SATURDAY 17 JANUARY 2026
SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002pq97)
CPE Bach
Arte dei Suonatori in an all-CPE Bach programme from Poland’s Actus Humanus Festival, with Marcin Świątkiewicz on the harpsichord. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in G, Wq.173
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
12:39 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Duo for flute and violin, Wq.140
Arte dei Suonatori
12:44 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in D major, Wq.176
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
12:54 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Keyboard Sonata in C, Wq. 53/1 2nd mvt Andantino, con tenerezza
Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
12:59 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in E flat, Wq.179
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
01:11 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in E minor, Wq.177; Poco Adagio for flute
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
01:27 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in F major, Wq.175
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
01:37 AM
Marcin Świątkiewicz (b.1984)
Improvised Fantasia
Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
01:40 AM
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Sinfonia in G, Wq.180
Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord)
01:54 AM
Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia (1843-1918)
Symphony no 4 in E major
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Rasilainen (conductor)
02:31 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 54
Dina Yoffe (piano), Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Brüggen (conductor)
03:03 AM
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Dixit Dominus (Psalm 110), SV 264
Collegium Vocale 1704, Collegium 1704, Václav Luks (conductor)
03:11 AM
William Walton (1902-1983)
Violin Concerto in B minor
James Ehnes (violin), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)
03:42 AM
Erland von Koch (1910-2009)
Elegaic theme with variations, Op 17
Carin Gille-Rybrant (piano)
03:52 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Missa brevis (BuxWV.114)
Marieke Steenhoek (soprano), Miriam Meyer (soprano), Bogna Bartosz (contralto), Marco van de Klundert (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass), Ton Koopman (conductor)
04:03 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
Hill-Song no 1
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon (conductor)
04:16 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Variations for Brass Band
Hannaford Street Silver Band, Bramwell Tovey (conductor)
04:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Coriolan Overture, Op 62
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (conductor)
04:38 AM
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Danzon Cubano vers. for 2 pianos
Aglika Genova (piano), Liuben Dimitrov (piano)
04:45 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Suite in G minor 'La Musette', TWV.55:g1
B'Rock, Jürgen Groß (conductor)
04:59 AM
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Divertimento assai facile for guitar and fortepiano (J.207)
Jakob Lindberg (guitar), Niklas Sivelöv (pianoforte)
05:11 AM
Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
Pelleas et Melisande suite, Op 80
BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)
05:28 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Flute Concerto in D major, K.314
Robert Aitken (flute), National Arts Centre Orchestra, Franco Mannino (conductor)
05:49 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Violin Sonata no 2 in G major, Op 13
Alina Pogostkina (violin), Sveinung Bjelland (piano)
06:11 AM
Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Concerto for bassoon and orchestra
Christopher Millard (bassoon), CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002prfd)
Start the day with classical music
Hannah French presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show. 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 (m002prfg)
Kazuki Yamada in conversation
Tom plays classical music to start your weekend.
Conductor Kazuki Yamada - the current music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) - chats to Tom about upcoming appearances with the ensemble and his vision for it.
Tom also talks to composer Brett Dean and mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean ahead of their appearance at London's Kings Place on 17 January. On the occasion, father and daughter join Aurora Orchestra to present a programme inspired by the theme of memory, including music by Brett Dean himself, and by Charles Ives, Copland, Radiohead, Kurt Weill, Ravel, Caroline Shaw and others.
Author Daisy Fancourt joins Tom to chat about her new book, Art Cure - The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health, which is out now, published by Penguin.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Saturday Morning.'
SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m002prfj)
Jools with some of his most-loved recordings
Jools shares his lifelong passion for classical music and the beautiful connections with jazz and blues. 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 Jean Sibelius, Delia Derbyshire and James MacMillan, with performances by Nina Simone, harpsichordist Wanda Landowska and blues singer Tommy Ridgley. His guest is the actor Peter Eyre who introduces music he loves by Bellini, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Elgar.
To listen on most smart speakers just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Earlier with Jools Holland'.
SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002prfl)
The President and the Polka
2: Manifest Destiny
Justin Webb (presenter of Today and Americast, and former BBC North America Editor) explores the surprising relationship between classical music and American politics. From the days of the Founding Fathers, music was used to assert an American identity, distinct from a European musical tradition. And evolving political and social ideals, dreams and struggles were mirrored in the music being created - from Manifest Destiny to #MeToo, from Civil War to Civil Rights.
In today's episode: Manifest Destiny and the American frontier. We explore how nineteenth century American classical music reflected the romance and danger of the push westwards, as well as the ideological conviction of the United States' right to expand its territory. And learn about Lincoln's fondness for the harmonica.
With conductor Marin Alsop.
Readers: Sasha McCabe, Clive Hayward and Patrick Robinson.
Producer Emma Harding, BBC Audio Wales
George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue
Antonio Serrano (harmonica), Federico Lechner (piano)
Aaron Copland
Billy the Kid: The Open Prairie
San Francisco Orchestra
Conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas
Anthony Philip Heinrich
The Ornithological Combat of Kings: The Combat of the Condor on Land
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Conductor, Christopher Keene
George Frederick Bristow
Symphony No 4 in E Minor, Op. 50 Arcadian i. Emigrants’ Journey Across the Plains
The Orchestra Now
Conductor, Leon Botstein
Marion Dix Sullivan
The Blue Juniata
Riders in the Sky
Traditional
The Blue Tail Fly
Burl Ives
Stephen Foster
Old Kentucky Home
Louis Armstrong
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
La Savane Op. 3
Claudia Schellenberger, pianist
Julia Ward Howe
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Lehman Engel Chorus
Francis Scala
Mary Lincoln Polka
Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra
SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002prfp)
Elgar's Cello Concerto in Building a Library with David Owen Norris and Andrew McGregor
Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by guest reviewers Sarah Lenton and David Owen Norris.
14.10
Opera expert Sarah Lenton assesses her pick of new releases.
15.00
Building a Library: David Owen Norris surveys recordings of Elgar's Cello Concerto and picks his favourite.
Edward Elgar composed his contemplative and elegiac Cello Concerto in E minor in the aftermath of the First World War. It was premiered in 1919 with soloist Beatrice Harrison, with whom Elgar made two recordings of the work. Since then, every great cellist of their day has made a recording, from Pablo Cassals and Jacqueline Du Pre to Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
c
15.45
Record of the Week
Andrew picks his favourite new release of the week.
SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m002prfr)
Composer Brian Irvine's Harmonising Hollywood and Alyn Shipton chooses his Pick of the Flicks
Edith Bowman curates your weekly selection of unforgettable film scores and movie music. This week’s Harmonising Hollywood features Ivor Novello award-winning composer Brian Irvine, exploring the music behind David Cronenberg’s surreal 1991 adaptation Naked Lunch—including the work of Howard Shore and Ornette Coleman. Plus, Alyn Shipton, presenter of Jazz Record Requests, shares his Pick of the Flicks.
We’ll also bring you the latest soundtrack releases and dive into highlights from classic vintage scores
SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002c1vd)
Jess Gillam with... Mark Wigglesworth
Jess Gillam is joined by celebrated British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, who is Chief Conductor of both Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Mark chooses Bach arranged for voices, Frank Bridge, Andre Previn playing jazz and some triumphant Wagner. Jess picks Shostakovich, Laura Marling and Telemann.
To listen on most smart speakers just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3'.
SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002pt2n)
Bizet's Carmen
Live from the New York Met, Bizet's operatic depiction of seduction, jealousy, and tragedy, Carmen.
Brought together by the obsession, and misfortune depicted in Prosper Mérimée's novella of the same name, the Met's production of Bizet's famous opera sees Aigul Akhmetshina mezzo-soprano as Carmen, whose irresistible allure drives the soldier Don José - sung by tenor Michael Fabiano - to destruction.
Set in and around the Spanish city of Seville, a site by the time that Carmen was written had already served as the locale for operatic intrigues including Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Bizet's musical portrayal of Mérimée's novella expertly echoes the city's colourful processions, bullfights, and the cultural life of its bohemian community. With so many recognizable melodies having permeated modern frames of cultural reference, it's easy to overlook how well the score is constructed, though notable solos include both the baritone’s famous Toreador Song and the tenor’s gut-wrenching Flower Song in Act 2, as well as Micaëla’s Act 3 aria 'Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante'. Punctuating the stages of their fateful relationship, Carmen and Don José have also three memorable duets, while massed numbers such as the 'chorus of street urchins', and the 'Bullfighters' Chorus' are employed to dramatic effect by Bizet.
Presented from the Met by Debra Lew Harder and Ira Siff.
