SATURDAY 31 MAY 2025

SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002cc1j)
Pianist Mateusz Krzyżowski with the Polish Radio Orchestra

A concert featuring Mozart's Piano Concerto no.19 alongside his 'Jupiter' Symphony and Rossini's Overture to the Italian Girl in Algiers. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Overture to 'L'Italiana in Algeri'
Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)

12:39 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto no 19 in F major, K.459
Mateusz Krzyzowski (piano), Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)

01:08 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Etude in E minor, Op 25 no 5
Mateusz Krzyzowski (piano)

01:12 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 41 in C major, K.551 'Jupiter'
Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, Michal Klauza (conductor)

01:47 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581
Andrzej Ciepliński (clarinet), Royal String Quartet

02:19 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Lindoro's cavatina 'Languir per una bella' (from L' Italiana in Algeri)
Francisco Araiza (tenor), Capella Coloniensis, Gabriele Ferro (conductor)

02:27 AM
Marcin Swiatkiewicz
Improvised Fantasia
Marcin Swiatkiewicz (harpsichord)

02:31 AM
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967)
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op 7
Ilya Gringolts (violin), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello)

02:55 AM
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Symphony no 3 in G minor, Op 36
Bern Chamber Orchestra, Graziella Contratto (conductor)

03:31 AM
Anonymous
Gorzkie zale – Planctus de Passione for 2 sopranos, strings and continuo
Anna Mikolajczyk (soprano), Olga Pasiecznik (soprano), Concerto Polacco Baroque Orchestra, Arek Golinski (violin), Dymitr Olszewski (violin), Teresa Kaminska (cello), Marek Toporowski (organ), Marek Toporowski (director)

03:37 AM
Carlos Salzedo (1885-1961)
Variations sur un theme dans le style ancien, Op 30
Mojca Zlobko (harp)

03:48 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op 35 no 1
Sylviane Deferne (piano)

03:57 AM
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
Villanelle for horn and orchestra
Esa Tukia (horn), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Adelson (conductor)

04:04 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for 2 violins, 2 cellos & orchestra in D major, RV.564
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi (director)

04:15 AM
Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020)
Melody, from the film 'High Pass'
Andrej Bielow (violin), Anastasia Kobekina (cello), Jean-Selim Abdelmoula (piano)

04:19 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
An der schonen, blauen Donau - waltz for orchestra Op 314 'The Blue Danube'
BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)

04:31 AM
Paul de Schlozer (c.1841-1898)
Étude de concert in A flat major Op 1 no 2 for piano
Marc-Andre Hamelin (piano)

04:34 AM
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758)
Sonata in D minor
Amsterdam Bach Soloists, Wim ten Have (conductor)

04:44 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)

04:50 AM
Peter Warlock (1894-1930)
Serenade (to Frederick Delius on his 60th birthday)
Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)

04:58 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Alexei Tolstoy (author), Heinrich Heine (author), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (author)
3 Songs from Op 6: nos 4-6
Mikael Axelsson (bass), Niklas Sivelov (piano)

05:09 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony no 88 in G major, H.1.88
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (conductor)

05:30 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Piano Trio in G major, L.3
Ilya Gringolts (violin), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), Alexander Lonquich (piano)

05:53 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Come, ye sons of Art, away (Ode for the birthday of Queen Mary (1694), Z323)
Anna Mikolajczyk (soprano), Henning Voss (contralto), Robert Lawaty (counter tenor), Miroslaw Borczynski (bass), Sine Nomine Chamber Choir, Concerto Polacco Baroque Orchestra, Marek Toporowski (director)

06:17 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op 46 no 2
James Anagnoson (piano), Leslie Kinton (piano)

06:22 AM
Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912)
La Tristesse, Op 39
Anastasia Kobekina (cello), Jean-Selim Abdelmoula (piano)


SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002cr75)
Boost your morning with classical music

Emma Clarke presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


SAT 09:00 Saturday Morning (m002cr77)
Angela Hewitt joins Hannah French

Hannah French plays classical music to start your weekend.

Angela Hewitt joins Hannah to perform at the piano and to reflect on her career as she released her 50th album on the Hyperion label, plus other milestone moments this year.

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. This week, Irish composer Gerald Barry’s piece Mars Canon takes its inspiration from the Nasa Insight lander’s recording of sound on Mars and is recorded by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Saturday Morning”.


SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m001znsc)
Jools with music for Saturday lunchtime

In his new show for Saturday lunchtimes, 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 Dvorak, Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia and Dorothy Coates, with performances from Annie Fischer, Dr John and Marian Anderson. His guest is violinist, teacher and conductor Suzie Collier who introduces recordings including Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma performing Vivaldi and mandolinist Chris Thile playing Bach.


SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002cr79)
Harmony in Neurodiversity

Rachael Lander and Elizabeth Watts

Neurodivergence is more prevalent among musicians than the general population. Soprano Elizabeth Watts, who has ADHD, explores how neurodiversity influences the lives and creativity of fellow musicians. She is joined by cellist Rachael Lander, who also has ADHD, for a candid conversation about how their unique ways of thinking shape their experiences in music and life. Along the way, they share meaningful pieces that reflect their personal journeys.

Rachael shares several recordings where the composers or performers behaved in ways that resonate with her and the way her brain works. She also brings pieces that remind her of pivotal moments in her experience as an ADHD musician. Elizabeth reflects on two recordings where memorisation and repetition helped her in different ways.

Adding a scientific lens to the discussion, Professor Catherine Loveday offers explanations and insights into the relationship between neurodiversity and musical creativity.

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002cr7c)
Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 7 'Archduke' in Building a Library with Richard Wigmore & Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music.

1405
Lucy Parham makes her pick of the best new releases

1500
Richard Wigmore chooses his favourite recording of Beethoven's Piano Trio No 7 in B flat, Op 97 'Archduke'

Recommended recording:
Sitkovetsky Trio
BIS BIS2539

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 (m002cr7f)
Martial Arts

Matthew Sweet's weekly look at music for the screen. As the latest in the Karate Kid franchise is released, "Karate Kid Legends", Matthew focuses on music from martial arts films. Excerpts include films as diverse as scores from Lalo Schifrin's "Enter the Dragon", Tan Dun's music for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Raymond Wong's "Kung Fu Hustle", to animated movies such as "Kung Fu Panda" and Disney's "Mulan".


SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002cr7h)
Jess Gillam with... Vasily Petrenko

Jess Gillam shares favourite music with conductor Vasily Petrenko.

The St Petersburg-born conductor Vasily Petrenko established himself as one of the UK’s leading conductors with his highly successful tenure at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Currently he is Music Director of the London-based Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and in this programme he joins Jess to share some of his favourite music, giving a conductor’s insight into the big works of Shostakovich and Beethoven, and revealing more eclectic tastes with tracks by Björk and Pink Floyd. Jess, meanwhile, plays Vasily some Vivaldi and Duke Ellington, and music for saxophone and orchestra by the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho.

To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3”


SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002cr7k)
Rossini's The Barber of Seville

Live from the New York Metropolitan Opera, starring Aigul Akhmetshina as Rosina, Jack Swanson as her admirer Count Almaviva, and Andrey Zhilikhovsky as Figaro, the barber himself. An operatic feast of disguise and intrigue around an illicit elopement, all tied together with Rossini's fabulous tunes.

Presented from the Met by Debra Lew Harder, with commentator Anthony Roth Costanzo.

Rossini: The Barber of Seville
Figaro, the barber ..... Andrey Zhilikhovsky (baritone)
Rosina, Dr. Bartolo's ward ..... Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)
Count Almaviva ..... Jack Swanson (tenor)
Doctor Bartolo ..... Péter Kálmán (bass)
Don Basilio, music teacher ..... Alexander Vinogradov (bass)
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Conductor Giacomo Sagripanti

To listen on most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Opera on 3".


SAT 21:45 Music Planet (m002cr7m)
Peggy Seeger’s Return Journey

Lopa Kothari chooses tracks from her vast music collection, spanning from freshly-released Colombian cumbia from Houston-based band Son Bayoú, to Galician folk music with the new project from Carme López, Carmela. Plus, a special session track from Ghanean Fra Fra artist Florence Adooni with her band, recorded at the BBC’s Maida Vale earlier this month.

And, for our Return Journey feature, American folk icon Peggy Seeger guides us through two of her favourite tracks - one for the road, and one that reminds her of home - ahead of embarking on her final-ever tour, celebrating more than 70 years of music and activism.

Produced by Silvia Malnati and Fatuma Khaireh
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: “Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Planet.”


SAT 22:45 New Music Show (m002cr7p)
Laure M Hiendl and the musical landscape

Music by Laure M. Hiendl, performed by Collegium Novum Zürich, and recorded by Swiss Radio. 'Seht meine Wunden und an meinen Beinen, die Narben meiner Wunden' (See my wounds and on my legs, the scars of my wounds) takes as its inspiration Édouard Glissant's "Philosophy of World Relations", and deals with music-as-space.

And we hear more music from last year's Huddersfield Contemporary Music Show, as well as the latest new releases.

SUNDAY 01 JUNE 2025

SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002cr7r)
Dvořák and Richard Strauss

Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández is the soloist in Dvořák's Cello Concerto with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra at a concert in Turin. Richard Strauss's symphonic poems 'Tod und Verklärung' and 'Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche' complete the programme. Penny Gore presents.

