SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2026

SAT 00:30 Through the Night (m002qvvp)
Opera from Puccini, Lehár and Johann Strauss II

Polish soprano Magdalena Lucjan joins the WDR Symphony Orchestra and conductor Manfred Honeck for an opera gala given in Cologne. Jonathan Swain presents.

12:31 AM
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Symphonic Suite, from 'Turandot'
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck (conductor)

12:56 AM
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Quando m'en vo, Musetta's aria from Act 1 of 'La bohème'

12:59 AM
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
O mio babbino caro, Lauretta's aria from 'Gianni Schicchi'

01:02 AM
Franz Lehár (1870-1948)
Vilja Song, Hanna's aria from 'The Merry Widow'

01:08 AM
Franz Lehár (1870-1948)
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss, aria from 'Giuditta'
Magdalena Lucjan (soprano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck
01:13 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Overture to 'Die Fledermaus'
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:22 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Mein Herr Marquis, Adele's Song from 'Die Fledermaus'
Magdalena Lucjan (soprano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:26 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Die Libelle, Polka Mazur, Op 204
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:31 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Furioso-Polka, Op 260
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:33 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Frühlingsstimmen, waltz, Op 410
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:41 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Spiel' ich die Unschuld vom Lande, Adele's Couplet from 'Die Fledermaus'
Magdalena Lucjan (soprano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:46 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Auf der Jagd, polka schnell, Op 373

01:48 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Im Krapfenwald'l, polka-française, Op 336

01:53 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Unter Donner und Blitz, polka schnell, Op 324
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:56 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Sei mir gegrüsst, mein liebes Nest, from 'Wiener Blut'
Magdalena Lucjan (soprano), WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

01:59 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Feuerfest; polka-française, Op 269
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Manfred Honeck

02:03 AM
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), arr. Rudolf Buchbinder
Paraphrase of 'An der schönen blauen Donau', Op 314
Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)

02:08 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arr. Charles Koechlin
Khamma, legende dansee
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

02:31 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Violin Sonata no 2 in G major, Op 13
Alina Pogostkina (violin), Sveinung Bjelland (piano)

02:52 AM
Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909)
Symphony no 3 in F major, 'From Spring to Spring'
Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra Katowice, Szymon Kawalla (conductor)

03:33 AM
Thomas Morley (1557/58-1602), Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Burial Sentences // They are at rest
Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh (director)

03:46 AM
Unico Wilhelm Van Wassenaer (1692-1766)
Concerto armonico for 4 violins, viola and continuo no 5 in F minor
Andrew Manze (violin), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)

03:57 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op 35 no 1
Sylviane Deferne (piano)

04:06 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Overture to The Wasps - Aristophanic suite
BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)

04:16 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sonata in F major, Op 1 no 5 (HWV.363a) vers. oboe & bc
Louise Pellerin (oboe), Dom André Laberge (organ)

04:24 AM
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Canon and Gigue
La Scintilla Orchestra, Riccardo Minasi (conductor)

04:31 AM
Traditional, arr. Narciso Yepes
Romanza for guitar
Stepan Rak

04:37 AM
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Abegg Variations, Op 1
Zhang Zuo (piano)

04:45 AM
Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929)
Concert Overture in D major
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Chloé van Soeterstèd (conductor)

04:57 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
3 Songs: 'Liebesbotschaft', 'Heidenroslein' and 'Litanei auf das Fest'
Bryn Terfel (bass baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

05:06 AM
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Sinfonia concertante a 8, ZWV.189
Katharina Heutjer (violin), Xenia Löffler (oboe), Gabriele Gombi (bassoon), La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, Maurice Steger (conductor)

05:29 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata no 5 in C minor, Op 10 no 1
François-Frédéric Guy (piano)

05:47 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony no 6 in D minor, Op 104
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernhard Klee (conductor)

06:17 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Flute Quartet no 4 in A major, K 298
Dae-Won Kim (flute), Yong-Woo Chun (violin), Myung-Hee Cho (viola), Jink-Yung Chee (cello)


SAT 06:30 Breakfast (m002r3x8)
Rise and shine 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 (m002r3xb)
Valentine's Day with jazz singer Claire Martin

Tom plays classical music to start your weekend.

Jazz singer Claire Martin joins Tom in the studio for an exclusive performance ahead of her St Valentine's Day concert with Kings Place Jazz Orchestra under the direction of trombonist and composer Callum Au where they combine forces for music made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Richard Rodney Bennett and many more.

Tom also speaks to baroque violinist Bjarte Eike from Barokksolistene about his unique take on Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas which is being performed at the Glasshouse in Gateshead on 20th February, with Bjarte performing alongside the Royal Northern Sinfonia, mezzo-soprano Katie Bray and more.

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


SAT 12:00 Earlier... with Jools Holland (m002hy08)
Jools meets Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov

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 Franz Schubert, Grazyna Bacewicz and Edmund Finnis, with performances by Lowell Fulson and Kathleen Ferrier. His guests are the pianists Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov, who play Bach on the studio piano and introduce music they love by Friedman, Shostakovich, Purcell and Mozart.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say 'ask BBC Sounds to play Earlier with Jools Holland'.


SAT 13:00 Music Matters (m002r3xd)
The President and the Polka

6. Power and Protest

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.

Today, the role of music in the push for racial equality and social unity. And the challenges facing classical music in today's divided America.

Producer - Megan Jones, BBC Audio Wales


SAT 14:00 Record Review (m002r3xg)
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 in Building a Library with Kathryn Stott and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by guest reviewers Lucy Parham and Kathryn Stott.

1410
Pianist Lucy Parham talks through her pick of the week's new releases.

1500
Building a Library: especially for Valentine's Day, pianist Kathryn Stott surveys recordings of Rachmaninov's lushly romantic Piano Concerto No. 2 and picks her favourite. The concerto symbolises both personal and artistic rebirth for the composer after years spent in deep depression. Its second movement inspired Eric Carmen’s pop ballad “All by Myself,” and also features in film scores, most famously the 1945 romance Brief Encounter.

Top choice:
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano), Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin (cond.)
Decca Legends 4663752

c.1545
Record of the Week
Andrew picks his favourite new release of the week.


SAT 16:00 Sound of Cinema (m002r3xj)
Reel Love: Valentine’s Day Special

Edith Bowman brings you a specially curated playlist of film scores for Valentine's Day, including Patrick Doyle's Sense and Sensibility, Max Steiner's Gone with the Wind, and Henry Mancini's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Plus music by John Williams, James Horner and Dario Marianelli. In Harmonising Hollywood, Composer and conductor Eimear Noone explores David Raksin’s hauntingly romantic score for the 1944 noir classic Laura, and in Pick of the Flicks Radio 3's Music Planet presenter Lopa Kothari spotlights the music of Howard Shore.


SAT 17:00 This Classical Life (m002hn44)
Jess Gillam with... Jay Capperauld

Jess Gillam is joined by the Scottish composer Jay Capperauld, who is currently the associate composer of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has worked with a massive range of ensemble from the BBC Philharmonic to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In 2023 he was commissioned by King Charles III to write a piece for the Honours of Scotland celebrations in St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, and his accordion concerto, Galvanic Dances, won the European Composition Award 2025 presented by the Young Euro Classic festival at the Konzerthaus in Berlin.

Jay chooses music from Gordon McPherson, Kate Bush, and Ozzy Osbourne, while Jess's picks include pieces by Vivaldi, Purcell and Biluka y los Canibales.

To listen on most smart speakers just say 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3'.


SAT 18:00 Opera on 3 (m002r3xl)
Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore

In a performance from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opera on 3 celebrates Valentine's Day with Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. Nemorino is in love with the beautiful Adina, but he has a rival in the form of the boastful military officer Belcore. In desperation, Nemorino buys a love potion from the quack doctor Dulcamara believing it'll make Adina fall for him. It's actually cheap red wine, but the confidence it gives him seems to do wonders. Donizetti's joyous and sparkling opera is packed with tuneful melodies, including the show-stopping Nemorino aria 'Una furtiva lagrima'. Pretty Yende sings Adina, with Michael Spyres and Jan Antam as the men competing for her attention. Tom Service presents and is joined by cultural historian Flora Willson.

Recorded at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in December.

Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore

Adina ..... Pretty Yende (soprano)
Nemorino ..... Michael Spyres (tenor)
Belcore ..... Jan Antem (baritone)
Dulcamara ..... Fabio Capitanucci (baritone)
Giannetta ..... Núria Vilà (soprano)
Gran Teatre del Liceu Chorus
Gran Teatre del Liceu Orchestra
Diego Matheuz (conductor)


SAT 21:30 Music Planet (m002r3xn)
Malagasy guitar and Somali love songs

Kathryn Tickell celebrates Valentine’s Day with an intimate acoustic session from Malagasy guitarist Damily. Long recognised as a key figure in tsapiky - the vibrant, fast-paced, guitar-driven dance music of southern Madagascar - Damily has spent decades travelling between villages, performing at ceremonies, celebrations and neighbourhood dances. Now based in France, his latest album marks a new chapter, stripping tsapiky right to its core: a one-to-one dialogue between the musician and his guitar.

Elsewhere in the show, curator and founder of the Somali digital cultural preservation archive Waaberi Phone, Idel Rasheed, picks out three tracks from the Qaraami tradition, Somali music characterised by its poetic lyrics, traditional instruments and enduring focus on romantic love.

