille Saint-Saens
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
Bertrand Chamayou (piano)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Tugan Sokhiev (conductor)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Es ist euch gut, dass ich hingehe, BWV 108
James Hall (counter tenor)
Gwilym Bowen (tenor)
Tomás Král (bass)
Concerto Copenhagen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen (conductor)
Alice Mary Smith
Overture to the Masque of Pandora
BBC Concert Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth (conductor)
***
Live concert with the BBC Philharmonic
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Magic Flute: Overture
Richard Strauss
Four Last Songs
Ottorino Respighi
The Birds
Performers:
BBC Philharmonic
Aphrodite Patoulidou (soprano)
Corinna Niemeyer (conductor)
TUE 16:00 Composer of the Week (m0027d0f)
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
Musica Paradiso
With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.
An enamoured prima donna, some critical spoilsports and maestro Rossini himself... In this second act of Meyerbeer's story, the young composer falls in love with a country in which he'll have both musical epiphanies and his first successes, as well as a bit of romance.
Il nascere e il fiorire d’una rosa
Sivan Rotem, soprano
Jonathan Zak, piano
Le Prophète
Act I, No 1a: Prélude et chœur pastoral. "La brise est muette"
Chœur de l’Opéra de Lyon
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Gli amori di Teolinda
IV. Allegro moderato
Lenneke Ruiten, soprano
Davide Bandieri, clarinet
Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne
Diego Fasolis, conductor
Romilda e Costanza
Overture
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice
Dario Salvi, conductor
Emma di Resburgo
Act I, Scene 1; "Sulla rupe triste, sola...Ah questo bacio" (Emma)
Diana Damrau, soprano
Choeurs de l’Opera National de Lyon
Orchestre de l’Opera National de Lyon
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
Il crociato in Egitto
Act II, Scene 4: "Tutto è finito" (Adriano, Felicia, Knights); "Suona funerea" (Adriano, Knights)
Della Jones, mezzo-soprano
Bruce Ford, tenor
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
David Parry, conductor
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Julien Rosa
A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3
TUE 17:00 In Tune (m0027d0h)
Experience classical music live in session
Katie Derham introduces live music in the studio from kora player, Seckou Keita, and pianist James Rhodes.
TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m001n28y)
Classical music to inspire you
Half and hour of back to back classical music to help you wind down at the end of a busy day. Today's mix includes music by Francesca Caccini, Delibes, Verdi and Alexandre Desplat.
Producer: Julien Rosa
TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m0027d0m)
Beethoven and Shostakovich
The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jakub Hrůša in Beethoven’s sparkling Piano Concerto No 2 with soloist Jonathan Biss. Plus Shostakovich's Symphony No 11, ‘The Year 1905’.
Recorded at the Barbican on Friday 31st January 2025. Presented by Mark Forrest.
Pavel Haas: Scherzo triste, Op 5
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major
Interval
Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No 11 in G minor, 'The Year 1905'
Jonathan Biss (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jakub Hrůša (conductor)
“Whirlwinds of danger are raging around us… on with the fight, for the cause of humanity!” Shostakovich’s massive 11th Symphony was inspired by a revolution that failed, and from the roar of the crowds to the thunder of gunfire, it’s never seemed more relevant, or more urgent. Guest conductor Jakub Hrůša understands the power of history, making this a timely – and thrilling – climax to a concert of contrasts.
Because after all, music doesn’t get much more elegant and exuberant than Beethoven’s sunlit Second Piano Concerto – a young genius out to make a serious splash. Who better to play it than Jonathan Biss, the masterly American pianist who describes Beethoven’s music as “truly one of the greatest gifts to my life”? Hrůša opens the concert with a rediscovery from Pavel Haas: a burst of jazz-age wit from one of Czech music’s silenced voices.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert.
TUE 21:45 The Essay (m0027d0p)
Musicians on the Couch
Music, Madness and Unusual Ways of Seeing…
Writer and music lover Amanda Dalton’s childhood was dominated by her love of playing the piano and loathing of the intensive psychoanalytical psychotherapy she underwent for five years. Coupled with her long, personal interest in how the brain and the body work together, this series takes an unusual look at music.
The essays focus on human stories exploring interactions between music and a troubled mind, discussing some of the key historical and current thinking regarding the relationships between creative individuals with mental health challenges or damaged minds - and music. Some of these will be well known, some less so – all afford rich material to explore the themes. Always returning to the human and personal story, the series references the research and insights of neuroscientists and psychologists, such as Daniel Levitin, Oliver Sacks and Anthony Storr. As arguably the birthplace of psycho analysis and home to a multitude of iconic classical musicians – the starting point is Vienna.
Essay 2: Music, Madness and Unusual Ways of Seeing….
This essay takes a gentle look at aspects of the relationship between musical creativity, mental illness and mood. Woven through with Amanda’s personal story of music as its own form of psychotherapy, the essay references composers Mozart and Schumann and 20th century giants John Ogdon and Glenn Gould as examples of musicians known for their unstable mental health, before opening out to take a look at some of the other ways in which irregularities in the workings of the brain can lead to unusual and creative ways of perceiving the world.
Amanda Dalton is a playwright, poet and essayist. She has three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books, most recently Fantastic Voyage (2024). Smith|Doorstop published a pamphlet of two long poems, Notes on Water, a version of which she re-created for two voices and soundscape for BBC Radio 3’s Between the Ears.
Amanda writes extensively for BBC Radio 3 and 4 including original drama, poetry-dramas, re-imaginings of silent movies and classic film, lyric essays and adaptations of fiction. Her theatre writing also includes text for outdoor and site-specific performance, and work for young people with commissions from Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres and Keswick’s Theatre By The Lake.
