1antimuzak
Saturday 18th December 2021
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Beethoven's Op 69 Cello Sonata.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Pianist Iain Burnside recommends a recording of Beethoven: Cello Sonata No 3 in A, Op. 69. 10.15 Andrew is joined by Hannah French, with the pair pick the finest releases of 2021. 11.15 Record of the Week: The best new album of the past seven days.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Beethoven's Op 69 Cello Sonata.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Pianist Iain Burnside recommends a recording of Beethoven: Cello Sonata No 3 in A, Op. 69. 10.15 Andrew is joined by Hannah French, with the pair pick the finest releases of 2021. 11.15 Record of the Week: The best new album of the past seven days.
2antimuzak
Saturday 1st January 2022
Time: 09:00 to 10:15 (1 hour and 15 minutes long)
Mozart's Piano Concerto, K466.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Perhaps the first of Mozart's extraordinary sequence of late piano concertos, No 20 in D minor has attracted pianists as varied as Edwin Fischer and Mitsuko Uchida, many directing the orchestra from the keyboard. Tom Service guides listeners through a selection of the finest of these, with a recommendation for the essential recording to buy, download or stream. Plus, the programme marks the birthday of maverick Russian composer Alexander Scriabin with a look at recent releases featuring his music.
Time: 09:00 to 10:15 (1 hour and 15 minutes long)
Mozart's Piano Concerto, K466.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Perhaps the first of Mozart's extraordinary sequence of late piano concertos, No 20 in D minor has attracted pianists as varied as Edwin Fischer and Mitsuko Uchida, many directing the orchestra from the keyboard. Tom Service guides listeners through a selection of the finest of these, with a recommendation for the essential recording to buy, download or stream. Plus, the programme marks the birthday of maverick Russian composer Alexander Scriabin with a look at recent releases featuring his music.
3antimuzak
Saturday 15th January 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Building a Library on the Works of Amy Beach.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Katy Hamilton surveys the key works and recordings of American composer Amy Beach and chooses her favourite. Born in 1867 in New Hampshire, Beach became the first successful American female composer, and her Gaelic Symphony was the first symphony to be composed by an American woman. Despite great success during her lifetime, Beach's music was neglected after her death in 1944, but enjoyed a renaissance in the late-20th century. 10.45 As part of Radio 3's weekend Celebrating Haitink, William Mival discusses with Andrew McGregor his top five recordings of the Dutch conductor, who died in October last year. Haitink was principal conductor of many international orchestras and is most closely associated with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which he conducted from 1961. 11.20 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Building a Library on the Works of Amy Beach.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Katy Hamilton surveys the key works and recordings of American composer Amy Beach and chooses her favourite. Born in 1867 in New Hampshire, Beach became the first successful American female composer, and her Gaelic Symphony was the first symphony to be composed by an American woman. Despite great success during her lifetime, Beach's music was neglected after her death in 1944, but enjoyed a renaissance in the late-20th century. 10.45 As part of Radio 3's weekend Celebrating Haitink, William Mival discusses with Andrew McGregor his top five recordings of the Dutch conductor, who died in October last year. Haitink was principal conductor of many international orchestras and is most closely associated with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which he conducted from 1961. 11.20 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
4antimuzak
Saturday 22nd January 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Emily MacGregor recommends her favourite recording of Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra in Building a Library. For Bartok, the circumstances surrounding the composition of his Concerto for Orchestra could hardly have been more miserable. In 1940 he fled his native Hungary to escape the Nazis and spent the remaining five years of his life in the United States, a period blighted by despair, painful illness and abject poverty. But unknown to Bartok, fellow Hungarians violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor Fritz Reiner conspired to persuade Serge Koussevitzky to offer a generous commission. In 1943, the glamorous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra visited Bartok in his New York hospital and presented the composer not only with a commission for an orchestral work but also a $500 downpayment. Bartok began work in August and finished the concerto just under three months later. It spotlights, often with brilliance and playfulness, all the sections of the orchestra and perhaps only its central Elegy, which Bartok called a lugubrious death-song, reflects the circumstances of its composition. The work's recorded history begins at the beginning in 1944 with Koussevitzky and the Boston SO and has been much recorded ever since, a 20th-century classic by one of the century's greatest composers. 10.45 Yshani Perinpanayagam reviews new piano recordings. 