SATURDAY 23 AUGUST 2025
SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002h1wq)
Cello and piano from the Orford Festival, Quebec
Lluis Claret and Sandra Murray explore the lyricism of the cello and piano in this programme of Casals, Dubois and Debussy. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Pablo Casals (1876-1973)
Five Concert Pieces for Cello and Piano
Lluis Claret (cello), Sandra Murray (piano)
12:58 AM
Theodore Dubois (1837-1924)
Cello Sonata
Lluis Claret (cello), Sandra Murray (piano)
01:22 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Sonata in D Minor for cello and piano, L.144
Lluis Claret (cello), Sandra Murray (piano)
01:33 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924)
Après un rêve, Op 7 no 1 (encore)
Lluis Claret (cello), Sandra Murray (piano)
01:37 AM
Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924), Charles Leconte de Lisle (author)
Les roses d'Ispahan, Op 39 no 4
Paula Hoffman (mezzo soprano), Bengt-Ake Lundin (piano)
01:41 AM
Marin Goleminov (1908-2000)
Sonata for solo cello
Anatoli Krastev (cello)
01:49 AM
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Concerto for cello and orchestra in B minor, Op 104
Truls Mork (cello), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn (conductor)
02:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
St John Passion, BWV 245 - Part 1
Mauro Peter (tenor), Flurin Caduff (bass), Serafin Heusser (bass), Lisandro Abadie (bass), Julia Doyle (soprano), Alberto Miguelez Rouco (counter tenor), Remy Burnens (tenor), Accademia Barocca Lucernensis, Javier Ulises Illan (conductor)
03:06 AM
Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923)
Piano Quintet in B minor, Op 40
Ida Gamulin (piano), Zagreb Quartet
03:33 AM
Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 - 1640)
Maske & Fantasia from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book
Pierre Hantai (harpsichord)
03:39 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Overture to The Wasps - Aristophanic suite (from incidental music)
BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth (conductor)
03:49 AM
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Arabesque
Shirley Brill (clarinet), Piotr Spoz (piano)
03:54 AM
Ilmari Hannikainen (1892-1955)
Rural Dances, Op 39a
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari (conductor)
04:09 AM
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Octet for wind instruments
Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Raffi Armenian (conductor)
04:24 AM
Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (1665-1734)
Laetatus sum for 4 voices, 2 violins, 2 trumpets and organ
Olga Pasiecznik (soprano), Henning Voss (counter tenor), Wojciech Parchem (tenor), Miroslaw Borczynski (bass), Sine Nomine Chamber Choir, Concerto Polacco Baroque Orchestra, Marek Toporowski (director)
04:31 AM
Mel Bonis (1858-1938)
Suite Orientale, Op 48 no 2: Prelude & Danse d'almees
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba (conductor)
04:38 AM
William Byrd (1543-1623)
Susanna fair
Emma Kirkby (soprano), Rose Consort of Viols, John Bryan (viol), Alison Crum (viol), Sarah Groser (viol), Roy Marks (viol), Peter Wendland (viol)
04:42 AM
Franz Doppler (1821-1883)
Fantaisie pastorale hongroise, Op 26
Ivica Gabrisova-Encingerova (flute), Matej Vrabel (piano)
04:53 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto da Camera in C major RV.87
Camerata Koln
05:01 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Duet for viola and cello in E flat major, WoO.32
Milan Telecky (viola), Juraj Alexander (cello)
05:11 AM
Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594)
Gratia sola Dei (motet)
Currende, Erik van Nevel (conductor)
05:18 AM
Frantisek Jiranek (1698-1778)
Bassoon Concerto in G minor
Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Collegium Marianum
05:32 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Sonata for piano no 7 in B flat major, Op 83
Khatia Buniatishvili (piano)
05:51 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony no 3 in A minor, Op 56 'Scottish'
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marcin Nalecz-Niesiolowski (conductor)
SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002h7sc)
Breakfast with the best 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 (m002h7sf)
Gustavo Dudamel talks to Tom
Tom plays classical music to start your weekend.
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela joins Tom as the orchestra celebrates its 50th year, and also happens to be playing for Coldplay's concerts at Wembley.
Superstar cellist Anastasia Kobekina joins Tom to talk about her second BBC Prom of the season, and to play Bach, Bryce Dessner and Jonny Greenwood in a special studio performance, ahead of the release of her new album coming out in September.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Saturday Morning”.
SAT 11:00 BBC Proms (m002h7sh)
2025
BBC Proms: András Schiff Plays Bach
Live at the BBC Proms: András Schiff plays Bach's Art of Fugue
Martin Handley presents, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue
András Schiff (piano)
Schaghajegh Nosrati (piano)
‘The greatest work by the greatest composer who ever lived.’ That’s how the celebrated pianist Sir András Schiff has described Bach’s The Art of Fugue. Following acclaimed Proms performances of The Well-Tempered Clavier and the ‘Goldberg’ Variations, Schiff returns to the Proms for a musical high point of his career-long relationship with Bach’s music. Here he squares up to a musical enigma, a cycle left unfinished at the composer’s death that represents the most complex, inventive, intimate and joyful act of creation. He’s joined for one of the work’s fugues by German pianist and long-time collaborator Schaghajegh Nosrati.
SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002h7sk)
Piano Stories
Sir András Schiff
Piano technician to the greats, Ulrich Gerhartz is in conversation about pianos with Sir András Schiff.
Ulrich Gerhartz is talking pianos with some of the greatest pianists of our age. Ulrich is Director of Concert and Artist Services at Steinway and Sons in London. For the last 30 years he’s been piano technician to the stars of the piano world. When they sit down at a keyboard, it's his job to ensure that these top musicians have the best instrument possible set up for their particular taste and touch.
Great pianists take Ulrich on tour; into recording studios; and to the world’s finest concert halls. Tuning is a small part of what he does as he spends hours preparing each piano to suit each performer.
Here Ulrich is in conversation with his friend, the Hungarian-born British pianist Sir András Schiff. They discuss memories of touring in South America; choosing a piano for playing Bach in the Albert Hall; and what it is that makes a piano happy.
Music played
D. Scarlatti: Sonata in B flat major, K545
Schubert: Piano Sonata in A minor D845, 4th mvt
Smetana: 4 Polkas from the 1850s - No 1 in F minor
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op.111, 1st mvt
Schumann: The Geistervariationen, or Theme and Variations in E-flat major for piano (excerpts)
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 in E major, 3rd mvt
J S Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 No 2 in C minor, BWV.847
Producer: Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer Production
SAT 14:00 BBC Proms (m002h7sm)
2025
Danish National Vocal Ensemble (Bristol)
The Danish National Vocal Ensemble presents works by Ethel Smyth, Paola Prestini and the great Dane Carl Nielsen.
Presented by Sarah Walker, live from St George's Bristol.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Komm, Jesu, komm!, BWV 229
Ethel Smyth: Five Sacred Partsongs – ‘Komm, süsser Tod’
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Fratres ego enim accepi
Paola Prestini: Fratres, after Palestrina
Carl Nielsen: Three Motets
Anon: Three traditional Danish summer songs
Uroš Krek: Three Autumn Songs
Alma Mahler-Werfel, arr. C Gottwald: Five Songs – ‘Laue Sommernacht’
Gustav Mahler, arr. N Forte: Rückert-Lieder – ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Graham Ross (conductor)
The Danish National Vocal Ensemble presents a choral dialogue across the centuries, with British composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth responding to Bach and Italian-born Paola Prestini reflecting on Palestrina, born 500 years ago. The great Dane Carl Nielsen paid his own tribute to Palestrina and the choir also brings songs of summer and autumn.
SAT 15:30 Sound of Cinema (m002h7sp)
Better Late Than Never
Over twenty years since the release of Freaky Friday, the sequel Freakier Friday has only just been released. Matthew Sweet looks at films where the sequel has been long delayed. He talks to Irish composer Amie Doherty who has written the score for Freakier Friday.
SAT 16:30 This Classical Life (m002h7sr)
This Classical Life... with Emma Rawicz
Jess Gillam swaps listening recommendations with the saxophonist Emma Rawicz. Emma is a rising star in the jazz world and has released albums to critical acclaim. Emma and Jess share early experiences of learning the saxophone (and clarinet), what it's like to put out an album, tips for touring and general music taste.
There's music by Sibeilus, RAYE, Poulenc, and Baden Powell.
SAT 17:30 BBC Proms (m002h7st)
2025
Mozart, Arvo Pärt and Gavin Higgins (Bristol)
Britten Sinfonia and conductor Tess Jackson perform music by anniversary composer Arvo Pärt, Sibelius, Gavin Higgins and Mozart. With soloists Zoë Beyers and Miranda Dale.
Presented by Sarah Walker, live from Bristol Beacon.
Jean Sibelius: Rakastava
Arvo Pärt: Tabula rasa
c.
6.15pm Interval
c.