Bizet: Carmen
Carmen ..... Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)
Don José ..... Michael Fabiano (tenor)
Micaëla ..... Janai Brugger (soprano)
Escamillo ..... Christian Van Horn (bass-baritone)
Micaela ..... Janai Brugger (soprano)
Frasquita ..... Susanne Burgess (soprano)
Mercedes ..... Briana Hunter (mezzo-soprano)
Zuniga ..... Richard Bernstein (bass)
Le Remendado ..... Aaron Blake (tenor)
Le Dancaire ..... Eleomar Cuello (baritone)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
Pier Giorgio Morandi (conductor)
SAT 21:30 Music Planet (m002prft)
Live from Celtic Connections
Lopa Kothari broadcasts live from Glasgow’s annual celebration of global roots music, welcoming local sextet TRIP into the BBC studios for exhilarating reels and jigs. Plus Irish singer Lisa O'Neill drops in for songs and conversation, and there's a chance to hear highlights from the opening night's collaboration between British guitarist Justin Adams and Moroccan Gnawa gimbri player Mohamed Errebbaa.
Produced by Phil Smith
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Planet.'
SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m002prfw)
The Art of Sinking
Tom Service introduces the latest in experimental music including, from Aberdeen Sound, Ben Nobuto's The Art of Sinking for portable keyboard and child's voice inspired by Alexander Pope's satirical The Art of Sinking Poetry and, from St Paul's Hall, Huddersfield, a free improvisation for pipe organ and saxophone from Heiner Goebbels and Raymond MacDonald. Also from last year's Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival comes leading Lithuanian composer, Raminta Šerkšnytė's Oriental Elegy inspired by Alexander Sokurov's film which, she says, shocked her with its 'subtlety, ingenious fantasy and the deepest reflection of the mysterious world of nature sounds - the ripple of water, the murmur of wind and the rustle of the trees.' And the natural world is also the inspiration for Oliver Pashley's Inflorescence, the botanical term for a cluster of flowers on a plant's stem. There's also the chance to hear two works by the remarkable composer, pianist and musical thinker, Jonathan Powell who died at the end of last year.
Oliver Pashley: Inflorescence
Hermes Experiment
Ben Nobuto: The Art of Sinking
Zubin Kanga (ROLI keyboard)
Raminta Šerkšnytė: Oriental Elegy
Mivos Quartet
Jonathan Powell: Beyond the Pleasure Principle
Zoe Martlew (cello) and Jonathan Powell (piano)
Jonathan Powell: Saturnine
Composers Ensemble
Improvisation
Heiner Goebbels (pipe organ), Raymond MacDonald (saxophone)
SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2026
SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002prfy)
Mozart, Brahms, Franck and Messiaen
Talented young soloists, violinist Ludvig Gudim and pianist Valdemar Wenzel Most perform a recital at the church in Nyborg, Denmark. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin Sonata no 22 in A major, K.305
Ludvig Gudim (violin), Valdemar Wenzel Most (piano)
12:46 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Violin Sonata no 1 in G major, Op 78
Ludvig Gudim (violin), Valdemar Wenzel Most (piano)
01:13 AM
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Theme and Variations
Ludvig Gudim (violin), Valdemar Wenzel Most (piano)
01:22 AM
César Franck (1822-1890)
Violin Sonata in A major
Ludvig Gudim (violin), Valdemar Wenzel Most (piano)
01:49 AM
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Liebesleid
Ludvig Gudim (violin), Valdemar Wenzel Most (piano)
01:53 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Allegros in G (nos 2 and 3 from 5 Pieces for Musical Clock, WoO.33)
Rob Nederlof (organ)
01:58 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 36 in C major, K.425 'Linz'
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Ádám Fischer (conductor)
02:31 AM
Peter Benoit (1834-1901)
Hoogmis for tenor, choir and orchestra
Donald George (tenor), BRTN Philharmonic Choir, Kokokklijk Vlaans Muziekconservatorium Antwerpen Choir, Gemengd Koor Ars Musica Merksem, Zingende Wandelkring Sint Norbertus Choir, Koninklijke Chorale Caecelia, Brussels Philharmonic, Alexander Rahbari (conductor)
03:27 AM
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Canon and Gigue in D major
Geoffrey Lancaster (harpsichord), Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players, Barbara Jane Gilby (director)
03:32 AM
Sergiu Natra (1924-2021)
Sonatina for Harp (1965)
Rita Costanzi (harp)
03:40 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Scherzo no 3 in C sharp minor, Op 39
Simon Trpčeski (piano)
03:47 AM
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Faust's Aria "Salut, demeure chaste et pure" -- from Act III of 'Faust'
Peter Dvorský (tenor), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ondrej Lenárd (conductor)
03:52 AM
Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981)
Cello Concertino
Michael Müller (cello), Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Thierry Fischer (conductor)
04:03 AM
Albertus Groneman (c.1710-1778)
Flute Sonata in E minor
Jed Wentz (flute), Balázs Máté (cello), Marcelo Bussi (harpsichord)
04:14 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Maurice Ravel
Tarantelle styrienne
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk (conductor)
04:21 AM
Sébastien Le Camus (c.1610-1677)
Laissez durer la nuit - air de cour
Ground Floor, Marc Mauillon (tenor), Gwennaëlle Alibert (harpsichord), Angélique Mauillon (harp), Étienne Galletier (theorbo), Elena Andreyev (cello)
04:26 AM
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
3 Hungarian folksongs from the Csik district for piano, Sz.35a
Zóltan Kocsis (piano)
04:31 AM
Giles Farnaby (c. 1563 - 1640), arr. Elgar Howarth
Fancies, Toyes and Dreams
Brass Consort Köln
04:39 AM
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
Chorale for String Orchestra
Romanian National Radio Orchestra, Horia Andreescu (conductor)
04:45 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
2 Songs: When Night Descends in silence; Oh stop thy singing maiden fair
Fredrik Zetterström (baritone), Tobias Ringborg (violin), Anders Kilström (piano)
04:53 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Violoncello concerto in G major, RV 413
Stefan Popov (cello), Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, Emil Tabakov (conductor)
05:05 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Lyric pieces - book 5 for piano, Op 54: Nos 2, 4, 3
Sveinung Bjelland (piano)
05:17 AM
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Symphony no 3 in G minor, Op 36
Berner Kammerorchester, Graziella Contratto (conductor)
05:52 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in G major, Op 77 No 1
Australian String Quartet, William Hennessy (violin), Douglas Weiland (violin), Keith Crellin (viola), Janis Laurs (cello)
06:18 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Jane Grey Fantasy, Op 15
Scott Dickinson (viola), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Teresa Riveiro Bohm (conductor)
SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002przg)
Wake up your senses with classical music
Mark Forrest presents Radio 3’s Breakfast show live from Salford. With 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’
SUN 09:00 Sunday Morning (m002przj)
Three hours of classical sparkle
Petroc Trelawny, sitting in for Sarah Walker with three hours of classical music to reflect, restore and refresh.
Today, Petroc's choices include music for the play Nero by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, which bubbles with romantic energy, a Gymnopédie by Peggy Glanville-Hicks, with echoes of ancient Greece, and a recent recording of Britten’s Second Lute Song of the Earl of Essex, deftly sung by Lotte Betts-Dean.
This week's Choral Reflection is Palestrina’s contemplative motet Vineam meam, and we’re treated to the whole of Gershwin’s effervescent Piano Concerto.
Plus, Petroc gets in the spirit of last weekend’s American Roadtrip…
A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3
SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002przl)
Peter Purves
Michael Berkeley's guest is actor and TV presenter Peter Purves. Purves has been involved in two of TV’s longest-running and best-loved institutions - he was one of the earliest companions to travel in the TARDIS with Doctor Who (1965-66), and for ten and a half years from 1967 to 1978, alongside John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Leslie Judd, he presented Blue Peter – entertaining the nation’s children with demonstrations in everything from competitive swimming to scaling the Fourth Road Bridge. A dog lover, he has also presented TV coverage of dog show Crufts for many years. Purves's musical passions include Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Sondheim, alongside tracks by Louis Armstrong and Count Basie - both of whom he remembers seeing perform live in concert.
Presenter: Michael Berkeley
Producer: Graham Rogers
SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002przn)
Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto
Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto is Sara Mohr-Pietsch’s destination on today’s Music Map. Bruch was badly ripped off in the process of publishing this work, and we’ll hear from other composers who were similarly swindled. Sara also has music by the man who made the concerto famous; and some other showstopping violin works by the likes of Bach, Stravinsky and Stephane Grappelli.
SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002ph55)
St Lawrence Church, York
From St Lawrence Church, York, with the Ebor Singers.
Introit: The Magi’s Gift (Richard Allain)
Responses: Cecilia MacDowall
Psalms 73, 74 (Flintoft, Wolstenholme, Barnby, Goss)
First Lesson: Exodus 15 vv1-19
Canticles: St Martin’s Service (Lucy Walker)
Second Lesson: Colossians 2 vv8-15
Anthem: Save us O Lord (Bairstow)
Voluntary: Praeludium in G minor BuxWV 149 (Buxtehude)
Paul Gameson (Conductor)
David Pipe (Organist)
Recorded 7 January
To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong'.
SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002przq)
Jazz for January
Alyn Shipton present jazz records of all styles as requested by you including music from Chet Baker, Fergus McCreadie, Ella Fitzgerald, Katharine Whalen’s Jazz Squad and more.