12:31 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op 104
Pablo Ferrández (cello), RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Andrés Orozco-Estrada (conductor)

01:12 AM
Traditional Catalonia
El cant dels ocells (Song of the Birds)
Pablo Ferrández (cello)

01:16 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Tod und Verklärung, Op 24
RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Andrés Orozco-Estrada (conductor)

01:42 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op 28
RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Andrés Orozco-Estrada (conductor)

01:58 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Morgen, Op 27 no 4
Yvonne Kenny (soprano), Lazar Shuster (violin), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Kamirski (conductor)

02:02 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
4 Romantic pieces, Op 75
Elena Urioste (violin), Zhang Zuo (piano)

02:16 AM
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)
3 Piezas espanolas for guitar
Goran Listes (guitar)

02:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV131 (Cantata)
Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Sonia Prina (contralto), Krystian Adam (tenor), Christopher Purves (bass), Wroclaw Philharmonic Chorus, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (conductor)

02:55 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Quintet in A major 'The Trout', D.667
John Harding (violin), Ferdinand Erblich (viola), Stefan Metz (cello), Henk Guldemond (double bass), Menahem Pressler (piano)

03:29 AM
Johannes Verhulst (1816-1891)
Overture in C minor, 'Gijsbrecht van Aemstel', Op 3
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jac van Steen (conductor)

03:39 AM
Christian Gottfried Krause (1719-1770)
Trio Sonata in D minor
Flor Galante

03:46 AM
Miguel Yuste (1870-1947)
Estudio melodico for clarinet and piano, Op 33
Cristo Barrios (clarinet), Lila Gailing (piano)

03:54 AM
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Romance, Op 85
Adrien Boisseau (viola), Polish Sinfonia luventus Orchestra, Jose Maria Florencio (conductor)

04:04 AM
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869)
Le Chant du martyr - Grand caprice religieux (c.1854)
Lambert Orkis (piano)

04:11 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Alessandro (excerpt 'Solitudini amate')
Sophie Boulin (soprano), La Petite Bande, Sigswald Kuijken (director)

04:17 AM
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Norwegian Rhapsody no 1 in A minor
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud (conductor)

04:31 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Spiritus Sanctus vivificans vite, antiphon for solo voice
Sequentia

04:42 AM
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Louange à l'Éternité de Jésus (No 5, Quatuor pour la fin du temps)
Leonard Elschenbroich (cello), Zhang Zuo (piano)

04:51 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Nocturne in B major, Op 33 no 2
Stephane Lemelin (piano)

04:58 AM
Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909)
The Highlander's Fantasy, Op 17
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)

05:07 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto in F (RV.568) for violin, 2 oboes, 2 horns, bassoon & cello
Zefira Valova (violin), Anna Starr (oboe), Markus Muller (oboe), Anneke Scott (horn), Joseph Walters (horn), moni Fischaleck (bassoon), Les Ambassadeurs

05:20 AM
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), arr. Andrzej Bauer, Friedrich Ruckert (author)
Nun seh’ich wohl warum so dunkle Flammen (Kindertotenlieder)
Agata Zubel (soprano), Warsaw Cellonet Group, Andrzej Bauer (director)

05:26 AM
Lou Harrison (1917-2003)
Harp Suite
David Tanenbaum (guitar), William Winant (percussion), Scott Evans (percussion), Joel Davel (drums)

05:41 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Excerpts from Idomeneo: Overture (K.366), Chaconne & Pas Seul (K.367 nos 1 & 2)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (conductor)

06:00 AM
Albert Roussel (1869-1937)
Piano Trio in E flat major, Op 2
Tale Olsson (violin), Johanna Sjunnesson (cello), Mats Jansson (piano)


SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002cp02)
Start the day with classical music

Mark Forrest presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford with birdsong and the best in classical music. This week's dawn chorus is the unusual creaking call of our coastal puffin, with music including Elgar's Sea Pictures. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m002cp04)
Your perfect Sunday soundtrack

Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh.

It's officially June, and today Sarah’s soundtrack for your Sunday morning includes Poulenc’s bright, yet melancholy Flute Sonata, a concerto Richard Strauss composed for his father, and Purcell’s hypnotic Chacony in G minor.

There’s also a movement from Haydn’s sunny Symphony no.89, the joyful duet from close to the end of Bach’s cantata Wachet auf, and Jocelyn Pook’s evocative music for the 2004 film The Merchant of Venice.

Plus, Chopin tugs at the heartstrings...

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002cp06)
Neil Hannon

Neil Hannon is a singer, songwriter and the driving force behind the band The Divine Comedy, which he founded in 1989. Along with hit singles such as National Express, and 12 albums with the band, his music appears in an impressively varied range of settings – including original songs for the recent film Wonka, a chamber opera inspired by Tolstoy for Covent Garden, and the theme tune for the sitcom Father Ted.

Neil talks to Michael Berkeley about growing up in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland with a bishop for a father, writing his first pop song when he was 14, and how, as a self-described "pathetic twerp", he managed to make it in the pop world. His typically wide-ranging musical passions include works by Puccini, Stravinsky, Chopin and Ravel, alongside tracks by Michael Nyman, Kate Bush and Scott Walker.

Producer: Graham Rogers


SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002cp08)
A journey to Chaminade's Callirhoë Suite

Sara Mohr-Pietsch is our guide on a musical journey towards the ballet suite Callirhoë by the French composer Cécile Chaminade. Though she was celebrated internationally n her time - one of her pieces was chosen o be played at Queen Victoria's funeral - her music has been neglected since. Pointing the way we hear French dance music from the court at Versailles to the Folies Bergère; pieces by Chaminade's contemporaries Erik Satie and Claude Debussy; and Venus-inspired music from Gustav Holst and Miles Davis.

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say: "Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map."


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002cbw0)
St Davids Cathedral

From St Davids Cathedral for the Eve of the Ascension.

Introit: Introit for Ascension (Paul Edwards)
Responses: Leighton
Psalms 15, 24 (Hopkins, Barnby)
First Lesson: 2 Samuel 23 vv1-5
Office hymn: The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus)
Canticles: Dyson in D
Second Lesson: Colossians 2 v20 – 3 v4
Anthem: God is gone up (Finzi)
Hymn: Hail the day that sees him rise (Llanfair)
Voluntary: Choral No 3 in A minor (Franck)

Simon Pearce (Organist & Master of the Choristers)
Laurence John (Assistant Director of Music)

Recorded 19 May.

To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.


SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002cp0b)
Sunday Afternoon Jazz

Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles as requested by you including music from Miles Davis, Janette Mason, Ofri Nehemya and Japanese big band The Seatbelts.

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 (m002cp0d)
Orlando Gibbons

In the 400th year since the death of the English madrigalist and keyboard master Orlando Gibbons, Hannah French explores the composer's life and music, from his Oxford childhood to royal favour under King Charles I.


SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m002cp0g)
Coffee and Tea

Pop on the kettle and grab your favourite mug for a caffeinated edition of Words and Music, with music, poetry and writing inspired by coffee and tea. Featuring instructions from Douglas Adams on how to make the perfect cup of tea, the fragrant rituals of an Ethiopian coffee ceremony and Judith Kerr's rambunctious Tiger Who Came To Tea. We'll hear Tchaikovsky's Coffee and Tea dances from The Nutcracker, Shostakovich's Tahiti Trot arrangement of Tea for Two by Vincent Youmans, and Ella Fitzgerald's ode to Black Coffee. The Father Ted theme tune introduces an extract from 'Picnic on Craggy Island' by Lissa Evans about the comedic genius of Pauline McLynn, aka Mrs Doyle, and Florence Price's Adoration arranged for solo violin and string orchestra accompanies Thomas Hardy's poem 'At Tea', where domestic bliss is haunted by the love for another.

Our readers are Ariyon Bakare and Philippa Dunne.

There's also an additional reading by Jason Allen-Paisant from his memoir 'The Possibility of Tenderness', about the plants and people of his native district Coffee Grove in Jamaica, and Sarah Howe reads her own poem 'Porcelain Tea Caddy Painted in Underglaze Blue' reflecting on the Empire, trades and slavery.

Produced in Salford by Nancy Bennie

Readings:
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Untitled by Samuel Johnson
"Tea" from The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Beethoven as I Knew Him by Anton Schindler
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
Where the Wild Coffee Grows – The Untold Story of Coffee from the Cloud Forests of Ethiopia to Your Cup by Jeff Koehler
The Song of Tea by Lu T’ung
Camomile Tea by Katherine Mansfield
The Possibility of Tenderness by Jason Allen-Paisant
Porcelain Tea Caddy Painted in Underglaze Blue by Sarah Howe
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
In A Bath Teashop by John Betjeman
A Ballad of the Boston Tea-Party By Oliver Wendell Holmes
Procedure by Jo Shapcott
Coffee Ring by T.L. Evans
Picnic on Craggy Island – The Surreal Joys of Producing Father Ted by Lissa Evans
At Tea by Thomas Hardy


SUN 19:15 Sunday Feature (m001v4hl)
Classical Africa

Acclaimed South African double bassist, writer and broadcaster Leon Bosch explores if we can define a distinctively African form of 'Western classical' music.

Drawing from his own remarkable journey as a political activist who was locked up in jail in 1970s South Africa - and as someone who for decades sought to stand apart from his African musical heritage - Leon takes us on a journey of discovery through a rich and surprising array of African and European influences: a meeting point where musical and cultural hybrids are made.

He explores the wide kaleidoscope of influences in both directions - from Ayo Bankole and Akin Euba's 'African pianism' in West Africa to the rich array of North African compositions influenced by Arabic music, to the orchestras across the continent - such as the Pan African Orchestra and Zanzibar's Culture Musical Club - in which indigenous African and European art music traditions collide.