Until 2019 she was a senior leader at the Royal Exchange Theatre where she also worked as an Associate Artist, theatre maker and project director, in partnership with communities across the North West and beyond.
Alongside her work as a writer, Amanda designs and delivers a wide range of writing workshops, mentors a number of poets and playwrights, and regularly curates and co-delivers collaborative cross-artform projects, most recently with Wainsgate Dances, Manchester Camerata and Quarantine.
Her website is https://www.amandadalton.co.uk
Writer and reader: Amanda Dalton
Producer: Polly Thomas
Sound: Alisdair McGregor
Exec Producer: Chantal Herbert
A Thomas Carter Project production for BBC Radio 3.
TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m0020r6k)
Childhood
Sara Mohr-Pietsch with late-night music for and inspired by children: toy instruments, lullabies and childhood nostalgia from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m0020hym)
BBC Introducing track from Karma Quartet
‘Round Midnight is Radio 3’s weekday evening jazz show, presented by British saxophonist Soweto Kinch. It spotlights the best jazz, with an emphasis on the thriving UK scene.
Throughout the week, Japanese pianist Hiromi will be selecting music from living legends, unsung heroes and artists she thinks deserve recognition and respect. Today, US singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, is given his Flowers.
Plus, there's music from UK legend Michael Garrick, new Pakistani trio Jaubi and Scotland's Ari Tsugi.
WEDNESDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2025
WED 00:30 Through the Night (m0027d0t)
Shostakovich and Mahler from the Lucerne Festival
Sheku Kanneh-Mason plays Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and conductor Paavo Järvi. The second half of the concert features Mahler's Symphony no.1 'Titan'. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Cello Concerto no 1 in E flat major, Op 107
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi (conductor)
01:00 AM
Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996)
Sarabande, from '24 Preludes for Cello Solo', Op 100 no 18
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello)
01:04 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony no 1 in D major, 'Titan'
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi (conductor)
02:00 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Valse Triste, from Kuolema, Op 44
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi (conductor)
02:06 AM
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975), arr. Levon Atovmyan / Blaserserenaden Zurich
5 works for violin and piano arr. for flute, bassoon and harp
Andrea Kolle (flute), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Sarah Verrue (harp)
02:16 AM
Duri Sialm (1891-1961)
La Ventira (Happiness)
Chor da concert grischun, Alvin Muoth (director)
02:22 AM
Henry Eccles (c.1675-1745)
Sonata undecimo in G minor
Ilia Korol (violin), Jermaine Sprosse (harpsichord)
02:31 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony no 22 in E flat major, 'The Philosopher', H.
1.22
Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Marc Minkowski (conductor)
02:51 AM
Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
String Quartet no 5
Silesian String Quartet
03:17 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), arr. Andreas Staier / Tobias Koch
Vom Himmel hoch - canonic variations BWV.769 arr piano
Andreas Staier (piano), Tobias Koch (piano)
03:30 AM
Bo Holten (b.1948)
Nordisk Suite
Hanne Hohwu (soprano), Birgitte Moller (soprano), Det Jyske Kammerkor, Mogens Dahl (conductor)
03:41 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune
Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marcello Viotti (conductor)
03:52 AM
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Prelude for guitar no 3 in A minor
Norbert Kraft (guitar)
03:59 AM
Willem De Fesch (1687-1761)
Violin Concerto in C minor, Op 5 no 5
Manfred Kraemer (violin), Musica ad Rhenum
04:09 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Four Mazurkas
Ashley Wass (piano)
04:19 AM
Joseph Kuffner (1776-1856)
Clarinet Quintet (Introduction, theme and variations) in B flat major, Op 32
Joze Kotar (clarinet), Slovene Philharmonic String Quartet
04:31 AM
Henry Litolff (1818-1891)
Scherzo - Concerto Symphonique no 4, Op 102
Arthur Ozolins (piano), Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
04:39 AM
Anonymous
Ave Potentissima, Geistliches Konzert for soprano, 2 violins
Kamila Zajickova (soprano), Musica Aeterna Bratislava, Peter Zajicek (director)
04:47 AM
Ludomir Rozycki (1883-1953)
Symphonic Poem: Mona Lisa Gioconda, Op 31
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wojciech Czepiel (conductor)
04:57 AM
Martin Vogt (1781-1854)
Six Short Pieces for Organ
Jurg Neuenschwander (organ)
05:03 AM
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
Les Larmes de Jacqueline
Hee-Song Song (cello), Myung-Seon Kye (piano)
05:10 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Hamlet - fantasy overture, Op 67
BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)
05:28 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
String Quartet in D major, D.74
Quartetto Bernini
05:52 AM
Francesco Mancini (1672-1727)
Missa Septimus
Claire Lefilliatre (soprano), Marnix De Cat (alto), Han Warmelinck (tenor), Currende, Erik van Nevel (director)
06:18 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Une Barque sur l'ocean (no 3 from Miroirs)
Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Eivind Aadland (conductor)
06:26 AM
Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Etude in G flat major
Stefan Lindgren (piano)
WED 06:30 Breakfast (m0027bql)
Your classical commute
Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's award-winning classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning. Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk. To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast.”
WED 09:30 Essential Classics (m0027bqn)
The best classical morning music
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
WED 13:00 Classical Live (m0027bqq)
Radio 3 New Generation Artists in concert and Elgar’s Cello Concerto
Tom McKinney presents specially recorded music from across the UK and Europe.
