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Your perfect classical playlist

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites alongside new discoveries and musical surprises.

1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1030 Essential Carol - introduced by a special guest

1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

1230 Album of the Week

To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds to play Essential Classics”

24 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Last Friday 09:30

Music Played

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Nutcracker Suite, Op 71a (Miniature Overture)

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Georg Solti.
    • Tchaikovsky: 1812/Romeo & Juliet/Nutcracker Suite: Chicago Symphony Orchestra/So.
    • Decca.
    • 3.
  • Bedrich Smetana

    The Bartered Bride (Overture)

    Orchestra: Pro Arte Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Janacek: Sinfonietta etc: Pro Arte Orchestra/Mackerras.
    • EMI.
    • 11.
  • FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopin

    Ballade no.4 in F minor Op.52

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • Sony Classical.
  • Elizabeth Poston

    Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

    Choir: Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. Conductor: Andrew Nethsingha.
    • Signum.
  • Giuseppe Torelli

    Sinfonia in D major for trumpet, strings and continuo

    Performer: Thomas Reiner. Orchestra: South-West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim. Conductor: Sebastian Tewinkel.
    • Baroque Trumpet Concertos.
    • Naxos.
    • 1-3.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Queen Mab - Scherzo (Romeo & Juliet)

    Orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Robin Ticciati.
    • Berlioz: RomΓ©o et Juliette.
    • Linn Records.
    • 8.
  • Richard Wagner

    Lohengrin (Act 3 Prelude)

    Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Semyon Bychkov.
    • PROFIL.
  • Roderick Williams

    O Adonai

    Choir: Ex Cathedra. Conductor: Jeffrey Skidmore.
    • EX CATHEDRA.
  • Franz Schubert

    Auf dem Wasser zu singen D.744 [S.558 no.2]

    Music Arranger: Franz Liszt. Performer: Evgeny Kissin.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Andrea Falconieri

    Chaconne in G major

    Performer: Daniel Hope. Performer: Simos Papanas. Performer: Emmanuele Forni. Performer: Michael Metzler. Performer: Naoki Kitaya.
    • ERATO.
  • Trad.

    Wind Through the Olive Trees

    Music Arranger: Wayne Bisbee. Choir: VocalEssence. Conductor: Philip Brunelle.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    String Symphony No 8 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Henry Raudales.
    • Felix Mendelssohn: The Complete String Symphonies.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 204.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi)

    Singer: Angela Gheorghiu. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • Puccini: Il Trittico.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 10.
  • Franz Ries

    La Capricciosa

    Performer: Vilde Frang. Performer: JosΓ© Gallardo.
    • Homage.
    • WARNER.
    • 1.
  • James MacMillan

    Nova! Nova! Ave fit ex eva

    Choir: ORA Singers. Director: Suzi Digby.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Arcangelo Corelli

    Concerto Grosso in D major Op.6`4

    Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Gottfried von der Goltz.
    • ΄‘±Κ΄‘Έι°ΥΓ‰.
  • Malcolm Arnold

    Four Scottish Dances, Op 59 (No 1, Strathspey)

    Performer: Hugh Bean. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Malcolm Arnold: Dances: Philharmonia, Thomson.
    • Chandos.
    • 9.
  • Andrew Carter

    Toccata on Veni Emmanuel

    Performer: Kevin Bowyer.
    • Nimbus.
  • Edward Elgar

    Starlight Express: Dawn Song

    Singer: Elin Manahan Thomas. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Scherzo (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61)

    Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • DECCA.
  • Henry Purcell

    The Fairy Queen Z.629 (Sing While We Trip It)

    Singer: Rowan Pierce. Ensemble: Gabrieli Consort. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • Purcell: The Fairy Queen, 1692.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 506.
  • Richard Wagner

    TrΓ€ume (Wesendonck Lieder, No 5)

    Performer: Seong-Jin Cho. Lyricist: Mathilde Wesendonck. Singer: Matthias Goerne.
    • Im Abendrot: Songs by Wagner, Pfitzner, Strauss.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 5.
  • Sergey Prokofiev

    March, Op 65 No 10 (Music for Children)

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Music Arranger: Gregor Piatigorsky.
    • HYPERION.
  • Hans Leo Hassler

    Verbum caro factum est

    Choir: London Oratory Schola Cantorum. Conductor: Charles Cole.
    • Sacred Treasures of Christmas: Music for Christmas, Epiphany & Candlemas.
    • Hyperion.
    • 4.
  • George Gershwin

    Concerto in F (3rd mvt, Allegro agitato)

    Performer: Kirill Gerstein. Orchestra: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: David Robertson.
    • The Gershwin Moment.
    • Myrios Classics.
    • 8.
  • Camille Saint‐SaΓ«ns

    Sarabande et rigaudon, Op.93 (Rigaudon)

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Geoffrey Simon.
    • SAINT-SAENS: Volume 1.
    • CALA.
    • 6.
  • Benjamin Britten

    A Boy was Born (Corpus Christi Carol/In the Bleak Midwinter)

    Choir: St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • HYPERION.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no.3 in D minor (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.
    • Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Live).
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 3.
  • Gerald Finzi

    In terra pax, Op 39

    Singer: Roderick Williams. Singer: Julia Doyle. Choir: City of London Choir. Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Hilary Davan Wetton.
    • In Terra Pax: A Christmas Anthology.
    • Naxos.
    • 6.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Piano Concerto no.1 in B flat minor Op.23 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Beatrice Rana. Orchestra: Orchestra of Santa Cecilia. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    String Quartet No 14 in G major, K 387, 'Spring' (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: Hagen Quartett.
    • MYRIOS CLASSICS.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Violin Concerto Op 3 No 9, RV 230

    Performer: Alison Balsom. Ensemble: Pinnock's Players. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.
    • WARNER.
  • Peter Warlock

    Lullaby my Jesus

    Music Arranger: Andrew Carter. Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • O magnum misterium: 20th Century Christmas Carols.
    • Hyperion.
    • 16.
  • Paul Dukas

    The Sorcerer's Apprentice

    Orchestra: Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg. Conductor: Marc Albrecht.
    • PENTATONE.

Broadcast

  • Last Friday 09:30

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

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

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Time Travellers: the podcast

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