Leon also opens up fascinating and thorny questions about 'African-ness' in music, drawing from his own past. For several decades Leon didn't play South African music, owing to the trauma of the apartheid era. Now, he embraces it with gusto - and we hear him retrace that journey on location in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

He dismantles the idea of a single 'African' classical identity, and follows how different traditions in the east, west and south of Africa - not to mention the Arab-influenced north - have interplayed with colonial, cultural and political identities to create a unique and often overlooked thread of classical music making for more than two centuries.

Contributors include acclaimed musicologist Jon Silpayamanant, researcher and expert on musical hybridity Uchenna Ngwe, pianists Rebeca Omordia and Marouan Benabdallah and composers Aanu Sodipe and Edewede Oriwoh - with art music spanning the entire continent, from Nigeria to Algeria to South Africa.

Written and Presented by Leon Bosch
Produced by Steven Rajam
An Overcoat Media Production

Musical excerpts featured in the programme (in order):

Grant McLachlan - Sonatina for double bass and piano (1st movement)
Peter Klatzow - Concerto for marimba and string orchestra
Ayo Bankole - Variations for Little Ayo, for piano
Traditional Ethiopian Orthodox Church chant (St Yared Choir)
Michael Moerane - Fatse la heso (My Country)
Bongani Ndodana-Breen - Safika: Three Tales of African Migration for string quartet
Christian Onyeji - Ekele, for piano
Fela Sowande - African Suite for string orchestra: Akinla
Joshua Uzoigwe - Talking Drums, for piano
Ayo Bankole - Piano Sonata no.2 in C Major "The Passion"
Miriam Makeba / Jeffrey Ragavoy - Pata Pata (arr. for voice and orchestra)
Culture Musical Club - Binga Amekweda Kapa
Pan-African Orchestra - Yaa Yaa Kole
Bongani Ndodana-Breen - Flowers in the Sand, for piano
Camille Saint-Saens - Samson et Dalila
Gustav Holst - Beni Mora Suite for orchestra
Nabil Benabdeljalil - Nocturne no.1 for piano
Salim Dada - Five Miniatures, for string quartet
Paul Hanmer - Scratch Pad and Six, for double bass and piano
Grant McLachlan - Sonatina for double bass and piano (2nd movement)
Fela Sowande - African Suite for string orchestra: Joyful Day
Edewede Oriwoh - The Bright and Beautiful Continent
Fela Sowande - Folk Symphony
Foday Lassana Diabate - Sunjata's Time
Edewede Oriwoh - Play
Abdullah Ibrahim - Blue Bolero
Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto no.3 (1st movement)
Surendran Reddy - On The Run
Aanu Sodipe - Akorin
Grant McLachlan - Sonatina for double bass and piano (1st movement)


SUN 20:00 Brass Banding with Hannah Peel (m002cp0j)
Sweeney Todd and Acid Brass

Hannah discovers the diverse banding scene of North West England with a duo of pieces from two top bands. She drops in on the Wardle Academy Youth band in Rochdale to hear about the importance of encouraging young players, and hands over the reins to the students to pick a piece. Plus a beautiful duo for euphonium and marimba, a rousing performance of a Hubert Bath track, and a work inspired by images of the universe.

Produced by Olivia Swift
A Reform Radio production for BBC Radio 3


SUN 21:00 20th Century Radicals (m002cp0l)
Feldman: Tactile listening and surface tension

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore present BBC Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them. In this episode, Kate explores the sensuous, textural music of American composer Morton Feldman, leading to a full performance of one of his late masterpieces, 'Coptic Light' from 1985. Along the way, we’ll discover the concert that led to Feldman and John Cage becoming lifelong friends, visit a hippy haven in London for a lesson in listening and “anti-composition”, and encounter the painters who inspired Feldman to create his long-form and extremely quiet texturally-obsessed late works.

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

To listen on most smart speakers just say, “ask BBC Sounds to play 20th Century Radicals”


SUN 22:00 Ultimate Calm (m002bhw9)
Hania Rani: Series 4

Moving musical metamorphosis ft. Agnes Obel

Change and transformation happens in us and around us constantly, even if it is slow and subtle - from the changing of the seasons to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Embrace the spirit of transformation with Polish composer, pianist, and vocalist Hania Rani as she shares peaceful morphing musical selections that gently ebb, flow and change, with pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Sarah Davachi.

Plus, the Danish singer, songwriter and artist Agnes Obel shares her own definitions of calm in music, transporting us to not one but three safe havens.

Produced by Kit Callin
A Reduced Listening production


SUN 23:00 The Night Tracks Mix (m001cyp0)
Music for late-night listening

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 (m002cp0n)
Modulation Drifts

Join Elizabeth Alker with a selection of fresh music from genre-defying artists as we journey through landscapes of ambient and experimental sounds. Along the way, we'll hear from emerging independent producers whose work plays with orchestral textures and classical form as well as the latest sounds from a new generation of contemporary composers who look to embrace the spirit of rock, pop and electronica.

MONDAY 02 JUNE 2025

MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002cp0q)
Wagner and Bruckner

Leopold Hager conducts Hungarian mezzo-soprano Dorottya Láng and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Wagner's sensual Wesendonck Lieder, before the orchestra performs Bruckner's 3rd Symphony. Penny Gore presents.

12:31 AM
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Overture to 'Tannhäuser'
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Hager (conductor)

12:46 AM
Richard Wagner (1813-1883), Mathilde Wesendonck (author)
Wesendonck Lieder
Dorottya Lang (mezzo soprano), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Hager (conductor)

01:06 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony no 3 in D minor
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Hager (conductor)

02:00 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Ave Maria
Tallinn Boys Choir, Lydia Rahula (conductor)

02:04 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite no 1 in C major, BWV.1066
Musica Antiqua Koln, Reinhard Goebel (conductor)

02:31 AM
Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)
The Seasons (Op 67) - ballet in 1 act
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Kazuyoshi Akiyama (conductor)

03:08 AM
Paul Taffanel (1844-1908)
Wind Quintet in G minor
Andrea Kolle (flute), Silvia Zabarella (oboe), Fabio di Casola (clarinet), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Joan Bautista Bernat Sanchis (horn)

03:31 AM
Camilla de Rossi (fl.1707-1710)
Duol sofferto per Amore' (excerpt Sant'Alessio )
Martin Oro (counter tenor), Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)

03:38 AM
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Carnival in Paris, Op 9
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud (conductor)

03:51 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Trio sonata in G minor, Op 2 no 5
Musica Alta Ripa

04:01 AM
Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877-1960)
Symphonic Minutes, Op 36
Hungarian Radio Orchestra, Tamas Vasary (conductor)

04:16 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Rondo in C major, Op 73
Ludmil Angelov (piano)

04:25 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Sicut cervus - Like as the hart
Chorus of Swiss Radio, Lugano, Lorenzo Ghielmi (organ), Alberto Rasi (viola da gamba), Diego Fasolis (conductor)

04:31 AM
Johannes Bernardus van Bree (1801-1857)
Le Bandit (Overture)
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jac van Steen (conductor)

04:38 AM
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
Oboe Sonata in D major, Op 166
Roger Cole (oboe), Linda Lee Thomas (piano)

04:50 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Recorder Concerto in C major, TWV 51:C1
Giovanni Antonini (recorder), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (director)

05:06 AM
Gertrude van den Bergh (1793-1840)
Lied fur pianoforte
Frans van Ruth (piano)

05:11 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934), arr. Claude Rippas
St Paul's Suite, Op 29 no 2
Hexagon Ensemble

05:24 AM
Mathurin Forestier (fl.1500-1535)
Agnus Dei (Missa 'Baises moy')
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel (conductor)

05:29 AM
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
Suite no 2 for orchestra, Op 34a
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

05:57 AM
Cesar Franck (1822-1890)
Quintet in F minor M.7 for piano and strings
Silesian Quartet, Wojciech Switala (piano)


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002cp1y)
Wake up your senses with classical music

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m002cp20)
The ideal mix of classical music

Ian Skelly plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with 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”


MON 13:00 Classical Live (m002cp22)
Baritone Roderick Williams live from Wigmore Hall

Fiona Talkington begins a week of symphonic Mozart and Haydn from the BBC orchestras plus recordings from LSO St. Luke's of BBC New Generation Artist, cellist Andrei Ioniţă performing Bach cello suites and today's programme begins live from Wigmore Hall with baritone Roderick Williams, violinist Elena Urioste and pianist Tom Poster and a programme that includes two world premieres.

WIGMORE HALL LIVE
Introduced by Hannah French

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Sonata in A major, K. 305
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Two English Folksongs for voice and violin:
Searching for Lambs;
The Lawyer’
‘How Cold the Wind Doth Blow’
Tom Poster
Lost and Found for baritone, violin and piano (world premiere)
Roderick Williams
New work for baritone, violin and piano (world premiere)
Louis Spohr
Six Songs for baritone, violin and piano, Op. 154

Roderick Williams (baritone)
Elena Urioste (violin)
Tom Poster (piano)

*****

c14:00

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 62 in D major
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Ben Gernon (conductor)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV. 1011
Andrei Ioniţă (cello)

George Gershwin
An American in Paris
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Alain Altinoglu (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 27 in Bb, K. 595
Steven Osborne (piano)
Ulster Orchestra
David Danzmayr (conductor)


MON 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k1bh)
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Great Expectations

The musical circles of Paris are astounded by a brilliant young talent. Plus, Donald Macleod introduces us to Carmen, Bizet’s most fêted operatic creation.