There will be a focus on BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists with a specially recorded recital from Birmingham. Bass-baritone James Atkinson and pianist Hamish Brown perform Ravel's Histoires naturelles.
Plus, Tom continues a week-long feature of music written by composers in their twilight years. Today we will hear Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major, K 581 performed by clarinettist Mark Simpson and the Signum Quartet.
Maurice Ravel
Histoires naturelles, M.50.
James Atkinson (bass-baritone)
Hamish Brown (piano)
Claude Debussy
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Alina Ibragimova (violin)
Alasdair Beatson (piano)
Mark David Boden
Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra
Robert Plane (clarinet)
BBC Philharmonic
Geoffrey Paterson (conductor)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.27 in E minor, Op.90
Evgeny Kissin (piano)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Quintet in A major, K 581
Mark Simpson
Signum Quartet
WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m0027bqs)
Rugby School
Live from the Chapel of Rugby School.
Introit: God be in my head (Philip Moore)
Responses: Sasha Johnson Manning
Psalms 27, 28, 29 (Hopkins, Wolstenholme, Goss, Attwood, Ley)
First Lesson: Baruch 5 vv1-9
Canticles: Murrill in E
Second Lesson: Mark 1 vv1-11
Anthem: Great is the Lord (Elgar)
Voluntary: Seven Pieces (Final) Op 27 No 7 (Dupré)
Richard Tanner (Director of Music)
Ian Wicks (Organist)
Benedict Tanner (Organ Scholar)
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m0027bqv)
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
Monsieur Jacques
With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.
Dancing ghouls, a sudden wedding and collectable figurines for fans... In the third act of the adventures of Meyerbeer, our protagonist arrives in Paris and conquers the hearts of French music lovers with a devilishly good opera, while having his own heart conquered by his new bride.
Margherita d’Anjou
Act II. "Che bell’alba!" (Chorus)
Robin Leggate, tenor
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
London Philharmonic Orchestra
David Parry, conductor
Il crociato in Egitto
Act 2, Scene 8: "D’una madre disperata…" (Palmide)
Diana Damrau, soprano
Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
A une jeune mère
Sivan Rotem, soprano
Jonathan Zak, piano
Robert le diable
Act IV. Cavatine: "Robert, toi que j’aime" (Isabelle, Robert) & Duo "Mon cœur s’émeut à cette voix touchante" (Isabelle, Robert)
Erin Morley, soprano
John Osborn, tenor
Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine
Marc Minkowski, conductor
Robert le diable
Act III. Procession des nonnes; Récit: "Jadis fille, du ciel, aujourd’hui de l’enfer" (Bertram); Bacchanale
Nicolas Courjal, bass
Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine
Marc Minkowski, conductor
Robert le diable
Act I. Sicilienne: "O fortune a ton caprice" (Robert); "J’ai perdu – Ma revanche !" (Robert); "Malheur sans égal" (Robert)
Bryan Hymel, tenor
Symphonic Orchestra of the Teatro Verdi, Salerno
Daniel Oren, conductor
An Mozart
Bernhard Scheffel, tenor
Rüdiger Ballhorn, tenor
Gregor Finke, bass
Markus Flaig, bass
Rheinische Kantorei
Hermann Max, director
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Julien Rosa
A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3
WED 17:00 In Tune (m0027bqy)
Drivetime classical
Katie Derham has live music in the studio from cellist Narek Haknazarayan and pianist Georgy Tchaidze, who perform in Cambridge later in the week.
WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m0027br0)
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical favourites.
WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m0027br2)
Shostakovich and Bartók from the CBSO in Birmingham
Bartók’s lively Dance Suite was written in 1923 to mark the joining of Buda and Pest 50 years earlier. With the CBSO and Kazuki Yamada it glows and dances with Hungarian folk-like rhythms and melodies. Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2 – a blend of fire and ice – is perfect for the supreme artistry of Isabelle Faust. In the second half of tonight's concert, Akio Yashiro celebrates the entire orchestra in the UK premiere of his Symphony for Orchestra.
Presented by Elizabeth Alker, live from Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
Bartók: Dance Suite
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.2
Yashiro: Symphony for Large Orchestra (UK Premiere)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Kazuki Yamada, conductor
Isabelle Faust, violin
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert"
WED 21:45 The Essay (m0027br4)
Musicians on the Couch
When Margaret Met Carl: Music Therapy
Writer and music lover Amanda Dalton’s childhood was dominated by her love of playing the piano and loathing of the intensive psychoanalytical psychotherapy she underwent for five years. Coupled with her long personal interest in how the brain and the body work together, this series takes an unusual look at music.
The essays focus on human stories exploring interactions between music and a troubled mind, discussing some of the key historical and current thinking regarding the relationships between creative individuals with mental health challenges or damaged minds - and music. Some of these will be well known, some less so – all afford rich material to explore the themes. Always returning to the human and personal story, the series references the research and insights of neuroscientists and psychologists, such as Daniel Levitin, Oliver Sacks and Anthony Storr. As arguably the birthplace of psycho analysis and home to a multitude of iconic classical musicians – the starting point is Vienna.
Essay 3: When Margaret met Carl: Music Therapy
Music Therapy and Music as therapy. This essay springs from the story of music therapist and concert pianist Margaret Tilly and her meeting with psychiatrist and analyst Carl Jung, who underwent a session of music therapy with her and championed her work on musical analysis and the treatment of her patients. It also looks at the intensely moving story and footage, which went viral in 2021, of Spanish ballerina Marta C Gonzalez - living with late-stage Alzheimer’s but responding instinctively as her arms and facial expressions re-enact the grace of her dancing Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. How does music reach us in a way that words cannot? How is it that musical expression often remains possible long after brain injury and illness has rendered other forms of communication impossible?
