Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Wednesday - Sarah Walker, plus Rob Cowan with Alistair McGowan

With Sarah Walker. Including My Favourite Vivaldi Concertos; Music in Time: Honegger's Pacific 231; Artist of the Week: mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, featured in music by Handel.

9am
My favourite... Vivaldi Concertos. Sarah shares her favourite Baroque masterpieces from Vivaldi's impressive range of concertos. With over 600 to choose from, Sarah discovers rarely-heard masterpieces which catch the ear with their unusual instrumental soloists such as the soft velvety tones of the viola d'amore. There are also works with eccentric titles: Proteus or the World Turned Upside Down, and styles range from the dramatic - his late concertos written in Vienna - to the joyful trilling of the Goldfinch. Sarah's line up of leading performers includes Europa Galante with Fabio Biondi, recorder player Maurice Steger with I Barocchisti, and fiery ensemble Zefiro.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge: What location is being depicted by this piece of music?

10am
Rob Cowan talks to the actor, comedian, impressionist and writer Alistair McGowan. Alistair appears at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms next Monday in a cabaret chamber music concert devoted to the world of the French composer Erik Satie, one of Alistair's musical passions. Alistair's career has continued to diversify since his last appearance on Essential Classics in 2012, showing his culinary skills on the Great Sport Relief Bake Off, playing the title role in the critically-acclaimed 'An Audience With Jimmy Savile', as well as a successful stand-up tour with Jasper Carrott.

10:30am
Music in Time: Modern
Sarah heads back to the Modern period as she explores the new art movement of Futurism and its relation to Honegger's vivid tone poem Pacific 231.

11am
Sarah's Proms Artist of the Week is Sarah Connolly, who performs at the Proms, this Friday night in Mahler's Symphony No.3. A former member of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Singers, Sarah is one of the UK's most popular mezzo-sopranos, receiving critical acclaim for her performance on stage and on disc. Her breakthrough in Handel's opera Xerxes led to roles at Glyndebourne, ENO and the New York Metropolitan Opera. More recently she has made her name in Romantic and 20th-century masterpieces such as Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and Mark-Anthony Turnage's The Silver Tassie. This week offers the chance to explore the range of Sarah's repertoire as the tragic queen Dido in Purcell's semi-opera, the intimate depiction of a woman's life in Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben, virtuoso arias by Handel from Alcina and Hercules, Elgar's Sea Pictures, and Romantic songs from Hahn and Brahms.

Handel
Verdi prati (Alcina)
Where shall I fly (Hercules)
Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
The Symphony of Harmony and Invention
Harry Christophers (conductor).

3 hours

Last on

Wed 27 Jul 2016 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Tuesday - Sarah Walker, plus Rob Cowan with Alistair McGowan

Next

Thursday - Sarah Walker, plus Rob Cowan with Alistair McGowan

See all episodes from Essential Classics

Music Played

  • Johann Strauss II

    Excursion Train polka, Op.281

    Orchestra: Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: JiΕ™i StΓ΅rek.
    • HANSSLER.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Andante favori

    Performer: Alfred Brendel.
    • PHILIPS.

  • MY FAVOURITE...VIVALDI CONCERTOS

    • Antonio Vivaldi

      Concerto for viola d'amore and strings in A minor, RV397

      Performer: Rachel Barton Pine. Performer: Hopkinson Smith. Ensemble: Ars Antigua.
      • CEDILLE.

  • Anton Bruckner

    Pange lingua

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Bruckner: Mass in E minor/Motets: Polyphony/Britten Sinfonia/Layton.
    • Hyperion.
    • 13.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Piano Trio in F sharp minor, Hob.XV:26

    Ensemble: The Florestan Trio.
    • Haydn: Piano Trios, Vol.1: The Florestan Trio.
    • Hyperion.
    • 7.

  • Malcolm Arnold

    Scottish Dances Op. 59 Nos. 1, 3 & 4

    Orchestra: Philharmonia. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.

  • ALISTAIR MCGOWAN'S CHOICE NO.1

    • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

      Marietta's Lied (Die tote Stadt)

      Singer: RenΓ©e Fleming. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jeffrey Tate.
      • DECCA.

  • ALISTAIR MCGOWAN'S CHOICE NO.2

    • George Gershwin

      Piano Concerto (1st mvt)

      Performer: AndrΓ© Previn. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: AndrΓ© Previn.
      • EMI.

  • MUSIC IN TIME: MODERN

    • Arthur Honegger

      Pacific 231

      Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Dutoit.
      • ERATO.

  • Charles-Valentin Alkan

    Chemin de fer Op.27

    Performer: Laurent Martin.
    • MARCO POLO.

  • FranΓ§ois Devienne

    Flute Quartet in D, Op.66 No.3

    Ensemble: Musica Reale.
    • CHANNEL CLASSICS.

  • PROMS ARTIST OF THE WEEK: SARAH CONNOLLY

    • George Frideric Handel

      Alcina: 'Verdi prati'

      Performer: Dame Sarah Connolly. Orchestra: The Symphony of Harmony and Invention. Conductor: Harry Christophers.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Hercules: 'Where shall I fly'

    Performer: Dame Sarah Connolly. Orchestra: The Symphony of Harmony and Invention. Conductor: Harry Christophers.

  • Max Bruch

    Scottish Fantasy, Op.46

    Performer: David Oistrakh. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jascha Horenstein.
    • DECCA.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    4 Etudes-Tableaux, Op.33 Nos. 6, 9, 8 & 5

    Performer: Mikhail Pletnev.
    • DG.

Mapping the Music

Answer: Scotland

The music played:

΄΅°ω²Τ΄Η±τ»εβ€―
Scottish Dance No.2, Op.59 No.2
±Κ³σΎ±±τ³σ²Ή°ω³Ύ΄Η²ΤΎ±²Ήβ€―
Bryden Thomson (conductor)β€―
CHANDOS

Broadcast

  • Wed 27 Jul 2016 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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.

Gallery