Georges Bizet’s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. This week, Donald Macleod shows how Bizet’s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected – and that success can never be guaranteed!
Throughout the week, Donald also guides us through Bizet’s most celebrated work, Carmen – an opera famous for its Spanish heat, fractured passions and fabulous tunes.

Today, we see how Bizet’s talent quickly transported him from middle-class obscurity into Paris’s most elevated musical circles. Plus, in our first encounter with Carmen, we’re introduced to the title character: a fiery gypsy girl who bewitches all around her, yet who declares she cares nothing for love.

Carmen (extracts from Act 1)
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano (Carmen)
Roberto Alagna, tenor (Don José)
Nicolas Cavallier, bass-baritone (Zuniga)
Ludovic Tézier, baritone (Moralès)
La Lauzeta, Choeur d'enfants de Toulouse
Choeur 'Les Éléments'
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Michel Plasson

Symphony in C, II. Andante & III. Scherzo
Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Semyon Bychkov

Le Docteur Miracle: Overture
Orchestre Lyrique de Region Avignon Provence, Samuel Jean


MON 17:00 In Tune (m002cp25)
Live music and chat with classical artists

Katie Derham introduces live music from cellist Mats Lidström, who has written a new concerto. Plus the Artistic Director of Garsington Opera, Douglas Boyd, talks about a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades.


MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002cp27)
Classical music for focus or relaxation

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music including a mass for peace by Karl Jenkins, a nocturne by Chopin, and a Romanze by Weiner.

Tonight's classical mixtape opens with one of Dvorak's Cyprise for string quartet, an arrangement of his 12 songs from the Cyrpise song cycle. Bruckner brings us calm with one of his haunting graduals for choir, Os justi, gently drawing us in the fourth of Alice Mary Smith's 6 short pieces for piano. From there, Saint-Saens uplifts us with his Symphony in A major, before Jenkins prays for peace with the Benedictus from The Armed Man. Chopin reminds us of the time with his Nocturne in B major, before Leo Weiner shares his indulgent Romanze for cello, harp and string orchestra.

Producer: Zara Siddiqi


MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002cp29)
A mighty Haydn Mass from Glasgow

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and star soloists perform Brahms, Beethoven and Haydn.

Haydn wrote his Mass in D minor in 1798 as one of six liturgical settings late in his life. Written as soon as elaborate church music was allowed again after the Catholic Church lead by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II inhibited it in the years before. This outpouring was when Haydn was at his peak of musical powers, but was written in a world of turmoil. The same year, Nelson beat the French military campaigner Napoleon in the battle of the Nile, and the piece got its name. The Mass moves from menacing drama to triumphant victory in what’s generally considered the composer’s most expressive music. The orchestra is joined by four star soloists and the SCO chorus to bring this amazing work to life.

The concert begins with Brahms’s tribute to Haydn. This lyrical theme and variations set the scene for Beethoven's stormy and dramatic piano concerto No 3. The soloist is South Korean pianist Yeo Eum Son, known for her profound musical insights which will take us deep into this world of C minor and beyond.

Recorded on 9th May 2025 at the City Halls in Glasgow. Presented by Kate Molleson.

Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn (St Anthony Chorale)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor

Interval

Haydn: Mass in D minor (Nelson)

Yeol Eum Son (piano)
Anna Dennis (soprano)
Katie Bray (mezzo-soprano)
Anthony Gregory (tenor)
Neal Davies (bass-baritone)
Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus (chorus director: Gregory Batsleer)
Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor)

To listen on most smart speakers just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".


MON 21:45 The Essay (m002cp2c)
An Actor's Life - Kenneth Cranham

1: The Early Years

Actor Kenneth Cranham expounds entertainingly on a life in acting in conversation with friend and colleague Neil Dudgeon. From an early performance in the 1968 film Oliver to winning an Olivier award for the title role in the hit play The Father in the West End, Cranham has worked with an amazing array of writers, directors and actors over his sixty-year career. In this first episode of five, Cranham talks about the early years including his good fortune in going to Tulse Hill Comprehensive, where he met an inspirational teacher who would have a significant impact on his life.

Kenneth Cranham's career is a privileged lens on the recent history of British theatre and screen. A friend of playwrights Orton, Pinter, and Bond, he was at the epicentre of the radical shift in theatre in the sixties and seventies. The lead role in Shine on Harvey Moon on ITV - the story of an East End family rebuilding itself in post-war Britain - brought him public recognition and a place at a different table. In later years, Cranham has been lauded for leading stage roles like the title characters in An Inspector Calls and The Father and has worked almost constantly in film and television, playing a wide gamut of roles from authority figures to working class heroes to members of the criminal underclass.

A fluent and passionate speaker, Cranham’s account of his life and work offers a thrilling perspective on the last sixty years of British drama.

An Actor's Life: Kenneth Cranham is a Hooley Production, supported by Pimmyompim Productions Limited.


MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m002cp2g)
Eclectic music for after dark

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 (m002cp2j)
Poppy Daniels’ 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.

This week Soweto is joined by one-to-watch trumpeter Poppy Daniels. A core part of London’s jazz community, Poppy has worked with artists including Blue Lab Beats, Daniel Casimir, Celeste, and Jordan Rakei. She is now stepping out as a solo artist, drawing influences from jazz, hip hop and Latin music traditions into her unique sound.

From Monday to Thursday this week, Poppy will be highlighting some of the artists who are “living legends” that she is influenced by, for Flowers. Tonight Poppy gives her first bouquet to an American trumpeter widely celebrated for his musical inventiveness.

Plus there’s music from Ellen Beth Abdi, Valaida Snow, and Alexander Hawkins.

TUESDAY 03 JUNE 2025

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002cp2l)
Bartók and Brahms from Cologne

The WDR Symphony Orchestra and conductor Cristian Măcelaru are joined by pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in a performance of the Piano Concerto no 1 by Brahms. The concert concludes with Bartók's last orchestral work, his celebrated Concerto for Orchestra. Penny Gore presents.

12:31 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto no 1 in D minor, Op 15
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)

01:15 AM
Alfred Grunfeld (1852-1924)
Soirée de Vienne, Op 56 for piano (Concert Paraphrase from Strauss Waltzes)
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)

01:20 AM
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
Concerto for Orchestra, Sz 116
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)

01:58 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
4 Songs for women's voices, 2 horns and harp, Op 17
Danish National Radio Choir, Leif Lind (horn), Per McClelland Jacobsen (horn), Catriona Yeats (harp), Stefan Parkman (conductor)

02:13 AM
Bela Bartok (1881-1945), arr. Endre Gertler
Sonatina
Barnabas Kelemen (violin), Zoltan Kocsis (piano)

02:17 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Overture to 'William Tell'
Munich Chamber Orchestra, Pablo Heras-Casado (conductor)

02:31 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Kinderszenen for piano, Op 15
Eun-Soo Son (piano)

02:50 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Tapiola, Op 112
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Kolbjorn Holthe (conductor)

03:08 AM
Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674)
Dixit Dominus
Capella Regia Musicalis, Robert Hugo (organ), Robert Hugo (director)

03:22 AM
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)
Symphony (after Ovid's Metamorphoses) no 3 in G major
La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider (director)

03:41 AM
Jan Cikker (1911-1989)
Ten Lullabies on Texts of a Folksong
Eva Suskova (soprano), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Kokos (conductor)

03:54 AM
Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
Rondeau: Le Tic-toc-choc (or Les maillotins)
Colin Tilney (harpsichord)

03:57 AM
Bosse Nordin (b.1971)
Schottis
Young Danish String Quartet

04:00 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Trio in F major for 2 flutes and continuo
Karl Kaiser (flute), Michael Schneider (flute), Rainer Zipperling (cello), Harald Hoeren (harpsichord)

04:09 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony for string orchestra no 10 in B minor
Risor Festival Strings

04:20 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Two Nocturnes, Op 32 (no 1 in B major; no 2 in A flat major)
Kevin Kenner (piano)

04:31 AM
Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857)
Ruslan i Lyudmila (overture)
KBS Symphony Orchestra, Hubert Soudant (conductor)

04:37 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Stabat Mater
Camerata Silesia - Katowice City Singers, Anna Szostak (director)

04:47 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in F major, Wq. 175
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Swiatkiewicz (harpsichord)

04:57 AM
John Wilbye (1574-1638)
Draw on, sweet night (the second set of madrigals)
Ensemble Daedalus, Roberto Festa (director)

05:01 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Friedrich Ruckert (author), arr. Max Reger
Du bist die Ruh (D.776), arr. Reger for voice and orchestra
Brigitte Fournier (soprano), National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Semkow (conductor)

05:06 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Trio in B flat major, K 502
Amatis Piano Trio

05:30 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
The Sleeping Beauty suite, Op 66a
Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Ondrej Lenard (conductor)

05:50 AM
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Piano Sonata no 2 in E flat major, Op 13
Antonio Pompa-Baldi (piano)

06:11 AM
Marcin Leopolita (? - 1589)
Missa Paschalis
Barbara Janowska (soprano), Wanda Laddy (soprano), Robert Lawaty (counter tenor), Cezary Szyfman (baritone), Michal Straszewski (bass), Il Canto


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002cp67)
The finest classical music to elevate your morning

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


TUE 09:30 Essential Classics (m002cp69)
Refresh your morning with classical music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

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 (m002cp6c)
Haydn and Mozart concertos and symphonies plus R3 New Generation Artists in concert

Fiona Talkington introduces performances of Haydn and Mozart symphonies and concertos, plus highlights from recent chamber concerts at LSO St Luke's with Radio 3 New Generation Artists Aleksey Semenenko, Andrei Ioniță and Alim Beisembayev.
Also in today's programme another chace to catch this week's Radio 3 newly commissioned piece marking events from the first 25 years of the 21st Century. Today a new work from Irish composer Gerald Barry inspired by NASA's ventures to Mars.