6.40pm Gavin Higgins: Rough Voices
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 39 in E flat major.
Zoë Beyers (violin/director)
Miranda Dale (violin)
Britten Sinfonia
Tess Jackson (conductor)
Young love proclaims itself in Sibelius’s ravishing Rakastava. Arvo Pärt’s cult concerto for two violins Tabula rasa redefines sound, silence and the relationship between them, while Gavin Higgins’s Rough Voices responds to the pandemic with a musical protest, giving voice to the most vulnerable. The first of Mozart’s last three symphonies is part of a glittering final flourish in his career.
SAT 20:00 BBC Proms (m002h7sw)
2025
Mäkelä Conducts Mahler’s Fifth
Live at the BBC Proms: The Royal Concertgebouw conducted by Klaus Mäkelä with Berio Rendering and Mahler Symphony no.5
Presented by Petroc Trelawny, live from the Royal Albert hall, London
Berio Rendering
c.
8.25
Interval: Petroc Trelawny speaks to chief conductor-designate of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Klaus Mäkelä, and hears from the musicologist and conductor Nigel Simeone about the careers of internationally recognized conductors who travel the world to perform with and lead prestigious orchestras.
c.
8.45
Mahler Symphony No. 5
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä conductor
‘Mahler that risks nothing is not worth hearing,’ Klaus Mäkelä has declared. Still in his twenties, the electrifying Finnish conductor already leads top orchestras in Oslo and Paris, with Chicago and Amsterdam soon to come. Hear him at the Proms for the first time as Chief Conductor Designate of the mighty Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is a tumultuous journey from the darkness of a funeral march to brilliant light via the famous Adagietto – the tenderest musical love letter in the repertoire. It sits alongside Berio’s delicate ‘rendering’ of Schubert’s unfinished D major Symphony, a musical palimpsest and sonic fantasy.
SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m002h7sy)
Hannah Kendall in conversation and Oliver Leith's Doom and the Dooms
Soosan Lolavar interviews Hannah Kendall about the influences behind the works on her recent portrait album Shouting Forever into the Receiver; we hear a new work from Cassandra Miller performed by Apartment House at London's Cafe Oto; and from this year's Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Oliver Leith's Doom and the Dooms for electric guitar and ensemble, performed by Sean Shibe, 12 Ensemble and GBSR Duo, conceived as a live set by an imagined band from an alternative reality.
SUNDAY 24 AUGUST 2025
SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002h7t0)
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the 2023 BBC Proms
Violinist Geneva Lewis joins the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Jaime Martín in Grace Williams's violin concerto and works by Dora Pejačević and Holst's The Planets. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923)
Overture in D minor, Op 49
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jaime Martin (conductor)
12:38 AM
Grace Williams (1906-1977)
Violin Concerto
Geneva Lewis (violin), BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jaime Martin (conductor)
01:06 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
The Planets, Op 32
Ladies of London Symphony Chorus, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jaime Martin (conductor)
01:58 AM
Antoine Forqueray (1672-1745), arr. Jean-Baptiste Forqueray
Jupiter – from Pieces de viole (Premier Livre, Paris 1747)
Bob van Asperen (harpsichord)
02:02 AM
Dora Pejacevic (1885-1923)
Piano Quintet in B minor, Op 40
Ida Gamulin (piano), Zagreb Quartet
02:31 AM
Marin Marais (1656-1728)
Suite no 2 for two viols in G major from Pieces à une et deux violes, Paris
Susie Napper (viol), Margaret Little (viol), Violes Esgales
03:09 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 32 in C minor, Op 111
Tatjana Ognjanovic (piano)
03:38 AM
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Norwegian artists' carnival, Op 14 (Norsk kunstnerkarneval)
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)
03:45 AM
Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872)
4 Choral Songs
Polish Radio Choir, Marek Kluza (director)
03:54 AM
William Byrd (1543-1623)
The Carman's Whistle (Air and Variations)
Stefan Trayanov (harpsichord)
04:01 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Variations on a Bavarian folksong, TrV.109
Daniel Dodds (violin), Dominik Fischer (viola), Alexander Kionke (cello)
04:09 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Von ewiger Liebe, Op 43 no 1
Urszula Kryger (mezzo soprano), Katarzyna Jankowska (piano)
04:14 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Romance and Waltz
Dutch Pianists Quartet
04:20 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Concerto in D major TWV.43:D4 for strings
Aira Maria Lehtipuu (violin), Jesenka Balic Zunic (viola), Kore Ensemble
04:31 AM
Juliusz Zarebski (1854-1885)
Polonaise triomphale in A major, Op 11
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pawel Przytocki (conductor)
04:40 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
A la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere de Allegri et Ave verum corpus de Mozart)
Jos Van Immerseel (piano)
04:49 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Magnificat Primi Toni
Elmer Iseler Singers, Elmer Iseler (conductor)
04:58 AM
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Pavan (Z.752) and Chacony (Z.730) for 4 instruments in G minor
London Baroque
05:07 AM
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006), arr. John P.Paynter
Little Suite for Brass Band no 1, Op 80
Edmonton Wind Ensemble, Harry Pinchin (conductor)
05:14 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
6 Songs, Op 107
Jan Van Elsacker (tenor), Claire Chevallier (fortepiano)
05:25 AM
Mieczyslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909)
Returning waves - symphonic poem
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrzej Straszynski (conductor)
05:49 AM
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967)
Mátrai Kepek (Mátra Pictures)
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)
06:01 AM
Maria Herz (1878-1950)
Concerto for Harpsichord or Fortepiano, String Orchestra and Flute, Op 15
Nadja Saminskaja (piano), Ronny Spiegel (violin), Yuta Takase (violin), Daphne Unseld (viola), Fedor Saminski (cello), Nikola Major (double bass), Christian Madlener (flute)
SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002h7vm)
Birdsong to banish those morning blues
Mark Forrest presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With birdsong 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’
SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m002h7vp)
Your perfect Sunday soundtrack
Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh.
Today, Sarah is in Bristol for an exciting weekend of BBC Proms. This week’s Choral Reflection celebrates the Danish National Vocal Ensemble’s performance in the city with their recording of Esti Dal or ‘Evening Song’ by Zoltán Kodály.
Sarah’s choices also include a stripped back track by Elisabeth Lutyens (known for her horror film scores), and Camille Saint-Saëns’ dance for the devil! There’s less scary music too, with a floating bagatelle by Gerald Finzi, and a pianistic extravaganza by Mozart.
Plus, Sarah sits back to enjoy one of the most loved concertos for guitar…
A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m0022slw)
Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves is one of Britain’s most successful and prolific crime writers, reaching millions of readers around the world.
She’s reached millions of television viewers too, with series including Vera and Shetland, adapted from her books.
She has written on average a book a year for almost four decades, but success was anything but instant. She was 32 when her first title was published, and she only became a full-time writer in her early fifties. In 2017 she was awarded the Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association, the highest honour in British crime writing, and in 2022 received an OBE for services to reading and libraries.
Her choices include music by Britten and Elgar, a film score by Patrick Doyle and fiddle music from the Shetland Islands.
Presenter Michael Berkeley
Producer Clare Walker
SUN 13:30 New Generation Artists (m002h7vr)
2025 Proms season showcase: Niamh O'Sullivan, Hana Chang, Johanna Wallroth
More highlights from artists on Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme. Today, including songs by Mozart and sisters Lili and Nadia Boulanger, and one of Brahms' most popular violin pieces.
Mozart: Als Luise die Briefe
Niamh O'Sullivan (mezzo-soprano)
Gary Beecher (piano)
Brahms: Violin Sonata no 2 in A Op 100
Hana Chang (violin)
Jonathan Ware (piano)
Lili Boulanger: Vous m'avez regardé avec toute votre âme
Nadia Boulanger: Le Ciel en nuit s'est déplié
Johanna Wallroth (soprano)
Malcolm Martineau (piano)
The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.
SUN 14:00 BBC Proms (m002h7vt)
2025
Mäkelä Conducts Mozart, Prokofiev & Bartók
Live at the BBC Proms: The Royal Concertgebouw conducted by Klaus Mäkelä with violinist Janine Jansen perform Prokofiev and Bartok
Presented by Petroc Trelawny, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Mozart Symphony No. 31 in D major, ‘Paris’
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major
c.
2.40
Interval: The writer, broadcaster, and researcher Leah Broad joins Petroc Trelawny, live at the Royal Albert Hall, to look ahead to the big highlights in the upcoming week at the BBC Proms.
c.
3pm
Bartók Concerto for Orchestra
Janine Jansen violin
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä conductor
For their second concert, Klaus Mäkela and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgewbouw Orchestra are joined by celebrated violinist Janine Jansen – back at the Proms for the first time in over a decade as soloist in Prokofiev’s effervescent Violin Concerto No. 1. A lyrical refuge from the storm of the Russian Revolution, the concerto stands in contrast to Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra – another heir of conflict, but one that grapples and wrestles with darkness with thrilling virtuosity.