Produced by Gabriel Francis and Fatuma Khaireh.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3.

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


SAT 22:30 New Music Show (m002r3xq)
Juliet Fraser's Listen List

Tom Service introduces some of the most exciting sounds in new music including the premiere of Scott Lygate's Engines and Men, a concerto for contrabass clarinet which brings to life the mighty Dalmellington Ironworks which lie abandoned in the heart of Ayrshire’s Doon Valley.

Also in the programme, the premiere of Klaus Lang's emblemata sonantes, a forty-five-minute exploration in sound for soprano, organ, harpsichord and ensemble tuned in meantone temperament of the 52 room Eggenberg Palace outside Graz in Austria. Just as the palace, with its 52 rooms, represents the weeks of the year, emblemata sonantes is organized so that the work’s 365 measures correspond exactly to the calendar of the year 1625, with its days, weeks, and Catholic feast days.

And, in an ongoing series, the soprano Juliet Fraser talks to Tom about what's on her Listen List at the moment. As a singer, essayist, director of East London's eavesdropping and programme director of VOICEBOX, a new initiative for contemporary vocal performance, who knows where she'll take us?

SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2026

SUN 00:30 Through the Night (m002r3xs)
Bruckner's Fourth Symphony from Stockholm

Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra open the concert with Lisa Streich's work Flügel. Soprano Asmik Grigorian joins the orchestra for Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs, before they play Bruckner's 'Romantic' Symphony. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Lisa Streich (b.1985)
Flügel
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

12:45 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Vier letzte Lieder, AV 150
Asmik Grigorian (soprano), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

01:09 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony no 4 in E flat, 'Romantic'
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

02:16 AM
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Os justi ('The mouth of the righteous')
Mnemosyne Choir, Caroline Westgeest (director)

02:20 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949), arr. Franz Hasenöhrl
Till Eulenspiegel - Einmal Anders!
Esbjerg Ensemble, Jorgen Lauritsen (director)

02:31 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Quartet for strings in D major, Op 44 no 1
Tankstream Quartet

02:58 AM
Florence Price (1887-1953)
Concert Overture no 2
BBC Concert Orchestra, Jane Glover (conductor)

03:13 AM
Dobrinka Tabakova (b.1980)
Such Different Paths
Hugo Ticciati (violin), Thomas Reif (violin), Hana Hobiger (viola), Gregor Hrabar (viola), Alessio Pianelli (cello), Ruiko Matsumoto (cello)

03:30 AM
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)
Piano Sonata in C minor
Sylviane Deferne (piano)

03:45 AM
Francesco Durante (1684-1755)
Concerto per quartetto no 3 in E flat major
Concerto Köln

03:55 AM
Nicolas Gombert (c.1495-c.1560)
Elegie sur la mort de Josquin Musae Jovis
Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, Christopher Jackson (director)

04:04 AM
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Lemminkainen's Return (Lemminkainen Suite, Op 22)
BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier (conductor)

04:10 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Nocturne in D flat major, Op 27 no 2
Theodor Leschetizky (piano)

04:17 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Impromptu in G flat major, D899 no 3
Francesco Piemontesi (piano)

04:23 AM
Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694)
Halt was du hast
Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier (director)

04:31 AM
Karol Rathaus (1895-1954)
Prelude and Gigue in A major for orchestra, Op 44
Polish National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Joel Suben (conductor)

04:39 AM
Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857)
The Lark, from 'A Farewell to Saint Petersburg'
Kotaro Fukuma (piano)

04:45 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Seascape, Op 53
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jonathan Bloxham (conductor)

04:51 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Aria from "Rodrigo": 'Perche viva il caro sposo'
Emma Kirkby (soprano), Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze (director)

04:58 AM
Guillaume Connesson (b.1970)
Sextet
Hexagon Ensemble

05:12 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony no. 26 (H.1.26) in D minor "Lamentatione"
Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Stefan Solyom (conductor)

05:28 AM
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Harp Sonata
Rita Costanzi (harp)

05:41 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
The Golden spinning-wheel (Zlaty kolovrat) - symphonic poem, Op 109
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov (conductor)

06:03 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Quintet in D major for clarinet, horn, violin, cello and piano
Stephan Siegenthaler (clarinet), Thomas Müller (horn), Matthias Enderle (violin), Patrick Demenga (cello), Hiroko Sakagami (piano)


SUN 06:30 Breakfast (m002r3yz)
Roll out of bed into 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 (m002r3z1)
Three hours of classical sparkle

Today, Sarah’s choices include birdsong from Vivaldi, a trip to Mars with Holst, and a spiritual plea for peace from Robert White.

There’s also a chance to hear the whole of Mozart’s soaring clarinet concerto, and Sarah’s Choral Reflection this week embraces the last of the cold dark nights as the days get longer.

Plus, Sarah picks her favourite music to celebrate love…

A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3.


SUN 12:00 Private Passions (m002r3z3)
Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory has been called the ‘Queen of Historical Fiction’. The English royal court has inspired many of her best-selling titles, and she’s written sixteen novels about the Plantagenets and Tudors. One of them – The Other Boleyn Girl – became a BBC TV drama and a Hollywood movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.

This success probably surprised her A level teachers: she says she found history ‘insanely boring’ at school, but her passion was fired at university. She’s also written non-fiction, notably seeking the stories of what she calls ‘normal women’ over 900 years. More recently she’s returned to the Tudors, with a novel called Boleyn Traitor, focussing on the intrigue surrounding Anne’s sister-in-law, Jane.

Her music choices include Mozart, Philip Glass, Scott Joplin and the Mazurka from Coppelia by Leo Delibes.

Producer: Katy Hickman


SUN 13:30 Music Map (m002r3z5)
A journey to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Sara Mohr-Pietsch maps a route to Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - one of his most famous compositions. Liszt had a deep love for his native land of Hungary, and gathered a collection of folk melodies which inspired his Hungarian Rhapsodies. On this journey, we'll explore other classical pieces inspired by folk music, including works from Bizet and Grieg, along with displays of virtuosity in music from Vivaldi and Ravi Shankar.

To listen to this programme on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map'.


SUN 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002qqrv)
Ripon Cathedral

Last Wednesday's service from Ripon Cathedral.

Introit: If ye love me (Philip Wilby)
Responses: Rose
Psalms 59, 60, 61 (Ouseley, Havergal, Walmisley, Goss)
First Lesson: Isaiah 52 v12 - 53 v6
Canticles: Collegium Regale in F (Wood)
Second Lesson: Romans 15 vv14-21
Anthem: Blessed city, heavenly Salem (Bairstow)
Hymn: Angel voices ever singing (Angel Voices)
Voluntary: A Moorside Suite (March) (Holst, arr. Tim Harper)

Ronny Krippner (Director of Music)
Tim Harper (Organist)

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


SUN 16:00 Jazz Record Requests (m002r3z7)
Ralph Towner Remembered

Alyn Shipton presents jazz records of all styles as requested by you including music from The Swingle Sisters, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington and Lee Wiley alongside a tribute to the late guitarist, keyboard player and composer Ralph Towner.

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 (m0014ymc)
Carnevale - Venice, Vino... and Vivaldi

New York-based wine historian Ron Merlino joins Hannah once again to explore some of the music and wines associated with 18th-century Venice during Carnevale season, with a particular focus on the operas of Vivaldi - himself something of a wine connoisseur.

Hannah will be tasting three red wine varieties - a Marzemino, a Refosco and an Amarone.


SUN 18:00 Words and Music (m002r3z9)
Venice and its Carnival

Jo Herbert and Julian Ovenden are readers in a programme evoking the city of Venice at carnival time.

The setting couldn’t be more picturesque: black gondolas, glittering palaces and, of course, water everywhere. In the fortnight before Lent begins new elements are added to Venice’s allure: extravagant costumes, countless parties, masks modelled on characters from popular theatre like Pulcinella and people throwing caution to the wind. For some of the imaginative minds featured in today’s programme the Carnival is also a time for mysterious assignations, enigmatic voices and occasionally even despair.

The beauty of Venice has prompted countless English speakers to put pen to paper, from Byron and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Vernon Lee and Vikram Seth. But we also hear from Italian writers such as Paolo Barbaro’s encounter with an unexpected high tide in winter and Antonio Negri’s poem in the local Venetian language written from the viewpoint of a fan painted with feathers and flowers.

The city has worked its magic on a whole galaxy of composers; ones born in Venice in the Baroque period, such as Barbara Strozzi, Antonio Vivaldi and Alessandro Marcello, and later visitors: Felix Mendelssohn, Guiseppe Verdi and Igor Stravinsky.

As for the best way to experience the Carnival, our writers’ approaches differ: Theophile Gautier and Susan Hill dive right in, dancing and mingling with the other masked revellers, while Emma Lazarus prefers to view the celebrations from the safe distance of a balcony overlooking the Grand Canal.