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 (m002przs)
Hesperion XXI - the Golden Age of European Consort Music
Hannah French presents highlights of a concert given at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon by Hesperion XXI, directed by Jordi Savall. This consort music, set between 1550 and 1750 features composers such as Dowland, Purcell and Bach, among many others less well known. According to Savall, the focus is on “the most beautiful pieces from the second part of the Renaissance to the Baroque period”, played by a formation of violas da gamba.
SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m002przv)
Agatha Christie and music
Siân Thomas and Tim McInnerny are the readers in a programme marking fifty years since Agatha Christie's death, aged 85, on January 12 1976.
In her autobiography, Agatha Christie describes practicing Schumann's The Merry Peasant and Czerny's exercises; appearing with a local family in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeoman of the Guard, which was 'one of the highlights of my existence'; and her hopes of becoming a professional performer after training in Paris. But her 'cherished secret fantasy to do something in music' was ended by her teachers' assessment of her talents, and the stories she had already begun writing became her focus: 'If the thing you want beyond anything cannot be, it is much better to recognise it and go forward, instead of dwelling on one’s regrets and hopes'.
Music features in the plots of some her novels from Death on the Nile and A Caribbean Mystery to Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Mrs McGinty's Dead and Elephants Can Remember, and you find in her writing quotations of poetry by Tennyson, Shakespeare, William Blake and nursery rhymes, as well as poetic inspirations for some of her book titles, so this Words and Music celebrates the poetic and musical world of the woman who became known as the 'Queen of Crime'.
Producer: Robyn Read
Readings from
Agatha Christie An Autobiography
Shakespeare's Macbeth, Twelfth Night and Othello
Elephants Can Remember
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Dead Man's Folly
They Do It With Mirrors
Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott
Mrs McGinty's Dead
Death on the Nile
A Caribbean Mystery
William Blake's Song of Innocence
Poirot's Last Case
SUN 19:15 Sunday Feature (m002przx)
The Music Man for Africa
Leo Sarkisian (1921-2018), musicologist, musician, raconteur and radio man,
spent decades traveling through South Asia and Africa with a half-ton Nagra tape recorder.
An intrepid adventurer with 'a good ole American handshake,' he recorded hundreds of
musicians in 39 African countries (including some, like Fela Kuti, who later became world-famous) at a time of tremendous energy and change. Working first for Hollywood's Tempo
Records and then for the Voice of America, to which he was recruited by the legendary Ed
Murrow, he also served Cold War America as a cultural ambassador and, occasionally, as its
eyes and ears.
Leo was born in New England to Armenian parents, refugees from persecution in
Ottoman Turkey. He was steeped in the music of diasporas, and understood the importance of
traditional culture and music as a unifying force. In 1965, he launched the Voice of America's
longest running show, Music Time in Africa, which remained on air until March 2025,
when President Donald Trump's cuts effectively shut the network down. Irresistibly charming
and infectiously enthusiastic, Leo loved music and musicians; his programme was hugely
popular, attracting sacks full of fan mail from all over the world.
Maria Margaronis immerses herself in Leo's life and adventures, his double life as
broadcaster and US government 'ambassador'- and his extraordinary collection of African
music, now archived at the University of Michigan.
Written and presented by Maria Margaronis and produced by David Goren. Reading
by Abba Adamu. A Storyscape Production.
SUN 20:00 Record Review (m002q73v)
Elgar's Cello Concerto
The Building a Library recommendation for a recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto from yesterday's Record Review.
SUN 21:00 20th Century Radicals (m002przz)
Helmut Lachenmann: The Beauty of Decay
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, Gillian explores the remarkable musical aesthetics of the Stuttgart-born composer Helmut Lachenmann, who celebrated his 90th birthday in November 2025.
On our way to a full performance of his piece Mouvement (– vor der Erstarrung) which was first performed in 1984, we'll encounter the composer's personal brand of 'instrumental musique concrète' and discover the transformational impact on Lachenmann of his private studies with Luigi Nono. 'This music embodies a life of setting up and breaking down,' the composer writes of our featured work, 'it is a music of dead movements, practically the last convulsions [...]'
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 Night Tracks (m002ps01)
Immersive music for after-hours
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m002ps03)
Flights of fancy
Join Elizabeth Alker with a selection of fresh music from of today's most exciting genre-defying artists. 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.
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 19 JANUARY 2026
MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002q15s)
Ajna Marosz and Il Cuore Barocco play Graupner and Telemann
A chamber music concert from the 2024 Allegretto Žilina International Music Festival in northern Slovakia. The main mission of the festival is the presentation of artists from various countries (including Slovakia) who are winners of the most renowned world competitions. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Christoph Graupner (1683-1760)
Overture for Alto Flute and Strings in F major, GWV.447
Ajna Marosz (recorder), Il Cuore Barocco, Peter Zelenka (leader), Peter Zelenka (violin)
01:03 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Concerto Polonaise in G major, TWV 43:G7
Il Cuore Barocco, Peter Zelenka (leader), Peter Zelenka (violin)
01:13 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E minor, TWV 52:e1
Ajna Marosz (recorder), Il Cuore Barocco, Peter Zelenka (leader), Peter Zelenka (violin)
01:27 AM
Ján Cikker (1911-1989)
Slovak Suite, Op 22
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mirko Krajči (conductor)
01:50 AM
Iris Szeghy (b.1956)
Cello Concerto
Andrej Gál (cello), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marián Lejava (conductor)
02:17 AM
Peter Zagar (b.1961)
Blumenthal Dance no 2 for violin, viola, cello, clarinet and piano
Opera Aperta Ensemble
02:25 AM
Michal Vilec (1902-1979)
Na rozhl'adni (On the Watchtower)
Ivica Gabrisova-Encingerova (flute), Matej Vrabel (piano)
02:31 AM
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Piano Concerto no 3 in D minor, Op 30
Simon Trpčeski (piano), Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko (conductor)
03:13 AM
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Magnificat for 6 voices from Vespro della Beata Vergine
Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, Christopher Jackson (conductor)
03:29 AM
Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566-1613), arr. Peter Maxwell Davies
2 Motets arr. Maxwell Davies for brass quintet
Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble
03:38 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Fantasy in C minor, K.396
Juho Pohjonen (piano)
03:46 AM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto in D minor, Op 3 no 11, from 'L'Estro Armonico'
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)
03:56 AM
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
Weihnachten (Leise weht's durch alle Lande) for voice and piano
Benjamin Appl (baritone), James Baillieu (piano)
03:59 AM
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)
Dream Pantomime (Hansel and Gretel)
Symphony Nova Scotia, Georg Tintner (conductor)
04:08 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
4th mvt from Piano Trio no 4 in E minor, Op 90 'Dumky'
Delta Piano Trio
04:14 AM
François Couperin (1668-1733)
La Françoise (La pucelle) sonata (from Les Nations ordre no 1 in E minor)
Ricercar Consort, Henri Ledroit (conductor)
04:21 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Varnatt (Spring Night)
Swedish Radio Choir, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stefan Sköld (conductor)
04:31 AM
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
The Walk to the Paradise Garden
BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth (conductor)
04:41 AM
Piotr Moss (b.1949)
Wiosenno
Polish Radio Choir, Wlodzimierz Siedlik (conductor)
04:50 AM
Károly Goldmark (1830-1915)
Night and festal music - prelude to Act II from the opera 'Die Königin von Saba'
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)
04:58 AM
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Quartet no 1 in F major for flute, clarinet, bassoon and horn
Canberra Wind Soloists
05:09 AM
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Cello Sonata in D minor
Eva Saladin (violin), Daniel Rosin (cello), Johannes Keller (harpsichord)
05:16 AM
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)
Concerto for keyboard and strings in A major (1779)
Linda Nicholson (fortepiano), Florilegium Collinda
05:34 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
The Planets Suite, Op 32
BBC Philharmonic, Bach Choir, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)
06:24 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Liebestraume no 3 in A flat major (S.541)
Richard Raymond (piano)
MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002pshl)
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’
MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m002pshn)
A classical soundtrack 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'
MON 13:00 Classical Live (m002pshq)
Vox Luminis live from Wigmore Hall
Linton Stephens showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
The week begins with a live concert from London’s Wigmore Hall given by renowned Baroque vocal group Vox Luminis, who perform music by three members of the Bach dynasty. Included in today's concert is Johann Sebastian’s Wedding Cantata, BVW196.
Throughout the week we are spending time in the spectacular Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, with a series of recordings made in the eye-catching 2017 concert hall, a cube of class perched atop a redbrick cocoa factory in the middle of the River Elbe. Today, Sakari Oramo conducts the hall's resident ensemble, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, in music by Verdi and Elgar.
1pm
Live from Wigmore Hall, London. Introduced by Hannah French.