Mozart’s ‘Paris’ Symphony is no less of an orchestral showcase: a musical calling card from an ambitious 22-year-old determined to dazzle.
SUN 16:15 Jazz Record Requests (m002h7vw)
Count Basie - Josephine Baker - Sheila Jordan
Alyn Shipton presents a selection of your jazz requests including music by Count Basie, Josephine Baker, Wayne Shorter, Shear Brass alongside an archive clip and music from jazz singer Sheila Jordan who sadly passed away this month.
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 (m001y2j2)
John Wilbye's madrigals
Hannah French explores the life and music of John Wilbye, the most famous of the English madrigalists. Wilbye's fame rests almost entirely on the 64 works contained in two books of madrigals which were published in 1598 and 1608.
SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m00175q1)
Cats
Alice's grinning Cheshire cat and Hauschka's music, cat masks on Zoom, the Owl and the Pussy-Cat, the Cure's Love Cats and Ravel's many pets, Blake's Tyger and Stevie Smith's cats galloping all feature in today's feline episode. Our actors are Anjana Vasan and Paul Copley.
Producer: Ewa Norman
Readings:
JA Hazeley and JP Morris How it works: The Cat
Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales: The Manciple's Tale
Christopher Smart For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry
SF Said Varjak Paw
Stevie Smith The Galloping Cat
Anon, translated by Seamus Heaney Pangur Bán
Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland
Charles Baudelaire, translated by William Aggeler The Cat
Mikhail Bulgakov The Master and the Marguerita
William Blake The Tyger
TS Eliot Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats: Macavity the Mystery Cat
Helen M. Winslow Concerning Cats: My Own and Some Others
Allysia Van Betuw Ravel and his Siamese Cat Family
Imogen West-Knights The joy of 'Lawyer Cat' is that it teaches us nothing, it's just very funny
W.B. Yeats The Cat and the Moon
SUN 19:00 BBC Proms (m002h7vz)
2025
Under the Italian Sun (Bristol)
Carlo Rizzi and the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera perform sumptuous works by Italian composers Respighi, Verdi, Rossini and Puccini.
Presented by Sarah Walker, live from Bristol Beacon.
Gioachino Rossini: William Tell Overture
Giacomo Puccini: Capriccio sinfonico
Luciano Berio: Folk Songs
c.
7.55pm interval Naomi Paxton visits the Holburne Museum in Bath to find out about Italian treasures collected by the founder on The Grand Tour from the director Chris Stephens and Professor Roey Sweet
c.
8.20pm Giuseppe Verdi: I vespri siciliani Overture
Ottorino Respighi: Il tramonto
Edward Elgar: In the South (Alassio)
Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera
Carlo Rizzi (conductor)
Elgar’s In the South captures the exhilarating feeling of an afternoon by the Ligurian coast. Sunset comes and goes for two young lovers in Respighi’s Il tramonto, whose quiet tragedy echoes the tensions in the overture from Verdi’s Sicilian Vespers. There’s exhilarating energy from Rossini’s William Tell overture, and a chance to glance ahead to the joys of Tosca and La bohème in Puccini’s tune-filled Capriccio sinfonico.
SUN 21:30 New Generation Artists (m002h7w1)
2025 Proms season showcase: Johanna Wallroth and Emma Rawicz
As part of a special series showcasing current members of Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme, we introduce specially recorded performances featuring soprano Johanna Wallroth and jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz.
Jean Sibelius: Five songs, Op. 37 - Var det en dröm? (Was it a dream)
Johanna Wallroth (soprano)
Simon Lepper(piano)
Edvard Grieg: Songs Op. 48
Joanna Wallroth (soprano)
Magnus Svensson (piano)
Emma Rawicz: The Personal Mountain
Emma Rawicz (saxophone)
Elliot Galvin (piano)
Dominic Ingham (violin)
Jenny Clare (violin)
Abby Bowen (viola)
Cubby Howard (cello)
The BBC New Generation Artists scheme was founded in 1999 to support some of the world’s finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, through performance and broadcast opportunities. The distinguished list of alumni now numbers well over a hundred, among them many of the most exciting musicians working on the world stage today.
SUN 22:00 Night Tracks (m00230gt)
Music for the evening
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m002988n)
Bonnie Prince Billy’s Listening Chair
Elizabeth Alker welcomes Will Oldham a.k.a Bonnie Prince Billy to the Unclassified Listening Chair to share a track that transports him elsewhere. Will has been a giant of the alt-folk scene for the past thirty years, collaborating with scores of musicians of all different stripes along the way. His most recent album The Purple Bird was made in Nashville with legendary producer David ‘Ferg’ Ferguson, it mischievously and lovingly plays with traditional country tropes - but Will’s Listening Chair choice has much more of a stripped-back and semi-mystical Californian feel.
Elsewhere in the programme, Elizabeth introduces the new single from Max Richter, music from Glasgow greats Mogwai, and the latest song from Kathryn Joseph.
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 25 AUGUST 2025
MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002h7w3)
Early Music Day 2025: Earning a Living on the Stage
This concert in the Making a Living series from the Fundación Juan March in Madrid showcases Baroque composers who, attentive to satisfying public demand, focused on creating works for the stage. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
E pur io torno qui - 'L’incoronazione di Poppea' Act 1
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
12:39 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Preludium in F Minor; 'Cor ingrato' - Rinaldo Act 1
Dani Espasa (harpsichord), Xavier Sabata (counter tenor)
12:46 AM
Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783)
Harpsichord Sonata in D minor, Op 7 no 5
Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
12:52 AM
Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Erme e solinghe cime - Endimione's aria from 'La Calisto'
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
12:58 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Passacaille from Suite no 7 in G minor, HWV 432
Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:03 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Minacciami non ho timor - Amadigi's aria from 'Amadigi di Gaula' HWV 11
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:12 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Excerpts from Admeto, HWV 22
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:22 AM
Agostino Steffani (1654-1728)
Excerpts from Orlando generoso
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:32 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Toccata no 2 in A minor, from Primo e Secondo Libro di Toccate per Cembalo
Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:36 AM
Francesco Gasparini (1668-1727)
Qui ti scrivo o nome amato - Cefalo's aria from L’oracolo del fato
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:40 AM
Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Misero Apollo, from Gli amori di Apollo e di Dafne
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:45 AM
Michelangelo Rossi (c.1601-1656)
Toccata Settima
Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:50 AM
Benedetto Ferrari (1603/4-1681)
Amanti, io vi so dire, from Musiche e poesie varie à voce solo, Libro III
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
01:56 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Fammi combattere, from Orlando HWV 31 (encore)
Xavier Sabata (counter tenor), Dani Espasa (harpsichord)
02:00 AM
Francesca Caccini (1587-1640)
Maria, dolce Maria - from Il primo libro delle musiche a una, e due voci
Suzie Le Blanc (soprano), Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs (director)
02:04 AM
Carl Luython (1557-1620)
Lamentationes Hieremiae Prophetae a 6
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel (conductor)
02:24 AM
Dario Castello (1602-1631)
Sonata decimaquinta
La Scintilla Orchestra, Riccardo Minasi (conductor)
02:31 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Symphony no 2 in E minor, Op 27
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin (conductor)
03:19 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Sonata no. 6 in A major Op.82 for piano
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
03:45 AM
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)
Flute Concerto
Yuri Shut'ko (flute), NRCU Symphony Orchestra, Vyacheslav Blinov (conductor)
04:05 AM
Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613), arr. Peter Maxwell Davies
2 Motets arr. Maxwell Davies for brass quintet
Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble
04:14 AM
Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978)
Aquarelles, for clarinet and piano, Op 37
Dancho Radevski (clarinet), Mario Angelov (piano)
04:22 AM
Le Concert Brise
Improvisation on 'La Monica'
Le Concert Brise, William Dongois (director)
04:31 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Romance for strings in C major, Op 42
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Hannu Koivula (conductor)
04:36 AM
Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016)
One star, at last
BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury (conductor)
04:39 AM
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)
Sonata for harp
Godelieve Schrama (harp)
04:50 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Quartet for strings in D minor, K.421
Young Danish String Quartet, Rune Sorensen (violin), Frederick Oland (violin), Asbjorn Norgaard (viola), Carl-Oscar Osterlind (cello)
05:17 AM
Thea Musgrave (b.1928)
Loch Ness - a postcard from Scotland for orchestra
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles (conductor)
05:28 AM
Marijan Lipovsek (1910-1995)
Second Suite for Strings
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Samo Hubad (conductor)
05:48 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Sonata for clarinet and piano in E flat major, Op 120 no 2
Hans Christian Braein (clarinet), Havard Gimse (piano)
06:09 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Three Psalms, Op 78
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)
MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002h81x)
Launch the day with classical music
Hannah French presents Radio 3's Breakfast show. 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 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002hf5n)
Great British Classics
Getting Radio 3’s Proms Marathon Monday out of the blocks, Ian Skelly introduces the first in a series of Proms highlights from the 2025 season so far:
Great British Classics (Tuesday 5 August)
Presented by Katie Derham from the Royal Albert Hall in London
Walton, arr Tausky: Coronation March ‘Crown Imperial’
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
S Coleridge-Taylor: Isle of Beauty; The Evening Star
Britten: Four Sea Interludes from ‘Peter Grimes’, Op 33a
Mathias: Dance Overture
John Rutter: Bird Songs (BBC commission, world premiere)
A Coleridge-Taylor: The Rustling of Grass (arr Zoë Birtwhistle); The Shepherd
G Williams: Elegy for Strings
Elgar: Variations on an Original Theme, ‘Enigma’
Liya Petrova (violin)
BBC Singers
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Nil Venditti (conductor)
MON 11:45 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002hf5q)
Rachmaninov’s ‘Paganini’ Variations
As part of Radio 3’s Proms Marathon Monday, Ian Skelly introduces the second of our Proms highlights from the 2025 season so far.