Readings:
Emma Lazarus: A Masque of Venice
Antonio Negri: In Gondoleta
Susan Hill: The Man in the Picture
Joseph Brodsky: Watermark
Lord Byron: Beppo
Andrea di Robilant: A Venetian Affair
Theophile Gautier: Variations on the Carnival of Venice
Vikram Seth: An Equal Music
Eugenio Montale: The gondola sliding
Barbara Quick: Vivaldi’s Virgins
Robert Browning: Toccata of Galuppi’s
Vernon Lee: A Wicked Voice
Ernest Hemingway: Across the River and into the Trees
Boris Pasternak: Venice
Neal E Robbins: Venice, an Odyssey
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Venice
Paolo Barbaro: Venice Revealed
Ezra Pound: Partenza di Venezia

Venice soundscapes recorded by Merzouga and Meri Kytö.
Producer: Radek Boschetty


SUN 19:15 Between the Ears (m002r3zc)
Return to the City of Darkness

Return to Kowloon-Walled City, aka City of Darkness, so called because the sunlight rarely penetrated its dense layers of industry and life. A teeming Hong Kong megastructure constructed haphazardly, buildings leaning into each other, passageways punched through corridors no wider than the spread of one's arms. People cheek by jowl in a ramshackle, higgledy-piggledy world of furious, sweated energy. At one point, the densest concentration of humanity anywhere on the planet.

Writer Paul French talks to former residents who grew up there, like Louisa Wong and Albert Ng, and those who meticulously chronicled its last months, like artist Fiona Hawthorne, then architectural student Suenn Ho and the photographers Greg Girard and Ian Lambot, who created the definitive visual record of its existence with their book Kowloon-City of Darkness.

The Walled City was frequently a place seemingly beyond the law. Autonomous, ungoverned if not untouched by Colonial authority and a refuge for the desperate, the dodgy and the poor. A rookery, festooned with cables, pipes and dripping water, teeming with sounds and the fetid 'dragon's breath' of furious energy and existence. Now, it has become a semi-mythic memory of old Hong Kong; celebrated on film, in manga and prose ,but once it was an astonishing, living entity.

With the voices of: Greg Girard, Fiona Hawthorne Suenn Ho, Pastor Albert Ng, Guy Shirra, Louisa Wong and Chan Woonie.

Readers: John Chan, Jon Chew, Betty Lo, David Tse, Kevin Ung, Charlie Wong

Sound Engineer-Duncan Thornley
Producer-Mark Burman
A Storyscape Production for Radio 3.


SUN 19:45 Sunday Feature (m002r3zf)
The "new Josephine Baker"

Miss Bartira performed across Europe in the '30s with an erotic acrobatic act, which landed her a brief stint in a Swedish prison for indecency and after she tackled a male heckler. During World War II she acted as a spy and the marriage in 1946 of this mixed race Brazilian cabaret performer to a British aristocrat caused a scandal. Researcher and New Generation Thinker Adjoa Osei has been tracing her story with the help of a trove of photographs, letters and documents given her by Miss Bartira's family. We hear from grandson Martin and from the writer Sala Patterson.

Producer: Paula McFarlane

We hear a performance by Miss Bartira of the Brazilian, African-influenced embolada called Bambu-Bambu recorded in a French newsreel and a 1935 Polydor recording that she made with Carlito and his Brazilian orchestra called Chante Gitana

New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to showcase new research in radio programmes.


SUN 20:00 Record Review (m002r3zh)
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2

The Building a Library recommended recording from yesterday's Record Review.


SUN 21:00 20th Century Radicals (m002r3zk)
Maki Ishii: So-Gu II

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 East-meets-West music of Maki Ishii, leading to a full listen to his work for gagaku and orchestra, So-Gu II of 1971. Setting Ishii's music in context, Gillian examines how other composers from Japan and the West sought to merge the disparate styles of these two musical worlds. 'Harmony' was not always the answer...

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 (m002r3zm)
Sublime sounds for nightfall

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


SUN 23:30 Unclassified (m002kdhk)
Helen Mort's Listening Chair

Elizabeth Alker welcomes Helen Mort to the Unclassified Listening Chair to share a track that transports her elsewhere. Helen has been described by Carol Ann Duffy as being “among the brightest stars in the sparkling new constellation of British poets” and is also widely celebrated for her work in fiction, drama and creative non-fiction. A keen walker and climber, Helen’s writing displays a deep engagement with the rhythms of the body and the natural world.

Elsewhere in the programme, Elizabeth shares 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 16 FEBRUARY 2026

MON 00:30 Through the Night (m002r3zp)
The Danish National Vocal Ensemble pays tribute to St. Cecilia

In the Western world, Saint Cecilia has long been honoured as the Patron Saint of music and musicians. On her feast day in 2024, the Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Conductor Laureate Marcus Creed marked the occasion with a musical celebration in which music from the Renaissance met works from our own time. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Elliott Carter (1908-2012)
Musicians wrestle everywhere
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

12:34 AM
Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594)
Domine Jesu Christe qui cognoscis
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

12:41 AM
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594)
Cantantibus organis
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

12:49 AM
Rhona Clarke (b.1958)
A Song for St Cecilia's Day
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

12:55 AM
Jacobus Gallus Carniolus (1550-1591)
Dum aurora finem daret
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

12:59 AM
Ferdinando di Lasso (1560-1609)
Cecilia Virgo
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

01:03 AM
Lars Johan Werle (1926-2001)
Orpheus
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

01:06 AM
Gabriel Jackson (b.1962)
Cecilia Virgo
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

01:14 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Hymn to St Cecilia, Op 27
Anna Millmann (soprano), Christine Nonbo Andersen (soprano), Eva Wöllinger-Bengtsson (alto), Adam Riis (tenor), David McCune (bass), Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

01:27 AM
Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594)
Musica Dei donum optimi
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Marcus Creed (conductor)

01:31 AM
Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832)
Introduction et Variations Sur la Romance de l'Opera 'Euryanthe'
Duo Nanashi (duo)

01:44 AM
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Symphony no 3, Op 27 "Sinfonia espansiva"
Janne Berglund (soprano), Johannes Weisse (baritone), Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Niklas Willén (conductor)

02:24 AM
Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (1805-1900), arr. P. Gunther // U. Teuber
Blomstre som en rosengard (Blooming like a rose garden)
Fionian Chamber Choir, Alice Granum (director)

02:31 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Violin Sonata no 3 in C major, BWV.1005
Vilde Frang Bjærke (violin)

02:55 AM
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178
Beatrice Rana (piano)

03:29 AM
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Viennese Clock and Entrance of the Emperor and His Courtiers (from 'Hary Janos')
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis (conductor)

03:34 AM
Sigismondo d'India (c.1582-1629), Antonio Ongaro (author)
Fiume, ch'a l'onde tue (O river that invite the nymphs and shepherds)
Consort of Musicke, Evelyn Tubb (soprano), Mary Nichols (alto), Andrew King (tenor), Paul Agnew (tenor), Alan Ewing (bass)

03:41 AM
Antoni Haczewski (C.18th/19th)
Symphony in D major
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrzej Straszynski (conductor)

03:50 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
3 Lieder, arr. for cello and piano
Sol Gabetta (cello), Bertrand Chamayou (piano)

03:58 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Trio sonata in G minor, Op 2 no 5
Musica Alta Ripa

04:09 AM
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
The Nutcracker suite, Op 71a (excerpts)
Kotaro Fukuma (piano)

04:19 AM
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Introduction et Air Suedois
Anna-Maija Korsimaa (clarinet), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (conductor)

04:31 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Heidebild from Stimmungsbilder, Op 9 no 5
Ludmil Angelov (piano)

04:37 AM
Ruth Watson Henderson (b.1932)
Gloria for SSAA, brass quintet, timpani & percussion
Elmer Iseler Singers, Robert Venables (trumpet), Robert Devito (trumpet), Linda Broncesky (horn), Ian Cowie (trombone), Marc Bonang (tuba), Graham Hargrove (percussion), Nicolas Coulter (percussion), Lydia Adams (conductor)

04:43 AM
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Overture to the "King and the Charcoal Burner" (1874)
Bratislava Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Štefan Róbl (conductor)

04:51 AM
Gustav Merkel (1827-1885)
Fantasie no 3 in D minor, Op 76
Jaap Zwart jr (organ)

05:00 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Trio for keyboard and strings in G major (H.15.25) 'Gypsy Rondo'
Grieg Trio

05:15 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo, K.584 (from 'Cosi fan tutte')
Russell Braun (baritone), Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Richard Bradshaw (conductor)

05:21 AM
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op 33
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Paolo Bortolameolli (conductor)

05:37 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Six Moments musicaux, D.780
Piotr Alexewicz (piano)

06:08 AM
Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Harp Concerto
Esther Peristerakis (harp), WDR Funkhausorchester, Rasmus Baumann (conductor)


MON 06:30 Breakfast (m002r45h)
Breakfast with the best classical music

Al Ryan 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’.


MON 09:30 Essential Classics (m002r45k)
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 (m002r45m)
Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 127 live from Wigmore Hall

Mark Forrest begins a week of afternoons of specially recorded music including exclusive recent recordings from some of the best orchestras in The Netherlands. Today, violinist Valentin Serban joins the Rotterdam Philharmonic for a performance of Mozart's "Turkish" violin concerto, and Albanian pianist Marie-Ange Nguci plays Tchaikovsky's monumental Piano Concerto No.1 with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Throughout this week you can also hear some of Beethoven's best-loved chamber music, and today features a live recording of his Octet given by the LSO Wind Ensemble. We also have highlights of the recent RNCM International Brass Band Festival which took place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester last month. This afternoon, the Cheshire-based Foden's Band performs a delightful set of variations by Edmund Rubbra.