Amanda Dalton is a playwright, poet and essayist. She has three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books, most recently Fantastic Voyage (2024). Smith|Doorstop published a pamphlet of two long poems, Notes on Water, a version of which she re-created for two voices and soundscape for BBC Radio 3’s Between the Ears.
Amanda writes extensively for BBC Radio 3 and 4 including original drama, poetry-dramas, re-imaginings of silent movies and classic film, lyric essays and adaptations of fiction. Her theatre writing also includes text for outdoor and site-specific performance, and work for young people with commissions from Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres and Keswick’s Theatre By The Lake.
Until 2019 she was a senior leader at the Royal Exchange Theatre where she also worked as an Associate Artist, theatre maker and project director, in partnership with communities across the North West and beyond.
Alongside her work as a writer, Amanda designs and delivers a wide range of writing workshops, mentors a number of poets and playwrights, and regularly curates and co-delivers collaborative cross-artform projects, most recently with Wainsgate Dances, Manchester Camerata and Quarantine.
Her website is https://www.amandadalton.co.uk
Writer and reader: Amanda Dalton
Producer: Polly Thomas
Sound: Alisdair McGregor
Exec Producer: Chantal Herbert
A Thomas Carter Project production for BBC Radio 3.
WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m0027br7)
A bewitching night time soundtrack
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
WED 23:30 'Round Midnight (m0020hx8)
New music from Emanative
Presented by saxophonist Soweto Kinch, Radio 3’s late night jazz show showcases new UK jazz and shares the best releases from across the world.
This week’s guest is piano virtuoso Hiromi, who began as a teenage prodigy and is still at the top of her genre nearly three decades later.
She’s been handing out respect and recognition to the living legends and unsung heroes of jazz each day. Today it’s the turn of bassist and producer, Squarepusher.
Plus, there's music from Birmingham born artist Orlando Le Fleming, fellow Midlands hailing bassist Dave Holland, and vocalist Allysha Joy.
THURSDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2025
THU 00:30 Through the Night (m0027br9)
Benjamin Grosvenor plays Busoni's mighty Piano Concerto
Robin Ticciati conducts the German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin in works by Smyth, Busoni and Schumann. Presented by Penny Gore.
12:31 AM
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (1858-1944)
Overture to 'The Wreckers'
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Robin Ticciati (conductor)
12:38 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op 97 'Rhenish'
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Robin Ticciati (conductor)
01:09 AM
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
Piano Concerto in C major, Op 39
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano), Men of Berlin Radio Chorus, German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Robin Ticciati (conductor)
02:21 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Abendlied, Op 85 no 12
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
02:24 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sinfonia, from 'Orlando', HWV.31
Orchestra Barocca Modo Antiquo, Federico Maria Sardelli (conductor)
02:31 AM
John Ireland (1879-1962)
A Downland Suite
Hannaford Street Silver Band, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)
02:48 AM
Johann Schenck (1660-c.1712)
Sonata in A minor, Op 9 no 2 - L'Echo du Danube
Berliner Konzert, Hartwig Groth (viola da gamba), Egbert Schimmelpfennig (viola da gamba), Christoph Lehmann (organ)
03:10 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Horn Concerto no 2 in E flat major
Markus Maskuniitty (horn), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Junichi Hirokami (conductor)
03:31 AM
Antoine Brumel (c.1460-1515)
Agnus Dei - Et ecce terrae motus (for 12 voices)
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel (conductor)
03:37 AM
Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen (1745-1818)
String Quartet no 1 in E flat major, Op 3
Eos Quartet
03:48 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Mephisto waltz no 1, S514
Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)
03:58 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Norfolk Rhapsody no 1 in E minor
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Heinze (conductor)
04:09 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Bassoon Concerto in E minor, RV.484
Aleksander Radosavljevic (bassoon), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Gunter Pichler (conductor)
04:20 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Fantasia on an Irish song 'The last rose of summer' for piano, Op 15
Sylviane Deferne (piano)
04:31 AM
Andrea Falconieri (c.1585-1656)
Quando il labro ti bacio; Fantasia; Nudo Arciero; Galliarda
Jan Van Elsacker (tenor), United Continuo Ensemble
04:40 AM
Dragana Jovanovic (b.1963)
Incanto d'inverno from Four Seasons, for viola strings and harp
Sasa Mirkovic (viola), Ljubica Sekulic (harp), Ensemble Metamorphosis
04:47 AM
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
In the steppes of central Asia (V sredney Azii) - symphonic poem
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)
04:54 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Sonata in G major for transverse flute and harpsichord, Op 6 no 6
Karl Kaiser (transverse flute), Susanne Kaiser (harpsichord)
05:04 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Don Carlos Act III, Scene II: Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa's aria 'Per me giunto'
Gaetan Laperriere (baritone), Orchestre Symphonique de Trois Rivieres, Gilles Bellemare (conductor)
05:15 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Five Choral Preludes
Julian Gembalski (organ)
05:28 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Marienlieder, Op 22
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)
05:46 AM
Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Flute Sonata in E minor, Op 167 "Undine"
Ivica Gabrisova-Encingerova (flute), Matej Vrabel (piano)
06:08 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin Concerto no 1 in B flat major, K.207
Mozart Anniversary Orchestra, James Ehnes (violin)
THU 06:30 Breakfast (m0027c0g)
Classical rise and shine
Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's award-winning classical breakfast show with music that captures the mood of the morning. Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk. To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast.”
THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m0027c0k)
The ideal mix of classical music
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, featuring new discoveries, some musical surprises and plenty of familiar favourites.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1200 “25 for 25: Sounds of the Century” – a series of brand new commissions celebrating and commemorating some of the biggest events of the 21st century so far.
1230 Album of the Week
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
THU 13:00 Classical Live (m0027c0p)
Radio 3 New Generation Artists in concert and Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces
Tom McKinney presents specially recorded music from across the UK and Europe.
There will be a focus on BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists with a specially recorded recital from Birmingham. Bass-baritone James Atkinson and pianist Hamish Brown will perform Madeline Dring's Three Shakespeare Songs and pianist Elisabeth Brauss showcases music by Schumann.
Plus, Tom continues a week-long feature of music written by composers in their twilight years. Today we will hear Giuseppe Verdi’s Four Sacred Pieces performed by the BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conducted by Xian Zhang.
Madeline Dring
Three Shakespeare Songs
James Atkinson (bass-baritone)
Hamish Brown (piano)
Robert Schumann
Ghost Variations WoO 24
Elisabeth Brauss (piano)
Gerald Finzi
Let Us Garlands Bring, Op.18
James Atkinson (bass-baritone)
Hamish Brown (piano)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto in D, BWV 972
Judicaël Perroy (guitar)
Luise Adolpha Le Beau
Symphony No. 1
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Geoffrey Paterson (conductor)
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No.16 in F major, Op.135
Heath Quartet
Joe Duddell
Catch
Hakan Hardenberger (trumpet)
Colin Currie (percussion)
Giuseppe Verdi
Four Sacred Pieces
BBC National Chorus of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Xian Zhang (conductor)
THU 16:00 Composer of the Week (m0027c0t)
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
Hail to the King
With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.
A tragic queen, a theatrical ball, and some domestic trouble... The fourth act of our composer's life is marked by a royal proposition, which he won't be able to refuse, while having to face poisonous attacks, especially from a former protégé, a certain Richard Wagner.
Robert le diable
Act II. Pas de cinq
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Marc Minkowski, conductor
Struensee
Act II; Entr’acte II: Der Ball
Hannover Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Michail Jurovski, conductor
Les Huguenots
Act IV. "Gloire, gloire au grand Dieu vengeur !" (3 Monks, Saint-Bris, Conspirators)
John Wakefield, tenor
Alan Opie, baritone
Clifford Grant, bass
Gabriel Bacquier, baritone
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Richard Bonynge, conductor
Les Huguenots
Act II. "O beau pays de la Touraine" (Marguerite) [excerpt]
Dame Joan Sutherland, soprano
Josephte Clément, mezzo-soprano
Huguette Tourangeau, soprano
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Richard Bonynge, conductor
Fantasie for clarinet & string quartet
Dieter Klöcker, clarinet
Consortium Classicum
Ein Feldlager in Schlesien [A Camp in Silesia]
Act 3. "Oh Schwester, find' ich dich!... Lebe wohl, geliebte Schwester" (Therese, Vielka)
Diana Damrau, soprano
Kate Aldrich, mezzo-soprano
Chœur de l’Opéra National de Lyon
Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
Psalm 91
Veronika Winter, soprano
Anne Bierwirth, alto
Immo Schroder, tenor
Matthias Vieweg, bass
Rheinische Kantorei
Hermann Max, director
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Julien Rosa
A BBC Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3
THU 17:00 In Tune (m0027c0y)
Live classical performance and interviews
Katie Derham hosts In Tune with live music from the Piatti Quartet. Plus, conductor Matthew Kofi Waldren speaks to Katie about his upcoming concert at Southwell Minster.
THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m0027c12)
Classical music for your journey
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical favourites.
THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m0027c16)
Prokofiev's Sixth Symphony
Prokofiev wrote his Sixth Symphony in the aftermath of World War Two and though it’s certainly an epic it’s far from clear that it ends in anything as simple as triumph. His ‘Autumnal Sketch’, which opens this concert, is rooted in late Romanticism: composed when he was an 18-year-old composition student of the great Rimsky-Korsakov.
Olga Neuwirth’s music includes traces of Stravinsky, Monteverdi, jazz, pop and hip-hop. But its roots reach all the way back to Gustav Mahler, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg. Tonight Colin Currie joins the orchestra for the first UK performance of her sci-fi inspired Percussion Concerto, 'Trurliade - Zone Zero': an utterly original vision of a robot creator going terrifyingly off the rails.
Live from City Halls, Glasgow
Presented by Kate Molleson
Prokofiev: Autumnal Sketch
Olga Neuwirth: Trurliade - Zone Zero
Prokofiev: Symphony No 6
Ilan Volkov (conductor)
Colin Currie (percussion)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert."
THU 21:45 The Essay (m0027c1b)
Musicians on the Couch
Music and Mystery… Psychology and the Unexplained
Writer and music lover Amanda Dalton’s childhood was dominated by her love of playing the piano and loathing of the intensive psychoanalytical psychotherapy she underwent for five years. Coupled with her long personal interest in how the brain and the body work together, this series takes an unusual look at music.
The essays focus on human stories exploring interactions between music and a troubled mind, discussing some of the key historical and current thinking regarding the relationships between creative individuals with mental health challenges or damaged minds - and music. Some of these will be well known, some less so – all afford rich material to explore the themes. Always returning to the human and personal story, the series references the research and insights of neuroscientists and psychologists, such as Daniel Levitin, Oliver Sacks and Anthony Storr. As arguably the birthplace of psycho analysis and home to a multitude of iconic classical musicians – the starting point is Vienna.