Rachmaninov’s ‘Paganini’ Variations (Friday 8 August)
Presented by Ian Skelly from the Royal Albert Hall in London
Paul Dukas: La Péri – Poème dansé
Sergey Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin
Beatrice Rana (piano)
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Josep Pons (conductor)
Desire, brutality and the supernatural are shaken together in the orchestral kaleidoscope of Bartók’s ballet The Miraculous Mandarin. Josep Pons conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the last of Bartók’s three great music-theatre scores, an electrifying fusion of folk music and modernism. Angular brilliance gives way to exotic, Impressionistic colours in Dukas’s exotic ‘danced poem’ La Péri. ‘Remarkable’ Italian pianist Beatrice Rana is the soloist in Rachmaninov’s thrilling Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
MON 13:00 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002hf5s)
Rachmaninov and Copland
As part of Radio 3’s Proms Marathon Monday, Linton Stephens introduces the next in our series of Proms highlights from the 2025 season so far.
Rachmaninov and Copland (Thursday 31 July)
Presented by Katie Derham from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Elsa Barraine: Symphony No. 2
Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto
Artie Shaw: Clarinet Concerto
Sergey Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances
Martin Fröst, clarinet
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Joshua Weilerstein, conductor
The thrum of urban America – jazz clubs and bustling sidewalks, pulsing Latin rhythms and night-time lights – runs through this Prom given by Joshua Weilerstein and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Rachmaninov’s enigmatic final masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances, blends Russian soul with bold colours from the composer’s adopted homeland. Copland’s Clarinet Concerto draws on the virtuoso skills of jazz legend Benny Goodman, while bandleader Artie Shaw wrote his Clarinet Concerto for his own considerable skills as a player. Elsa Barraine’s tautly lyrical Symphony No. 2 opens the programme.
MON 14:35 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002hf5v)
Vivaldi and Bach
As part of Radio 3’s Proms Marathon Monday, Linton Stephens introduces the next in our series of Proms highlights from the 2025 season so far.
Vivaldi and Bach (Sunday 20 July)
Still in his twenties, French violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte combines supple athleticism with precocious musical intelligence. He makes a much-anticipated Proms debut as soloist with his ensemble Le Consort in a programme built around violin concertos by Vivaldi and the repertoire that first lit the touchpaper for the talented young musician as a teenager. The programme also includes works by Avison, Legrenzi, Marcello and Matteis Jr.
MON 15:30 BBC Proms (m002h82b)
2025
CBeebies Prom: A Magical Bedtime Story
Live at the BBC Proms: Sinfonia Smith Square and CBeebies friends share an enchanting musical tale. An entertaining introduction to the orchestra for little ones.
Georgia Mann presents, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Sinfonia Smith Square
Ellie Slorach (conductor)
Join CBeebies friends and a special guest in the Bedtime Stories chair as they share a magical musical tale. Don’t miss this entertaining exploration of the orchestra for little ones – full of fun and laughs for all the family!
MON 17:00 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002hf5x)
The Planets and Star Wars
Petroc Trelawny introduces the next of our Proms highlights from the 2025 season so far, with the National Youth Orchestra conducted by Dalia Stasevska.
The Planets and Star Wars (Saturday 9 August)
The many worlds of Holst’s The Planets, including the mysterious beauty of ‘Neptune’ and rousing ‘Jupiter’ theme, meet the music from John Williams’s mighty Star Wars soundtracks, plus Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw’s piece inspired by sci-fi and some sky-gazing at the Griffin Observatory in Los Angeles.
Presented by Georgia Mann from the Royal Albert Hall, London.
John Williams: Star Wars – suite
Caroline Shaw: The Observatory
Holst: The Planets
National Youth Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska (conductor)
MON 18:45 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002hf5z)
Viennese Waltzes
Petroc Trelawny introduces another of our 2025 Proms highlights. Marking 200 years since the birth of ‘Waltz King’ Johann Strauss II, the BBC Concert Orchestra, Chief Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing and soprano Erin Morley celebrate the opulence and enchantment of Vienna’s Golden Age.
Viennese Waltzes (Saturday 2nd August)
Presented by Petroc Trelawny from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Erin Morley, soprano
BBC Concert Orchestra
Anna-Maria Helsing, conductor
Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus Overture
Johann Strauss II: Mein Herr Marquis – Adele’s Laughing Song
Josef Strauss: Brennende Liebe Polka Mazur Op. 129
Kalman: Ich sing mein Lied im Regen und Schnee (Das Veilchen von Montmartre)
MON 19:30 Radio 3's Proms Marathon Monday (m002h82m)
Mahler’s Third
Mahler’s Third (Monday 11 August)
Presented by Alexandra Humphrey from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D minor
Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC National Chorus of Wales (upper voices)
CBSO Children’s Chorus
Members of Orchestre National de Bretagne
Ryan Bancroft (conductor)
‘A symphony should be like the world,’ Mahler said, ‘it should embrace everything.’ Nowhere does this vision come more powerfully to life than in his mighty Symphony No. 3, an intricate, joyful tapestry of man, nature, heaven. The work opens in heavy summer heat and closes in rapt tranquillity in a sublime finale, animated in between by marches, dances and birdsong. Ryan Bancroft brings together the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Orchestre National de Bretagne, joined by the CBSO Children’s Chorus and BBC National Chorus of Wales and mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor.
MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m00230nd)
Adventures in sound
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 (m002h82r)
Jordan Rakei sits in
New Zealand-born, Australia-raised, and UK based singer-songwriter and producer Jordan Rakei is sitting in for Soweto Kinch this week. Beginning as a “bedroom producer”, Jordan’s musical explorations and popular reach have continued to expand, as he draws from a wide sonic palette of soul, jazz, hip-hop, alternative and electronic music, all accompanied by thoughtful harmonies and lyrics. His latest and fifth album, The Loop, was released last year and is out on Decca Records.
This week Jordan is giving us insight into his music world and sharing some of his favourite jazz and jazz-influenced tracks.
Joining Jordan from Monday to Thursday this week is celebrated East London pianist, producer, MC and label-owner Alfa Mist. Over the past decade, Alfa has become an in-demand producer and artist, widely recognized for his signature reflective sound. He has worked with fellow UK talents including Loyle Carner, Jamie Leeming, Jas Kayser, and Jordan himself.
Starting off his week, Alfa chooses to give his first bouquet to another close collaborator, who we may hear more from later in the week...