As ever, we begin the week with a live music-making from Wigmore Hall. The Chiaroscuro Quartet, who play on instruments with gut strings, using historical bows, play the first of Beethoven's late quartets, alongside music by the Dutch organ master, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.

Wigmore Hall Live
introduced from the hall by Petroc Trelawny

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Fantasia cromatica

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No.12 in E flat, Op.127

***

From 2pm

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto No.5 in A, K.219 “Turkish”
Valentin Serban (violin)
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Octet in E flat, Op.103
LSO Wind Ensemble

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, Op.23
Marie-Ange Nguci (piano)
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Roderick Cox (conductor)

Edmund Rubbra arr. Philip Littlemore: Variations on the Shining River, Op.101
Fodens Band
Michael Fowles (conductor)

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 (m001k8dt)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Ivanovka

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov’s life in exile from Russia and attachment to the country estate he left behind: Ivanovka.

Sergei Rachmaninov became one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka – a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

In today’s programme, Donald Macleod tells the story of Rachmaninov’s first visit to Ivanovka, the country estate of his cousins, as a teenager. He initially found the landscape around it boring and oppressive, but he soon came to love this sleepy place, wrote his first Piano Concerto there, and when he got married was gifted a house on the estate.

Lilacs op 21 no 5: Siren
Sergei Rachmaninov, piano

Piano Concerto No. 1 (mvt 1)
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Berliner Philharmoniker
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Dances from Aleko
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Cello Sonata in G minor (mvt 1)
Bruno Philippe, cello
Jerome Ducros, piano

Vesna
Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre
BBC Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor


MON 17:00 In Tune (m002r45q)
Bach's Goldberg Variations live in studio

Petroc Trelawny welcomes violinist Tim Crawford, viola player Noga Shaham and cellist Adrian Brendel, who perform excerpts of Bach's Goldberg Variations live in the studio ahead of their appearance at Bath Bachfest. Petroc is also joined by Academy and BAFTA Award-winning composer Steven Price to discuss Ocean in Concert, featuring live performances of his music for the documentary film Ocean with David Attenborough.


MON 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002r45s)
Ease into the evening with classical music

Take time out with a 30-minute soundscape of classical music. Tonight's mixtape starts with Lucy Walker's dreamy Give Me Your Stars, sung by the inimitable VOCES8. Gentle solo pieces from Rachmaninov and Brahms take us up to Joe Hisaishi's beautifully cinematic Nostalgia. Tonight's mixtape ends with Agape (from the Greek word for unconditional love), a meditative and transcendent piece from Nicholas Britell's Oscar-nominated score for If Beale Street Could Talk. You can hear more film music on Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema, or on Radio 3 Unwind’s Cinematic Soundtracks - both are available on BBC Sounds.

Producer: Joe Blamey


MON 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002r45v)
Shakespeare Inspires

The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Clemens Schuldt in Tchaikovsky's Hamlet, Bonis's Ophelie and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. Guy Johnston joins for the premiere of Joseph Phibbs's Cello Concerto.

Recorded at the Barbican, London on Friday 16th January 2026. Presented by Martin Handley.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Fantasy-Overture 'Hamlet'
Joseph Phibbs: Cello Concerto (BBC co-commission with the RPS, Penny Wright, and Andrew Neubauer.) (World premiere)

20.15 Interval

Mel Bonis: Ophelie
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier – suite

Guy Johnston (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Clemens Schuldt (conductor)

A troubled prince, a tragic heroine and the Vienna of your dreams. Tchaikovsky and Mel Bonis embraced the world of Hamlet with all the fervour of true romantics. Richard Strauss, meanwhile, let his flair for storytelling have free rein in his opera Der Rosenkavalier: a delirious whirl of waltzes, wit, and love in all its colours, all on show in this orchestral suite.

The play’s the thing then, and whether it’s the sublime imagery of Shakespeare or the endless imaginative possibilities of the operatic stage, it’s music that creates the drama tonight. Clemens Schuldt conducts and joins the superb British cellist Guy Johnston to make a little bit of musical history: the world premiere of a striking new cello concerto, created specially for Johnston and the BBC Symphony Orchestra by composer Joseph Phibbs.

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


MON 21:45 The Essay (m002r45x)
Uchronias

2:1. The Mewing of Cats

“Uchronia” - noun - neologism. An alternative history or genre of speculative fiction that reimagines historical events or characters in a new light.

Startling, counterfactual stories about composers Ravel, Mendelssohn, Lully, Debussy and Salieri from the imagination of Spanish writer and classical music radio presenter Martín Llade.

Uchronias straddles the gap between fact and fiction, creating hypothetical, “what if” scenarios around much-loved composers, their music and their lives.

Episode 1: How Maurice Ravel silenced his critics with the help of his ‘family’.

Written by Martín Llade
Read by Blake Ritson

With thanks to Juan Lucas and David Johnston.

Stories originally created for Spanish classical music magazine Scherzo and published as "El horizonte quimérico" by Scherzo Editorial S.L.

Executive producer, Sara Davies
Sound mix, Adam Woodhams
Translated, produced and presented by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 3


MON 22:00 Night Tracks (m002r45z)
Harmonious music for night-time listening

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 (m002r461)
Zola Marcelle sits in

Vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Zola Marcelle is sitting in for Soweto this week on ‘Round Midnight, sharing some of her favourite recent finds and jazz classics.

Zola is joined from Monday to Thursday by her guest, South-London vocalist and trombonist Richie. Known for her work with KOKOROKO, Richie has also performed with artists from across the musical spectrum including Solange, Damon Albarn, and Dave. She has gone on to explore pathways as a producer and composer, including as resident artist at the Horniman Museum & Gardens in 2020 and as a commissioned artist for New Music USA in 2021. Her latest project titled ‘Delusia’s Final Act’ was released last year.

Richie is sharing some of the albums that have influenced her for 4/4. Starting her week, she selects a record by one of jazz harp’s pioneers.

Also in the programme, there’s music from Balimaya Project, Joe Armon-Jones and Thandiswa.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight'.

TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2026

TUE 00:30 Through the Night (m002r463)
20 years of the Amaryllis Quartet

The Amaryllis Quartet has been performing in major concert halls from Hamburg to Tokyo for 20 years. In this birthday concert at Solothurn in Switzerland, chamber music classics by Beethoven and Brahms are performed alongside a new work by the Swiss oboist, composer and conductor Heinz Holliger. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet no 5 in A major, Op 18 no 5
Amaryllis Quartett

01:00 AM
Heinz Holliger (b.1939)
nicht Ichts – nicht Nichts, 10 Monodisticha after Angelus Silesius
Amaryllis Quartett

01:19 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
String Quintet no 2 in G major, Op 111
Amaryllis Quartett, Lena Eckels (viola)

01:49 AM
Heinz Holliger (b.1939)
(S)irató for Orchestra
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thierry Fischer (conductor)

02:05 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Oboe Concerto in C major, K.285d/314a
Heinz Holliger (oboe), ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leif Segerstam (conductor)

02:26 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), arr. Glenn Gould
Cadenza for Piano Concerto no 1 in C major, Op 15
Lukas Geniušas (piano)

02:31 AM
Francesco Corteccia (1502-1571)
Musica della commedia di Francesco Corteccia recitata al secondo convito
Ensemble Weser-Renaissance Bremen, Manfred Cordes (conductor)

02:49 AM
Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957)
Sommernacht (Summer Night): pastoral intermezzo for string orchestra, Op 58
Camerata Bern

03:00 AM
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op 18
Minami Yoshida (violin), Jean Desmarais (piano)

03:28 AM
Mirko Krajči (b.1968)
Four Dances from the ballet 'Don Juan' (2007)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mirko Krajči (conductor)

03:36 AM
Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)
Trio Sonata in E flat major
Atrium Musicium Chamber Ensemble

03:44 AM
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
2 chorale-preludes on 'Herzlich tut mich verlangen', Op 122 nos 9 and 10
Jan Bokszczanin (organ)

03:50 AM
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Piano Sonata in B minor, Op 40 no 2
Beatrice Rana (piano)

04:08 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Première rapsodie arr. for clarinet and orchestra
Kari Kriikku (clarinet), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

04:16 AM
Annibale Gregori (?-c.1633)
Ciaccona a 2 soprani, from 'Ariosi concenti, Op 9'
Andrea Inghisciano (cornet), Gawain Glenton (cornet), Giulia Genini (soloist), Guido Morini (harpsichord), María González (organ)

04:22 AM
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Suite for chamber orchestra (1946)
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jan Krenz (conductor)

04:31 AM
John Wilbye (1574-1638)
Draw on sweet night for 6 voices (1609)
BBC Singers, Bo Holten (director)

04:36 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), transc. Zóltan Kocsis
Pavane pour une infante defunte
Zsolt Szatmári (clarinet), Zóltan Kocsis (piano)

04:42 AM
Unico Wilhelm Van Wassenaer (1692-1766)
Concerto no 5 in F minor (from Sei Concerti Armonici 1740)
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Jan Willem de Vriend (conductor)

04:53 AM
Roger Quilter (1877-1953)
7 Elizabethan Lyrics, Op 12
Kathryn Rudge (mezzo soprano), James Baillieu (piano)

05:07 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Meeresstille und gluckliche Fahrt - overture, Op 27
Orchestre National de France, Riccardo Muti (conductor)

05:21 AM
Heinz Holliger (b.1939)
From 5 Little pieces for solo oboe: nos 2, 4 & 5
Vera Flurina Gassmann (oboe)

05:26 AM
Erkki Melartin (1875-1937)
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op 60
John Storgårds (violin), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)

05:55 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
Piano Sonata no 3 in B minor, Op 58
Jakub Kuszlik (piano)

06:23 AM
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Romance for viola and piano
Steven Dann (viola), Bruce Vogt (piano)


TUE 06:30 Breakfast (m002r480)
Birdsong and Bach to banish those morning blues

Al Ryan 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’.