11.25 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Emily MacGregor recommends her favourite recording of Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra in Building a Library. For Bartok, the circumstances surrounding the composition of his Concerto for Orchestra could hardly have been more miserable. In 1940 he fled his native Hungary to escape the Nazis and spent the remaining five years of his life in the United States, a period blighted by despair, painful illness and abject poverty. But unknown to Bartok, fellow Hungarians violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor Fritz Reiner conspired to persuade Serge Koussevitzky to offer a generous commission. In 1943, the glamorous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra visited Bartok in his New York hospital and presented the composer not only with a commission for an orchestral work but also a $500 downpayment. Bartok began work in August and finished the concerto just under three months later. It spotlights, often with brilliance and playfulness, all the sections of the orchestra and perhaps only its central Elegy, which Bartok called a lugubrious death-song, reflects the circumstances of its composition. The work's recorded history begins at the beginning in 1944 with Koussevitzky and the Boston SO and has been much recorded ever since, a 20th-century classic by one of the century's greatest composers. 10.45 Yshani Perinpanayagam reviews new piano recordings. 11.25 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
5antimuzak
Saturday 29th January 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 2.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Lucy Parham recommends his favourite recording of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Sonata, which was was composed in 1913 and revised in 1931. Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, Rachmaninov moved with his family to Rome and started working on his second piano sonata. It is a mighty but technically challenging piece and Rachmaninov himself was not satisfied with the work and revised it in 1931. In 1940, pianist Vladimir Horowitz created his own edition which combined elements of both previous versions. 10.40 Mark Seow talks to Andrew about new recordings of baroque music, including works by Purcell, Bach and Telemann. 11.25 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata No. 2.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Lucy Parham recommends his favourite recording of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Sonata, which was was composed in 1913 and revised in 1931. Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, Rachmaninov moved with his family to Rome and started working on his second piano sonata. It is a mighty but technically challenging piece and Rachmaninov himself was not satisfied with the work and revised it in 1931. In 1940, pianist Vladimir Horowitz created his own edition which combined elements of both previous versions. 10.40 Mark Seow talks to Andrew about new recordings of baroque music, including works by Purcell, Bach and Telemann. 11.25 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
6antimuzak
Saturday 5th February 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Haydn: Symphony No 49.
Andrew McGregor presents. 30 Building a Library: Simon Heighes recommends his favourite recording of Haydn's Symphony No 49 in F minor, known as La Passione. This sombre and darkly dramatic work is one of a series of visceral minor key symphonies reflecting Haydn's reaction to the German proto-Romantic literary movement Sturm und Drang - Storm and Stress - where passionate subjectivity and turbulent self-expression were the order of the day. The symphony was one of the most popular during Haydn's lifetime and its ominous, almost continuous F minor intensity and arresting dynamism still make an impact today. 10.45 Leah Broad reviews DVDs of the complete Sibelius symphonies featuring Paavo Berglund conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. 11.25 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Haydn: Symphony No 49.
Andrew McGregor presents. 30 Building a Library: Simon Heighes recommends his favourite recording of Haydn's Symphony No 49 in F minor, known as La Passione. This sombre and darkly dramatic work is one of a series of visceral minor key symphonies reflecting Haydn's reaction to the German proto-Romantic literary movement Sturm und Drang - Storm and Stress - where passionate subjectivity and turbulent self-expression were the order of the day. The symphony was one of the most popular during Haydn's lifetime and its ominous, almost continuous F minor intensity and arresting dynamism still make an impact today. 10.45 Leah Broad reviews DVDs of the complete Sibelius symphonies featuring Paavo Berglund conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. 11.25 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
7antimuzak
Saturday 12th February 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Jeremy Sams recommends his favourite recording of Ravel's ballet Daphnis et Chloé, which the composer described as a choreographic symphony. The story concerns the love between goatherd Daphnis and shepherdess Chloé, and Ravel began work on it in 1909 after a commission from Sergei Diaghilev and it was premiered in Paris by his Ballets Russes in 1912. The orchestra was conducted by Pierre Monteux, the choreography was by Michel Fokine, and Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the parts of Daphnis and Chloé. With rich harmonies and lush orchestrations it is one of Ravel's most popular works. 10.45 Kirsten Gibson reviews new releases of choral and vocal works by Lully and Rameau. 11.25 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Jeremy Sams recommends his favourite recording of Ravel's ballet Daphnis et Chloé, which the composer described as a choreographic symphony. The story concerns the love between goatherd Daphnis and shepherdess Chloé, and Ravel began work on it in 1909 after a commission from Sergei Diaghilev and it was premiered in Paris by his Ballets Russes in 1912. The orchestra was conducted by Pierre Monteux, the choreography was by Michel Fokine, and Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the parts of Daphnis and Chloé. With rich harmonies and lush orchestrations it is one of Ravel's most popular works. 10.45 Kirsten Gibson reviews new releases of choral and vocal works by Lully and Rameau. 11.25 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