Plus, there’s music from DOMi & JD BECK, Nubiyan Twist, and Georgia Sweet.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
TUESDAY 26 AUGUST 2025
TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002h82t)
Clara Schumann and Bruckner from the Lucerne Festival
Pianist Beatrice Rana joins the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto plus Bruckner's Symphony no 7. Jonathan Swain presents
12:31 AM
Clara Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 7
Beatrice Rana (piano), Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)
12:52 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Spinning Song, op. 67/4, from 'Songs without Words'
Beatrice Rana (piano)
12:54 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 7 in E
Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)
02:00 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Heinrich Heine (author)
Du bist wie eine Blume, Op.25 No.24 (from Myrthen) (You are so like a flower)
Jean Stilwell (mezzo soprano), Robert Kortgaard (piano)
02:03 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Quartet for strings in A major Op.41 No.3
Faust Quartet
02:31 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Mass in C major, Missa in tempore belli 'Paukenmesse' H.22.9
Hilde Haraldsen Sveen (soprano), Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo soprano), Jonas Degerfeldt (tenor), Gabriel Suovanen (baritone), Oslo Philharmonic Choir, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (conductor)
03:11 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata no. 3 in B minor Op.58
Charles Richard-Hamelin (piano)
03:37 AM
Gary Carpenter (b.1951)
Dadaville for orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)
03:45 AM
Johann Rosenmuller (1619-1684)
Sinfonia à 4
Tafelmusik Baroque Soloists
03:52 AM
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Prelude for guitar no 1 in E minor
Norbert Kraft (guitar)
03:56 AM
Petko Stainov (1896-1977)
Horsemen, ballad for men's choir
Kaval Men's Choir, Mikhail Angelov (conductor)
04:04 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia for 2 violins and continuo in D major, H.585
Les Adieux
04:14 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
St Francois de Paule marchant sur les flots
Richard Raymond (piano)
04:22 AM
Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872)
The Commander-in-Chief's Lover (overture)
Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra Katowice, Bogdan Oledzki (conductor)
04:31 AM
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762)
Concerto grosso in E minor, Op 3 no 6
Camerata Bern, Thomas Furi (conductor)
04:40 AM
Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957)
Zwei Klavierstucke, Op 29
Desmond Wright (piano)
04:48 AM
Veljo Tormis (1930-2017)
Sugismaastikud (Autumn landscapes)
Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Grete Helgerod (conductor)
04:58 AM
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Variations on 'Mein junges Leben hat ein End'
Academic Wind Quintet
05:06 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Schatz-Walzer ('Treasure Waltz') from Der Zigeunerbaron, Op 418
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Raffi Armenian (conductor)
05:15 AM
Pierre Max Dubois (1930-1995)
Quartet for flutes
Valentinas Kazlauskas (flute), Lina Baublyte (flute), Albertas Stupakas (flute), Giedrius Gelgotas (flute)
05:23 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Trio in G major, Op 9 no 1
Trio AnPaPie
05:52 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Chaconne for piano, Op 32
Anders Kilstrom (piano)
06:01 AM
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Sinfonia concertante in B flat major, Op 3
Reijo Koskinen (clarinet), Pekka Katajamaki (bassoon), Esa Tukia (horn), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)
TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002h8ww)
Boost your morning with classical music
Hannah French presents Radio 3's Breakfast show. 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 (m002h8wy)
Great classical music for your morning
Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.
Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.
1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.
1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.
1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.
1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics"
TUE 13:00 Classical Live (m002h8x0)
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, ‘Choral’ from the BBC Proms
Linton Stephens showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
Throughout the week, we will feature highlights from the BBC Proms 2025. In today's programme, Beethoven's monumental ‘Choral Symphony’ is performed by the Danish National Concert Choir, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Fabio Luisi and a cohort of international soloists.
Elsewhere, performances from this year's recent Cheltenham Music Festival feature including former R3 New Generation Artists, pianist Giorgi Gigashvili playing Fanny Mendelssohn, and accordionist Ryan Corbett playing his arrangement of music by César Franck, and tenor Santiago Sanchez singing music by Ottorino Respighi.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, ‘Choral’
Clara Cecilie Thomsen (soprano)
Jasmin White (contralto)
Issachah Savage (tenor)
Adam Pałka (bass)
Danish National Concert Choir
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Luisi (conductor)
Fanny Mendelssohn
Four Songs Without Words, Op. 8
Giorgi Gigashvili (piano)
César Franck (arr. Corbett)
Chorale No. 2 in B minor
Ryan Corbett (accordian)
Ottorino Respighi
5 Canti all’antica
Santiago Sanchez (tenor)
Victoria Guerrero (piano)
Clara Schumann
Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann, Op. 20
Giorgi Gigashvili (piano)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
TUE 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001m584)
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Apprenticeship
Kate Molleson follows our young composer as he seeks his fortune in different cities across Italy under the ever-watchful scrutiny of his ambitious father.
Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti – his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period’s most significant composers. Today, he’s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.
In today’s programme, we meet Domenico as he takes his first job, working for his father among the musicians of the court chapel in Naples. It’s not long before father and son are both on the hunt for better prospects and they travel to Florence, Rome and Venice to find patrons worthy of their talents.
Sonata in D, K 96
Anne Queffélec, piano
Sonata in Dm, K 9
Ivo Pogorelich, piano
Sonata in E, K 20
Scott Ross, harpsichord
Antra, valles, divo plaudeant
Giuseppe Naviglio, baritone
Rosario Totaro, tenor
Leslie Visco, soprano
Valentina Varriale, soprano
Filippo Mineccia, counter-tenor
I Turchini, directed by Antonio Florio
Sinfonia in C
Sinfonia in G
Europa Galante, directed by Fabio Biondi
Sonata in Am, K 109
Sonata in A, K 279
Sonata in G, K 425
Anne Queffélec (piano)
TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002h8x3)
Classical artists live in session
Petroc Trelawny with Live music and interviews from the world's finest classical musicians
TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002h8x5)
30 minutes of classical inspiration
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.
TUE 19:30 BBC Proms (m002h8x7)
2025
Sibelius's Second
Live at the BBC Proms: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, with Isabelle Faust in Dvorak's Violin Concerto.
Presented by Ian Skelly, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A minor
c.
7.50pm
During the interval Ian Skelly is joined by Katy Hamilton to talk about playing Dvorak and the rich heritage of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
c.
8.10pm
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D
The prestigious Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – the world’s longest-established symphony orchestra, famous for the glossy richness of its ‘Leipzig sound’ – returns to the Proms under Music Director Andris Nelsons.
Joining them, back at the Proms for the first time since 2010, is German violinist Isabelle Faust, soloist in Dvořák’s colourful, folk-inspired Violin Concerto.
The elemental power of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, with its heroic final movement, has become indelibly associated with Finland’s fight for freedom, no less personal a statement than the fragile, hypnotic beauty of Arvo Pärt’s tribute to Benjamin Britten.
TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m00230k3)
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 (m002h8x9)
Alfa Mist’s Flowers
Jordan Rakei, sitting in all week for Soweto Kinch, presents 'Round Midnight - a weeknight celebration of jazz from across the spectrum, with a particular focus on new UK music.
Tonight Jordan welcomes back pianist, producer and close collaborator Alfa Mist to share his second Flowers pick of the week. This Tuesday night, Alfa chooses an artist that he has long admired for her expectation-defying compositions.
Also in the programme, music from Clear Path Ensemble, Neil Cowley Trio, and Snowpoet.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
WEDNESDAY 27 AUGUST 2025
WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002h8xc)
Opera: Puccini, Lehár and Johann Strauss II
Polish soprano Magdalena Lucjan joins the WDR Symphony Orchestra and conductor Manfred Honeck for an opera gala given in Cologne. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Symphonic Suite, from Turandot
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck (conductor)
12:56 AM
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), Luigi Illica / Giuseppe Giacosa (libretto)
Quando m'en vo, Musetta's aria from Act 1 of 'La bohème'
Magdalena Lucjan (soprano), WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
12:59 AM
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), Giovacchino Forzano (libretto)
O mio babbino caro, Lauretta's aria from 'Gianni Schicchi'
Magdalena Lucjan, WWDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:02 AM
Franz Lehar (1870-1948), Victor Léon (libretto)
Vilja Song, Hanna's aria from 'The Merry Widow'
Magdalena Lucjan, WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:08 AM
Franz Lehar (1870-1948), Paul Knepler / Fritz Löhner-Beda (libretto)
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss, aria from 'Giuditta'
Magdalena Lucjan, WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:13 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Overture to 'Die Fledermaus'
WDRSO, Cologne, Manfred Honeck
01:22 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), Karl Haffner / Richard Genee (libretto)
Mein Herr Marquis, Adele's Song from 'Die Fledermaus'
Magdalena Lucjan, WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:26 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Die Libelle, Polka Mazur, Op 204
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:31 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Furioso-Polka, Op 260
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:33 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Frühlingsstimmen, waltz, Op 410
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:41 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), Karl Haffner / Richard Genee (libretto)
Spiel' ich die Unschuld vom Lande, Adele's Couplet from 'Die Fledermaus'
Magdalena Lucjan, WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:46 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Auf der Jagd, polka schnell, Op 373
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:48 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Im Krapfenwald'l, polka-française, Op 336
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:53 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Unter Donner und Blitz, polka schnell, Op 324
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:56 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), Victor Léon / Leo Stein (libretto)
Sei mir gegrüsst, mein liebes Nest, from 'Wiener Blut'
Magdalena Lucjan, WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
01:59 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Feuerfest; polka-française, Op 269
WDRSO, Manfred Honeck
02:03 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), arr. Rudolf Buchbinder
Paraphrase of 'An der schönen blauen Donau', Op 314
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)
02:08 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Charles Koechlin
Khamma, legende dansee
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (conductor)
02:31 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Violin Sonata no 2 in G major, Op 13
Alina Pogostkina (violin), Sveinung Bjelland (piano)
02:52 AM
Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909)
Symphony no 3 in F major, 'From Spring to Spring'
Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra Katowice, Szymon Kawalla (conductor)
03:33 AM
Thomas Morley (1557/58-1602), Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Burial Sentences (Morley) & They are at rest (Elgar)
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)
03:46 AM
Unico Wilhelm Van Wassenaer (1692-1766)
Concerto armonico for 4 violins, viola and continuo no 5 in F minor
Andrew Manze (violin), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)
03:57 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op 35 no 1
Sylviane Deferne (piano)
04:06 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Overture to The Wasps - Aristophanic suite (from incidental music)
BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)
04:16 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sonata in F major, HWV.363a vers. oboe & bc
Louise Pellerin (oboe), Dom Andre Laberge (organ)
04:24 AM
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Canon and Gigue
La Scintilla Orchestra, Riccardo Minasi (conductor)
04:31 AM
Traditional, arr. Narciso Yepes
Romanza for guitar
Stepan Rak (guitar)
04:37 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Abegg Variations, Op 1
Zhang Zuo (piano)
04:45 AM
Elfrida Andree
Concert Overture in D major
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Chloe van Soeterstede (conductor)
04:57 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
3 Songs: Liebesbotschaft, Heidenroslein and Litanei auf das Fest
Bryn Terfel (bass baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
05:06 AM
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Sinfonia concertante a 8, ZWV 189
Katharina Heutjer (violin), Xenia Loffler (oboe), Gabriele Gombi (bassoon), La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basle, Maurice Steger (conductor)
05:29 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 5 in C minor, Op 10 no 1
Francois-Frederic Guy (piano)
05:47 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony no 6 in D minor, Op 104
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernhard Klee (conductor)
06:17 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Flute Quartet no 4 in A major, K 298
Dae-Won Kim (flute), Yong-Woo Chun (violin), Myung-Hee Cho (viola), Jink-Yung Chee (cello)
WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002h8bd)
Start the day with classical music
Hannah French presents Radio 3's Breakfast show. 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 (m002h8bh)
The best classical morning music
Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.