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 6 in D major, ‘Le Matin’
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Rachel Podger (violin/director)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Partita in A Minor, BWV. 1013
Rachel Podger (violin)
Lucie Horsch (recorder)

Johannes Brahms
Piano Trio No 1 in B major, Op. 8
Aleksey Semenenko (violin)
Andrei Ioniță (cello)
Alim Beisembayev (piano)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 18 in Bb, K.456
Martin Roscoe (piano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Ben Gernon (conductor)

Béla Bártok
Dance Suite
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Peter Eotvos (conductor)

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 92 in G major 'Oxford'
Ulster Orchestra
Ben Gernon (conductor)


TUE 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k1fm)
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Roman Holiday

Bizet’s naïve hero, Don José, falls under Carmen’s alluring spell. With Donald Macleod.

Georges Bizet’s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. This week, Donald Macleod shows how Bizet’s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected – and that success can never be guaranteed!
Throughout the week, Donald also guides us through Bizet’s most celebrated work, Carmen – an opera famous for its Spanish heat, fractured passions and fabulous tunes.

Today, Donald follows Bizet to Rome where, living way from home for the first time, he’s determined to gorge himself on all the many pleasures that Italy has to offer a young man. Plus we reach the second part of Carmen’s Act 1: Corporal Don José plans to marry his sweetheart but he finds himself unable to resist when the gypsy temptress, Carmen, demands his allegiance.

L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2 (arr. Guirand), IV. Farandole
Musiciens du Louvre, Les, Grenoble Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Marc Minkowski

Te Deum,, III. Te Ergo Quaesumus & IV. Fiat Misericordia Tua
Angela Maria Blasi, soprano
Christian Elsner, tenor
Münchner MotettenChor
Munich Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hans Rudolf Zöbeley

Carmen (extracts from Act 1)
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano (Carmen)
Roberto Alagna, tenor (Don José)
Inva Mula, soprano (Micaëla)
Nicolas Cavallier, bass-baritone (Zuniga)
Choeur 'Les Éléments'
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Michel Plasson

Roma, II. Allegro Vivace & III. Andante molto
Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Paavo Järvi


TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002cp6g)
Ease into your evening with classical music

Katie Derham has live music from the pianist, Boris Giltburg. Plus composer-conductor Eimear Noone performs Video Games in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.


TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002cp6j)
The perfect classical half hour

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music, including music by Chaminade, Glinka and Mozart.


TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002cp6l)
Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet'

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk in Lili Boulanger's Psalm 130, James MacMillan's The Sacrifice, and Prokofiev's kaleidoscopic Romeo and Juliet.

Recorded on the 16th May 2025 at the Barbican. Presented by Ian Skelly.

Lili Boulanger: Psalm 130 'Du fond de l'abîme'(24 mins)
Sir James MacMillan: Three Interludes from 'The Sacrifice'

Interval

Sergey Prokofiev: Excerpts from 'Romeo and Juliet'

Marta Fontanals-Simmons (mezzo-soprano)
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk (conductor)

“How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears!” Shakespeare’s tragic lovers have inspired composers for centuries, but there’s still no interpretation of their tale that quite surpasses Prokofiev’s great Soviet ballet-score: Romeo and Juliet retold in music that’s as sharp as a rapier and as tender as a kiss.

It’s perfect for Dima Slobodeniuk, an artist whose flair for drama is matched only by his deep personal affinity with Russian music. First, though, experience the epic passion and blazing grandeur of Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 130 – the single mightiest achievement by the composer whose untimely death in 1918 robbed the 20th century of one of its most brilliant musical minds. A gripping complement to Prokofiev’s star-crossed passion.


TUE 21:45 The Essay (m002cp6n)
An Actor's Life - Kenneth Cranham

2. Joe Orton and Edward Bond

Actor Kenneth Cranham expounds entertainingly on a life in acting in conversation with friend and colleague Neil Dudgeon. From an early performance in the 1968 film Oliver to winning an Olivier award for the title role in the hit play The Father in the West End, Cranham has worked with an amazing array of actors, writers and directors over his sixty-year career.

In this second episode of five, Cranham talks about his relationship with the playwrights Joe Orton and Edward Bond, both of whom Cranham knew well, appearing in early productions of several of their plays, but he was close friends with Joe Orton.

Kenneth Cranham's career is a privileged lens on the recent history of British theatre and screen. He was at the epicentre of the radical shift in theatre in the sixties and seventies.

In this episode, Cranham talks about his relationship with playwrights Joe Orton and Edward Bond.

A fluent and passionate speaker, Cranham’s account of his life and work offers a thrilling perspective on the last sixty years of British drama.

An Actor's Life: Kenneth Cranham is a Hooley Production supported by Pimmyompim Productions Limited.


TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m002cp6q)
Meditative music for night owls

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.


TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002cp6s)
Something from Ponyland

‘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.

Soweto spins a release from the Newcastle-based punk, afrobeat, punk jazz band Ponyland.

Rising trumpeter Poppy Daniels has a second bouquet of Flowers to give to an artist she admires, and tonight she chooses a peer and powerhouse bassist.

There’s also music from Yazz Ahmed, Kurtis Li, and Tom Lyne.

WEDNESDAY 04 JUNE 2025

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002cp6v)
American Sounds

Alison Balsom plays Wynton Marsalis's Trumpet Concerto, alongside music by Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland's Third Symphony. Cristian Măcelaru conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Penny Gore presents.

12:31 AM
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Essay for Orchestra no 1, Op 12
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)

12:40 AM
Wynton Marsalis (b.1961)
Trumpet Concerto
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)

01:14 AM
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Symphony no 3
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)

01:57 AM
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
In the Beginning
Katarina Bohm (mezzo soprano), Swedish Radio Choir, Tonu Kaljuste (conductor)

02:15 AM
Ned Rorem (1923-2022)
Cries and whispers for trumpet and piano
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Alasdair Beatson (piano)

02:22 AM
Artie Matthews (1888-1959)
Pastime Rags (1913-20): Slow Drags no 2
Donna Coleman (piano)

02:27 AM
George Gershwin (1898-1937), Earl Wild (1915-2010)
Embraceable You
Francesco Piemontesi (piano)

02:31 AM
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Clarinet Quartet in E flat major
Martin Frost (clarinet), Tobias Ringborg (violin), Ingegerd Kierkegaard (viola), John Ehde (cello)

02:58 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Dixit Dominus in D major, RV.595
Choir of Latvian Radio, Riga Chamber Players, Sigvards Klava (conductor)

03:29 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), arr. Ferruccio Busoni
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV.565
Valerie Tryon (piano)

03:37 AM
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Overture to 'Les Vêpres siciliennes'
WDR Radio Orchestra, Rasmus Baumann (conductor)

03:47 AM
Paul Juon (1872-1940)
Fairy Tale for cello and piano in A minor, Op 8
Esther Nyffenegger (cello), Desmond Wright (piano)

03:52 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
3 Songs: 'Liebesbotschaft', 'Heidenroslein' and 'Litanei auf das Fest'
Bryn Terfel (bass baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

04:02 AM
Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764)
Concerto for violin in E flat major, Op 7 no 6 "Il Pianto d'Arianna"
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi (director)

04:16 AM
Walter Gieseking (1895-1956)
Chaconne on a Theme by Scarlatti after Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K.32
Joseph Moog (piano)

04:24 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
An Imaginary journey to the Faroes, FS 123
Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, Kristjan Jarvi (conductor)

04:31 AM
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909), arr. unknown
Cuba (Suite espanola no 1, Op 47 no 8)
Tomaz Rajteric (guitar)

04:37 AM
Juan Crisostomo Arriaga (1806-1826)
Los Esclavos Felices - overture
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Juanjo Mena (conductor)

04:44 AM
Nicola Matteis Jr. (c.1675-1737)
Passaggio rotto and Fantasia, from 'Ayres for the Violin, Part II'
Eva Saladin (violin)

04:50 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924), orch. Jon Washburn
Messe Basse
Henriette Schellenberg (soprano), Vancouver Chamber Choir, CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Jon Washburn (conductor)

05:00 AM
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)
Three Polonaises (from 12 Polonaises F.12 for keyboard)
Dirk Borner (harpsichord)

05:09 AM
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
Concertino in the Classical Style, Op 3, for piano and chamber orchestra
Horia Mihail (piano), Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, Horia Andreescu (conductor)

05:26 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Preludes (excerpts books 1 & 2)
Francesco Piemontesi (piano)

05:47 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in D major, Op 64 no 5 (Hob.III.63) "Lark"
Bartok String Quartet

06:04 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Concerto for flute and strings in G major, Wq.169
Robert Aitken (flute), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)


WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002cp5h)
Kickstart your day with the best classical music

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


WED 09:30 Essential Classics (m002cp5k)
A classical soundtrack for your morning

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

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 (m002cp5m)
Radio 3 New Generation Artists Andrei Ioniță and Alim Beisembayev perform Brahms

Fiona Talkngton brings highlights from recent concerts given by Radio 3 New Generation Artists, cellist Andrei Ioniță and pianist Alim Beisembayev recorded at LSO St Luke's. Today the two present one of the great cello sonatas of the Romantic era - by Brahms. Also today, continuing the week's focus on symphonies and concertos by Haydn and Mozart a chance to hear Haydn's Symphony No. 53 which took 18th Century London by storm.