8antimuzak
Saturday 19th February 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
The Piano Music of Alexander Scriabin.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Born in Moscow 150 years ago this year, Alexander Scriabin's music for solo piano has been recorded by many of the great pianists over the last century. But where to start if you're not familiar with this late-Romantic, sometimes elusive repertoire? David Owen Norris is on hand to navigate through some key pieces and makes some recommendations. 10.45 am Thomas Dausgaard's recent recordings of the Brahms' yymphonies with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra have been collected into a new box set. Katy Hamilton has been listening to them to assess their place in a very crowded market. 11.20 Record of the Week.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
The Piano Music of Alexander Scriabin.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Born in Moscow 150 years ago this year, Alexander Scriabin's music for solo piano has been recorded by many of the great pianists over the last century. But where to start if you're not familiar with this late-Romantic, sometimes elusive repertoire? David Owen Norris is on hand to navigate through some key pieces and makes some recommendations. 10.45 am Thomas Dausgaard's recent recordings of the Brahms' yymphonies with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra have been collected into a new box set. Katy Hamilton has been listening to them to assess their place in a very crowded market. 11.20 Record of the Week.
9antimuzak
Saturday 26th February 2022 (starting in 2 hours and 12 minutes)
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Joseph McHardy compares recordings of Bach's Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, BWV 1043 and picks his favourite. Affectionately known as the Double Concerto it is one of the most popular works of the baroque repertoire, and the two solo parts of this concerto have survived in Bach's own handwriting in an autograph that dates from around 1730, when Bach was living in Köthen. The outer movements illustrate the influence of the Italian baroque style on Bach in their brisk rhythms, fugal imitations and much of the intricate passagework, while the central movement is deeply expressive as the melodic lines weave between the two violins. 10.45 Allyson Devenish reviews news releases of chamber music. 11.20 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: Joseph McHardy compares recordings of Bach's Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, BWV 1043 and picks his favourite. Affectionately known as the Double Concerto it is one of the most popular works of the baroque repertoire, and the two solo parts of this concerto have survived in Bach's own handwriting in an autograph that dates from around 1730, when Bach was living in Köthen. The outer movements illustrate the influence of the Italian baroque style on Bach in their brisk rhythms, fugal imitations and much of the intricate passagework, while the central movement is deeply expressive as the melodic lines weave between the two violins. 10.45 Allyson Devenish reviews news releases of chamber music. 11.20 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
10antimuzak
Saturday 5th March 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library: Sarah Willis chooses her favourite recording of Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. The status of the piece as a darkly dazzling 20th-century classic is founded on Britten's unerring ear for finding and setting English poetry, coupled with his instinctive sense of instrumental and vocal virtuosity. Its six texts, from Ben Johnson to Tennyson, deal with night and the corruption of innocence, themes which preoccupied Britten throughout his career. Both the solo writing and the interplay between voice and horn are based on the strengths of the two musicians for which it was written, Britten's long-time partner, Peter Pears and the horn player Dennis Brain. They made the first recording in 1944, a year after the premiere, and since then many subsequent recordings, most often featuring British tenors, have followed. 10.40 Tom Service reviews the latest recordings of Bruckner's symphonies, including the on-going symphony cycles of Andris Nelsons in Leipzig and Christian Thielemann in Vienna. 11.20 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library: Sarah Willis chooses her favourite recording of Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. The status of the piece as a darkly dazzling 20th-century classic is founded on Britten's unerring ear for finding and setting English poetry, coupled with his instinctive sense of instrumental and vocal virtuosity. Its six texts, from Ben Johnson to Tennyson, deal with night and the corruption of innocence, themes which preoccupied Britten throughout his career. Both the solo writing and the interplay between voice and horn are based on the strengths of the two musicians for which it was written, Britten's long-time partner, Peter Pears and the horn player Dennis Brain. They made the first recording in 1944, a year after the premiere, and since then many subsequent recordings, most often featuring British tenors, have followed. 10.40 Tom Service reviews the latest recordings of Bruckner's symphonies, including the on-going symphony cycles of Andris Nelsons in Leipzig and Christian Thielemann in Vienna. 11.20 Record of the Week: An outstanding new release.