Heinrich Bach
Sonata in C
Johann Christoph Bach
Die Furcht des Herren
Heinrich Schütz
Siehe wie fein und lieblich, SWV48
Johann Christoph Bach
Meine Freundin, du bist schön
Johann Sebastian Bach
Der Herr denket an uns 'Wedding Cantata', BWV196
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier (conductor)
2pm
Giuseppe Verdi
La Forza del Destino (Overture)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata in B flat, K. 333
Anne Queffélec (piano)
Edward Elgar
Symphony No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 63
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
Franz Schubert
Du bist die Ruh’
Mischa Maisky (cello)
Sasha Maisky (violin)
Lily Maisky (piano)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live'.
MON 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002031m)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Family Man
Kate Molleson uncovers Dvořák’s devotion to his nearest and dearest.
Antonín Dvořák was one of the most heartfelt tunesmiths in classical music - a man who not only brought the sound of Czech folklore to the world, but also had an indelible impact on the musical nationhood of America. As a character he was sometimes shy, sometimes melancholy, routinely homesick and deeply passionate. Through the week Kate Molleson explores five windows onto Dvořák’s soul, aspects of life that were really central to his convictions and his music.
Today, we learn about Dvořák’s family - one of the guiding forces in everything he did and created, from his roots in a dynasty of music-loving butchers and innkeepers, to building his own brood of six children. He wasn’t the sort of composer to lock himself away and loved nothing more than the happy chaos of his domestic life. We hear how his family inspired some of his purest music, and how they factored into some of his biggest career dilemmas.
Gypsy Songs Op 55 No 4: Songs my mother taught me (arr. for cellos by Kian Soltani)
Kian Soltani, cello
Cellists of Staatskapelle Berlin
Berceuse (Two Piano Pieces, No 1)
Ivo Kahánek, piano
Symphony No 1 'Bells of Zlonice' (3rd movement)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Cypresses, Nos 1 and 2
Hagen Quartett
Symphony No 9 'From the New World' (2nd movement)
Chineke! Orchestra
Kevin John Edusei, conductor
Sonatine (1st and 2nd movements)
Jack Liebeck, violin
Katya Apekisheva, piano
Humoresque in G flat major
Stephen Hough, piano
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West
MON 17:00 In Tune (m002psht)
Bass-baritone Gerald Finley and pianist Samson Tsoy
Petroc Trelawny is joined by pianist Samson Tsoy who performs live in the studio, ahead of his recital at Wigmore Hall, London. Petroc also welcomes bass-baritone Gerald Finley, who is singing Brahms' A German Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall in London.
MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002pshw)
A 30-minute prescription for calm
An engaging mix of classical music for half an hour, featuring the dance by the daughter of a Bedouin tribe as depicted in Grieg’s incidental music to Peer Gynt, and a lullaby from Vivaldi’s setting of Psalm 127 performed on the chalumeau (the predecessor of the modern-day clarinet), plus pianist Vikingur Ólafsson delves into Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier.
MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002pshy)
Liszt's Piano Concerto No.2
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and its music director, Domingo Hindoyan, give a concert in their home city, which brims with the colour and flamboyance of Paul Hindemith, Franz Liszt and Richard Strauss.
Tonight’s concert begins with the big-band swagger of Hindemith’s Concert Music, commissioned in 1930 for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It’s followed by a showstopping concerto by Franz Liszt – one of the greatest pianists who ever lived – played tonight by former Radio 3 New Generation Artist Mariam Batsashvili.
After the interval, one of the most iconic openings in all classical music. But it doesn't stop there. The expansive Nietzsche-inspired Also sprach Zarathustra is far more than its celebrated beginning. Richard Strauss wanted his symphonic tone poem to tell the 'entire story of humanity'. In the primal darkness a trumpet sounds – and seconds later, the whole universe is ablaze with light. Joys and passions, dances and dirges - the music responds to and encapsulates some of life's highs and lows before melting into the dark of a peaceful night.
Presented by Penny Gore.
Recorded on 30 October 2025
***
Paul Hindemith: Concert Music for Strings and Brass
Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No.2
INTERVAL
Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Mariam Batsashvili (piano)
Domingo Hindoyan (conductor)
***
To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert'.
MON 21:45 The Essay (m002psj0)
Stories from the Museum of Music History
Napoleon’s Piano
Kate Kennedy, General Manager of the Museum of Music History, explores forgotten objects from the Museum’s treasure trove of musical artefacts and instruments, that each hold a key to a crucial piece of our musical past. What can a musical artefact unlock about the lives lived with and around it, and how it might provide a key to recreating the sounds of the past? In this episode, a symbolic gift of a piano from Emperor Napoleon to his wife.
Napoleon’s wedding gift of an elaborate square piano to his young second wife Marie Louise in 1810, tells us about the sheer hard work of having to be a musician at a very high level to serve as wife to the emperor. When we see this instrument, we can understand something of the behind-the-scenes at the Tuileries Palace, the practice, performances and the work in order to have her seen in her best light.
The ornate and painted piano speaks of the intimacy of their marriage. But Marie Louise had been catapulted into a potentially awkward situation as Napoleon kept a musical mistress and still had close ties to his first wife Josephine. How much can we read into their relationship through this exquisite musical gift? Kate Kennedy hears from historian Ruth Scurr and early keyboard specialist Steven Devine to shed light on the piano’s secrets.
Presented by Dr Kate Kennedy
Produced by Adrian Washbourne
Mixed by Julian Mayers
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3
The Museum of Music History is a unique collection of musical material encompassing sheet music, portraits, photographs, concert, opera and ballet programmes, ephemera and illustrated title pages, books, periodicals, sculpture, instruments and personal archives. Exhibitions are regularly curated online https://momh.org.uk/
MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m002psj3)
Reflective music for the day’s end
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 (m002psj5)
Clara Serra López’s Flowers
‘Round Midnight is presented by award-winning saxophonist Soweto Kinch. This weekday late-night show celebrates the thriving UK jazz scene.
Soweto’s guest this week is Spain-born, London-based singer-songwriter and keyboardist Clara Serra López. Her music draws on her Cuban and Catalan heritage and offers a rich sonic palette grounded in driving polyrhythms. From Monday to Thursday, Clara is giving appreciation to some of the artists that she is inspired by for our Flowers feature. Starting the week, Clara gives her first bouquet to a Tunisian producer she takes influence from.
There is also music from Hackney Colliery Band, Kerry Politzer and Joel Ross.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
TUESDAY 20 JANUARY 2026
TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002q16k)
María Dueñas plays Bruch with the NDR Elbphilharmonie
Violinist María Dueñas, recipient of the 2025 Gramophone Instrumental and Young Artist of the Year awards, plays Bruch's Violin Concerto no 1. Alan Gilbert also leads the NDR Elbphilharmonie in Brahms' First Symphony in this concert given as part of the Baltic Sea Festival 2025 in Stockholm. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Anna Clyne (b.1980)
Restless Oceans
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Alan Gilbert (conductor)
12:35 AM
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto no 1 in G minor, Op 26
María Dueñas (violin), NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Alan Gilbert (conductor)
12:59 AM
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Veslemøys sang - Veslemøy's song (encore)
María Dueñas (violin)
01:03 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony no 1 in C minor, Op 68
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Alan Gilbert (conductor)
01:48 AM
Waldemar Åhlén (1894-1982), arr. Simone Candotto
En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt - Summer Hymn (encore)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
01:52 AM
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
String Quartet no 4 in A minor, Op 25
Yggdrasil String Quartet
02:27 AM
Albert Roussel (1869-1937), René Chalupt (author)
Coeur en peril, Op.50 no 1
Ola Eliasson (baritone), Mats Jansson (piano)
02:31 AM
Boris Mykolayovich Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968)
Grazyna - symphonic poem, Op 58
Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Oksana Lyniv (conductor)
02:49 AM
Luciano Berio (1925-2003)
Folk Songs for mezzo-soprano and 7 players
Jean Stilwell (mezzo soprano), Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Raffi Armenian (conductor)
03:13 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in D major, Op 64 no 5 'Lark'
Tilev String Quartet, Gueorgui Tilev (violin), Svetoslav Marinov (violin), Ogunian Stantchev (viola), Yontcho Bayrov (cello)
03:31 AM
Frigyes Hidas (1928-2007)
Harpsichord Concerto
Borbála Dobozy (harpsichord), Concentus Hungaricus, Ildikó Hegyi (conductor)
03:44 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Norwegian Dance no 1 for piano duet, Op 35
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Håvard Gimse (piano)
03:50 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Gentle Morpheus, son of night (Calliope's song) from 'Alceste'
Emma Kirkby (soprano), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)
04:00 AM
Marianna Martines (1744-1812)
Sinfonia in C major
BBC Concert Orchestra, Johannes Wildner (conductor)
04:11 AM
Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665)
Credidi from Salmi et Messa Concertata, Op 18
Ensemble Daimonion
04:17 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Seascape, Op 53
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jonathan Bloxham (conductor)
04:23 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Tu es Petrus - motet for 6 voices
Silvia Piccollo (soprano), Emanuela Galli (soprano), Fabian Schofrin (alto), Marco Beasley (tenor), Daniele Carnovich (bass), Emanuela Galli (soloist), Diego Fasolis (conductor)
04:31 AM
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
Espana - rhapsody
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor)
04:37 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Fantaisie-impromptu in C sharp minor Op 66
Anastasia Vorotnaya (piano)
04:43 AM
William Lawes (1602-1645)
Suite a 4 in G minor
Concordia, Mark Levy (conductor)
04:50 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Hymn to St Cecilia for chorus Op 27
BBC Singers, David Hill (conductor)
05:01 AM
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Partita for orchestra
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jan Krenz (conductor)
05:15 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Phantasiestücke, Op 73
Luka Mitev (bassoon), Helena Kosem Kotar (piano)
05:27 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Quartet in D major TWV.43:D1 for flute, violin, viola da gamba and continuo
Giovanni Antonini (recorder), Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Jaroslaw Thiel (conductor)
05:42 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Hamlet - fantasy overture, Op 67
BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)
06:00 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Quartet in F major, Op 18 no 1
Artemis Quartet
TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002ptgj)
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’
TUE 09:30 Essential Classics (m002ptgl)
The very best 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'.