TUE 09:30 Essential Classics (m002r482)
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 (m002r484)
Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 from Rotterdam

Mark Forrest continues his week of afternoons with exclusive recent live recordings of some of the best Dutch orchestras. Today, conductor Lahav Shani leads the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s energetic Symphony No.2 and Prokofiev’s dreamily poetic Violin Concerto No.1 with soloist Clara-Jumi Kang. There’s also more Beethoven chamber music in the shape of his late Piano Sonata , Op. 110, from Dame Imogen Cooper; and from last month’s RNCM International Brass Band Festival in Manchester, Foden’s Band plays Britten’s evocative Courtly Dances from his opera “Gloriana”.

Including:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A, K. 201
Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Michael Waterman (leader)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat, Op. 110
Dame Imogen Cooper (piano)

Samuel Barber: Overture – The School for Scandal
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Roderick Cox (conductor)

William Byrd: Justorum animae
BBC Singers
Andrew Nethsingha (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 36
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani (conductor)

Benjamin Britten arr. Paul Hindmarsh: Prelude & Courtly Dances [Gloriana]
Fodens Band
Michael Fowles (conductor)

Arcangelo Corelli: Trio Sonata in D, Op. 3 No. 2
Ensemble Augelletti

Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19
Clara-Jumi Kang (violin)
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Cello Sonata in F, Op. 5 No. 1
Laura van der Heijden (cello)
Jâms Coleman (piano)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".


TUE 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k8ft)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Leaving Ivanovka

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov’s life in exile from Russia and attachment to the country estate he left behind: Ivanovka.

Sergei Rachmaninov became one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka – a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

Rachmaninov finds himself having to take on the running of the Ivanovka estate, and buys a car to zip around the surrounding countryside when it all gets a bit much. He's on the verge of buying a tractor too when the First World War breaks out - but from 1914 onwards his time at Ivanovka is running out.

15 Songs Op 26 No 10 - Before my window
Ekaterina Siurina, soprano
Iain Burnside, piano

Symphony No 2 (Mvt 2)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor

Songs Op 34 Nos 12 and 13
Asmik Grigorian, soprano
Lukas Geniušas, piano

Piano Concerto No 3 (Mvt 1)
Yuja Wang, piano
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

All-Night Vigil (Excerpt: 4, 5 and 6)
Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Kļava, conductor


TUE 17:00 In Tune (m002r487)
Live music from Catrin Finch

Petroc Trelawny is joined in 80A by harpist Catrin Finch, presenting music from her new album "Notes to Self", which is released on 27/02, and discussing her upcoming UK concerts. Also live in studio is composer and double bassist Bára Gísladóttir, talking to Petroc about the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Total Immersion day focusing on music from Iceland (Barbican Centre in London, 22/02).


TUE 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002kdrf)
Classical music for your journey

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


TUE 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002r48c)
Black Dyke Band

The annual RNCM International Brass Band Festival brings together some of the greatest bands in the world performing a combination of traditional banding music with new commissions and a few surprises as well. Mark Forrest introduces one of the highlights from this year's festival, a concert given at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester by the Black Dyke Band under its Musical Director, Nicholas Childs. The programme features new work from Hollywood film composer Bruce Broughton, inspired by the devastating Californian fires from last year, alongside a new percussion concerto from Cornish composer Simon Dobson. Also in the programme, music from the festival's featured composer Philip Sparke and an arresting arrangement from a part of Respighi's powerful Roman Tryptch.

Paul Lovatt-Cooper: Fanfare for Bradford (In Actio Nobilate)
Bruce Broughton: Wildfire (world premiere)
Philip Sparke: Gemini (duo concerto for cornet, euphonium and brass band)
Edward Gregson: Symphony in Two Movements

Interval

Jacob Vilhelm Larsen: Aureum Spiriti (world premiere)
Simon Dobson: Percussion Concerto
Ottorino Respighi: (arr. Howard Snell) Feste Romane

Black Dyke Band
Tom Hutchinson (cornet)
Adam Bokaris (euphonium)
Yasuaki Fukuhara (percussion)
Nicholas Childs (conductor)


TUE 21:45 The Essay (m002r48f)
Uchronias

2:2. A Souvenir from Staffa

“Uchronia” - noun - neologism. An alternative history or genre of speculative fiction that reimagines historical events or characters in a new light.

Startling, counterfactual stories about composers Ravel, Mendelssohn, Lully, Debussy and Salieri from the imagination of Spanish writer and classical music radio presenter Martín Llade.

Uchronias straddles the gap between fact and fiction, creating hypothetical, “what if” scenarios around much-loved composers, their music and their lives.

Episode 2: How Felix Mendelssohn was blessed and blighted by a curse.

Written by Martín Llade
Read by Blake Ritson

With thanks to Juan Lucas and David Johnston.

Stories originally created for Spanish classical music magazine Scherzo and published as "El horizonte quimérico" by Scherzo Editorial S.L.

Executive producer, Sara Davies
Sound mix, Adam Woodhams
Translated, produced and presented by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 3


TUE 22:00 Night Tracks (m002r48h)
Blissful sounds for night owls

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


TUE 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002f0dq)
Richie’s 4/4

Vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Zola Marcelle is sitting in for Soweto this week on ‘Round Midnight, sharing some of her favourite recent finds, and jazz classics.

Zola's guest, trombonist and vocalist Richie is back with her second 4/4 album pick of the week, and tonight she chooses a record from a genre-transcending trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist she is inspired by.

There is also music from Florence Adooni, Ria Moran and Alex Cosmo Blake.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight'.

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2026

WED 00:30 Through the Night (m002r48k)
Handel and Mozart from Switzerland

Countertenor Iestyn Davies joins the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Robin Ticciati in Handel and Mozart arias. John Shea presents

12:31 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Eternal source of light divine, from the 'Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne'
Iestyn Davies (counter tenor), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

12:35 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto, from act 1 of 'Ottone, HWV 15';
Iestyn Davies (counter tenor), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

12:40 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Recitativo Accompagnato 'Pompe vane di morte!'; Dove sei, amato bene?
Iestyn Davies (counter tenor), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

12:48 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Trio Sonata in G, HWV 399 - Sonata per orchestra, Op 5/4
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

01:00 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Menuet, from 'Trio Sonata in G, HWV 399'; O Lord, whose Mercies numberless
Iestyn Davies (counter tenor), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

01:09 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Venga pur, minacci, e frema, Farnace's aria from 'Mitridate, re di Ponto, K. 87'
Iestyn Davies (counter tenor), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

01:17 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony no 35 in D, K 385 'Haffner'
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

01:38 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Hide me from day's garish eye
Iestyn Davies (counter tenor), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Robin Ticciati (conductor)

01:42 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Ave verum corpus, K.618
Coro Maghini, Claudio Chiavazza (director), Academia Montis Regalis, Alessandro De Marchi (conductor)

01:46 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Divertimento in E flat major, (K.563)
Andrés Díaz (cello), Eugene Drucker (violin), Toby Hoffman (viola)

02:31 AM
Johannes Ockeghem (1410-1497)
Missa prolationum
Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier (director)

03:05 AM
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Suite for Two Pianos, Op 4b
Soós-Haag Piano Duo (piano duo)

03:36 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Last Spring, Op 33 no 2
Camerata Bern, Thomas Furi (leader)

03:42 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
12 Variations on 'Ein Madchen oder Weibchen' for cello and piano, Op 66
Danjulo Ishizaka (cello), José Gallardo (piano)

03:52 AM
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Quartet in G major TWV.43:G7 (Concerto alla Polonese)
Aira Maria Lehtipuu (violin), Kore Ensemble

04:01 AM
Léo Delibes (1836-1891)
Bell Song 'Ou va la jeune Hindoue?' from Act 2 of Lakme
Tracy Dahl (soprano), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor)

04:09 AM
Johannes Verhulst (1816-1891), transc. C.W.P.Stumpff
Gruss aus der Fernen, Op 7
Dutch National Youth Wind Orchestra, Jan Cober (conductor)

04:16 AM
Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937)
The Fountain of Arethusa from Myths for violin and piano (Op.30)
Hyun-Mi Kim (violin), Seung-Hye Choi (piano)

04:22 AM
Nicolas Chédeville (1705-1782)
Recorder Sonata in G minor, Op 13 no 6
Ensemble 1700, Dorothee Oberlinger (director)

04:31 AM
Nicolaos Mantzaros (1795-1872)
Sinfonia di genere Orientale in A minor
National Symphony Orchestra of Greek Radio, Andreas Pylarinos (conductor)

04:41 AM
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Rondo in B minor, Op 109
Stefan Lindgren (piano)

04:49 AM
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Laudate Pueri - motet, Op 39 no 2
Polyphonia, Ivelina Ivancheva (piano), Ivelin Dimitrov (conductor)

04:59 AM
Luka Sorkočević (1734-1789), arr. Frano Matušic
Symphony no 3 in D major
Dubrovnik Guitar Trio

05:06 AM
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
The Three Wonders from The tale of Tsar Saltan Suite, Op 57
BBC Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)

05:14 AM
Giovanni Antonio Piani (1678-1760)
Sonata II, from Violin Sonatas, Op 1
Eva Saladin (violin), Daniel Rosin (cello), Johannes Keller (harpsichord)

05:23 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Piano sonata no 19 in C minor, D.958
Schaghajegh Nosrati (piano)

05:54 AM
Christoph Demantius (1567-1643)
Intraden und Tanze - from Conviviorum Deliciae, Nuremberg 1608
Hortus Musicus, Andres Mustonen (director)

06:03 AM
Ludvig Norman (1831-1885)
String Sextet in A major, Op 18
Stockholm String Sextet (sextet)


WED 06:30 Breakfast (m002r4f0)
Launch the day with classical music

Al Ryan 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’.