11antimuzak
Saturday 12th March 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Schubert: String Quintet in C.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Natasha Loges picks her favourite recording of Schubert's String Quintet in C. His last chamber piece, the String Quintet in C is one of the most sublime pieces in the repertoire and is scored for a standard string quartet plus an extra cello. The work remained unpublished at the time of Schubert's death in November 1828 and after it was belatedly premiered and published in the 1850s, it gradually gained recognition as a masterpiece. Knowing that Schubert died so soon after composing the work, makes many people hear a valedictory quality in the music. 10.40 Ben Gernon reviews the latest recordings of orchestral music by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Shostakovich. 11.20 am Record of the Week. An outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Schubert: String Quintet in C.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Natasha Loges picks her favourite recording of Schubert's String Quintet in C. His last chamber piece, the String Quintet in C is one of the most sublime pieces in the repertoire and is scored for a standard string quartet plus an extra cello. The work remained unpublished at the time of Schubert's death in November 1828 and after it was belatedly premiered and published in the 1850s, it gradually gained recognition as a masterpiece. Knowing that Schubert died so soon after composing the work, makes many people hear a valedictory quality in the music. 10.40 Ben Gernon reviews the latest recordings of orchestral music by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Shostakovich. 11.20 am Record of the Week. An outstanding new release.
12antimuzak
Saturday 19th March 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: William Mival compares recordings of Bruckner: Symphony No 9 in D minor and chooses his favourite. Dedicated to `dem lieben Gott" (the beloved God), Bruckner's monumental work was intended to be the culmination of his life's work. Bruckner began it in the summer of 1887, immediately after finishing his Eighth, but he died in 1896 before finishing the fourth and final movement. Nonetheless, Bruckner's Ninth Symphony is often performed as a mighty, visionary large-scale three-movement work. Shimmering strings and low brass start the opening movement, Feierlich, misterioso, followed by the scherzo and an achingly expansive adagio. 10.45 Suzanne Aspden discusses new and recent recordings of Baroque music with Andrew, including pieces by Telemann, Abel, CPE Bach and Heinichen. 11.20 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.
Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library: William Mival compares recordings of Bruckner: Symphony No 9 in D minor and chooses his favourite. Dedicated to `dem lieben Gott" (the beloved God), Bruckner's monumental work was intended to be the culmination of his life's work. Bruckner began it in the summer of 1887, immediately after finishing his Eighth, but he died in 1896 before finishing the fourth and final movement. Nonetheless, Bruckner's Ninth Symphony is often performed as a mighty, visionary large-scale three-movement work. Shimmering strings and low brass start the opening movement, Feierlich, misterioso, followed by the scherzo and an achingly expansive adagio. 10.45 Suzanne Aspden discusses new and recent recordings of Baroque music with Andrew, including pieces by Telemann, Abel, CPE Bach and Heinichen. 11.20 Record of the Week: Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
13antimuzak
Saturday 26th March 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Joanna MacGregor on Beethoven: Fourth Piano Concerto.
Pianist Joanna MacGregor joins Andrew McGregor with her personal library recommendation for Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, plus new recordings of German Lieder with Flora Willson. 9.30 Building a Library. Perhaps the deepest-felt of Beethoven's piano concertos, the G major poses both interpretative and technical challenges of the highest order. Joanna MacGregor has been listening to a wide range of different interpretations and discusses with Andrew her ultimate recommendation to buy, download or stream. 10.40 Flora Willson joins Andrew with five new recordings of German song, including Schubert from Benjamin Appl and James Rutherford, Clara Schumann from Adrianne Pieczonka and an imaginative mixed recital from baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann. 11.15 Record of the Week. Andrew's hot-off-the-press pick of the best of the best.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Joanna MacGregor on Beethoven: Fourth Piano Concerto.
Pianist Joanna MacGregor joins Andrew McGregor with her personal library recommendation for Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, plus new recordings of German Lieder with Flora Willson. 9.30 Building a Library. Perhaps the deepest-felt of Beethoven's piano concertos, the G major poses both interpretative and technical challenges of the highest order. Joanna MacGregor has been listening to a wide range of different interpretations and discusses with Andrew her ultimate recommendation to buy, download or stream. 10.40 Flora Willson joins Andrew with five new recordings of German song, including Schubert from Benjamin Appl and James Rutherford, Clara Schumann from Adrianne Pieczonka and an imaginative mixed recital from baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann. 11.15 Record of the Week. Andrew's hot-off-the-press pick of the best of the best.