TUE 13:00 Classical Live (m002ptgn)
Richard Strauss at the Elbphilharmonie
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 are spending time in the spectacular Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, with a series of recordings made in the eye-catching 2017 concert hall by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Two superstar soloists join the orchestra today, with violinist Augustin Hadelich playing Prokofiev’s second Violin Concerto and pianist Kirill Gerstein the soloist in Richard Strauss’s Burleske. Plus there’s more Strauss, his dramatic early tone poem Death and Transfiguration.
Following on from yesterday’s live concert from London’s Wigmore Hall, we hear more from the superb Baroque ensemble Vox Luminis, who specialise in lesser-known gems from the period. Today, they tell us the Old Testament story of Jonah, through the music of 17th-century Italian composer Giacomo Carissimi.
And we’ll be heading back to Wigmore Hall to hear highlights from Classical Live recitals given there last year by pianist Anne Queffélec and the Calidore Quartet.
1pm
Richard Strauss
Burleske for piano and orchestra
Kirill Gerstein (piano)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Alan Gilbert (conductor)
Joseph Haydn
Overture to an English Opera
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Manze (conductor)
A set of French miniatures:
Claude Debussy - Images, Series 1: Reflets dans l'eau; Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune
Gabriel Dupont - Les heures dolentes: Après-midi de dimanche
Reynaldo Hahn - Le rossignol éperdu: Hivernale; Le banc songeur
Charles Koechlin - Paysages et marines Op. 63: Chant de pêcheurs
Florent Schmitt - Musiques intimes, Book 2 Op. 29: Glas
Anne Queffélec (piano)
Richard Strauss
Tod und Verklärung [Death and transfiguration], Op. 24
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Andris Poga (conductor)
Sergei Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 54
Augustin Hadelich (violin)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Juraj Valčuha (conductor)
Carlos Gardel
Por una cabeza
Augustin Hadelich (violin)
Giacomo Carissimi
Historia di Jonas [The Story of Jonas]
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier (conductor)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 34
Calidore Quartet
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 (m00202zw)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Pigeons and Prairies
Kate Molleson explores Dvořák’s vital connection to nature.
Antonin Dvořák was one of the most heartfelt tunesmiths in classical music - a man who not only brought the sound of Czech folklore to the world, but also had an indelible impact on the musical nationhood of America. As a character he was sometimes shy, sometimes melancholy, routinely homesick and deeply passionate. Through the week Kate Molleson explores five windows onto Dvořák’s soul, aspects of life that were really central to his convictions and his music.
Today, Dvořák the nature-lover. The outside world wasn’t just something he took a bit of quaint inspiration from, but something he couldn’t live without. He was scared of crowds, thieves and fire, so cities tested his nerves. His summer house, Vysoka, was the necessary antidote to the demands of a busy metropolitan life, where he walked, wrote, and most importantly, looked after his beloved pet pigeons.
Forget-me-not Polka
Ivo Kahánek, piano
Silent Woods (From the Bohemian Forest)
Tanja Tetzlaff, cello
Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin
Paavo Järvi, conductor
Serenade for Strings (1st and 2nd movements)
London Chamber Orchestra
Christopher Warren-Green, conductor
Rusalka, Act I: Song to the moon
Renee Fleming, soprano
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Charles Mackerras, conductor
The Wild Dove
Berlin Philharmonic
Simon Rattle, conductor
String Quartet No 12 in F major 'American', Op 96 (3rd movement)
Chilingirian Quartet
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West
TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002ptgr)
Amy Harman and Orsino Ensemble in session
Petroc Trelawny welcomes bassoonist Amy Harman in studio, ahead of the release of her new album The Bassoonist Songbook, out on 23/01. Amy performs live with pianist Tom Poster and also with Orsino Ensemble - the chamber group she is a member of, with whom she is performing at Wigmore Hall on 25/01.
Composer Anne Nikitin is also live in studio. She discusses composing the score for the series Seven Dials, based on Agatha Christie’s novel Seven Dials and currently streaming on Netflix.
TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002ptgt)
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.
TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002ptgw)
Chineke! Orchestra celebrates a decade
Chineke! Orchestra celebrates a decade.
Linton Stephens introduces works commissioned by the ensemble in the last ten years in a tenth-anniversary concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall.
The concert opens with a brand new piece by Liverpool-born composer Nneka Cummins, celebrating the ensemble in all its glory. Then comes music by the sensation that is Ayanna Witter-Johnson in Blush. A long-time collaborator and incredible performer in her own right, she takes the traditions of classical music and seamlessly blends them with a wealth of influences including R&B and reggae. And to complete the first half, handpan player extraordinaire, Rosie Bergonzi introduces her instrument before playing Cassie Kinoshi’s Handpan Concerto (to the hibiscus), a work which blends the mellow sounds of this rare but wonderful instrument with the orchestral textures of Chineke! Orchestra’s string section. Then, after the interval, Stewart Goodyear talks movingly to to Linton about his Life, Life, Life, a work which echoes the essence of his Trinidadian heritage and which is dedicated to his mother, who would often say the phrase whether she was feeling happy, exhausted or exasperated. And this tenth-anniversary concert ends with Remnants by composer James B Wilson and poet Yomi Ṣode, inspired by an image which went viral in 2020 and which depicts Patrick Hutchinson carrying a counter-protestor to safety during that summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Nneka Cummins: New work (World premiere)
Ayanna Witter-Johnson: Blush
Cassie Kinoshi: Handpan Concerto (to the hibiscus)
Interval
Hannah Kendall: The spark catchers
Stewart Goodyear: Life, Life, Life
James B Wilson: Remnants
Rosie Bergonzi (handpan)
Yomi Sode (narrator)
Chineke! Orchestra
Kalena Bovell conductor
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert'.
TUE 21:45 The Essay (m002ptgy)
Stories from the Museum of Music History
The Secret Book
Biographer Kate Kennedy unearths five forgotten objects from the Museum of Music History that provide a key to recreating the lives of their owners and sounds of their past. In this episode, a secret love message from a celebrated cellist to a royal princess.
Beatrice Harrison was one of the greatest cellists of the early 20th century and known for her famous duet with a Nightingale. But as well as a celebrated and highly accomplished cellist, she was also a devoted close friend of Princess Victoria, the unmarried sister of George V. But a small book wrought in silver tells another story. Beatrice was Victoria's significant other, and their friendship sustained them both through a punishing schedule of constant international touring, and an unfulfilled life devoted to a querulous queen. The book speaks of the intensity of their relationship. Wrought in silver with crystals, a ruby clasp and an engraved cello and nightingale on the front, it is bound with Beatrice's A string on which she recorded the Elgar Cello Concerto. Inside the book is the concerto’s slow movement, a bar per page with Elgar's signature at the back.
We hear from the royal advisor on silver and jewels, Geoffrey Munn, on what such a gift might mean, and how much, or how little, to read into it. At the very least, it symbolises the bond between two extraordinary women and the support they gained from each other.
Presented by Dr Kate Kennedy
Produced by Adrian Washbourne
Mixed by Julian Mayers
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3
TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m002pth0)
A bewitching night time soundtrack
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between.
TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002pth2)
An album exclusive from Mark Lockheart
‘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, singer-songwriter and keyboardist Clara Serra López has another bunch of Flowers to give out, and this time it’s going to an innovative vocalist, pianist and friend of the show.
Plus there is music from Sara Decker, Sophye Soliveau, and Move 78 and Cassie Kinoshi.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
WEDNESDAY 21 JANUARY 2026
WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002q1sh)
Bruce Liu plays Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Prokofiev
Bruce Liu has taken the world by storm since winning the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021. In this recital, he delivers an exquisite performance of Tchaikovsky's Seasons, plus works by Scriabin and Prokofiev. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Excerpts from 'The Seasons, Op 37b'
Bruce Liu (piano)
12:54 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), arr. Earl Wild
Dance of the Four Swans, from 'Swan Lake'
Bruce Liu (piano)
12:56 AM
Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915)
Piano Sonata no 4 in F sharp minor, Op 30
Bruce Liu (piano)
01:04 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Excerpts from 'The Seasons, Op 37b'
Bruce Liu (piano)
01:25 AM
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Piano Sonata no 7 in B flat, Op 83
Bruce Liu (piano)
01:46 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Waltz in A minor, Op Posth.
