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Andrew McGregor with Kirsten Gibson and Anna Picard

The long-running showcase of the best classical releases. Plus, in Building a Library, Kirsten Gibson compares recordings of Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas and picks a favourite.

09.30
Building a Library: Kirsten Gibson compares recordings of Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas and picks a favourite.

Uncertainty surrounds the origins Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. It's thought to be from the late 1680s, towards the end of Purcell's short life, and some evidence points to a Chelsea girls' school as the unlikely venue of its premiere. Unlikely because the exceptional quality of its music and drama make the English court a more probable location for one of the greatest of all English musical stage works. Based on part of Virgil's Aeneid, love, abandonment and despair are its eternal themes, all of which are devastatingly portrayed in its most famous number, Dido's lament 'When I am laid in earth', an aria which has always attracted some of the most starry singers.

The current catalogue shows Dido is an internationally acknowledged masterpiece and the preserve of period performance specialists, but its recorded history began in the 1930s, long predating both of those aspects.

11.50
Anna Picard has been listening to recent recordings of Haydn, Beethoven and Schumann, including a complete set of the Beethoven Piano Concertos from Jan Lisiecki and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

11.25
Andrew chooses an outstanding new release as his Recording of the Week.

2 hours, 47 minutes

Music Played

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Moment Musicaux in E minor Op.16 No.4

    Performer: Barry Douglas.
    • Chandos.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Double Concerto in A minor Op. 102 ii. Andante

    Performer: Antje Weithaas. Performer: Maximilian Hornung. Orchestra: NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Manze.
    • CPO.
  • Carlo Gesualdo

    Madonna, io ben vorrei

    Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: Paul Agnew.
    • Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 03.
  • Carlo Gesualdo

    Com'esser può ch'io viva se m'uccidi

    Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: Paul Agnew.
    • Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 4.
  • George Enescu

    Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25: II. Andante sostenuto e misterioso

    Performer: Diana Tishchenko. Performer: Zoltán Fejérvári.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Camille Saintâ€Saëns

    Carnival Of The Animals: XIV. Finale

    Orchestra: Utah Symphony. Conductor: Thierry Fischer.
    • Hyperion.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat, K452: I. Largo - Allegro moderato

    Performer: Christian Ihle Hadland. Orchestra: Oslo Kammerakademi.
    • Lawo.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Tuba Concerto in F Minor (Arr. for Euphonium & Orchestra): III. Finale - Rondo alla tedesca. Allegro

    Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic. Conductor: Ben Gernon.
    • Chandos.
  • Marin Marais

    Pièces de viole, Livre IV "Suite d'un Goût Etranger": No. 82. La Reveuse

    Performer: Johanna Rose. Performer: Josep Maria Marti Duran.
    • Histoires d'un Ange.
    • Rubicon Classics.
    • 12.
  • Allan Pettersson

    Vox Humana: ii. Ballade

    Singer: Conny Thimander. Ensemble: Musica Vitae. Ensemble: Ensemble SYD. Conductor: Daniel Hansson.
    • CPO.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No.99 in E-flat major, Hob.I:99

    Orchestra: Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
  • Antoine Reicha

    Grande symphonie de salon No. 1 for 9 instruments in D: i. Adagio. Allegro

    Director: Julien Chauvin. Ensemble: Le Concert de la Loge.
    • Reicha: Grande symphonie de salon - Beethoven: Septet, Op. 20.
    • ´¡±è²¹°ù³Ùé.
    • 1.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Septet in E flat major Op.20 (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Le Concert de la Loge. Conductor: Julien Chauvin.
    • Reicha: Grande symphonie de salon - Beethoven: Septet, Op. 20.
    • ´¡±è²¹°ù³Ùé.
    • 5.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Concerto No.1 in C major: iii. Rondo. Allegro

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Jan Lisiecki.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Robert Schumann

    Symphony No.2 in C major: ii. Scherzo

    Orchestra: Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe.
    • Aparte.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 33: i. Allegro agitato

    Performer: Ivo Kahánek. Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jakub Hrůša.
    • Supraphon.