14antimuzak
Saturday 2nd April 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Coming not long after the French Revolution, Mozart's intricate and sublime opera The Marriage of Figaro proved explosive yet rapidly became one of the true masterpieces of the genre. Nicholas Kenyon discusses a wide range of interpretations with Andrew, before settling for what he believes to be the ultimate recording to buy, download or stream. 10.40 Recently appointed to Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme, pianist Kunal Lahiry reviews new releases of keyboard music by Stephen Hough, Simon Trpceski and Mitsuko Uchida. 11.15 Record of the Week. Andrew's pick of the best new release of the past seven days.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Coming not long after the French Revolution, Mozart's intricate and sublime opera The Marriage of Figaro proved explosive yet rapidly became one of the true masterpieces of the genre. Nicholas Kenyon discusses a wide range of interpretations with Andrew, before settling for what he believes to be the ultimate recording to buy, download or stream. 10.40 Recently appointed to Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme, pianist Kunal Lahiry reviews new releases of keyboard music by Stephen Hough, Simon Trpceski and Mitsuko Uchida. 11.15 Record of the Week. Andrew's pick of the best new release of the past seven days.
15antimuzak
MUSIC: Record Review
On: BBC Radio 3 (703)
Date: Saturday 9th April 2022 (starting in 2 hours and 13 minutes)
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Mahler: Symphony No 9.
With Hannah French 9.30 Building a Library. Gillian Moore compares recordings of Mahler's Ninth Symphony and chooses her favourite. Mahler's final completed symphony is a monumental achievement ranging in emotion from wild passion to deep despair and finally resignation. He wrote it in 1908 and 1909 but did not live to see it performed. 10.45 Nigel Simeone reviews reissues featuring Czech conductor Karel Ancerl, who was born into a wealthy Jewish family and imprisoned in Theresienstadt and then Auschwitz. Unlike his wife and young son, Ancerl survived the camp. Between 1950 and 1968 he was artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic and following the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, he emigrated to Canada, where he worked as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra until his death in 1973. He is particularly known for the distinctly Czech sound he managed to get from the Czech Philharmonic and other orchestras. 11.20 Record of the Week. Hannah recommends an outstanding new release.
On: BBC Radio 3 (703)
Date: Saturday 9th April 2022 (starting in 2 hours and 13 minutes)
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Mahler: Symphony No 9.
With Hannah French 9.30 Building a Library. Gillian Moore compares recordings of Mahler's Ninth Symphony and chooses her favourite. Mahler's final completed symphony is a monumental achievement ranging in emotion from wild passion to deep despair and finally resignation. He wrote it in 1908 and 1909 but did not live to see it performed. 10.45 Nigel Simeone reviews reissues featuring Czech conductor Karel Ancerl, who was born into a wealthy Jewish family and imprisoned in Theresienstadt and then Auschwitz. Unlike his wife and young son, Ancerl survived the camp. Between 1950 and 1968 he was artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic and following the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, he emigrated to Canada, where he worked as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra until his death in 1973. He is particularly known for the distinctly Czech sound he managed to get from the Czech Philharmonic and other orchestras. 11.20 Record of the Week. Hannah recommends an outstanding new release.