Bruce Liu (piano)
01:49 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op 66
Bruce Liu (piano)
01:54 AM
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Les Cyclopes, from 'Pièces de clavecin'
Bruce Liu (piano)
01:57 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Von fremden Ländern und Menschen, from 'Kinderszenen, Op 15'
Bruce Liu (piano)
02:00 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Suite no 4 in G major, Op 61, 'Mozartiana'
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi (conductor)
02:24 AM
Matias Juan de Veana (1656-1707)
Ay amor que dulce tirano
Olga Pitarch (soprano), Accentus Austria, Thomas Wimmer (director)
02:31 AM
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Te Deum in D major, ZWV 146
Martina Janková (soprano), Isabel Jantschek (soprano), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (contralto), Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak (tenor), Felix Rumpf (bass), Dresdner Kammerchor, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Václav Luks (conductor)
03:00 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Quintet in E flat major K.452 for piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Albrecht Mayer (oboe), Kari Kriikku (clarinet), Per Hannisdahl (bassoon), Jonathan Williams (horn)
03:23 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Antoni Ros-Marbà (conductor)
03:42 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Die Forelle; Nacht und Träume; Der Musensohn
Barbara Hendricks (soprano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)
03:50 AM
Ilmari Hannikainen (1892-1955)
Rural Dances, Op 39a
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari (conductor)
04:05 AM
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
Minuet (from String Quintet G275)
Varazdin Chamber Orchestra, David Geringas (conductor)
04:09 AM
Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
O Danny Boy or Irish tune from County Derry
Edmonton Wind Ensemble, Harry Pinchin (conductor)
04:14 AM
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Cuba (Suite espanola no 1, Op 47 no 8)
Tomaž Rajterič (guitar)
04:20 AM
Arvo Pärt (b.1935)
Spiegel im Spiegel
Morten Carlsen (viola), Sergej Osadchuk (piano)
04:27 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Waltz for piano (Op.64 No.1) in D flat major 'Minute'
Ingrid Fliter (piano)
04:31 AM
Imant Raminsh (b.1943)
Put vejini for mixed chorus
Kamer Youth Chorus, Māris Sirmais (director)
04:35 AM
Rosario Bourdon (1885-1961)
Elegiac poem for cello and orchestra
Alain Aubut (cello), Orchestre Métropolitain, Gilles Auger (conductor)
04:41 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Sonatine, arr. flute, bassoon and harp
Andrea Kollé (flute), Maria Wildhaber (bassoon), Sarah Verrue (harp)
04:53 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Arabeske for piano in C major, Op 18
Seung-Hee Kim (piano)
05:00 AM
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Hor che Apollo - Serenade for soprano, 2 violins & continuo
Susanne Ryden (soprano), Musica Fiorita, Daniela Dolci (director)
05:13 AM
Jānis Mediņš (1890-1966)
Flower Waltz - from the ballet 'Victory of Love'
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Imants Resnis (conductor)
05:19 AM
Anonymous
Folias de Espana
Komalé Akakpo (cimbalom)
05:26 AM
Granville Bantock (1868-1946)
Celtic symphony
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor)
05:47 AM
Louis Spohr (1784-1859)
Nonet in F major, Op 31
Kyoko Ogawa (violin), Anne Sophie Van Riel (viola), Alexander Arai-Swale (double bass), Hyunjung Song (oboe), Carlotta Brendel (bassoon), Zuzanna Szambelan (cello), Ronja Macholdt (flute), Astrid den Daas (clarinet), Pauline Zahno (horn)
06:15 AM
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
St Paul's Suite, Op 29 no 2
Seoul Chamber Orchestra, Yong-Yun Kim (conductor)
WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002pw2s)
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’
WED 09:30 Essential Classics (m002pw2v)
Relax into the day with classical
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 (m002pw2x)
Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody
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 are spending time in the spectacular Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, with a series of recordings made in the eye-catching 2017 concert hall by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Today, pianist Kirill Gerstein joins the orchestra to perform Rachmaninov’s virtuosic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Janine Jansen is the violin soloist in Britta Byström’s concerto Shortening Days.
In the wake of their live recital from London’s Wigmore Hall on Monday, we continue our focus on the brilliant Belgium Baroque ensemble Vox Luminis. From their concert at this year’s Salzburg Festival, we’ll hear them in Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s piece The Denial of St Peter.
And we return to Wigmore Hall for more highlights from the Classical Live Monday lunchtime concerts given there last year. A trio of former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists – violinist Johan Dalene, cellist Andreas Brantelid and pianist Christian Ihle Hadland – perform Ravel’s Piano Trio, recorded on the hallowed stage last July.
1pm
Maurice Ravel
Piano Trio in A minor
Johan Dalene (violin)
Andreas Brantelid (cello)
Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenata Notturna in D major, K. 239
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Ton Koopman (conductor)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
The Denial of St Peter
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier (conductor)
Sergei Rachmaninov
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Kirill Gerstein (piano)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Alan Gilbert (conductor)
Britta Byström
Shortening Days [world premiere]
Janine Jansen (violin)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live'.
WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002pw2z)
St Paul's Cathedral
Live from St Paul’s Cathedral.
Introit: A Blessing (Judith Bingham)
Responses: Radcliffe
Psalms 97, 98 (Stainer, Randall)
First Lesson: 1 Kings 19 vv9b-18
Canticles: Magnificat in B flat (Walmisley); Nunc dimittis in B flat (Wood)
Second Lesson: Mark 9 vv2-13
Anthem: Blest pair of Sirens (Parry)
Voluntary: Fantasia and Fugue in G major (Parry)
Andrew Carwood (Director of Music)
James Orford (Organist)
To listen on most smart speakers just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Choral Evensong'.
WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m002034x)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
In Good Faith
Kate Molleson takes a look at Dvořák’s religious life.
Antonin Dvořák was one of the most heartfelt tunesmiths in classical music - a man who not only brought the sound of Czech folklore to the world, but also had an indelible impact on the musical nationhood of America. As a character he was sometimes shy, sometimes melancholy, routinely homesick and deeply passionate. Through the week Kate Molleson explores five windows onto Dvořák’s soul, aspects of life that were really central to his convictions and his music.
Today, we hear about another key part of Dvořák's personality - his faith. Raised Catholic, he was steadfast throughout his life, and would sign off each manuscript with 'God be thanked'. Dvořák thought of his faith and creativity as inextricably linked, and it was through prayer that he found his direction in moments of troubled soul-searching, answers to ethical dilemmas and a refuge in times of deep personal pain.
Prelude in D major
Peter Frisee, organ
On the Holy Mountain (Poetic Tone Pictures)
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Stabat Mater: IV. Fac ut ardeat cor meum, V. Tui nati vulnerati
Jongmin Park, bass
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor
Symphony No 7 (2nd movement - Poco adagio)
London Symphony Orchestra
Colin Davis, conductor
Requiem: Confutatis
Collegium Vocale Gent
Royal Flemish Philharmonic
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor
Biblical Songs 1-5
Jan Martiník, bass
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West
WED 17:00 In Tune (m002pw32)
Maat Saxophone Quartet and Daniel Lebhardt
Petroc Trelawny has live music from Le Vent du Nord - the folk band from Quebec - and the Gould Piano Trio with clarinettist Robert Plane.
WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002pw34)
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.
WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002pw36)
Gershwin's An American In Paris with the CBSO
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra present an all-American programme of music under the baton of its music director Kazuki Yamada. In what the orchestra describe as a 'thrilling music road-trip through America, a dash across the pond and and a flight into outer space', this live concert from Symphony Hall in Birmingham introduces works by Carlos Simon and Missy Mazzoli alongside an evocative East Coast portrait by Charles Ives with classics from the pen of George Gershwin. Introduced by Mark Forrest.
Carlos Simon: Hellfighters' Blues
Missy Mazzoli: Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Interval
Charles Ives: Three Pieces in New England
George Gershwin: An American in Paris
CBSO
Stewart Goodyear (piano)
Kazuki Yamada (conductor)
WED 21:45 The Essay (m002pw38)
Stories from the Museum of Music History
The pianist’s finger stretcher
Biographer Kate Kennedy unearths five forgotten objects from the Museum of Music History that provide a key to recreating the lives of their owners and sounds of their past. In this episode, the pitfalls of a finger stretcher in the pursuit of perfect piano technique.
Finger Stretchers from the 18th century look like instruments of torture for young pianists intent on extending their hand span and improving finger strength. The dactylion for instance, with its ten finger-sized hoops dangling from tension wires, inviting the owner to thread fingers through them and pull down, looks ominous. But as the touch-weight of piano keys grew heavier with the rise of mass-produced iron framed pianos, both technique and hand strength needed to change.
