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Andrew McGregor with Stephen Johnson

Building a Library focuses on Mahler's Symphony No 7 with Stephen Johnson, and Marina Frolova-Walker picks out her favourites from recent releases of Russian music.

with Andrew McGregor.

9.30
Building a Library: Mahler's Symphony No. 7 with Stephen Johnson.

For much of the last century, Mahler's Seventh Symphony was considered a dud, recorded by a handful of die-hard Mahlerians. Even by 1980, distinguished Mahler scholar Deryck Cooke only reflected the consensus when he described it as 'the Cinderella among Mahler's symphonies,' which 'presents an enigmatic, inscrutable face to the world...one which arouses suspicions as to its quality.' If the middle three movements were considered successful, the first and especially the last were beyond hope.

But the symphony is actually full of some of Mahler's greatest music and these days things are very different: any and every self-respecting Mahler conductor has recorded it and the catalogue groans with a huge number of versions.

11.00
Marina Frolova-Walker picks some plums from recent releases of Russian music including Medtner songs and Rachmaninov piano concertos.

11.45
Andrew chooses an outstanding new release as his Disc of the Week.

3 hours, 12 minutes

Last on

Sat 3 Mar 2018 09:00
麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Franz Xaver Richter

    Te Deum i. Te Deum laudamus

    Ensemble: Czech Ensemble Baroque Choir and Orchestra. Conductor: Roman V谩lek.
    • Supraphon.

  • Franz Xaver Richter

    Te Deum ii. Te gloriosus

    Ensemble: Czech Ensemble Baroque Choir and Orchestra. Conductor: Roman V谩lek.
    • Supraphon.

  • Paul Hindemith

    Symphonic Metamorphosis on Weber ii. Scherzo

    Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Marek Janowski.
    • Pentatone.

  • Vincenzo Legrenzio Ciampi

    Oh Dio, mancar mi sento (Adriano in Siria)

    Singer: Ruby Hughes. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Laurence Cummings.
    • Chandos.

  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet In B minor Op. 64 No. 2 i. Allegro spiritoso

    Ensemble: Doric String Quartet.
    • Chandos.

  • Aaron Copland

    Clarinet Concerto i. Slowly and expressively

    Performer: Karl Leister. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Aaron Copland.
    • Testament.

  • Florent Schmitt

    Symphony No. 2 Op. 137 ii. Lent sans exc猫s

    Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • Chandos.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    3 Romances (Op.3, No.2): I have outlived my desires

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Rodion Pogossov.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 2.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    9 Songs After Goethe, Op. 6, No. 2: Mailied

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Robin Tritschler.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 4.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    6 Poems After Pushkin, Op. 36, No. 4: Spanish Romance

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Oleksiy Palchykov.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 7.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    7 Poems After Pushkin, Op. 29, No. 3 Lines Written during a Sleepless Night

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Nikolay Didenko.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 29.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    7 Poems, Op. 28, No. 3: The Butterfly

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Justina Gringyt臈.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 26.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    5 Poems, Op. 37, No. 4: Waltz

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Ekaterina Siurina.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 11.

  • Nikolai Karlovich Medtner

    4 Poems, Op. 45, No. 2 The Cart of Life

    Performer: Iain Burnside. Singer: Oleksiy Palchykov.
    • Medtner Songs.
    • Delphian.
    • 13.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, I. Moderato

    Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin. Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • BIS.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, II. Adagio sostenuto

    Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin. Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • BIS.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, II. Adagio sostenuto

    Performer: Aldo Ciccolini. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.
    • LPO.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, III. Allegro scherzando

    Performer: Aldo Ciccolini. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.
    • LPO.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 II. Intermezzo. Adagio

    Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin. Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • BIS.

  • anon.

    Chiave, chiave (Instrumental) [D茅but du XVe si猫cle]

    Ensemble: Hesp猫rion XXI. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Venezia Millenaria.
    • AliaVox.
    • 11.

  • anon.

    Adoramus te (Chansonnier du XVe si猫cle)

    Ensemble: Orthodox Vocal Ensemble. Ensemble: La Capella Reial de Catalunya. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Venezia Millenaria.
    • AliaVox.
    • 12.

  • anon.

    Hirmos Calophonique: Tin D茅isin mu (XVe si猫cle)

    Ensemble: La Capella Reial de Catalunya. Ensemble: Orthodox Vocal Ensemble. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Venezia Millenaria.
    • AliaVox.
    • 13.

  • anon.

    Marche Ottomane Nikriz pe艧rev - Ali Ufki Bey

    Ensemble: Hesp猫rion XXI. Ensemble: Musiciens Orient. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Venezia Millenaria.
    • AliaVox.
    • 14.

  • Guillaume Dufay

    Lamentio Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae

    Ensemble: La Capella Reial de Catalunya. Ensemble: Hesp猫rion XXI. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Venezia Millenaria.
    • AliaVox.
    • 15.