1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.
1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.
1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.
1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
WED 13:00 Classical Live (m002h8bk)
Górecki's Symphony No. 3 from the BBC Proms
Linton Stephens showcases highlights from the Proms and from the Cheltenham Festival In today's programme, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stasevska perform Henryk Górecki’s ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ which translates loss and pain into sound. Violinist Joshua Bell joins the orchestra for the UK premier of Thomas de Hartmann's Violin Concerto plus we will hear Ottorino Respighi’s warmly expansive reworking of an organ chorale prelude by J. S. Bach.
Elsewhere, performances from the recent Cheltenham Music Festival including former Radio 3 New Generation Artist, pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, performing from Felix Mendelssohn's collection of Songs Without Words.
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki
Symphony No. 3, ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’
Francesca Chiejina (soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska (conductor)
Johann Sebastian Bach (orch. Respighi)
Three Chorales, No. 1: ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska (conductor)
Felix Mendelssohn
Selection from Songs Without Words, Op. 19
Giorgi Gigashvili (piano)
Thomas de Hartmann
Violin Concerto (UK premier)
Joshua Bell (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Dalia Stasevska (conductor)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002h8bp)
Edington Priory Church
From Edington Priory Church during the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy.
Introit: Upon your heart (Eleanor Daley)
Responses: Matthew Martin
Office hymn: Hostis Herodes impie (Plainsong)
Psalm 34 (Martin)
First Lesson: Isaiah 43 vv16-21
Canticles: Evening Service in F minor (Gray)
Second Lesson: John 2 vv1-11
Anthem: Sweetest of sweets (Howells)
Hymn: I heard the voice of Jesus say (Kingsfold)
Marian Antiphon: Alma redemptoris mater (Plainsong)
Voluntary: Biblical Dances (The Wedding in Cana) (Eben)
Alexander Hamilton, Peter Stevens, Jeremy Summerly (Conductors)
Charles Maxtone-Smith, Daniel Blaze (Organists)
Recorded 20 August.
To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong”.
WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001m56d)
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Adventures in Opera
Scarlatti looks to strike out on his own in Rome, but will his famous father prove a help or a hindrance? Presented by Kate Molleson.
Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti – his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period’s most significant composers. Today, he’s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.
In today’s programme, Domenico Scarlatti tries his hand at opera, the art form that was fast making his father a household name among Italy’s musical elite. He scores a few success but is the theatre really where his future lies?
Amor d'un Ombra e Gelosia d'un'aura: Introduzione
Romabarocca Ensemble, directed by Lorenzo Tozzi
Amor d'un'Ombra e Gelosia d'un'aura: Duet, ‘Dio d'amor’… ‘Arcier fatale’
Emmanuelle de Negri, soprano (Eco)
Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, countertenor (Narciso)
Le Caravansérail, directed by Bertrand Cuiller
O qual meco: Sinfonia & Aria, ‘Per che non dirmial meno’
Cyrille Gerstenhaber, soprano
XVIII-21 Musique Des Lumières, directed by Jean-Christophe Frisck
Sonata in Dm, K 32
Sonata in C, K 308
Sonata in Gm, K196
Lucas Debargue, piano
Scarlatti, D: Tolomeo et Alessandro ovvero La corona disprezzata (Act 1 opening)
Ann Hallenberg, mezzo-soprano (Tolomeo)
Raffaella Milanesi, soprano (Alessandro)
Il Complesso Barocco, directed by Alan Curtis
WED 17:00 In Tune (m002h8bw)
Music news and live classical music
Petroc Trelawny with Live music and interviews from the world's finest classical musicians
WED 18:30 BBC Proms (m002h8c0)
2025
The Marriage of Figaro from Glyndebourne
Live at the BBC Proms: Glyndebourne Festival Opera conducted by Riccardo Minasi perform Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
Presented by Andrew McGregor, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Mozart The Marriage of Figaro 170’
(semi-staged; sung in Italian)
Interval
During the interval the writer and broadcaster Flora Willson joins Andrew McGregor to discuss the genesis of Mozart's operatic setting of Da Ponte's libretto about the nuptials of the servant Figaro and his bride-to-be, Susanna.
Cast to include:
Tommaso Barea - Figaro
Huw Montague - Rendall Count
Louise Alder - Countess
Johanna Wallroth - Susanna
Alessandro Corbelli - Bartolo
Madeleine Shaw - Marcellina
Adèle Charvet - Cherubino
Elisabeth Boudreault- Barbarina
Alexander Vassiliev - Antonio
Vincent Ordonneau - Don Curzio
Robert Forrest Don Basilio
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Riccardo Minasi conductor
Talia Stern director
There will be one interval
Love conquers all... doesn’t it? Mozart’s sexiest and sharpest comedy pits men against women and master against servant as it cuts to the heart of human nature. Cherubino pines for the Countess, who is devoted to the Count. But he has designs on Susanna, who only has eyes for Figaro. Mozart’s masterpiece of tangled desires, politics and identities comes fresh from the Glyndebourne Festival in the concert-staging of a brand-new production with a stellar cast, conducted by Ricardo Minasi.
WED 22:15 Night Tracks (m002h8c4)
Bewitching sounds for after dark
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 (m002h8c8)
A groove-filled classic from Tim Maia
Jordan Rakei, sitting in all week for Soweto Kinch, presents 'Round Midnight - a weeknight celebration of jazz from across the spectrum, with a particular focus on new UK music.
Alfa Mist has a third bouquet of Flowers that he wants to give to an artist who has influenced him, and tonight he chooses a saxophonist and MC that will be very familiar to ‘Round Midnight listeners.