Were claims of miraculous success with the use of these strengthening devices just a scam or a helpful route into the brave new world of pianism? Kate Kennedy meets pianist Stephen Hough to explore the development of piano technique and its tragic casualties along the way in the pursuit of perfection.
Presented by Dr Kate Kennedy
Produced by Adrian Washbourne
Mixed by Julian Mayers
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3
WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m002pw3b)
Sublime sounds for nightfall
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 (m002pw3d)
Fresh from Ubunye
‘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.
Clara Serra López returns with her third Flowers pick of the week, and tonight, she chooses a genre-transcending bassist she admires.
Also in the programme, there’s music from Jihye Lee Orchestra, Mary Lou Williams and Adrian Cox.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
THURSDAY 22 JANUARY 2026
THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002q1pr)
John Storgårds conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony
John Storgårds conducts the BBC Philharmonic 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 Storgårds (conductor)
12:40 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Pohjola's Daughter, Op 49
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds (conductor)
12:55 AM
Hans Abrahamsen (b.1952)
Horn Concerto
Stefan Dohr (horn), BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds (conductor)
01:16 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony no 4 in F minor, Op 36
BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds (conductor)
02:01 AM
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787), arr. Fritz Kreisler
Dance of the Blessed Spirits (Orfeo ed Euridice)
Gyözö Máté (viola), Balázs 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
Orchestre National de France, Emmanuel Krivine (conductor)
02:31 AM
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Glagolitic mass
Andrea Danková (soprano), Jana Sýkorová (alto), Tomáš Juhás (tenor), Jozef Benci (bass), Aleš Bárta (organ), Prague Philharmonic Chorus, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tomáš 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 Duruflé (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 Köln, Michael Schneider (recorder), Hans-Peter Westermann (oboe), Michael McCraw (bassoon), Mary Utiger (violin), Hajo Bäß (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)
Klára Körmendy (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)
THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002pyf1)
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’
THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m002pyf3)
Celebrating classical greats
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 (m002pyf5)
Robert Schumann’s 2nd Symphony
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 are spending time in the spectacular Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, with a series of recordings made in the eye-catching 2017 concert hall by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Today, they play a pair of symphonies: Robert Schumann’s 2nd and Arthur Honegger’s 3rd, the ‘Liturgical’, a powerful piece written in the aftermath of the Second World War. Plus former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, baritone Konstantin Krimmel, joins the orchestra for Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Songs of Travel, settings of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Our ensemble in focus this week is Belgium Baroque group Vox Luminis. We’ll hear more from their concert from last year's Salzburg Festival: an oratorio by Giacomo Carissimi based on the Old Testament story of Jeptha.
1pm
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Songs of Travel
Konstantin Krimmel (baritone)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Andris Poga (conductor)
Joseph Haydn
Piano Trio in A flat major
Esther Hoppe (violin)
Christian Poltéra (cello)
Hiroki Sakagami (piano)
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 67
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Anja Bihlmaier (conductor)
Nadia Boulanger
3 Pieces for Cello and Piano
Anastasia Kobekina (cello)
Jean-Selim Abdelmoula (piano)
Arthur Honegger
Symphony No. 3, ‘Liturgical’
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Andris Poga (conductor)
Giacomo Carissimi
Historia di Jephtha [The Story of Jephtha]
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier (conductor)
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 (m0020371)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Homeland
Kate Molleson discusses Dvořák’s identity and nationhood.
Antonin Dvořák was one of the most heartfelt tunesmiths in classical music - a man who not only brought the sound of Czech folklore to the world, but also had an indelible impact on the musical nationhood of America. As a character he was sometimes shy, sometimes melancholy, routinely homesick and deeply passionate. Through the week Kate Molleson explores five windows onto Dvořák’s soul, aspects of life that were really central to his convictions and his music.
Today - his love of his homeland and its people. Although Dvořák wasn’t a man who got too involved with active patriotic organisations, his Czech identity mattered to him deeply, and his work was nonetheless political in his choices of language, of folk melody, all the proud and painful yearning that saturates his music. Over in America, hopes were pinned on him to foster a common musical language for a pioneering polyglot nation – and against a backdrop of segregation and persecution, he stuck his neck out and demanded respect for the power of indigenous and minority cultures.
‘Possibility’ (Moravian Duets, No 1)
Markéta Cukrová, soprano
Simona Šaturová, mezzo
Vojtěch Spurný, piano
Slavonic Dances, Op 46 No 3
Czech Philharmonic
Zdeněk Košler, conductor
‘My Home’ Overture, Op 62
Prague Symphony Orchestra
Tomáš Brauner, conductor
Serenade for Winds in D minor (1st and 2nd movements)
Wind Players of the Vienna Philharmonic
Myung-Whun Chung, conductor
Piano Trio No 4 ‘Dumky’, Op 90 (2nd movement)
Busch Trio
The Noonday Witch
Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal
Kent Nagano, conductor
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West
THU 17:00 In Tune (m002pyf8)
Shear Brass live in session
Petroc Trelawny is joined by Shear Brass - in a reduced quintet formation - to present music from the album Extraordinary Journey, celebrating the music Sir George Shearing, and to discuss the upcoming UK tour. Elizabeth Bass- Principal Harpist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra - is also live in studio to perform ahead of her upcoming appearance with the BBC SO at the Barbican Centre in London on 30/01.
THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002pyfb)
Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music.
THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002pyfd)
Sibelius's Lemminkäinen Suite
The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo, in Sibelius's Lemminkäinen Suite, Coleridge-Taylor, and the pyrotechnics of Adès's Violin Concerto with Christian Tetzlaff.
Recorded at the Barbican on Friday 7th November 2025. Presented by Penny Gore.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Symphonic Variations on an African Air
Thomas Adès: Violin Concerto 'Concentric Paths'
Interval
Jean Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite, Op 22
Christian Tetzlaff (violin)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)
“Lemminkaïnen, reckless hero, in his veins the blood of ages…” In the Finnish legends of the Kalevala, Lemminkaïnen was a warrior like no other: loving, hunting and vanquishing death itself. Sibelius knew all those ancient tales, and he retells them in music as vivid as any film score – the climax to a whole evening of fantastic tales from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo.
Because the adventure doesn’t start there. First comes the dizzying imagination of Thomas Adès’s violin concerto: a true modern classic, played by a giant among living violinists. And to open, Oramo shares the glowing colours and heartfelt melodies of Edwardian composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
To listen on most smart speakers just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert".
THU 21:45 The Essay (m002pyfg)
Stories from the Museum of Music History
The Sutton Hoo Lyre
Biographer Kate Kennedy unearths five forgotten objects from the Museum of Music History that provide a key to recreating the lives of their owners and sounds of their past. In this episode, the sound of an Anglo-Saxon King’s lyre reimagined.
Amongst the museum’s collection of musical instruments is a modern reproduction of an ancient seven-string lyre, with little wooden pegs, around which are woven gut strings. It’s a replica of an instrument dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, made in the 1960s for a pioneering musicologist, the late Mary Remnant. It’s an imaginative reconstruction from a handful of surviving fragments of an instrument, discovered in a medieval King’s ship in the Sutton Hoo burial grounds in Suffolk.
Every generation has something to add to the mysterious role of the lyre and its original sound, as Kate Kennedy discovers when, armed with Mary Remnant’s lyre, she meets Sutton Hoo archaeologist Angus Wainwright. The lyre invites us not only into the sound-world of music from a far distant time, but it also tells us about the ways in which music and words were conjoined in Anglo-Saxon times.
Presented by Dr Kate Kennedy
Produced by Adrian Washbourne
Mixed by Julian Mayers
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3
THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m002pyfj)
Harmonious music for nighttime listening
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 (m002pyfl)
One from Jowee Omicil
‘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’s guest all this week, Clara Serra López, rounds off her time on Flowers with a fourth and final contemporary artist she would like to spotlight. Tonight, she chooses one of the UK’s singular voices and artists, who has also recently appeared on the programme...
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'
FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2026
FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002q1nq)
Trio Wanderer play works by Brahms, Schubert and Petitgirard
At a concert in Madrid, the trio performed Brahms's first piano trio, Schubert's second, and gave the Spanish premiere of a work by French composer and conductor Laurent Petitgirard. Penny Gore presents.
