Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Wednesday - Rob Cowan with Mike Leigh

With Rob Cowan. Including Five Reasons to Love Brahms Late Piano Pieces; Musical challenge; Artist of the Week: George Szell, who conducts Beethoven's Symphony No 4 in B flat.

9am
A selection of music including '5 reasons to love... Brahms late piano pieces'. Throughout the week Rob makes the case for Brahms's Indian summer piano works, showcasing recordings by pianists including Gerhard Oppitz, Yves Nat, Sviatoslav Richter, Arthur Rubinstein and Clifford Curzon.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge: identify a piece of music played backwards.

10am
Rob's guest this week, sharing his favourite classical music every day, is the celebrated writer and award-winning director Mike Leigh. Well known for films including Abigail's Party, Topsy-Turvy and Mr. Turner, Mike will be talking about the style of his work, how he chooses music for his films and his operatic directorial debut with a new staging of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.

11am
Rob's artist of the week is the conductor George Szell. Known for being a harsh taskmaster, Szell moulded the musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra into a world-class ensemble. Throughout the week Rob explores Szell's recordings of favourite works including Sibelius's En Saga, Josef Strauss's Delerien Waltz and Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije and reflects on the balance of mind and feeling in Szell's interpretations of five great Fourth symphonies.

Beethoven
Symphony No. 4 in B flat.

3 hours

Last on

Wed 13 May 2015 09:00

Music Played

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Jerusalem: ballet music. Pas d'ensemble

    Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic. Conductor: Edward Downes.
    • CHANDOS CHAN.
  • 5 Reasons To Love: Brahms Late Piano Works

    • Johannes Brahms

      Rhapsody in E flat major, Op 119 No 4

      Performer: Sviatoslav Richter.
      • DECCA.
    • Johannes Brahms

      Intermezzo in E flat Op.116 No.5

      Performer: Sviatoslav Richter.
      • DECCA.
  • Artist Of The Week: George Szell

    • Josef Strauss

      Waltz Delirien Op.212

      Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: George Szell.
      • EMI.
  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Trumpet Concerto in D major

    Performer: Friedemann Immerman. Ensemble: Musica Antiqua Köln. Conductor: Reinhard Goebel.
    • ARCHIV.
  • George Gershwin

    2 Waltzes in C major

    Performer: Frank Braley.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Pietro Locatelli

    Concerto Grosso in G minor Op.1 No.12

    Orchestra: Concerto Köln.
    • TELDEC.
  • Gioachino Rossini

    Le Cenerentola - Overture

    Composer: Gioachino Rossini. Orchestra: Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE.
    • 4343452.
  • Alexander Scriabin

    2 Poemes Op.63

    Performer: John Ogdon.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU807650.
    • 5.
  • Mike Leigh: Choice 1

    • Anton Webern

      Clarinet Quintet in B flat major, Op 34 (1st mvt)

      Performer: Eduard Brunner. Ensemble: Hagen Quartett.
      • DG.
  • Mike Leigh: Choice 2

    • Felix Mendelssohn

      Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 64 ii. Andante

      Performer: Yehudi Menuhin. Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.
      • EMI.
  • William Byrd

    Vigilate

    Ensemble: Stile Antico.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU807650.
    • 6.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Sonata for violin and piano No.10 in G Op.96

    • Virgin Classics.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Fugue in G major 'A la gigue', BWV.577

    Performer: Peter Hurford.
    • Bach: Complete Organ Works: Simon Preston.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Artist Of The Week: George Szell

    • Antonín Dvořák

      Carnival Overture Op.92

      Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: George Szell.
      • DUET 2.
  • Johann Baptist Vanhal

    Symphony in D minor

    Orchestra: Concerto Köln.
    • WARNER.
    • 2564643852.
    • 1-4.
  • Artist Of The Week: George Szell

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      Symphony No.4 in B flat Op.60

      Performer: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: George Szell.
      • SONY.

RECORDING REWIND

Rossini
Thieving Magpie: Overture
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Antal Dorati (conductor)
MERCURY LIVING PRESENCE 

Broadcast

  • Wed 13 May 2015 09:00

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.