Essay 4: Music and Mystery… Psychology and the Unexplained.
This essay explores human stories in which the relationships between music and the mind are a source of debate and mystery. Woven through with a personal story involving Faure’s Requiem, Amanda Dalton considers the case of Rosemary Brown – Spirit Medium, who created a media storm during the 1970s with claims that dead composers were dictating her compositions to her. She and her work were studied by numerous psychologists, with controversial results. She also goes back in time to take a glimpse at notions of the divine through the work of Hildegard of Bingen, before recounting a modern day true story of the mysterious and debilitating pain that radically altered the career path of one of the world’s leading violinists.
Amanda Dalton is a playwright, poet and essayist. She has three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books, most recently Fantastic Voyage (2024). Smith|Doorstop published a pamphlet of two long poems, Notes on Water, a version of which she re-created for two voices and soundscape for BBC Radio 3’s Between the Ears.
Amanda writes extensively for BBC Radio 3 and 4 including original drama, poetry-dramas, re-imaginings of silent movies and classic film, lyric essays and adaptations of fiction. Her theatre writing also includes text for outdoor and site-specific performance, and work for young people with commissions from Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres and Keswick’s Theatre By The Lake.
Until 2019 she was a senior leader at the Royal Exchange Theatre where she also worked as an Associate Artist, theatre maker and project director, in partnership with communities across the North West and beyond.
Alongside her work as a writer, Amanda designs and delivers a wide range of writing workshops, mentors a number of poets and playwrights, and regularly curates and co-delivers collaborative cross-artform projects, most recently with Wainsgate Dances, Manchester Camerata and Quarantine.
Her website is https://www.amandadalton.co.uk
Writer and reader: Amanda Dalton
Producer: Polly Thomas
Sound: Alisdair McGregor
Exec Producer: Chantal Herbert
A Thomas Carter Project production for BBC Radio 3.
THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m0027c1g)
Sublime sounds for nightfall
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
THU 23:30 'Round Midnight (m0020hxz)
A track from Belfast's Córas Trio
Award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch presents this weekday evening jazz show. It celebrates the thriving UK scene and spotlights the best new music alongside legendary heritage acts.
Every day this week, pianist Hiromi has been guesting on our feature Flowers which celebrates the heroes and heroines of jazz – giving artists the chance to hand out bouquets to someone they believe deserves respect and recognition. Her final bunch goes to the great Herbie Hancock.
Plus, there's music from Jasper Hoiby, Zoe Rahman and the Jazz Jamaica All Stars.
FRIDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2025
FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m0027c1l)
Bruckner 200
The Latvia State Choir and National Symphony Orchestra celebrate Bruckner's 200th anniversary in 2024 with his third mass and a jubilant setting of Psalm 150. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Mass no 3 in F minor, WAB.28
Lina Dambrauskalte (soprano), Emilia Rukavina (mezzo soprano), Bernhard Berchtold (tenor), Thomas Essl (bass), Latvian State Choir, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Maris Sirmais (conductor)
01:26 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Psalm 150, WAB.38
Lina Dambrauskalte (soprano), Latvian State Choir, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Maris Sirmais (conductor)
01:34 AM
Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824)
Duo concertante in A minor
Alexandar Avramov (violin), Ivan Peev (violin)
01:41 AM
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
Pensée Fugitive in D minor, JB
1:24
Alexandra Troussova (piano)
01:45 AM
Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Ballade for flute and orchestra
Matej Zupan (flute), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, David de Villiers (conductor)
01:54 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
2 graduals for chorus: Locus iste & Christus Factus est
Danish National Radio Choir, Jesper Grove Jorgensen (conductor)
02:01 AM
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
Piano Trio in G minor, Op 15
Suk Trio
02:31 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Symphony no 2 in E minor, Op 27
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin (conductor)
03:19 AM
Andreas Hammerschmidt (1611/2-1675)
Suite in D minor for gambas, 'Erster Fleiss'
Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall (director)
03:35 AM
Pauline Viardot (1821-1910)
Choeur bohemien
Olivia Robinson (soprano), Helen Neeves (soprano), BBC Singers, Elizabeth Burgess (piano), Stephen Jeffes (percussion), Christopher Bowen (percussion), Grace Rossiter (conductor)
03:39 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Divertimento in C major, London Trio no 1, Hob.4 no 1
Carol Wincenc (flute), Philip Setzer (violin), Carter Brey (cello)
03:48 AM
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Scherzo for piano in D minor, Op 10 no 1
Angela Cheng (piano)
03:53 AM
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
On hearing the first cuckoo in spring for orchestra, RT.