WED 09:30 Essential Classics (m002r4f2)
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 (m002r4f4)
Nikola Meeuwsen plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.9 in Utrecht

Mark Forrest continues his week of specially recorded music and performances from Europe and beyond. Dutch pianist Nikola Meeuwsen joins the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra in Utrecht for a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 – the “Jeunehomme”, and Lahav Shani conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Johan Wagenaar’s musical portrait of Cyrano de Bergerac. Plus, the Wigmore Soloists perform Beethoven’s youthful Septet, and there's another highlight from the recent RNCM International Brass Band Festival in Manchester.

Including:

Johan Wagenaar: Overture: Cyrano de Bergerac, Op. 23
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Septet in E flat, Op. 20
Wigmore Soloists

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat “Jeunehomme”, K. 271
Nikola Meeuwsen (piano)
Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Michael Waterman (leader)

Florence Price: String Quartet in G major (Unfinished) (2nd mvt)
Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Michael Waterman (leader)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".


WED 15:00 Choral Evensong (m002r4f6)
Merton College, Oxford

Live from the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford on Ash Wednesday.

Introit: Lent Prose (Plainsong)
Responses: Byrd
Psalm 51: Miserere mei, Deus (MacMillan)
First Lesson: Isaiah 1 vv10-18
Canticles: Short Service (Byrd)
Second Lesson: Luke 15 vv11-32
Anthem: In ieiunio et fletu (Tallis)
Hymn: Lord Jesus, think on me (Southwell)
Voluntary: Fantasia in D (Byrd)

Benjamin Nicholas (Director of Music)
Anna Steppler (Assistant Organist)

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


WED 16:00 Composer of the Week (m001k8h9)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

New York

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov’s life in exile from Russia and attachment to the country estate he left behind: Ivanovka.

Sergei Rachmaninov became one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka – a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

Rachmaninov is forced to embark on a new full-time career as a concert pianist, through his first months as a refugee in Europe, and his passage west again, to New York. With his estate Ivanovka confiscated by the authorities after the October Revolution, the composer's first pieces written abroad contain echoes of home.

Etudes-Tableaux Op 39 No 3
Boris Giltburg, piano

Piano Concerto No 2 (Mvt 1)
Daniil Trifonov, piano
Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Etudes-Tableaux Op 39 No 6
Sergei Rachmaninov, piano

The Bells (Mvt 2)
Luba Orgonášová, soprano
Berliner Philharmoniker
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Simon Rattle, conductor

Prelude Op. 3 No. 2
Steven Osborne, piano

Three Russian Songs
Concertgebouw Chorus
Concertgebouw Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor


WED 17:00 In Tune (m002r4f9)
The Weaving live in session & Tamara Stefanovich

Petroc Trelawny welcomes folk trio The Weaving to 80A. They perform live ahead of the release of their album Dlúth & Inneach (Warp & Weft), coming out in Spring, which will be launched in London at The Hackney Folk Club on 19/02. Pianist Tamara Stefanovich is also live in studio, to play and to discuss her upcoming recital at Milton Court Concert Hall, London on 19/02.


WED 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002r4fc)
Half an hour of the finest classical music

Choral music by the Icelandic composer, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, the Flower Duet from Lakme and an arrangement for saxophone and orchestra of the Kate Bush song, This Woman's Work.

Producer: Kevin Satizabal Carrascal.


WED 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002pq42)
Stravinsky's Perséphone

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sakari Oramo in Stravinsky's ravishing Perséphone plus Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto No.1 with star soloist Lisa Batiashvili.

Recorded at the Barbican on 6th February 2026. Presented by Martin Handley.

Magnus Lindberg: Violin Concerto No. 1

20.00 Interval

Igor Stravinsky: Perséphone

Lisa Batiashvili (violin)
Amira Casar (narrator)
Peter Tantsits (tenor)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Chorus
Girls from the Chamber Choir of The Grey Coat Hospital School
Boys from the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School

“Goddess of a thousand names, let us celebrate your mysteries…” The story of Persephone is as ancient as western culture: an ever-fresh parable of motherly love, untamed lust and the eternal cycle of nature. In 1934, Igor Stravinsky rose to its challenge: the result is part ballet, part opera, but all Stravinsky.

In other words, it’s unmissable – a musical drama unique in the 20th century, charged with all of Stravinsky’s originality, humour and emotion. For this rare concert performance Sakari Oramo has lined up a world-class team, including our own BBC Symphony Chorus. As an upbeat, violinist Lisa Batiashvili makes a very welcome return in Magnus Lindberg’s lyrical first Violin Concerto – a luminous prelude to Stravinsky’s mythic masterpiece.

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


WED 21:45 The Essay (m002r4ff)
Uchronias

2:3. The Royal Privilege

“Uchronia” - noun - neologism. An alternative history or genre of speculative fiction that reimagines historical events or characters in a new light.

Startling, counterfactual stories about composers Ravel, Mendelssohn, Lully, Debussy and Salieri from the imagination of Spanish writer and classical music radio presenter Martín Llade.

Uchronias straddles the gap between fact and fiction, creating hypothetical, “what if” scenarios around much-loved composers, their music and their lives.

Episode 3: How Jean-Baptiste Lully’s death was brought on by vanity.

Written by Martín Llade
Read by Blake Ritson

With thanks to Juan Lucas and David Johnston.

Stories originally created for Spanish classical music magazine Scherzo and published as "El horizonte quimérico" by Scherzo Editorial S.L.

Executive producer, Sara Davies
Sound mix, Adam Woodhams
Translated, produced and presented by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 3


WED 22:00 Night Tracks (m002r4fj)
Meditative music for late-night solace

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 (m002f0fp)
Moving melodies from Lionel Loueke

Vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Zola Marcelle is sitting in for Soweto this week on ‘Round Midnight, sharing some of her favourite recent finds, and jazz classics.

Tonight, Zola welcomes back her Flowers guest, Richie, to share a third best-loved record from her collection. Tonight, she picks an album by a master of groove and the jazz trumpet.

Also in the programme, there is music from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Nina Simone and Venna.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight'.

THURSDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2026

THU 00:30 Through the Night (m002r4fn)
Boston Symphony Orchestra at the 2023 BBC Proms

Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins the eminent orchestra for Gershwin's Piano Concerto plus music by Stravinsky, Ravel & Carlos Simon. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
Carlos Simon (b.1986)
Four Black American Dances
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

12:47 AM
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Petrushka (1947 version)
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

01:25 AM
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Piano Concerto in F
Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

01:59 AM
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
La Valse
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (conductor)

02:13 AM
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
Quartet for flute/violin and strings (T.309/3) in A major
Sofia Soloists Chamber Ensemble, Plamen Djurov (conductor)

02:31 AM
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Iberia: Images for Orchestra, no 2
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Jun Märkl (conductor)

02:53 AM
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet in B minor, Op 33 no 1
Quatuor Ysaÿe

03:11 AM
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Concertino for bassoon and orchestra in B flat major
Juhani Tapaninen (bassoon), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

03:30 AM
Leonhardt Lechner (c.1553-1606)
Deutsche Spruche von Leben und Tod
Danish National Radio Choir, Stefan Parkman (conductor)

03:41 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
16 German Dances, D.783
Ralf Gothoni (piano)

03:52 AM
Charles Avison (1709-1770)
Concerto Grosso no 4 in A minor (after Domenico Scarlatti)
Tafelmusik, Jeanne Lamon (director)

04:06 AM
Jacques Arcadelt (c.1505-1568)
Il Bianco E Dolce Cigno
Banchieri Singers, Dénes Szabó (conductor)

04:08 AM
Franz Doppler (1821-1883)
Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise, Op 26
Ensemble Pyramide

04:21 AM
Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)
Concert waltz for orchestra no 1 in D major, Op 47
CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Kazuyoshi Akiyama (conductor)

04:31 AM
André Jolivet (1905-1974)
Chant de Linos for flute and piano
Aleš Kacjan (flute), Bojan Gorišek (piano)

04:41 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Jane Grey Fantasy, Op 15
Scott Dickinson (viola), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Teresa Riveiro Bohm (conductor)

04:53 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Jubilate Domino, omnis terra, BuxWV.64
Bogna Bartosz (contralto), Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman (conductor)

05:01 AM
Ludvig Norman (1831-1885)
2 Charakterstücke for piano, Op 1
Bengt-Åke Lundin (piano)

05:11 AM
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (c.1739-1799)
Overture to the opera "L'amant anonyme"
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

05:20 AM
Alexandre Pierre François Boëly (1785-1858)
Messe des fetes solennelles
Marcel Verheggen (organ)

05:28 AM
Antoine Reicha (1770-1836)
Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op 89
Jože Kotar (clarinet), Slovenian Philharmonic String Quartet

05:52 AM
Pancho Vladigerov (1899-1978)
Sonatina Concertante, Op 28
Ivan Eftimov (piano)

06:10 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Peer Gynt Suite no 2, Op 55
Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Schønwandt (conductor)


THU 06:30 Breakfast (m002r4bk)
Boost your morning with classical music

Al Ryan 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’.