Plus there’s music from Ellen Andrea Wang, Qwalia, and Little Simz.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
THURSDAY 28 AUGUST 2025
THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002h8cc)
Rachmaninov Piano Concertos from the Ljubljana Festival
Mikhail Pletnev plays Rachmaninov's first two piano concertos with the Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andras Keller. They also perform Bartók's music from his pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
A csodálatos mandarin (The Miraculous Mandarin), Sz.73
Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Andras Keller (conductor)
12:50 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto no 1 in F sharp minor, Op 1
Mikhail Pletnev (piano), Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Andras Keller (conductor)
01:18 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto no 2 in C minor, Op 18
Mikhail Pletnev (piano), Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Andras Keller (conductor)
01:53 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op 19 no 4 (encore)
Mikhail Pletnev (piano)
01:58 AM
Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1924)
Etude in F, Op 72 no 6 (encore)
Mikhail Pletnev (piano)
02:00 AM
Uros Krek (1922-2008), Joze Udovic (author)
Samotno Ugibanje
Chamber Choir AVE, Andraz Hauptman (conductor)
02:04 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Concerto in D minor for violin and string orchestra
Ols Cinxo (violin), RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Gunter Pichler (conductor)
02:31 AM
Louis Spohr
Nonet for wind quintet, string trio and double bass in F major, Op 31
Budapest Chamber Ensemble, Andras Mihaly (conductor)
03:00 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Lute Partita in C minor, BWV.997
Konrad Junghanel (lute)
03:23 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Pohjola's daughter - symphonic fantasia, Op 49
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund (conductor)
03:37 AM
Claudin De Sermisy (c.1490-1562)
5 Chansons
Ensemble Clement Janequin
03:47 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimento in B flat major for wind ensemble, K 186
Bratislavska Komorna Harmonia
04:00 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
La Valse - choreographic poem for orchestra
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, Lorenzo Viotti (conductor)
04:13 AM
Doreen Carwithen (1922-2003)
Sonatina for cello and piano
Andrei Ionita (cello), Lilit Grigoryan (piano)
04:24 AM
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
"Begl'occhi, bel seno" Costumo de grandi for soprano, 2 violins and continuo
Susanne Ryden (soprano), Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)
04:31 AM
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)
Colas Breugnon (Overture)
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Uri Mayer (conductor)
04:36 AM
Clara Schumann (1810-1856)
Quatre pièces fugitives, Op 15
Diana Ketler (piano)
04:49 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Jane Grey Fantasy, Op 15
Scott Dickinson (viola), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Teresa Riveiro Bohm (conductor)
05:00 AM
Ned Rorem (1923-2022)
Cries and whispers for trumpet and piano
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Alasdair Beatson (piano)
05:07 AM
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
O vis aeternitatis (Responsorium) for female voice
Sequentia, Elizabeth Gaver (fiddle), Elisabetta de Mircovich (fiddle)
05:16 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Concerto in D minor, TWV 52:d1 for 2 chalumeaux and strings
Zug Chamber Soloists
05:27 AM
Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Requiem
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)
05:49 AM
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Oboe Sonata
Eva Steinaa (oboe), Galya Kolarova (piano)
06:04 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Francesca da Rimini - symphonic fantasia after Dante, Op 32
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky (conductor)
THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002hc3v)
Wake up your senses with classical music
Hannah French presents Radio 3's Breakfast show. 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 (m002hc3x)
The ideal mix of classical music
Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.
1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.
1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.
1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.
1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
THU 13:00 Classical Live (m002hc3z)
Mozart, Arvo Pärt and Sibelius from the BBC Proms
Linton Stephens showcases highlights from great international summer music festivals including the Britten Sinfonia from the Proms and former New Generation Artists in Cheltenham.
Throughout the week, we will feature highlights from the BBC Proms 2025. In today's programme, Britten Sinfonia and conductor Tess Jackson perform Sibelius’s ravishing Rakastava, Arvo Pärt’s cult concerto for two violins Tabula Rasa, plus we will hear the first from Mozart’s final great trilogy of symphonies which formed part of a glittering final flourish in his career.
Elsewhere, performances from the recent Cheltenham Music Festival, including former R3 New Generation artists, pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, playing music by Schumann, accordionist Ryan Corbett performing Rachmaninov, and tenor Santiago Sanchez singing Beethoven's only song cycle.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 39 in E flat major
Britten Sinfonia
Tess Jackson (conductor)
Jean Sibelius
Rakastava
Britten Sinfonia
Tess Jackson (conductor)
Robert Schumann
Sonata No. 1 in F# Minor, Op. 11
Giorgi Gigashvili (piano)
Sergei Rachmaninov (arr. Corbett)
Volalise
Ryan Corbett (accordion)
Arvo Pärt
Tabula rasa
Zoë Beyers (violin/director)
Miranda Dale (viola)
Britten Sinfonia
Tess Jackson (conductor)
Ludwig van Beethoven
An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98
Santiago Sanchez (tenor)
Victoria Guerrero (piano)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
THU 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001m57x)
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Maria Bárbara
Scarlatti meets the woman who will change the course of his life. With Kate Molleson.
Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti – his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period’s most significant composers. Today, he’s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.
In today’s programme, Scarlatti is introduced to a very special new keyboard student. The daughter of the King of Portugal was not yet 12 years old, but this was the start of a relationship that would dominate the composer’s fortunes for the next three and a half decades.
Sonata in A, K 39
Christian Zacharias, piano
Sonata in A, K 208
Sonata in Am, K 175
Jean Rondeau (harpsichord)
Laetatus sum
Nicholas Daly, treble
Timothy Mead, counter-tenor
Joseph Crouch, cello
Ashley Grote, organ
Choir of King's College Cambridge, directed by Stephen Cleobury
Sonata in Eb, K 434
Sonata in Eb, K 475
Christian Zacharias, piano
Missa quatuor vocum, Gloria, Sanctus & Benedictus, Agnus Dei
Concerto Italiano, directed by Rinaldo Alessandrini
THU 17:00 In Tune (m002hc42)
Live classical music for your drive
Petroc Trelawny with Live music and interviews from the world's finest classical musicians
THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002hc44)
Switch up your listening with classical music
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.
THU 19:30 BBC Proms (m002hc46)
2025
Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony
Live at the BBC Proms: the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marie Jacquot in Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony with soloist Rachel Mahon. Plus Bizet, Holmès, and Sarasate.
Presented by Ian Skelly at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Georges Bizet: L' Arlésienne – Suite No. 1
Pablo de Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy
c.
20.10
Interval: Ian Skelly is joined by theatre director, composer, lyricist and French music enthusiast, Jeremy Sams to find out more about Augusta Holmès, a composer and also a mover and shaker in the cultural world of late nineteenth century Paris.
c.
20.30
Augusta Holmès: Andromède
Camille Saint‐Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, ‘Organ’
Inmo Yang (violin)
Rachel Mahon (organ)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Marie Jacquot (conductor)
An all-French programme whose first half – 150 years after the composer’s death – celebrates the bright, exotic colours conjured by Bizet. As well as a suite from his incidental music for ‘The Girl from Arles’, we hear the fantasy for violin and orchestra featuring music – including the famous ‘Habanera’ – from his best-loved opera, reimagined with explosive virtuosity by Sarasate. South Korean violinist Inmo Yang makes his Proms debut in the seductive, mercurial mantle of Bizet’s Gypsy-heroine. Saint-Saëns’s spectacular Symphony No. 3 puts the 9,999 pipes of the Royal Albert Hall organ (nicknamed the ‘Voice of Jupiter’) in the spotlight at the climax of this monumental work, and there’s more musical drama from gods and sea monsters in Augusta Holmès’s tone-poem Andromède.
THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m00236h7)
Dissolve into sound
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 (m002hc48)
A masterclass in the blues from Vieux Farka Touré
Jordan Rakei, sitting in all week for Soweto Kinch, presents 'Round Midnight - a weeknight celebration of jazz from across the spectrum, with a particular focus on new UK music.
From Monday to Thursday Jordan has been joined by Alfa Mist as his guest for this week’s Flowers feature. To conclude his tenure, Alfa decides to give his final bunch to an American jazz pianist noted for his exploratory compositions.
Also in the programme, there’s music from Emma-Jean Thackray, Joy Crookes and Aden.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
FRIDAY 29 AUGUST 2025
FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002hc4b)
Barber and Sibelius symphonies from Cologne
Sibelius's fifth and Barber's first symphonies performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne conducted by Roderick Cox. Jonathan Swain presents.
12:31 AM
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Symphony no 1, Op 9
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Roderick Cox (conductor)
12:52 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony no 5 in E flat major, Op 82
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Roderick Cox (conductor)
01:22 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
3 Songs for American Schools
Finnish Radio Chamber Choir, Liisa Pohjola (piano), Eric-Olof Soderstrom (conductor)
01:27 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
13 Pieces for piano, Op 76
Eero Heinonen (piano)
01:47 AM
Gunnar de Frumerie (1908-1987), Par Lagerkvist (author)
Hjärtats sånger (Songs of the Heart), Op 27
Claes-Hakan Ahnsjo (tenor), Thomas Schuback (piano)
02:01 AM
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Piano Concerto, Op 38
Garrick Ohlsson (piano), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Domingo Hindoyan (conductor)
02:31 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Suite for harpsichord solo in C major – from Essercizii Musici
Sabine Bauer (harpsichord)
02:50 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Quartet no 2 in A minor, Op 51 no 2
Armida Quartet
03:24 AM
Adolph Friedrich Hesse (1809-1863)
Introduction, Theme & Variations in A major, Op 47
Cor van Wageningen (organ)
03:36 AM
Alexander Gretchaninov (1864-1956)
Cherubic Hymn from Liturgia Domestica
Bulgarian Svetoslav Obretenov Choir, Bulgarian National Radio Chamber Orchestra, Georgi Robev (conductor)
03:44 AM
Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872)
Introduction to Act III & Dances of the Highlanders from 'Halka'
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz (conductor)
03:51 AM
Dag Wiren (1905-1986)
Violin Sonatina, Op 15
Arve Tellefsen (violin), Lucia Negro (piano)
04:02 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
La Cathédrale engloutie
Philippe Cassard (piano)
04:08 AM
Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)
Concerto a 5 for 2 oboes and strings in C major, Op 9 no 9
Molly Marsh (oboe), Pedro Lopes e Castro (oboe), European Union Baroque Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)
04:19 AM
Martin Wegelius (1846-1906)
Rondo quasi Fantasia
Margit Rahkonen (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari (conductor)
04:31 AM
Sven-Eric Johanson (1919-1997)
Fyra visor om arstiderna (4 songs about the Seasons)
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson (conductor)
04:38 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Two Nocturnes, Op 32 (no 1 in B major; no 2 in A flat major)
Kevin Kenner (piano)
04:48 AM
Jerzy Fitelberg (1903-1951)
3 mazurkas for orchestra
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Joel Suben (conductor)
05:01 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)
05:11 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Sonata in B minor BWV.1030 for flute and keyboard
Bart Kuijken (flute), Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord)
05:30 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto no 14 in E flat major, K.449
Maria Joao Pires (piano), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (conductor)
05:52 AM
Ruth Watson Henderson (b.1932)
Two Love Songs
Elmer Iseler Singers, Claire Preston (piano), Lydia Adams (director)
05:57 AM
Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Trio for oboe, horn and piano in A minor, Op 188
Maarten Karres (oboe), Jaap Prinsen (horn), Ariane Veelo-Karres (piano)
06:21 AM
Frantisek Jiranek (1698-1778)
Sinfonia in F major
Collegium Marianum
FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002h8sb)
The finest classical music to elevate your morning
Hannah French presents Radio 3's Breakfast show. 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 (m002h8sd)
Refresh your morning with classical music
Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.