Divertimento in D major, K136
Ulster Orchestra
Ben Gernon (conductor)

Julien Joubert
Aquarelles - No. 1 'Green'
BBC Singers
Sofi Jeannin (conductor)

Johannes Brahms
Cello Sonata No 2 in F major, Op. 99
Andrei Ioniță (cello)
Alim Beisembayev (piano)

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No.53 in D major, 'L’Impériale”
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Ben Gernon (conductor)

Georg Phillip Telemann
Sonata in G major (Zwanzigste Lektion des ‘Getreue Musik-Meisters’)
Rachel Podger (violin)
Lucie Horsch (recorder)

George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Alain Altinoglu (piano/conductor)


WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002cp5p)
Canterbury Cathedral

Live from Canterbury Cathedral to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Orlando Gibbons.

Introit: Almighty and everlasting God (Gibbons)
Responses: Smith
Psalms 22, 23 (Camidge, Parisian tone)
First Lesson: Numbers 23 vv13-30
Canticles: Second Service (Gibbons)
Second Lesson: Luke 8 vv16-25
Anthem: O clap your hands (Gibbons)
Hymn: Morning glory, starlit sky (Song 13)
Voluntary: A fancy for a double orgaine (Gibbons)

David Newsholme (Director of Music)
Jamie Rogers (Assistant Director of Music)

To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.


WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k1dn)
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Reality bites

Bizet returns to Paris determined to conquer the city’s opera houses. Plus, in Act 2 of Carmen, our heroine seems to be falling for José, but several others are competing for her attention. With Donald Macleod.

Georges Bizet’s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. This week, Donald Macleod shows how Bizet’s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected – and that success can never be guaranteed!
Throughout the week, Donald also guides us through Bizet’s most celebrated work, Carmen – an opera famous for its Spanish heat, fractured passions and fabulous tunes.

Today, Bizet realises that, if he’s going to make it as an opera composer, he’ll need to win the approval of Paris’s powerful theatre impresarios. He produces what’s become one of his most beloved melodies, his Pearl Fishers duet, but will it impress the right people? Plus, we reach Act 2 of Carmen and meet the flamboyant bullfighter, Escamillo, who introduces himself with the famous Toreador’s chorus.

Les Pêcheurs de Perles: Prélude & Chorus “Sur la grève en feu où dort le flot bleu”
Les Cris de Paris
Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch

Vasco da Gama: Aria, “Ouvre ton Coeur”
Olga Peretyatko (soprano)
NDR Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Enrique Mazzola

Les Pêcheurs de Perles: Duet,“Au fond du temple saint”
Cyrille Dubois, tenor (Nadir)
Florian Sempey, baritone (Zurga)
Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch

Carmen (excerpts from Act 2)
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano (Carmen)
Roberto Alagna, tenor (Don José),
Thomas Hampson, bass-baritone (Escamillo)
Elizabeth Vidal, soprano (Frasquita)
Isabelle Cals, soprano (Mercédès)
Nicolas Cavallier, bass-baritone (Zuniga)
Ludovic Tézier, baritone (Moralès)
Nicolas Rivenq, baritone (Le Dancaïre)
Yann Beuron, tenor (Le Remendado)
Choeur 'Les Éléments'
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Michel Plasson


WED 17:00 In Tune (m002cp5s)
Classical music live from the BBC

Katie Derham is joined for live music by trumpeter Mike Lovatt and his Brass Pack. Plus, the Artistic Director of the Northern Aldborough Festival has a new singing competition. Soprano Judith le Breuilly performs.


WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002cp5v)
30 minutes of classical inspiration

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.


WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002cp5x)
Mahler's 5th Symphony

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales are joined by conductor Martyn Brabbins to close their concert season with a performance of Mahler's towering 5th Symphony in Birmingham Symphony Hall. Mahler wrote the work after a near-fatal haemorrhage, and the influence of Bach who he studied while recuperating, is evident in the masterful orchestral writing. Before the interval, the Orchestra are joined by violinist James Ehnes to perform Bartok's First Violin Concerto, a luscious late-romantic love letter to an unrequited love which was written only 6 years after Mahler's Fifth Symphony, but not published until after Bartok's death.

Presented by Ian Skelly and recorded in Birmingham Symphony Hall on the 29th of May.

Bartok: Violin Concerto No 1, Sz 36
Mahler: Symphony No 5

James Ehnes (violin)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)


WED 21:45 The Essay (m002cp5z)
An Actor's Life - Kenneth Cranham

3. Harold Pinter

Actor Kenneth Cranham expounds entertainingly on a life in acting in conversation with friend and colleague Neil Dudgeon. From an early performance in the 1968 film Oliver to winning an Olivier award for the title role in the hit play The Father in the West End, Cranham has worked with an amazing array of actors, writers and directors over his sixty-year career. In this third episode of five, Cranham talks about his work and friendship with Harold Pinter.

Kenneth Cranham's career is a privileged lens on the recent history of British theatre and screen. A friend of playwrights Orton, Pinter, and Bond, he was at the epicentre of the radical shift in theatre in the sixties and seventies.

A fluent and passionate speaker, Cranham’s account of his life and work offers a thrilling perspective on the last sixty years of British drama.

An Actor's Life: Kenneth Cranham is a Hooley Production supported by Pimmyompim Productions Limited.


WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m002cp61)
Blissful sounds for after-hours

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 (m002cp63)
Fresh from Finn Rees and Allysha Joy

‘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.

The long-term collaborator duo Finn Rees and Allysha Joy are back with a heady new release.

Poppy Daniels returns with her third Flowers pick of the week, and tonight she gives brass appreciation to an Australian trumpeter, producer and multi-instrumentalist.

Plus there’s music from Amanda Whiting, Jaleel Shaw, and Binker Golding.

THURSDAY 05 JUNE 2025

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002cp65)
Rameau, Handel, Farrenc and Mozart

Bernhard Forck conducts the German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin in works by Rameau, Handel, Louise Farrenc and Mozart, joined by Austrian-English soprano Anna Prohaska. Penny Gore presents.

12:31 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Music for the Royal Fireworks in D, HWV.351
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Bernhard Forck (conductor)

12:49 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Suite and Arias from 'Dardanus'
Anna Prohaska (soprano), German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Bernhard Forck (conductor)

01:22 AM
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Symphony no 1 in C minor, Op 32
German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Bernhard Forck (conductor)

01:55 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Exsultate, jubilate, K.165
Anna Prohaska (soprano), German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, Bernhard Forck (conductor)

02:09 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Minuet in D major, K.355
Fou Ts’ong (piano)

02:11 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Various Works
Anna Prohaska (soprano), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Camerata Bern

02:31 AM
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Octet for strings in A major, Op 3
Atle Sponberg (violin), Joakim Svenheden (violin), Aida-Carmen Soanea (viola), Adrian Brendel (cello), Vertavo String Quartet

03:08 AM
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)
Flute Concerto
Sharon Bezaly (flute), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Jose Maria Florencio (conductor)

03:28 AM
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
3 Preludes (1926): No 1 in B flat; No 2 in C sharp minor; No 3 in E flat
Bengt-Ake Lundin (piano)

03:35 AM
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (c.1739-1799)
Ballet music (L'amant anonyme)
Tafelmusik Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

03:42 AM
Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594)
Pelli meae consumptis carnibus
King's Singers

03:50 AM
Joseph Jongen (1873-1953)
Elegie nocturnale (Très modéré) Op 95 no 1 - from 2 pieces for Piano Trio
Grumiaux Trio

04:02 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome, Op 54
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Stuart Challender (conductor)

04:12 AM
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord in D major, A 2:50
Krzysztof Firlus (viola da gamba), Anna Firlus (harpsichord)

04:22 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Sonatina, Romance and Menuet from Six petites pieces faciles, Op 3 nos 1, 2 & 3
Antra Viksne (piano), Normunds Viksne (piano)

04:31 AM
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
Romanian folk dances Sz.68 orch. from Sz.56 (Orig. for piano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, James Clark (conductor)

04:38 AM
Emil Sjogren (1853-1918)
Two Lyrical Pieces
Per Enoksson (violin), Peter Nagy (piano)

04:49 AM
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Two songs (Suleika; Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh)
Sophie Klussmann (soprano), Gilles Vonsattel (piano)

04:54 AM
Johann Gottlieb Graun (c.1702-1771)
Sinfonia in B flat major, GraunWV A:XII:27
Kore Orchestra, Andrea Buccarella (harpsichord)

05:03 AM
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Aria Quarta in G minor
Bernard Winsemius (organ)

05:10 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Oboe Concerto in A minor
Matthias Arter (oboe), I Tempi Chamber Orchestra, Gevorg Gharabekyan (conductor)

05:29 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Marienlieder, Op 22
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)

05:47 AM
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Romeo and Juliet, Op 18
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, John Storgards (conductor)

06:01 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 32 in C minor, Op 111
Tatjana Ognjanovic (piano)


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002cp6x)
Embrace the morning calm of classical music and birdsong

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m002cp6z)
The very best of classical music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

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”


THU 13:00 Classical Live (m002cp71)
Radio 3 New Generation Artists perform Debussy and Shostakovich

Debussy's Cello Sonata and Shostakovich's early Piano Trio from Radio 3 New Generation Artists at LSO St. Luke's feature today in a programme which also includes music by Strauss, Haydn and Dawson. Introduced by Mark Forrest.