Record Review

9.00am

Ìý

Tchaikovsky: Plus One, Vol. 2: Grande Sonate, Méditation & Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux

Barry Douglas (piano)

Chandos CHAN20121

Ìý

Schumann: Violin Concerto & Brahms: Double Concerto

Antje Weithaas (violin)

Maximilian Hornung (cello)

NDR Radiophilharmonie

Andrew Manze (conductor)

CPO 555172-2

Ìý

Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo

Les Arts Florissants

Paul Agnew (conductor)

Harmonia Mundi HAF890530708 (2CDs)

Ìý

Strangers in Paradise: music by Ravel, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Prokofiev

Diana Tishchenko (violin)

Zoltán Fejérvári (piano)

Warner Classics 9029540391

Ìý

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 & The Carnival of the Animals

Utah Symphony

Thierry Fischer (conductor)

Hyperion CDA68223

Ìý

9.30am – Building a Library – Kirsten Gibson on Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas

Ìý

Composer: Henry Purcell

Reviewer: Kirsten Gibson

Ìý

Recommended Recording:

Rebecca Outram (soprano)

Carys Lane (soprano)

Sarah Tynan (soprano)

Lucy Crowe (soprano)

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)

Patricia Bardon (mezzo-soprano)

William Purefoy (counter-tenor)

John Mark Ainsley (tenor)

Gerald Finley (baritone)

Choir & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Elizabeth Kenny (director)

Steven Devine (director)

Chaconne CHAN0757

Ìý

Other Recommended Recordings:

Ìý

Susan Graham (soprano)

Camilla Tilling (soprano)

Cécile de Boever (soprano)

Felicity Palmer (mezzo-soprano)

David Daniels (counter-tenor)

Ian Bostridge (tenor)

Paul Agnew (tenor)

European Voices

Le Concert d’Astrée

Emmanuelle Haïm (harpsichord & direction)

Erato 9668212

Ìý

Kirsten Flagstad (soprano)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)

Eilidh McNab (soprano)

Sheila Rex (soprano)

Anna Pollak (soprano)

Arda Mandikian (mezzo-soprano)

David Lloyd (tenor)

Thomas Hemsley (baritone)

The Mermaid Singers and Orchestra

Geraint Jones (conductor)

Naxos 8111264

Ìý

Eileen Poulter (soprano)

Rhianon James (soprano)

Patricia Clarke (soprano)

Dorothy Dorow (soprano)

Catherine Wilson (soprano)

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)

Monica Sinclair (mezzo-soprano)

John Mitchinson (tenor)

Raimund Herincx (baritone)

The St. Anthony Singers

Thurston Dart (continuo)

English Chamber Orchestra

Anthony Lewis (conductor)

Decca 4663872

Ìý

10.20am – New Releases

Ìý

Mozart/Danzi/Beethoven For Piano and Winds

Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)

Oslo Kammerakademi

LAWO LWC1187

Ìý

The Symphonic Euphonium II: David Childs plays Vaughan Williams, Gregson, Mealor and Ball

David Childs (euphonium)

Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic

Ben Gernon (conductor)

Chandos CHAN10997

Ìý

Histoires d'un Ange: music by Marais, de Visée, François Couperin and Rameau

Johanna Rose (viola da gamba)

Josep Maria Martí Duran (theorbo)

Javier Núñez (harpsichord)

Rubicon RCD1041

Ìý

Allan Pettersson: Vox Humana & 6 SÃ¥nger

Kristina Hellgren (soprano)

Anna Grevelius (alto)

Conny Thimander (tenor)

Jakob Höström (baritone)

Musicae Vitae

Ensemble SYD

Daniel Hansson

CPO 999286-2

Ìý

10.45am – New Releases – Anna Picard on music by Haydn, Reicha, Beethoven and Schumann

Ìý

Haydn Symphony No. 99 & Harmoniemesse

Mireille Asselin (soprano)

Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano)

Jeremy Budd (tenor)

Sumner Thompson (baritone)

Handel and Haydn Society

Harry Christophers (conductor)

Coro COR16176

Ìý

Reicha: Grande Symphonie de Salon & Beethoven: Septet, Op. 20

Le Concert de la Loge

Julien Chauvin (violin and director)

Aparté AP211

Ìý

Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos

Jan Lisiecki (piano/director)

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Deutsche Grammophon 4837637 (3CDs)

Ìý

Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)

PHI LPH032

Ìý

11.15am – Record of the Week

Ìý

Dvořák & Martinů: Piano Concertos

Ivo Kahánek (piano)

Bamberger Symphoniker

Jakub Hrůša (conductor)

Supraphon SU42362

Broadcast

  • Sat 30 Nov 2019 09:00

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