1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.
1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.
1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.
1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.
To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Essential Classics”
FRI 13:00 Classical Live (m002h8sg)
Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor from the BBC Proms
Linton Stephens showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
Throughout the week, we will feature highlights from the BBC Proms 2025. In today's programme, conductor Klaus Mäkelä joins forces with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is a tumultuous journey from the darkness of a funeral march to brilliant light via the famous Adagietto – the tenderest musical love letter in the repertoire. It sits alongside Berio’s imaginative ‘rendering’ of Schubert’s unfinished tenth symphony, a musical palimpsest and sonic fantasy.
Elsewhere, performances from the Cheltenham Music Festival will be featured including former R3 New Generation Artists, pianist Giorgi Gigashvili playing Sergei Prokofiev, accordionist Ryan Corbett playing his arrangement of music by Bach', and tenor Santiago Sanchez singing music by Richard Strauss.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä (conductor)
Richard Strauss
Morgen
Santiago Sanchez (tenor)
Victoria Guerrero (piano)
Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Corbett)
Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland BWV.659
Ryan Corbett (accordian)
Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 8 in Bb Major, Op. 84
Giorgi Gigashvili (piano)
Luciano Berio
Rendering
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä (conductor)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".
FRI 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001m59b)
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Farinelli
Life at the Spanish court is transformed by the arrival of a singing celebrity. Presented by Kate Molleson.
Domenico Scarlatti was well placed to build himself a glittering career in the music business. He was prestigiously talented and born into a family with powerful connections in the music business. His home city of Naples was a major centre for the fashionable new art form of opera. But there were challenges, too. Competition was fierce and musicians often found their fates helplessly tied to the fickle fortunes of their aristocratic patrons. On top of all that, Domenico faced another, distinctly personal, test to his career aspirations; he was working in the shadow of a much more celebrated Scarlatti – his own father! It would take several decades, and more than a few changes of direction, before Domenico finally found his right path, becoming one of the baroque period’s most significant composers. Today, he’s rightly revered for the extraordinary catalogue of over 550 keyboard sonatas he left to posterity. This week, Kate Molleson traces Scarlatti's story and looks at what else there is to discover in his legacy alongside his celebrated keyboard works.
In today’s programme, the most famous opera singer of the age pays a visit to the Spanish court where Scarlatti works. When the King persuades him to stay, Scarlatti wonders if Farinelli will prove an ally or a rival.
Pur nel sonno almen tal’ora: (extracts)
Cyrille Gerstenhaber, soprano
Xviii-21 Musique Des Lumières, directed by Jean-Christophe Frisck
Avison: Concerto grosso after Scarlatti, No. 5 in Dm (extracts)
Tiento Nuovo, directed by Ignacio Prego
Salve Regina in A
Josè Maria Lo Monaco, mezzo-soprano
Divino Sospiro, directed by Massimo Mazzeo
Sonata in Cm, K11
Ivo Pogorelich (piano)
Sonata in G, K547
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Produced by Chris Taylor
FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002h8sk)
Classical artists live in the studio
Petroc Trelawny with Live music and interviews from the world's finest classical musicians
FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002h8sm)
The eclectic classical mix
Take 30 minutes out with a relaxing classical mix including Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture, George Walkers' Lyric for Strings, a lively trio by Cecile Chaminade and soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson singing Qual nave smarrita from Handel's Radamisto.
Producer: Kevin Satizabal Carrascal.
FRI 19:30 BBC Proms (m002h8sp)
2025
Khatia Buniatishvili Plays Tchaikovsky
Live at the BBC Proms: The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with conductor Jaime Martín and pianist Khatia Buniatishvili perform music by Margaret Sutherland, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák.
Presented by Ian Skelly, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Margaret Sutherland: Haunted Hills
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor
c.
8.25pm
Interval
Ian Skelly finds out about the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Australian music scene, with the orchestra's new CEO Richard Wigley and musicians from the orchestra.
c.
8.45pm
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D major
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra makes its first visit to the Proms under Chief Conductor Jaime Martín, bringing two Romantic orchestral classics as well as a musical postcard from Down Under. Dvořák swells simple, folk melodies into sweeping orchestral statements in his Symphony No. 6, inspired by his Bohemian homeland and landscape, while Australia’s ‘haunted hills’ are the starting point for Margaret Sutherland’s evocative symphonic portrait of her nation’s first Aboriginal inhabitants. Former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Khatia Buniatishvili is the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 1, with its passionate opening and the melting lilt of its slow movement.
FRI 22:00 BBC Proms (m002hd3f)
2025
Angel Bat Dawid and Sarahsson at the Late Junction Prom
Verity Sharp presents highlights from the first ever Late Junction Prom - a very special night of adventurous music, performed and recorded in front of a live audience at the Bristol Beacon. Tonight we’ll hear performances from two out of our three live acts - Bristol-based composer and performance artist Sarahsson and shapeshifting composer, DJ and educator Angel Bat Dawid.
Sarahsson is a kaleidoscopic composer, producer and performance artist, who is a key part of Bristol’s rich avant-garde community. Her sonic identity is a force to be reckoned with, flitting across the boundaries of numerous genres (from metal, electronic, gore and folk to classical). She finds inspiration in the sounds encountered in the outside world - from billowing marsh reed beds to waste removal trucks, and through her spirited live performances and in her recorded work, Sarahsson tries to reach what she refers to as the “one tiny point in the middle of a nuclear explosion where everything happens all at once, bittersweet and fierce, a moment when opposites collide into one. The nexus point.” For her Late Junction Proms performance, she will bring an exciting array of instruments to the stage, including her stone harp, tenor horn, daxophone and an exclusive for the event - a 6 foot metal sonic sculpture created in collaboration with local artists Copper Sounds.
Angel Bat Dawid is a musical powerhouse - a shapeshifting composer, educator, DJ, virtuoso clarinetist, pianist, singer and producer. An influential figure in the jazz scene of Chicago where she’s based, Angel is renowned for her spellbinding live performances and prowess as a band-leader. She tours internationally with her ensemble "Tha Brothahood" and leads the all-woman ensemble Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty, among many other musical collaborations and communities. As an educator, Angel teaches her “Great Black Music'' course at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center through Old Town School of Folk, and leads projects and residencies all over the world, believing in the power of music to bring people together - “When artists rise up, we’re the ones who connect communities.”
Bringing the night to a storming close, she will be leading one of her Hush Harbor Services - exploring themes of spiritual resilience, cultural memory, and Afro-futurism through a blend of improvisation, jazz, gospel, soul, hip-hop, and spoken word. Audience participation is encouraged, creating an interactive experience that reflects the historical significance of hush harbours, which were secret spaces where enslaved African Americans gathered for worship and cultural preservation.
Tune in to Late Junction next week to hear the rest of the highlights from the Late Junction Prom, with Jennifer Lucy Allan presenting the live performance of Polish experimenter Wojciech Rusin.
Produced by Kit Callin, Cat Gough and Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002h8st)
Richard Spaven in concert
Jordan Rakei, sitting in all week for Soweto Kinch, presents 'Round Midnight - a weeknight celebration of jazz from across the spectrum, with a particular focus on new UK music.
Tonight Jordan shares concert highlights from legendary drummer Richard Spaven, recorded live at Yardbird! In Cardiff earlier this year. His compositions draw from jazz tradition as well as taking influence from his background as a core member of UK club, drum and bass, and hip hop scenes. His drumming style offers metronomic precision and endless creativity.
For this performance, Richard was joined by Yves Fernandez on bass and Stuart McCallum on guitar. Together they performed music from Richard’s latest album Sole Subject.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'