Richard Strauss
Don Juan, Op. 20
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Roderick Cox (conductor)

William Levi Dawson
Folk Symphony
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Roderick Cox (conductor)

Claude Debussy
Cello Sonata in D minor
Andrei Ioniță (cello)
Alim Beisembayev (piano)

Edvard Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Alexander Gavrylyuk (piano)
Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra
Roderick Cox (conductor)

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 71 in Bb major
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Jack Sheen (conductor)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Toccata and Fugue BWV. 565 (arr. Chad Kelly)
Rachel Podger (violin)

Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano Trio No 1 in C minor, ‘Poème’ , Op. 8
Aleksey Semenenko (violin)
Andrei Ioniță (cello)
Alim Beisembayev (piano)


THU 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k1fg)
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Love and War

Bizet falls in love and enlists as a soldier. Meanwhile, in Act 3 of Carmen, love turns to regret and recrimination. Presented by Donald Macleod.

Georges Bizet’s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. This week, Donald Macleod shows how Bizet’s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected – and that success can never be guaranteed!
Throughout the week, Donald also guides us through Bizet’s most celebrated work, Carmen – an opera famous for its Spanish heat, fractured passions and fabulous tunes.

Today, Bizet decides he’s ready to marry. The Prussians march towards Paris and he joins the army. In Act 3 of Carmen, corporal Don José has deserted his post to follow Carmen and her smuggler friends into the mountains. Carmen is quickly tiring of José's attentions and she’s filled with foreboding after seeking their fortune in the tarot cards.

La jolie fille de Perth: choeur de la Saint-Valentin (Act 4)
Chœur de Radio France
Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique, conducted by Georges Prêtre

Variations chromatiques
Julia Severus (piano)

Carmen (excerpts from Act 3)
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano (Carmen)
Roberto Alagna, tenor (Don José),
Thomas Hampson, bass-baritone (Escamillo)
Inva Mula, soprano (Micaëla)
Elizabeth Vidal, soprano (Frasquita)
Isabelle Cals, soprano (Mercédès)
Nicolas Rivenq, baritone (Le Dancaïre)
Yann Beuron, tenor (Le Remendado)
Choeur 'Les Éléments'
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Michel Plasson

Jeux d'enfants: No 3 ‘La poupée’ & No 2 ‘La toupee’
Katia Labèque (piano), Marielle Labèque (piano)


THU 17:00 In Tune (m002cp74)
Live music and news from the world of classical

Katie Derham is joined by the pianist Alim Beisembayev, as he prepares to make his solo debut at the Southbank Centre. Plus, one of ECHO's Rising Stars - violist Sao Soulez Lariviere - performs live ahead of his concert at St Giles Cripplegate.


THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002cp76)
Switch up your listening with classical music

Take 30 minutes to immerse yourself in a rich soundscape of classical music. Tonight's mixtape opens with Ginastera’s first movement from his Suite de Danzas Criollas, infused with the energy of Argentina’s Creole musical heritage. Next, Lauridsen’s ethereal Lux Aeterna enchants with its shimmering choral textures, followed by Borodin’s heartfelt second String Quartet—a musical love letter to his wife. Florence Price then transports us to America with her evocative and lesser-known first Violin Concerto. Tchaikovsky sweeps us away with the dramatic Panorama scene from his Sleeping Beauty Suite. Tonight's mixtape concludes with the finale of Rosalind Ellicott's Piano Trio in G minor - an often times overlooked example of late-Romantic chamber elegance.

Producer: Zara Siddiqi


THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002cp78)
Richard Strauss's Alpine Symphony from The Hallé in Manchester

Huw Watkins: Concerto for Orchestra (world premiere)
Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony

The Hallé
Mark Elder, conductor

Recorded at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on 10th May.

Sir Mark Elder, Hallé Conductor Emeritus, returns to conduct this exploratory programme: a symphony detailing an ascent through the foreboding landscape of the Alpine mountains and a world premiere.

Richard Strauss’s colossal ‘An Alpine Symphony’ is one of his largest, non-operatic works, calling for no fewer than 125 players. Traversing 22 sections, reflecting the scenes encountered on the ascent and return, it was largely inspired by the composer’s childhood experience of climbing mountains with friends. From the serene sunrise to the ominous storm, Strauss masterfully employs orchestral colours to depict nature’s majesty and challenges.

Long-term collaborator with The Hallé and Sir Mark, Huw Watkins has been praised throughout his career for his versatility and musical integrity. Following the success of two previous symphonies written for the Hallé, we hear the world premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra. Written knowing the Hallé so well, expect shimmering orchestration, luminous textures and rich melodic ideas.


THU 21:45 The Essay (m002cp7b)
An Actor's Life - Kenneth Cranham

4: America

Actor Kenneth Cranham expounds entertainingly on a life in acting in conversation with friend and colleague Neil Dudgeon. From an early performance in the 1968 film Oliver to winning an Olivier award for the title role in the hit play The Father in the West End, Cranham has worked with an amazing array of writers, directors and actors over his sixty-year career. In this episode, Cranham talks about America, his time on Broadway with Loot and An Inspector Calls, and how the American industry considers British actors..

Kenneth Cranham's career is a privileged lens on the recent history of British theatre and screen. A friend of playwrights Orton, Pinter, and Bond, he was at the epicentre of the radical shift in theatre in the sixties and seventies. The lead role in Shine on Harvey Moon on ITV - the story of an East End family rebuilding itself in post-war Britain - brought him public recognition and a place at a different table. In later years, Cranham has been lauded for leading stage roles like the title characters in An Inspector Calls and The Father and has worked almost constantly in film and television, playing a wide gamut of roles from authority figures to working class heroes to members of the criminal underclass.

A fluent and passionate speaker, Cranham’s account of his life and work offers a thrilling perspective on the last sixty years of British drama.

An Actor's Life: Kenneth Cranham is a Hooley Production supported by Pimmyompim Productions Limited.


THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m002cp7d)
Immersive music for moonlight

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 (m002cp7g)
A crooning number from The Peddlers

‘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.

Soweto presents an optimistic track from the British jazz soul trio The Peddlers.

Trumpeter Poppy Daniels has been Soweto’s Flowers guest all this week, celebrating some of the contemporary artists that inspire her. Her fourth and final bunch goes to a Brazilian vocal star.

Plus there’s music from Jamie Leeming, Jill Scott, and Eugenia Choe.

FRIDAY 06 JUNE 2025

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002cp7j)
Storgårds conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony

John Storgårds conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no 4, after Hans Abrahamsen’s delicate Horn Concerto, Sibelius’s symphonic fantasia Pohjola’s Daughter and Schumann’s much-overlooked overture to his opera Genoveva. Penny Gore presents.

12:31 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Overture to Genoveva, Op 81
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgards (conductor)

12:40 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Pohjola's Daughter, Op 49
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgards (conductor)

12:55 AM
Hans Abrahamsen (b.1952)
Horn Concerto
Stefan Dohr (horn), BBC Philharmonic, John Storgards (conductor)

01:16 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony no 4 in F minor, Op 36
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgards (conductor)

02:01 AM
Christoph Gluck (1714-1787), arr. Fritz Kreisler
Dance of the Blessed Spirits (Orfeo ed Euridice)
Gyozo Mate (viola), Balazs Szokolay (piano)

02:04 AM
Antonio Caldara (c.1671-1736)
Medea in Corinto - solo cantata
Gerard Lesne (counter tenor), Il Seminario Musicale

02:19 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Rosamunde: Overture, D.644
National Orchestra of France, Emmanuel Krivine (conductor)

02:31 AM
Leos Janacek (1854-1928)
Glagolitic mass
Andrea Dankova (soprano), Jana Sykorova (alto), Tomas Juhas (tenor), Jozef Benci (bass), Ales Barta (organ), Prague Philharmonic Chorus, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tomas Netopil (conductor)

03:10 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Serenade in C minor for Wind Octet, K.388
Wind Ensemble of Hungarian State Opera

03:32 AM
Mario Nardelli (1927-1993)
Three pieces for guitar
Mario Nardelli jr (guitar)

03:42 AM
Maurice Durufle (1902-1986)
Quatre motets sur des themes gregoriens, Op 10
Tallinn Music High School Chamber Choir, Evi Eespere (director)

03:50 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Roses from the South - waltz, Op 388
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Rossen Milanov (conductor)

04:00 AM
Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Five Pieces
Ian Sadler (organ)

04:11 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto da Camera in D major (RV.94)
Camerata Koln, Michael Schneider (recorder), Hans-Peter Westermann (oboe), Michael McCraw (bassoon), Mary Utiger (violin), Hajo Bass (violin), Rainer Zipperling (cello), Harald Hoeren (harpsichord)

04:23 AM
Pauline Viardot (1821-1910)
Choeur des elfes
Olivia Robinson (soprano), BBC Singers, Libby Burgess (piano), Grace Rossiter (conductor)

04:31 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Fantasies on 'Szozdat' (Second Hungarian National Anthem)
Klara Kormendy (piano)

04:40 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Stabat Mater for 8 voices
Silvia Piccollo (soprano), Teresa Nesci (soprano), Marco Beasley (tenor), Furio Zanasi (bass), Paolo Crivellaro (organ), Alberto Rasi (viola da gamba), Theatrum Instrumentorum, Chorus of Swiss Radio, Lugano, Diego Fasolis (conductor)

04:46 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Coriolan Overture, Op 62
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (conductor)

04:54 AM
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Sonata for harp
Godelieve Schrama (harp)

05:05 AM
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Battalia a 10 in D major (C.61)
Ensemble Metamorphosis

05:15 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op 115
Thomas Friedli (clarinet), Quartet Sine Nomine

05:52 AM
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Variations on an original theme 'Enigma', Op.36
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green (conductor)

06:24 AM
Josef Suk (1949-2011)
Elegie, Op 23
Suk Trio, Josef Suk (violin), Josef Chuchro (cello), Jan Panenka (piano)


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002cp7l)
Ease into the day with classical music

Tom McKinney presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong, Bach Before 7 and the best in classical music. You can contact the show by emailing 3breakfast@bbc.co.uk

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play 3 Breakfast’


FRI 09:30 Essential Classics (m002cp7n)
Relax into the day with classical

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favorites.