THU 09:30 Essential Classics (m002r4bm)
Celebrating classical greats

Ian Skelly 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 (m002r4bp)
Mozart's Symphony No. 39 from the Rotterdam Philharmonic

Mark Forrest continues his week of specially recorded performances from Europe and beyond, focusing especially on the best orchestral music from The Netherlands. Today we hear the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra play Mozart’s Symphony No.39 - from Mozart's final group of three great symphonic masterpieces. There’s more Beethoven chamber music in the shape of his Archduke Trio. And there’s another highlight from the recent RNCM International Brass Band Festival given at the Royal Northern College of music in Manchester last month.

Including:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio No.7 in B flat “Archduke”, Op.97
Trio Orelon

Jean Sibelius: Finlandia
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Nicolas Collon (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No.7 in F “Razumovsky”, Op.59 No.1
Quatuour Modigliano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No.39 in E flat, K.543
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani (conductor)

Philip Wilby: Light Fantastic
Brett Baker (trombone)
Cory Band
Philip Harper (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 (m001k8cg)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Switzerland

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov’s life in exile from Russia and attachment to the country estate he left behind: Ivanovka.

Sergei Rachmaninov became one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka – a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

Rachmaninov builds a new home in Switzerland, a villa called Senar situated on the shores of Lake Lucerne, which attempts to recreate aspects of the Russian home he'd had to leave behind. This is the most settled period of his exile but it's only five years until he moves on again, in 1939, to escape another war in Europe.

Mendelssohn/ transcr. Rachmaninov: A Midsummer Night's Dream - Scherzo
Simon Trpčeski, piano

Symphony No 3 (Mvt 2)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Excerpt)
Martin James Bartlett, piano
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Joshua Weilerstein, conductor

Isle of the Dead
Sinfonia of London
John Wilson, conductor


THU 17:00 In Tune (m002r4bs)
Pianist Boris Giltburg performs live

Petroc Trelawny is joined by pianist Boris Giltburg, who performs live in studio ahead of his recitals at Cambridge Music Festival and Wigmore Hall, and discusses his new recording 'Rachmaninoff: Piano Works". Conductor Tess Jackson discusses her upcoming concert with Chromatica Orchestra and Lotte Betts-Dean at Battersea Arts Centre in London, and looks ahead to conducting Garsington Opera in La Traviata.


THU 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002r4bv)
Classical music to inspire you

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

Tonight's sequence features music from Beethoven's Symphony No 7, Haydn's 'London Trio', William Grant Still's Serenade for Orchestra, and a piece from Yann Tiersen's beautiful score to the film Amélie: 'Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi'.

Producer: Joe Blamey

To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Mixtape".


THU 19:30 Radio 3 in Concert (m002r4bx)
Dvorak's Symphony No. 8

The centrepiece of this evening's concert is Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G major: an irresistibly uplifting work that invites listeners in from its very first notes. Bursting with memorable melodies inspired by nature and Czech folk music, the symphony moves effortlessly between gentle lyricism and exuberant dance-like energy. This is music with a huge heart and a limitless supply of melodies, but it’s brimming over with poetry too, and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth will savour every moment of this most life-affirming of Romantic symphonies.

This evening's concert opens with a new commission from a young British composer of Czech heritage. Philip Dutton, a former Royal Philharmonic Society Young Composer, finds inspiration in Janáček, Lutosławski and Messiaen: “My music aims to express my love of storytelling and curiosity in a vivid and direct way.” Mozart’s poetic final piano concerto is played by Imogen Cooper – a pianist for whom Mozart’s music has been a lifelong love story. “He has a special place in my heart”, she says, and when she plays, you can hear it.

Presented by Kate Molleson, live from City Halls in Glasgow.

Philip Dutton: There, where I call home (World Premiere, BBC commission)
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.27 K595

Interval

Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major

Ryan Wigglesworth, conductor
Imogen Cooper, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra


THU 21:45 The Essay (m002r4bz)
Uchronias

2:4. Sounds and Scents Swirl through the Evening Air

“Uchronia” - noun - neologism. An alternative history or genre of speculative fiction that reimagines historical events or characters in a new light.

Startling, counterfactual stories about composers Ravel, Mendelssohn, Lully, Debussy and Salieri from the imagination of Spanish writer and classical music radio presenter Martín Llade.

Uchronias straddles the gap between fact and fiction, creating hypothetical, “what if” scenarios around much-loved composers, their music and their lives.

Episode 4: How Claude Debussy’s music ‘took off’ following a chance meeting with a yogi.

Written by Martín Llade
Read by Blake Ritson

With thanks to Juan Lucas and David Johnston.

Stories originally created for Spanish classical music magazine Scherzo and published as "El horizonte quimérico" by Scherzo Editorial S.L.

Executive producer, Sara Davies
Sound mix, Adam Woodhams
Translated, produced and presented by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 3


THU 22:00 Night Tracks (m002r4c1)
Nocturnal music to bewitch the senses

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 (m002f0l6)
A soulful classic from Joshua Domfeh

Vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Zola Marcelle is sitting in for Soweto this week on ‘Round Midnight, sharing some of her favourite recent finds, and jazz classics.

Trombonist and vocalist Richie is back to share her fourth and final album selection, rounding off her week on 4/4. Tonight, she goes for a record by one of the timeless greats of the bass guitar.

There is also music from Meshell Ndegeocello, Ife Ogunjobi and Allexa Nava.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight'.

FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2026

FRI 00:30 Through the Night (m002r4c3)
Handel from Budapest

Handel's Dixit Dominus, Nisi Dominus and Salve Regina performed by soloists with the Hungarian Radio Chorus and Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Matthias Church, Budapest. John Shea presents.

12:31 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Nisi Dominus, HWV.238
Nóra Ducza (soprano), Alíz Ballabás (soprano), József Csapó (counter tenor), Attila Sebők (tenor), Szabolcs Hámori (bass), Hungarian Radio Chorus, Budapest, Zoltán Pad (director), Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Václav Luks (conductor)

12:43 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Salve Regina, HWV.241
Nóra Ducza (soprano), Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Václav Luks (conductor)

12:55 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Dixit Dominus in G minor, HWV.232
Nóra Ducza (soprano), Alíz Ballabás (soprano), József Csapó (counter tenor), Attila Sebők (tenor), Szabolcs Hámori (bass), Hungarian Radio Chorus, Budapest, Zoltán Pad (director), Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest, Václav Luks (conductor)

01:28 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), arr. Federico Colli
Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa, from 'Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno'
Federico Colli (piano)

01:31 AM
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Flute Sonata in B minor, HWV 367b
Sharon Bezaly (flute), Terence Charlston (harpsichord), Charles Medlam (viola da gamba)

01:45 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Partita for keyboard no 6 in E minor, BWV.830
Ilze Graubina (piano)

02:17 AM
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
Trio Sonata no 12 'Ciacona' (Corelli) & Passacaglia from Sonata no 5 (Muffat)
Stockholm Antiqua

02:31 AM
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Symphonie Fantastique, Op 14
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Christian Eggen (conductor)

03:24 AM
Alec Wilder (1907-1978)
Suite no 1 for tuba and piano 'Effie Suite'
Saruschan Aghamiri (tuba), Shih-Yu Tang (piano)

03:31 AM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Quartet for flute and strings in A major, K.298
Joanna G'froerer (flute), Martin Beaver (violin), Pinchas Zukerman (viola), Amanda Forsyth (cello)

03:42 AM
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Friedrich Schiller (author)
Die Gotter Griechenlands, D.677b
Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Andreas Staier (pianoforte)

03:47 AM
Fini Henriques (1867-1940)
Air for string orchestra
Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Børge Wagner (conductor)

03:54 AM
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c.1620-1680)
Suite no 2 in D major
Elizabeth Wallfisch (violin), Rosanne Hunt (cello), Linda Kent (harpsichord)

04:00 AM
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
2 Nocturnes for piano, Op 62
Yulianna Avdeeva (piano)

04:13 AM
Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Romance for violin & orchestra Op 26 in G major arr. for violin & choir
Borisas Traubas (violin), Polifonija (Lithuanian State Chamber Choir), Sigitas Vaiciulionis (conductor)