6.19
Symphony Nova Scotia, Georg Tintner (conductor)
04:01 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
O vis aeternitatis (Responsorium) for female voice
Sequentia, Elizabeth Gaver (fiddle), Elisabetta de Mircovich (fiddle)
04:10 AM
Traditional, arr. Narciso Yepes
Romanza for guitar
Stepan Rak (guitar)
04:17 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Nanie for chorus and orchestra, Op 82
Warsaw Philharmonic Chorus, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacek Kaspszyk (conductor)
04:31 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in D minor, L.413 - Allegro
Natalya Pasichnyk (piano)
04:33 AM
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in B minor, Kk.377
Natalya Pasichnyk (piano)
04:37 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Tu es Petrus - motet for 6 voices
Silvia Piccollo (soprano), Emmanuela Galli (soprano), Fabian Schofrin (alto), Marco Beasley (tenor), Daniele Carnovich (bass), Emmanuela Galli (soloist), Diego Fasolis (conductor)
04:43 AM
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
8 Instrumental miniatures for 15 instruments
Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Raffi Armenian (director)
04:51 AM
Hubert Parry
Lord, let me know mine end (no 6 from Songs of farewell for mixed voices)
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)
05:02 AM
Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944)
Flute Concertino, Op 107
Maria Filippova (flute), Ekaterina Mirzaeva (piano)
05:10 AM
Robert Kajanus (1856-1933)
Finnish Rhapsody no 1
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leif Segerstam (conductor)
05:20 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
He shall feed his flock (Messiah)
Marita Kvarving Solberg (soprano), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ketil Haugsand (conductor)
05:27 AM
Dorothy Howell (1898-1982)
Two Pieces for Muted Strings
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Michael Collins (conductor)
05:36 AM
François René Gebauer (1773-1845)
Trio in E minor for flute, clarinet & bassoon, Op 32 no 2
Andrea Kolle (flute), Fabio di Casola (clarinet), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon)
05:49 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Serenade no 1 in D, Op 11
Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Zermatt Music Festival Academy Students
FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m0027cyt)
Start the day with classical music
Petroc Trelawny presents Radio 3's award-winning classical breakfast show with the Friday poem and music that captures the mood of the morning. Email your requests to 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk. To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Breakfast.”
FRI 09:30 Essential Classics (m0027cyw)
Refresh your morning with classical music
Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.
1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.
1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.
1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.
1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.
1230 Album of the Week
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
FRI 13:00 Classical Live (m0027cyy)
Radio 3 New Generation Artists in concert and Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 9 in E minor
Tom McKinney presents specially recorded music from across the UK and Europe.
There will be a focus on BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists with a specially recorded recital from Birmingham. Pianist Elisabeth Brauss will perform Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.26, ‘Les Adieux’ and Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No.7, Op. 83.
Plus, Tom continues a week-long feature of music written by composers in their twilight years. Today we will hear Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 9 in E minor performed by the BBC Philharmonic and conducted by Andrew Davis.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.26, Op.81a, ‘Les Adieux’
Elisabeth Brauss (piano)
Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No.7, Op. 83
Elisabeth Brauss (piano)
Johannes Brahms
Tragic Overture
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Manze (conductor)
Sir Edward Elgar
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85
Julia Hagen, violoncello
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Axel Kober (conductor)
Edvard Grieg
String Quartet No.2 in F (Unfinished)
Opus13 Quartet
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Symphony No 9 in E minor
BBC Philharmonic
Andrew Davis (conductor)
Alexander Tsfasman
Jazz Suite
Zlata Chochieva (piano)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Karl-Heinz Steffens (conductor)
FRI 16:00 Composer of the Week (m0027cz0)
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
A Prophet
With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.
An embarrassing tooth, a difficult director, and a bunch of ice-skaters... In the final act of his adventures, our hero creates one of his most important works, 'Le Prophète', which won't be an easy ride. And in his private life, he tries to preserve his marriage while having to deal with difficult losses.
Le Prophète
Act III, Scene 12b. "Du sang !" (Chœur des Anabaptistes)
Chœur de l’Opéra National de Lyon
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Le Prophète
Act I, Scene 3 : La Prêche anabaptiste "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam"
Jerome Hines, bass
Jean Dupouy, tenor
Christian Du Plessis, baritone
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Henry Lewis, conductor
Le Prophète
Act IV, Scene 24b "Le voilà, le Roi Prophète !"
John Osborn, tenor
Chœur de l’Opéra National de Lyon
Maitrise des Bouches-du-Rhône
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Le Prophète
Act III. Ballet des patineurs [excerpts]: Waltz ; Redowa
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra
Michal Nesterowicz, conductor
Le Prophète
Act IV, Scene 24d : L’Exorcisme "Arrêtez !"
John Osborn, tenor
Elizabeth DeShong, mezzo-soprano
James Platt, bass
Valerio Contaldo, tenor
Guilhem Worms, bass-baritone
Choeur de L'Opéra National de Lyon
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Pater Noster
Rheinische Kantorei
Hermann Max, director
L’Étoile du Nord
Acte III, Scène 8. "Quel trouble affreux" (Danilowitz)
Pene Pati, tenor
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Emmanuel Villaume, director
Le Prophète
Act IV, Scene 23: Marche du sacre
Choeur de L'Opéra National de Lyon
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Julien Rosa
A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3
FRI 17:00 In Tune (m0027cz2)
Discover classical music and artists
Katie Derham has live music on In Tune with pianist Joseph Moog.
FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m0027cz4)
Half an hour of the finest classical music
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical favourites - Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary, Beethoven's first symphony arranged for flute and piano trio and Lehar's Vilja from The Merry Widow. There's also Morning Mood from Grieg's Peer Gynt, Purcell's Music For A While played by clarinet and double bass and Piazzolla's Libertango. Plus a lesser known gem by Doreen Carwithen - her Sonatina for piano.
Producer: Ian Wallington
FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m0027cz6)
Seen from Across the Channel
A French themed concert which features Radio 3 New Generation Artist Julius Asal, who joins conductor Michael Seal and the BBC Concert Orchestra in Ravel's Piano Concerto. Recorded last week at Alexandra Palace Theatre.
Presented by Sarah Walker.