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 (m002cp7q)
Mozart's Mass in C minor from Copenhagen

Radio 3 New Generation Artist Andrei Ioniţă performs a Cello Suite by Bach from LSO St Luke's and at the heart of today's programme Mozart's great C Minor Mass from Denmark. Introduced by Mark Forrest.

Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 93 in D, Hob. 1:93
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck (conductor)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV. 1009
Andrei Ioniţă (cello)

Piotr Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake Suite, Op. 20a
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
Robert Treviño (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Overture: ‘La Clemenza di Tito’
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mass in C minor, K. 427
Liv Redpath (soprano)
Christiane Karg (soprano)
Leif Aruhn-Solén (tenor)
Jóhann Kristinsson (baritone)
Danish National Concert Choir
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck (conductor)

Ruth Gipps
Jane Grey - Fantasy
Scott Dickinson (viola)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Teresa Riveiro Bohr (conductor)

Franz Liszt
Fantasy on a Hungarian Folk Song in D minor, S. 123
Cyprien Katsaris (piano)
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Antoni Wit (conductor)


FRI 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k1k8)
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Sudden Death

Bizet finally has a hit on his hands but tragedy lies just around the corner. Plus, we reach Carmen’s shocking finale. Presented by Donald Macleod.

Georges Bizet’s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. This week, Donald Macleod shows how Bizet’s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected – and that success can never be guaranteed!
Throughout the week, Donald also guides us through Bizet’s most celebrated work, Carmen – an opera famous for its Spanish heat, fractured passions and fabulous tunes.

Today we reach the dramatic climax of Bizet’s opera, Carmen. Our free-spirited heroine has abandoned her lover to pursue another but Don José can’t bear to let her go. Events quickly spiral towards catastrophe. Plus, we see how fate intervenes in Bizet’s own life and ordains that Carmen will be his final work.

Djamileh: Overture
Munich Radio Orchestra, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli

L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1: I. Prelude & II. Minuetto
Musiciens du Louvre, Grenoble Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Marc Minkowski

Patrie Overture
Orchestre National de France, conducted by Seiji Ozawa

Carmen (Act 4)
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano (Carmen)
Roberto Alagna, tenor (Don José),
Thomas Hampson, bass-baritone (Escamillo)
Elizabeth Vidal, soprano (Frasquita)
Isabelle Cals, soprano (Mercédès)
Nicolas Cavallier, bass-baritone (Zuniga)
La Lauzeta, Choeur d'enfants de Toulouse
Choeur 'Les Éléments'
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Michel Plasson

Produced by Chris Taylor


FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002cp7t)
In session with stellar classical artists

Katie Derham introduces live music from clarinettist Sarah Williamson and pianist Simon Callaghan, who perform at the Devizes Arts Festival.


FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002cp7w)
The eclectic classical mix

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music - from the melancholic depths of Loch Katrine's Lady brought to life by former BBC New Generation Artist accordionist Ryan Corbett to Joseph White's romantic adagio from his Concerto for Violin. Frida Swain mesmerises us in her clever piano sonata with rhythmic gestures redolent of Bax and Ireland. Reynaldo Hahn reminds us of his power to capture a 20th century audience in his quintet which he once remarked 'would be the one work of his oeuvre he would choose if only one could be kept'. Ronald Binge takes us on an Elizabethan serenade, and Evelyn Glennie holds us in a mesmerizing “little prayer” for percussion before tonight’s mixtape concludes with the first of Scriabin’s Preludes for piano in C major.

Producer: Zara Siddiqi


FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m002d1kp)
Opera Gala from Stoke-on-Trent

Live from the Victoria Hall, Hanley
Presented by Tom McKinney

Tom McKinney returns to the city of his childhood, and the hall where he heard his first concerts, to present a special Friday Night is Music Night celebrating the centenary of Stoke-on-Trent becoming a city.
He and the BBC Philharmonic, regular visitors to this beautiful hall, are joined by three star singers, all nurtured by the BBC's New Generation Artist scheme, for an evening of operatic favourites; music of high drama, lush orchestral texture and infectious melody.

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro: Overture
Mozart: Là ci darem la mano (from 'Don Giovanni')
Mozart; Un' aura amorosa; Come scoglio (from 'Così fan tutte')
Mozart: Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja; Bei Männern; Papagena! Weibchen! (from 'Die Zauberflöte')
Mozart: Se il padre perdei; Fuor del mar (from 'Idomeneo')

8.15 Interval

Verdi: Nabucco: Overture
Rossini: Una voce poca fa (from 'Il barbiere di Siviglia')
Puccini: Che gelida manina; Si. Mi chiamano Mimi (from 'La bohème')
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo
Bizet: Prelude to Act I; La fleur que tu m’avais jetée; Votre toast (from 'Carmen')

Elizabeth Watts (soprano)
Ilker Arcayurek (tenor)
James Atkinson (baritone)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Jonathan Bloxham (conductor)


FRI 21:45 The Essay (m002cp7z)
An Actor's Life - Kenneth Cranham

5: The iconic roles

Actor Kenneth Cranham expounds entertainingly on a life in acting in conversation with friend and colleague Neil Dudgeon. From an early performance in the 1968 film Oliver to winning an Olivier award for the title role in the hit play The Father in the West End, Cranham has worked with an amazing array of writers directors and actors over his sixty-year career.

Kenneth Cranham's career is a privileged lens on the recent history of British theatre and screen. A friend of playwrights Orton, Pinter, and Bond, he was at the epicentre of the radical shift in theatre in the sixties and seventies.

In this final episode, Cranham talks about how the lead role in Shine on Harvey Moon on ITV - the story of an East End family rebuilding itself in post-war Britain - brought him public recognition and a place at a different table, and about the acclaim, more recently, for leading stage roles like the title characters in An Inspector Calls and The Father.

A fluent and passionate speaker, Cranham’s account of his life and work offers a thrilling perspective on the last sixty years of British drama.

An Actor's Life: Kenneth Cranham is a Hooley Production supported by Pimmyompim Productions Limited.


FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002cp81)
Yara Asmar and Quinie in session

Verity Sharp shares the fruits of our latest exclusive collaboration session, a meeting of multi-instrumentalist and puppeteer Yara Asmar and Glasgow-based Scots singer and interpreter Quinie.

Yara Asmar makes use of lo-fi recording methods and works with a range of sound sources including the accordion, voice, field recordings, metallophone, deconstructed and disassembled toys, and electronics. Her work is known to be deeply-affecting, raw, intimate, and strongly rooted in place. In 2020, during the pandemic, Yara Asmar turned to recording music at home on cassettes and her mobile phone, using her grandma’s Hohner Marchesa accordion, a piano and field recordings of hymns sung in churches around Lebanon. Her work is known to be deeply affecting, raw, intimate, and strongly rooted in place. On her 2023 album, she explores ideas of depersonalisation and disconnection from our immediate surroundings, explaining in an interview that “Us, who remain here, create places that protect us from things that are happening around us”. While her most recent release, Sighs II, shows the vibratory potential of metals, reflecting on the idea that metal is responding, rather than resonating, actively shaping its own afterlife.

Quinie, aka Josie Vallely, is a Glasgow-based Scots singer whose work explores landscape, place and ancestors. Quinie’s vocals use a blend of sean nos style melodies, children’s rhyme and story poems and are, at their core, inspired by Scottish Traveller singers. Whilst conscious of not being a member of the Traveller community, she has been inspired by Traveller friends who taught her that settled people sharing these songs could contribute to raising awareness. “Scottish Travellers are marginalised and discriminated against in modern Scotland, despite being custodians of so many of our important traditions. So I started to perform them and tell this story.” Her third album, released in May 2025, was made following a pilgrimage across the West of Scotland on her horse, collecting and interpreting songs as she went.

Elsewhere in the show, Verity Sharp shares a collaboration between artist and slime mould, the fruits of which bear an articulation of grief fuelled by ecological decline; and a paean to trans lives. Plus, a shimmering, beating, flittering, bubble-like response to a cassette tape score, and a soulful, improvised delivery of folk tales told via mini-choir from Chicago.

Produced by Cat Gough
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3


FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002cp83)
Gary Crosby’s Africa Space Programme in session

‘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.

Tonight, Soweto welcomes British jazz royalty to the our usual ‘Round Midnight live session studio at The Premises. They are double bassist and co-founder of Tomorrow’s Warriors Gary Crosby, saxophonist Steve Williamson, saxophonist Denys Baptiste, and drummer Winston Clifford. In this special Friday night edition of the show, we hear the music of their new project ‘Africa Space Programme’. Led by Gary, the project presents improvisational music centred on jazz compositions by artists that the band admire.

Expect a musical journey guided by musicians whose trust in each other has been forged over years of playing today, plus an in conversation full of memories and wisdom from some of the UK’s enduring jazz titans.