16antimuzak
Saturday 16th April 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Handel: Messiah.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Jeremy Summerly compares recordings of Handel's Messiah and chooses his favourite. Messiah is Handel's best-known work and one of the most frequently performed choral works in western music. It was composed in 1741 with a text compiled from the King James Bible. It is full of showstoppers such as For Unto us a Child Is born, The Trumpet Shall Sound and the ever-rousing Hallelujah chorus. 10.45 Emily MacGregor chats to Andrew about some new recordings of orchestral music she has been listening to, including violin concertos by Nielsen and Sibelius, symphonies by Sibelius and ballets by Stravinsky. 11.20 Record of the Week. Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Handel: Messiah.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Jeremy Summerly compares recordings of Handel's Messiah and chooses his favourite. Messiah is Handel's best-known work and one of the most frequently performed choral works in western music. It was composed in 1741 with a text compiled from the King James Bible. It is full of showstoppers such as For Unto us a Child Is born, The Trumpet Shall Sound and the ever-rousing Hallelujah chorus. 10.45 Emily MacGregor chats to Andrew about some new recordings of orchestral music she has been listening to, including violin concertos by Nielsen and Sibelius, symphonies by Sibelius and ballets by Stravinsky. 11.20 Record of the Week. Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
17antimuzak
Saturday 23rd April 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Erik Levy compares recordings of Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony and picks a favourite. Composer, prominent conductor and influential composition teacher, Zemlinsky was at the centre of turn-of the century Viennese musical life. Among his distinguished pupils were Schoenberg (who also happened to be his brother-in-law), Berg, Webern and Korngold. He also taught and was romantically involved with Alma Schindler until she decided to marry a certain Gustav Mahler. And it was Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde that provided the model for Zemlinsky's best-known work, his 1923 Lyric Symphony. Mahler had chosen Chinese poetry for his song-symphony and Zemlinsky, too, looked east, setting poems by the then fashionable 1913 Nobel Prize-winning Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. The seven texts, an exploration of love, are sung alternately by baritone and soprano, accompanied in lush late-Romantic style by a large orchestra. 10.15 To mark today's Record Store Day, Presto Classical's Chris O'Reilly looks at current trends in recorded classical music consumption and makes predictions for future trends. 10.40 Anna Picard has been listening to exciting new albums of Baroque music including recordings by Rinaldo Alessandrini, Marc Minkowski and Fabio Biondi. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Erik Levy compares recordings of Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony and picks a favourite. Composer, prominent conductor and influential composition teacher, Zemlinsky was at the centre of turn-of the century Viennese musical life. Among his distinguished pupils were Schoenberg (who also happened to be his brother-in-law), Berg, Webern and Korngold. He also taught and was romantically involved with Alma Schindler until she decided to marry a certain Gustav Mahler. And it was Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde that provided the model for Zemlinsky's best-known work, his 1923 Lyric Symphony. Mahler had chosen Chinese poetry for his song-symphony and Zemlinsky, too, looked east, setting poems by the then fashionable 1913 Nobel Prize-winning Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. The seven texts, an exploration of love, are sung alternately by baritone and soprano, accompanied in lush late-Romantic style by a large orchestra. 10.15 To mark today's Record Store Day, Presto Classical's Chris O'Reilly looks at current trends in recorded classical music consumption and makes predictions for future trends. 10.40 Anna Picard has been listening to exciting new albums of Baroque music including recordings by Rinaldo Alessandrini, Marc Minkowski and Fabio Biondi. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
18antimuzak
Saturday 30th April 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Chopin: Piano Sonata No 3 in B Minor.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Allyson Devenish compares recordings of Chopin's Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor and chooses her favourite. The composer's final piano sonata was composed in 1844 and dedicated to Countess Émilie de Perthuis, and is a work of immense complexity, both technically and musically, and comprises four movements. The sonata opens with heavy chords in B minor, but journeys through a Scherzo and dream-like Nocturne, before ending in a dazzling finale, which starts in B minor but ends triumphantly in a B major coda. 10.45 Anna Lapwood reviews new releases of choral music. 11.20 Record of the Week. Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Chopin: Piano Sonata No 3 in B Minor.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Allyson Devenish compares recordings of Chopin's Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor and chooses her favourite. The composer's final piano sonata was composed in 1844 and dedicated to Countess Émilie de Perthuis, and is a work of immense complexity, both technically and musically, and comprises four movements. The sonata opens with heavy chords in B minor, but journeys through a Scherzo and dream-like Nocturne, before ending in a dazzling finale, which starts in B minor but ends triumphantly in a B major coda. 10.45 Anna Lapwood reviews new releases of choral music. 11.20 Record of the Week. Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.