Bizet, orch Lane Jeux d’enfants (excerpts)
Percy Fletcher 2 Parisian Sketches: Demoiselle chic; Bal masque
Alan Langford Aubade triste
Ravel Piano Concerto in G
INTERVAL
RR Bennett Suite francaise
Faure Pavane; Berceuse (Dolly Suite)
Ravel Jeux d’eau (solo piano)
Chaminade Pièce Romantique et Gavotte
Peter Hope Four French Dances
Julius Asal (piano)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Michael Seal (conductor)
FRI 21:45 The Essay (m0027cz8)
Musicians on the Couch
Lisztomania: Music, mood and mass hysteria!
Writer and music lover Amanda Dalton’s childhood was dominated by her love of playing the piano and loathing of the intensive psychoanalytical psychotherapy she underwent for five years. Coupled with her long personal interest in how the brain and the body work together, this series takes an unusual look at music.
The essays focus on human stories exploring interactions between music and a troubled mind, discussing some of the key historical and current thinking regarding the relationships between creative individuals with mental health challenges or damaged minds - and music. Some of these will be well known, some less so – all afford rich material to explore the themes. Always returning to the human and personal story, the series references the research and insights of neuroscientists and psychologists, such as Daniel Levitin, Oliver Sacks and Anthony Storr. As arguably the birthplace of psycho analysis and home to a multitude of iconic classical musicians – the starting point is Vienna.
Essay 5: Lisztomania: Music, mood and mass hysteria!
This final essay explores the power of music to alter mood and create powerful bodily sensations – to uplift us, make us smile, have us in floods of tears – and to trigger our memories of experiences we had thought we’d long forgotten. It explores the science and continuing mysteries behind how music can generate radically altered psychological states – often more powerfully than drugs and explores the roots and impact of the mass hysteria that accompanies the live appearances of some pop stars including Taylor Swift, the Beatles and – back in the day – Franz Liszt, in a phenomenon dubbed in 1844 by Heinrich Heine as Lisztomania. Music and togetherness, music and love and loss, music as a Proustian conjurer of vivid memory... the essay and the series concludes with a celebration of music’s mind-altering powers.
Amanda Dalton is a playwright, poet and essayist. She has three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books, most recently Fantastic Voyage (2024). Smith|Doorstop published a pamphlet of two long poems, Notes on Water, a version of which she re-created for two voices and soundscape for BBC Radio 3’s Between the Ears.
Amanda writes extensively for BBC Radio 3 and 4 including original drama, poetry-dramas, re-imaginings of silent movies and classic film, lyric essays and adaptations of fiction. Her theatre writing also includes text for outdoor and site-specific performance, and work for young people with commissions from Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Sheffield Theatres and Keswick’s Theatre By The Lake.
Until 2019 she was a senior leader at the Royal Exchange Theatre where she also worked as an Associate Artist, theatre maker and project director, in partnership with communities across the North West and beyond.
Alongside her work as a writer, Amanda designs and delivers a wide range of writing workshops, mentors a number of poets and playwrights, and regularly curates and co-delivers collaborative cross-artform projects, most recently with Wainsgate Dances, Manchester Camerata and Quarantine.
Her website is https://www.amandadalton.co.uk
Writer and reader: Amanda Dalton
Producer: Polly Thomas
Sound: Alisdair McGregor
Exec Producer: Chantal Herbert
A Thomas Carter Project production for BBC Radio 3
FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m0027czb)
Raphael Roginski and Milkweed in session
Verity Sharp shares the sounds of our latest exclusive collaboration session in which folk duo Milkweed met the guitarist Raphael Roginski.
Drawing on the historical landscape and roots music of Eastern Europe, as well as on blues, jazz and primitive guitar from America, the Polish guitarist, composer and musicologist Raphael Roginski is known for the intimacy and mysticism of his sound. Reinterpreting the works of John Coltrane and Bach on solo guitar, Roginski has gathered a reputation for his capacity to imaginatively travel through established musical forms to arrive at something totally new. His work has deep roots in Poland’s Jewish culture, a heritage he explores through the work of two of his bands, Shofar and Cukunft, while his recent album, Žaltys, explores Lithuanian folklore and nature.
Raphael is joined in session by the UK-based duo Milkweed. Moulded by a fascination with myth, legend and folklore, they arrive with freshly-made field recordings, tape players, a one hundred-year old banjo and pockets full of found instruments (including an elderly conker and a single bell). Their recent album Folklore 1979, recorded with a healthy dose of cassette fuzz, sets words from an old ‘70s edition of The Folklore Society's journal to the sounds of glitchy banjo and gentle drum-skin hits. These anonymous artists are musicians committed to invention and originality.
Elsewhere in the show, swarms of cello and violin from Berlin-based Max Andrzejewski, working with the 18-strong European Ensemble Resonanz; plus new music inspired by living in “a country that feels like a living ruin” from British jazz artist Elliot Galvin, with Ruth Goller on bass and Sebastian Rochford on drums; and there’s low frequency, vibrational noise courtesy of two Italian collaborators, Domiziano Maselli and Tommaso Rolando.
Produced by Cat Gough
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers, just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Late Junction”
FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m0020hzt)
corto.alto in session
Fridays on ‘Round Midnight feature conversation, mixtapes and live sessions.
Tonight corto.alto, the brainchild of Glasgow based trombonist, bassist, composer and producer Liam Shortall, perform live in studio.
After releasing debut album Bad With Names last year, Liam recently embarked on a marathon project called 30/108 - releasing 30 singles in 30 days.
Joined by Graham Costello on drums, Mateusz Sobieski on Tenor Sax and Alex Wesson on keys - Liam will perform four tracks for 'Round Midnight and talk to Soweto about his background and approach to making music.