12:31 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Trio no 1 in B major, Op 8 (first version, 1854)
Trio Wanderer
01:08 AM
Laurent Petitgirard (b.1950)
La Croisée des Arts
Trio Wanderer
01:21 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano Trio no 2 in E flat major, D.929
Trio Wanderer
02:02 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Lento maestoso, from 'Piano Trio no 4 in E minor, Op 90 'Dumky'
Trio Wanderer
02:06 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Schicksalslied, Op 54
Warsaw Philharmonic Chorus, Henryk Wojnarowski (conductor), Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit (conductor)
02:25 AM
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Echo Fantasia in D minor
Pieter van Dijk (organ)
02:31 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Ein Heldenleben , Op 40
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Semyon Bychkov (conductor)
03:16 AM
Antonio Caldara (c.1671-1736)
Pietro & Maddalena's duet: 'Vi sento, o Dio' & Chorus 'Di quel sangue'
Ann Monoyios (soprano), Michael Chance (counter tenor), Hugo Distler Chor, La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider (conductor)
03:29 AM
Aleksander Zarzycki (1834-1895)
Mazurka in G major, Op 26
Monika Jarecka (violin), Krystyna Makowska (piano)
03:35 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
La Campanella
Valerie Tryon (piano)
03:40 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Flute Concerto in D major
Wilbert Hazelzet (flute), Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel (conductor)
03:52 AM
Ruth Watson Henderson (b.1932)
In Memoriam and Kyrie Fugue, for SATB a capella choir
Elmer Iseler Singers, Lydia Adams (conductor)
03:59 AM
Antiochus Evanghelatos (1903-1981)
Coasts and Mountains of Attica
National Symphony Orchestra of Greek Radio, Andreas Pylarinos (conductor)
04:12 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Capriccio for keyboard in E major, BWV.993 "In honorem Joh. Christoph. Bachii"
Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)
04:19 AM
Oskar Merikanto (1868-1924)
Improvisation, Op 76 no 3
Eero Heinonen (piano)
04:25 AM
Anatol Lyadov (1855-1914)
Baba Yaga, Op 56
Slovak Philharmonic, Daniel Raiskin (conductor)
04:31 AM
Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
Glory to Thee, My God, This Night
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)
04:34 AM
Per Nørgård (b.1932)
Pastorale for String Trio
Trio Aristos
04:41 AM
Maria Antonia Walpurgis (Electress of Saxony) (1724-1780)
Sinfonia from 'Talestri, Regina delle Amazzoni' - Dramma per musica
Batzdorfer Hofkapelle, Tobias Schade (director)
04:48 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz, Op 29 no 2
Wiener Kammerchor, Johannes Prinz (director)
04:55 AM
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Chanson perpetuelle
Lena Hoel (soprano), Bengt-Åke Lundin (piano), Yggdrasil String Quartet
05:03 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Romeo and Juliet - fantasy overture
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk (conductor)
05:20 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
6 Moments Musicaux, D.780
Alfred Brendel (piano)
05:47 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Symphony no 4 in D minor, Op 120 (original version, 1841)
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Roy Goodman (conductor)
06:13 AM
Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764)
Concerto grosso in E flat major, Op 7 no 6, 'Il Pianto d'Arianna'
Amsterdam Bach Soloists
FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002q0hk)
Wake up 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 (m002q0hm)
A feast of great 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 (m002q0hp)
Vox Luminis sing Bach's B minor mass
Linton Stephens showcases the best performances by BBC orchestras, choirs, ensembles and other great performing groups from Europe and around the globe.
We end the week with a concert performance of Bach’s B minor mass from Vox Luminis, our ensemble in focus. Recorded at last year’s Wratislava Cantans Festival, the Belgium Baroque vocal group and the musicians of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra are conducted by Lionel Meunier in Bach’s monumental masterpiece.
Plus we return to two of the world’s finest classical venues for more world-class music-making: the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra play Farrenc and Hermann in Hamburg’s spectacular Elbphilmarmonie; and there’s music by a prodigious Erich Korngold played by a trio of former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists – violinist Johan Dalene, cellist Andres Brantelid and pianist Christian Ihle Hadland – from London’s Wigmore Hall.
1pm
Louise Farrenc
Overture in E flat, Op. 24
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Anja Bihlmaier (conductor)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Piano Trio, Op. 1
Johan Dalene (violin)
Andreas Brantelid (cello)
Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)
Bernard Herrmann
Vertigo Suite (Prelude, The Nightmare, Scène d’amour)
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Juraj Valčuha (conductor)
George Frideric Handel
Minuet in G
Anne Queffélec (piano)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Mass in B minor, BWV232
Vox Luminis
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Lionel Meunier (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 (m002036d)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Trainspotter
Kate Molleson journeys across Dvořák’s life through his passion for all things transport.
Antonin Dvořák was one of the most heartfelt tunesmiths in classical music - a man who not only brought the sound of Czech folklore to the world, but also had an indelible impact on the musical nationhood of America. As a character he was sometimes shy, sometimes melancholy, routinely homesick and deeply passionate. Through the week Kate Molleson explores five windows onto Dvořák’s soul, aspects of life that were really central to his convictions and his music.
Today we join Dvořák on some of his most memorable travels. As a boy, he grew up watching a major new railway line being built metres from his house, and for the rest of his life, he was captivated by trains – so much so that in Prague, trainspotting was part of his daily routine . His career took him thousands of miles away, and brought him a new passion for steamships – but he also had to wrestle with his propensity for extreme homesickness.
Miniature in D minor, Op 75 No 2
Josef Suk, violin
Miroslav Ambroš, violin
Karel Untermüller, viola
String Quartet No 12 in F major “American”, Op 96 (4th movement)
Chilingirian Quartet
Symphony No 7 (4th movement)
London Symphony Orchestra
Colin Davis, conductor
Scottish Dances, Op 41
Inna Poroshina, piano
New World Symphony – Finale (live recording)
New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Cello Concerto in B minor (2nd movement)
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West
FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002q0hs)
Live music and news from the world of classical
Live music and interviews from the world's finest classical musicians.
FRI 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.
FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m0027lkq)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Korea
Let the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra whisk you away for a night of classic West End musicals under the baton of conductor Ben Palmer, joined by star vocalists Ben Forster and Hiba Elchikhe. The toe-tapping favourites include songs from musicals including Oklahoma, Les Misérables, West Side Story, Frozen, Beauty & The Beast and more - all performed by the ever-versatile BBC SSO.
Recorded on Friday 6 December 2024 at Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul, South Korea. Presented by Katie Derham.
Bernstein: Candide Overture
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oklahoma! Overture
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' from Oklahoma!)
Alan Menken: Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas
Andrew Lloyd Webber: Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera
Lopez & Lopez: Let It Go! from Frozen
Bernstein: On the town: 3 Dance Episodes
Interval
Alan Menken: Beauty and the Beast Overture
Alan Menken: If I Can't Love Her from Beauty and the Beast
Alan Menken: A Whole New World from Aladdin
Claude-Michel Schönberg: I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Something Good from The Sound of Music
Bernstein: West Side Story: Symphonic Dances
FRI 21:45 The Essay (m002q0hx)
Stories from the Museum of Music History
A Quadrille from Waterloo’s battlefield,1815
Biographer Kate Kennedy unearths five forgotten objects from the Museum of Music History that provide a key to recreating the lives of their owners and sounds of their past. In this episode, a fragment of military music depicts sound from the Battle of Waterloo.
The scrap of music that was picked up from the Waterloo battlefield in 1815 is a Quadrille, and is likely to have been played by a member of one of the French cavalry bands - a musician mounted on horseback, before he was either killed or forced to retreat.
Military music was an integral part of the soundscape of the fighting at Waterloo. It signalled both to the men on horseback in huge formations what manoeuvres were required. Kate Kennedy meets with Alessandra Palidda, an expert in music of the Napoleonic age, to see what clues she can discern from it.
The music’s incompleteness is an invitation to imagine and to re-create the sounds of the fighting at one of the most critical moments in modern European history. Kate imagines a version of this Quadrille, taking the only surviving lines of music we have as a cue. It’s as historically accurate as it can be, as she enlists the help of talented young brass and percussion players from the Chiltern Music Academy.
Presented by Dr Kate Kennedy
Produced by Adrian Washbourne
Mixed by Julian Mayers
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3
FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002q0hz)
Distorted margins in São Paulo
São Paulo is home to some of the most experimental dance music in the world. Often overlooked by mainstream media for its explicit lyrics and aggressively distorted beats, extreme strands of baile funk are now shaking dancefloors far beyond Brazil.
Jennifer Lucy Allan sits down with Brazilian journalist and filmmaker GG Albuquerque to explore this music from the inside. Albuquerque’s recent documentary, Terror Mandelão, follows the journey of São Paulo’s DJ K, a celebrated DJ from Heliópolis favela, and his friend MC Zero K. Together, they discuss how baile funk has captured the imagination of a generation in Brazil, the conditions that shape the sound today, and what happens when that sound is pushed to its extremes.
Elsewhere in the show, we’ll hear DIY noise from Massachusetts-based artist Mal Devisa and tonal delicacy from shakuhachi player Katsuya Nonaka.
Produced by Gabriel Francis
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Late Junction'.
FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002q0j1)
Laura Jurd live 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.
Soweto has a final selection of highlights from our ‘Round Midnight showcase recorded at the Barbican as part of last year’s London Jazz Festival. Last Friday, Fergus McCreadie, sitting in for Soweto, shared music from LVDF, and the Friday previous Soweto brought us music from ESKA.
Tonight, we hear more music from leading British trumpeter, and BBC Radio 3 New Generation alumnus Laura Jurd, performing pieces from her latest album Rites & Revelations. She was joined by her quartet featuring viola player Cori Smith, bassist Ruth Goller and drummer Corrie Dick.
To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight.'