  • Cl茅ment Janequin

    La Guerre: La Bataille de Marignan

    Ensemble: La Capella Reial de Catalunya. Ensemble: Hesp猫rion XXI. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Venezia Millenaria.
    • AliaVox.
    • 16.

Record Review

9.00am

RICHTER: TE DEUM 1781

FRANZ XAVER RICHTER:

Sinfonia No. 52 in D

Te Deum 1781

Oboe Concerto in F Major

Exsultate Deo

Luise Haugk (oboe), Czech Ensemble Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Roman V谩lek

Supraphon SU42402 (CD)

听

听

HINDEMITH: SYMPHONIC METAMORPHOSIS, NOBILISSIMA VISIONE, CONCERT MUSIC FOR STRINGS AND BRASS

PAUL HINDEMITH:

Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

Nobilissima Visione

Konzertmusik, Op. 50 for strings & brass

WDR Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski

Pentatone PTC5186672 (Hybrid SACD)

听

HANDEL'S LAST PRIMA DONNA: GIULIA FRASI IN LONDON

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL:

Susanna: Crystal streams in murmurs flowing

THOMAS ARNE:

Why is death for ever late? (from Artaxerxes)

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL:

There the brisk sparkling nectar repair (from The Choice of Hercules)

Jephtha: Ye sacred priests

Jephtha: Farewell, ye limpid springs

Solomon: Will the sun forget to streak?

JOHN CHRISTOPHER SMITH

Oh, do not, Adam...It comes, it comes, it must be death (from Paradise Lost)

But see, the night with silent pace...O balmy sleep (from Rebecca)

PHILIP HAYES:

Soon arrives thy fatal听 hour (from Telemachus)

VINCENZO CIAMPI:

Oh Dio, mancar mi sento (from Adriano in Siria)

L脿 per l'ombrosa sponda (from Il trionfo di Camilla)

Chandos CHSA0403 (Hybrid SACD)

听

9.30am 鈥� Building a Library - Stephen Johnson on Mahler's Symphony No. 7

听

听

Composer: 听听听听听 Mahler

Piece: 听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Symphony No. 7

Reviewer:听听听听听听听 Stephen Johnson

Recommended Recording:

Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado (conductor)
DG 4716232 (CD) or DG 4793204 (11 CDs)

Other Recommended Recordings:

Below are other recordings that Stephen also liked, although we can鈥檛 guarantee availability.

London Phiharmonic Orchestra; Klaus Tennstedt (conductor)
EMI 5729412 (11 CDs)

New York Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein (conductor)
Sony SMK60564 (Digital download), Sony M2S 739 (15 LP set)

听

听

10.20am New Releases:

听

HAYDN: STRING QUARTETS, VOL. 3

JOSEPH HAYDN:

String Quartets, Op. 64 Nos. 1-6

Doric String Quartet

Chandos CHAN10971(2) (2 CDs)

听

COPLAND: SYMPHONY NO. 3 & CLARINET CONCERTO

ELLIOT CARTER:

Holiday Overture

CHARLES IVES:

Decoration Day

AARON COPLAND:

Symphony No. 3

Clarinet Concerto

Karl Leister (clarinet), Fritz Helmis (harp) & Horst G枚bel (piano), Berliner Philharmoniker, Aaron Copland

Testament SBT1516 (CD)

听

FLORENT SCHMITT: SUITES FROM 'ANTOINE ET CL脡OP脗TRE' & SYMPHONY NO. 2

FLORENT SCHMITT:

Antoine et Cl茅op芒tre: Deuxi猫me Suite

Antoine et Cl茅op芒tre: Premi猫re Suite

Symphony No. 2, Op. 137

麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

CHANDOS CHSA5200 (Hybrid SACD)

听

1050 New Releases: Marina Frolova-Walker on Medtner and Rachmaninov

听

MEDTNER: 50 SONGS

NIKOLAI MEDTNER:

Ekaterina Siurina (soprano), Justina Gringyte (mezzo-soprano), Oleksiy Palchykov (tenor), Robin Tritschler (tenor), Rodion Pogossov (baritone), Nikolay Didenko (bass) & Iain Burnside (piano)

Delphian DCD34177 (2 CDs)

听

RACHMANINOV: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 2 & 3

SERGEY RACHMANINOV:

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Yevgeny Sudbin (piano), 麻豆约拍 Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

BIS BIS2338 (Hybrid SACD)

听

RACHMANINOV & MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART:

Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466

SERGEY RACHMANINOV:

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Aldo Ciccolini (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin

LPO LPO0102 (CD)

听

11.45am 鈥� Disc of the Week

VENEZIA MILLENARIA (VENICE 700-1797)

Venice in music over seven centuries.

Le Concert des Nations - Hesp猫rion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya - Panagiotis, Neochoritis, Jordi Savall

Alia Vox AVSA9925 (2 SACDs and book)

听

听

Broadcast

  • Sat 3 Mar 2018 09:00
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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