19antimuzak
Saturday 7th May 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Beethoven's String Quartet in F, Op 18 No 1.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Laura Tunbridge recommends her favourite recording of Beethoven's String Quartet in F, Op 18 No 1. In Vienna at the end of the 18th century, Beethoven was in his late twenties and the supreme keyboard composer-improviser of his day. With dogged determination and a degree of circumspection he began picking off various genres over which the shadows of the late Mozart and the very much alive Haydn loomed large. With piano sonatas, piano trios and string trios under his belt, it took two laborious years to complete the Op 18 set of six string quartets. The first of the set was intended to make a big impression. Its imposing scale and wide expressive range are typical of the young Beethoven, including a restless dynamic energy and a tragic slow movement inspired, he said, by the tomb scene of Romeo and Juliet. 10.45 Kenneth Hamilton reviews new albums of solo piano music. 11.20 Record of the Week. An outstanding new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Beethoven's String Quartet in F, Op 18 No 1.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Laura Tunbridge recommends her favourite recording of Beethoven's String Quartet in F, Op 18 No 1. In Vienna at the end of the 18th century, Beethoven was in his late twenties and the supreme keyboard composer-improviser of his day. With dogged determination and a degree of circumspection he began picking off various genres over which the shadows of the late Mozart and the very much alive Haydn loomed large. With piano sonatas, piano trios and string trios under his belt, it took two laborious years to complete the Op 18 set of six string quartets. The first of the set was intended to make a big impression. Its imposing scale and wide expressive range are typical of the young Beethoven, including a restless dynamic energy and a tragic slow movement inspired, he said, by the tomb scene of Romeo and Juliet. 10.45 Kenneth Hamilton reviews new albums of solo piano music. 11.20 Record of the Week. An outstanding new release.
20antimuzak
Saturday 14th May 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Mark Lowther joins Andrew to discuss a huge range of recorded performances of the Fourth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams, who was born 150 years ago this autumn. First performed in 1935, the piece's austerity and directness seem to presage the looming horror of the Second World War. 10.40 Flora Willson reviews recent opera releases, including Weber's Der Freischutz and works by Viktor Ullmann and Korngold. 11.15 Record of the Week. Andrew's pick of the best new release of the past seven days.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Mark Lowther joins Andrew to discuss a huge range of recorded performances of the Fourth Symphony of Ralph Vaughan Williams, who was born 150 years ago this autumn. First performed in 1935, the piece's austerity and directness seem to presage the looming horror of the Second World War. 10.40 Flora Willson reviews recent opera releases, including Weber's Der Freischutz and works by Viktor Ullmann and Korngold. 11.15 Record of the Week. Andrew's pick of the best new release of the past seven days.
21antimuzak
Saturday 21st May 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Janacek's Jenufa.
Presented by Hannah French. 9.30 Building a Library. Nigel Simeone joins Hannah to discuss a wide variety of recorded performances of Janacek's opera Jenufa. Completed in 1902, Jenufa was Janacek's first great masterpiece and is a tragic tale of small-minded village attitudes, infanticide and redemption. But as with all Janacek, the music is totally life-enhancing without being in the least sentimental. At the heart of the story is the strong but complicated relationship between Jenufa and her mother: they share some of the most heartbreaking music in the opera. 10.40 Anna Picard reviews recent baroque releases, including works by Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann. 11.15 Record of the Week. Hannah's pick of the best new release of the last seven days.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Janacek's Jenufa.
Presented by Hannah French. 9.30 Building a Library. Nigel Simeone joins Hannah to discuss a wide variety of recorded performances of Janacek's opera Jenufa. Completed in 1902, Jenufa was Janacek's first great masterpiece and is a tragic tale of small-minded village attitudes, infanticide and redemption. But as with all Janacek, the music is totally life-enhancing without being in the least sentimental. At the heart of the story is the strong but complicated relationship between Jenufa and her mother: they share some of the most heartbreaking music in the opera. 10.40 Anna Picard reviews recent baroque releases, including works by Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann. 11.15 Record of the Week. Hannah's pick of the best new release of the last seven days.