04:22 AM
Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806-1826)
Los Esclavos Felices - overture
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Juanjo Mena (conductor)

04:31 AM
Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Magnificat BuxWV Anh. I
Marieke Steenhoek (soprano), Miriam Meyer (soprano), Bogna Bartosz (contralto), Marco van de Klundert (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass), Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Amsterdam Baroque Chorus, Ton Koopman (conductor)

04:38 AM
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Overture to Mireille
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oliver Dohnányi (conductor)

04:46 AM
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
12 Variations on 'Ein Madchen oder Weibchen for cello and piano', Op 66
Antonio Meneses (cello), Menahem Pressler (piano)

04:56 AM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Brandenburg Concerto no 3 in G major, BWV.1048
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer (artistic director)

05:10 AM
Jan Sandström (b.1954)
Surge, aquilo for 16 voices
Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble

05:17 AM
Lepo Sumera (1950-2000)
Pala aastast 1981 (A Piece from 1981)
Kadri-Ann Sumera (piano)

05:25 AM
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Gammelnorsk Romance met Variasjoner, Op 51
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Kristian Ruud (conductor)

05:50 AM
Antoine Reicha (1770-1836)
Oboe Quintet in F major, Op 107
Les Adieux

06:18 AM
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Jane Grey Fantasy, Op 15
Scott Dickinson (viola), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Teresa Riveiro Bohm (conductor)


FRI 06:30 Breakfast (m002r4m3)
Start the day with classical music

Al Ryan 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’.


FRI 09:30 Essential Classics (m002r4m5)
A feast of great music

Ian Skelly 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 (m002r4m7)
Mahler's 5th Symphony from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Mark Forrest concludes his week of specially recorded music from Europe and beyond, with a concert performance of Mahler’s 5th Symphony given by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at last year’s Salzburg Festival. We also hear from the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and pianist Alexander Gavryluk in Grieg’s evergreen Piano Concerto, and Michael McHale plays Beethoven’s bittersweet “Pathetique” sonata. There’s a final highlight from the recent RNCM International Brass Band Festival in Manchester.

Including:

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

Georg Phillip Telemann: Sonata No.1 in A major, TWV. 43:A1
Ensemble Augelletti (New Generation Baroque Ensemble 2023-2025)

Philip Sparke: Ravelling, Unravelling
Cory Band
Philip Harper (conductor)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique"
Michael McHale (piano)

Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium
BBC Singers
Stephen Cleobury (conductor)

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä (conductor)

Anton Bruckner: Locus iste
Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Michael Waterman (leader)

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 (m001k8kk)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Beverly Hills

Donald Macleod explores Rachmaninov’s life in exile from Russia and attachment to the country estate he left behind: Ivanovka.

Sergei Rachmaninov became one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka – a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

Rachmaninov spent the final years of his life mixing with other emigres in Beverly Hills, while the war in Europe raged on. He played duets with his neighbour Vladimir Horowitz, visited the Disney studios, and spent as much time as he could in his garden - planting birches to remind him of his distant homeland. Three decades after his death in 1943, the house and gardens at Ivanovka in Russia would be restored as a memorial to the composer.

John Stafford Smith: The Star-Spangled Banner (transcription by Rachmaninov)
Sergei Rachmaninov, piano

Corelli Variations (Excerpt)
Daniil Trifonov, piano

Symphonic Dances (Mvt III)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle, conductor

Suite No 2 for Two Pianos (Mvt III and IV)
Martha Argerich, piano
Gabriela Montero, piano

The Bells op.35 (Mvt IV)
Alexey Markov, bass
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor


FRI 17:00 In Tune (m002r4mb)
Dowland's Foundry in session & Georgia Shackleton

Petroc Trelawny is joined by Dowland's Foundry ensemble for a live performance to mark the 400th anniversary of Dowland's death today - they also discuss upcoming appearances at Oxford Festival of the Arts on 26/04, Ryedale Destival on 21/06, Dowland 400 Lute Society Festival in Norwich & King’s Lynn festival on 19 & 25 July.

Violinist and singer Georgia Shackleton presents music from her latest album From the Floorboards (out 27/02) with Aaren Bennett on acoustic guitar and vocals. They also discuss their upcoming concert at St Albans Folk Club, Hertfordshire on 22/02.


FRI 19:00 Classical Mixtape (m002r4md)
Expand your horizons with classical music

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

This episode features choral music from Caroline Shaw, music conjuring a cold, wintry morning from Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, orchestral music from the prolific French composer Mel Bonis, and Yuja Wang playing the piano in Benjamin Wallfisch's score to the film 'Summer in February'.

Producer: Joe Blamey

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


FRI 19:30 Friday Night is Music Night (m0028shk)
London Soundtrack Festival

From Alexandra Palace Theatre, the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Richard Balcombe take part in the first ever London Soundtrack Festival, playing some of the best-known themes ever written for screens big and small. Their programme includes a special tribute to composers and lyricists celebrating their centenary in 2025 – Ron Goodwin (633 Squadron) and Alan Bergman (Windmills of Your Mind) - as well as music by composers who will coming to the London Soundtrack Festival: Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings) and Anne Dudley (Bright Young Things). Plus there's the world premiere of a special suite of the greatest TV Quiz Show themes, arranged by Iain Farrington.

Presented by Sarah Walker.

Richard Sherman/Robert Sherman, arr Sutherland: Overture: Mary Poppins
Laura Karpman: The Marvels - Higher. Further. Faster. Together.
Barry: Out of Africa - Main Title
Legrand, arr Sutherland: The Windmills of Your Mind
Quiz Biz (medley of TV quiz show themes, arr Farrington) (first performance)
John Williams: Fiddler on the Roof (excerpts)
James Bond Medley (arr Black)

INTERVAL

Davis: Pride and Prejudice - Theme
Howard Shore, arr Witney: Suite - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Anne Dudley: Bright Young Things - The Decadence Waltz
Goodwin, arr Black: 633 Squadron - Main Title
Gunning: Martini & Black Magic
John Williams: ET the Extra-Terrestrial - Adventures on Earth

Violin, Nathaniel Anderson-Frank
Trombone, Robert Moseley
Alto Saxophone, Nick Moss
BBC Concert Orchestra
Conductor, Richard Balcombe


FRI 21:45 The Essay (m002rkd1)
Uchronias

2:5. Forgetting Salieri

“Uchronia” - noun - neologism. An alternative history or genre of speculative fiction that reimagines historical events or characters in a new light.

Startling, counterfactual stories about composers Ravel, Mendelssohn, Lully, Debussy and Salieri from the imagination of Spanish writer and classical music radio presenter Martín Llade.

Uchronias straddles the gap between fact and fiction, creating hypothetical, “what if” scenarios around much-loved composers, their music and their lives.

Episode 5: How dark arts destroyed Antonio Salieri’s legacy.

Written by Martín Llade
Read by Blake Ritson

With thanks to Juan Lucas and David Johnston.

Stories originally created for Spanish classical music magazine Scherzo and published as "El horizonte quimérico" by Scherzo Editorial S.L.

Executive producer, Sara Davies
Sound mix, Adam Woodhams
Translated, produced and presented by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 3


FRI 22:00 Late Junction (m002r4mg)
Macie Stewart and Signe Emmeluth in session

Join Verity Sharp as she presents the fruits of our latest remote collaboration session, between Signe Emmeluth and Macie Stewart.

The Danish-born, Oslo-based Emmeluth is an energetic, restless composer and alto saxophone player. She is a vociferous collaborator in Norway, where she plays in a number of ensembles, including Fire! Orchestra alongside Mats Gustafsson, the Andreas Røysum Ensemble, Circus with Paal Nilssen Love, and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Emmeluth’s 2024 album Banshee was composed for seven players and was nominated for the Jazz category in the Norwegian Grammy Awards. The Irish folkloric figure of the Banshee - who, with her vocal call, warns of death and grief - is central in these compositions, questioning us directly: What is it that we want to experience whilst we exist? What might we have left behind? And are we actually present… here…?

Violin player and pianist Macie Stewart is a distinguished and versatile session musician, arranger and collaborator. She has become an integral part of Chicago’s experimental scene, working with the likes of Makaya McCraven, Reservoir, SZA and Alabaster DePlume. Her album When the Distance is Blue merges prepared piano, field recordings, voice and arrangements for string quintet. Released in 2025 on International Anthem, this is a music of longing, orbiting ideas found in Rebecca Solnit’s book of essays, A Field Guide to Getting Lost.

Elsewhere, Verity shares some ear-bending new releases from across the left-field and adventurous realms of sound and music, including an intriguing new electronic collaboration between Japanese underground music icon Phew and the Berlin-based inter-disciplinary artist Danielle de Picciotto.

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


FRI 23:30 'Round Midnight (m002dyhz)
Intalekt’s Mixtape

Vocalist and multidisciplinary artist Zola Marcelle is sitting in for Soweto this week on ‘Round Midnight, sharing some of her favourite recent finds, and jazz classics.

This Friday night, Zola’s guest is the London producer and songwriter Intalekt, known for his trippy, soulful, jazz-infused selections and compositions. His 30-minute mixtape gives us an ear to the musical palette he draws from within the jazz spectrum, featuring some of his best-loved artists.

To listen on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Round Midnight'.