22antimuzak
Saturday 28th May 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library. Jonathan Cross compares recordings of Igor Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements and picks a favourite. The first movement began life as a piano concerto, while the second, with its prominent harp part, was originally conceived to accompany a vision of the Virgin Mary in the 1943 film Song of Bernadette. Stravinsky's genius was to add a third movement, related to the first, and so create a cohesive, satisfying and brilliant whole despite the disparate origins of its first two parts. He completed the symphony in 1945 and, despite a deeply felt sense of exile, loss and nostalgia, it's perhaps some of the most American-sounding of Stravinsky's music, capped by a resplendent final chord, straight out of Hollywood. 10.40 Katy Hamilton reviews Strauss Alliance, Andris Nelsons' selection of Richard Strauss's orchestral works and operatic `bleeding chunks", showcasing his two orchestras, the Boston Symphony and Leipzig Gewandhaus. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library. Jonathan Cross compares recordings of Igor Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements and picks a favourite. The first movement began life as a piano concerto, while the second, with its prominent harp part, was originally conceived to accompany a vision of the Virgin Mary in the 1943 film Song of Bernadette. Stravinsky's genius was to add a third movement, related to the first, and so create a cohesive, satisfying and brilliant whole despite the disparate origins of its first two parts. He completed the symphony in 1945 and, despite a deeply felt sense of exile, loss and nostalgia, it's perhaps some of the most American-sounding of Stravinsky's music, capped by a resplendent final chord, straight out of Hollywood. 10.40 Katy Hamilton reviews Strauss Alliance, Andris Nelsons' selection of Richard Strauss's orchestral works and operatic `bleeding chunks", showcasing his two orchestras, the Boston Symphony and Leipzig Gewandhaus. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
23antimuzak
Saturday 4th June 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Britten's Four Sea Interludes.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library: Anna Lapwood compares recordings of Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes and picks a favourite version. When Peter Grimes premiered in 1945, it immediately put Britten, uniquely among his compatriots, in the first rank of the world's opera composers. As well as the consummate solo vocal and choral writing, the orchestra, too, plays a vital role in Britten's dark drama of alienation and hypocrisy in a small Suffolk fishing community. Several purely orchestral episodes sometimes punctuate, sometimes push forward the narrative and four of these were published separately as the Sea Interludes. Much performed and recorded, Britten's dazzling orchestration vividly conjures up Dawn, Sunday Morning, Moonlight and a Storm. 10.40 Jeremy Sams reviews a new set of the complete Schumann Symphonies played by the Munich Philharmonic under Pablo Heras-Casado. 11.20 Record of the Week: An exceptional new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Britten's Four Sea Interludes.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library: Anna Lapwood compares recordings of Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes and picks a favourite version. When Peter Grimes premiered in 1945, it immediately put Britten, uniquely among his compatriots, in the first rank of the world's opera composers. As well as the consummate solo vocal and choral writing, the orchestra, too, plays a vital role in Britten's dark drama of alienation and hypocrisy in a small Suffolk fishing community. Several purely orchestral episodes sometimes punctuate, sometimes push forward the narrative and four of these were published separately as the Sea Interludes. Much performed and recorded, Britten's dazzling orchestration vividly conjures up Dawn, Sunday Morning, Moonlight and a Storm. 10.40 Jeremy Sams reviews a new set of the complete Schumann Symphonies played by the Munich Philharmonic under Pablo Heras-Casado. 11.20 Record of the Week: An exceptional new release.
24antimuzak
Saturday 11th June 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Debussy: La Mer.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library. Flora Willson chooses her favourite recording of Debussy's La mer, which was composed between 1903 and 1905. It is a brilliant and exciting orchestral showpiece that conjures up the many moods of the sea. Debussy corrected proofs of the score while on holiday at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, which he described to his publisher as `a charming peaceful spot: the sea unfurls itself with an utterly British correctness". 10.40 Simon Heighes reviews new Baroque vocal releases. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Debussy: La Mer.
Andrew McGregor presents. 9.30 Building a Library. Flora Willson chooses her favourite recording of Debussy's La mer, which was composed between 1903 and 1905. It is a brilliant and exciting orchestral showpiece that conjures up the many moods of the sea. Debussy corrected proofs of the score while on holiday at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, which he described to his publisher as `a charming peaceful spot: the sea unfurls itself with an utterly British correctness". 10.40 Simon Heighes reviews new Baroque vocal releases. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
25antimuzak
Saturday 18th June 2022
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Haydn's Operas.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Roger Parker chooses his favourite recordings of Haydn's operas, which are hardly known. Haydn wrote 17 of them, and opera occupied a great deal of his composing life. During the 1770s and 1780s, Haydn ran an opera company for his employer Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy and put on up to 150 performances per year. Haydn's operas are not often performed today, but they contain some great music, which Roger explores. 10.40 Allyson Devenish reviews new releases of piano music by Chopin, Debussy and Ravel. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
Time: 09:00 to 11:45 (2 hours and 45 minutes long)
Haydn's Operas.
With Andrew McGregor. 9.30 Building a Library. Roger Parker chooses his favourite recordings of Haydn's operas, which are hardly known. Haydn wrote 17 of them, and opera occupied a great deal of his composing life. During the 1770s and 1780s, Haydn ran an opera company for his employer Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy and put on up to 150 performances per year. Haydn's operas are not often performed today, but they contain some great music, which Roger explores. 10.40 Allyson Devenish reviews new releases of piano music by Chopin, Debussy and Ravel. 11.20 Record of the Week. An exceptional new release.
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