Enescu, Crumb and Feldman, Philip Venables Opera
Tom Service with a portrait of composer George Enescu. Philip Venables on his opera 4.48 Psychosis based on Sarah Kane's play; and Steven Osborne on the music of Crumb and Feldman.
Tom Service with a portrait of the Romanian composer George Enescu, as his masterpiece opera Oedipe is staged for the first time at the Royal Opera House in London. Among the contributors are Professor Erik Levi, expert on music of the 20th-Century; the Romanian violinist Remus Azoitei, and the American conductor Lawrence Foster, former director of the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Also, Tom interviews pianist Steven Osborne on the parallels and differences between George Crumb and Morton Feldman, two American modernist composers obsessed with new sounds and textures in music. Also, the composer Philip Venables on his opera 4.48 Psychosis, based on the iconic play by Sarah Kane exploring depression - the first ever adaptation of her work on stage, to be premiered this month at the Lyric Hammersmith in London.
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George Enescu – A Music Matters Composer’s Portrait
Duration: 22:33
4.48 Psychosis – an opera by Philip Venables
Duration: 10:50
Steven Osborne on the piano music of Crumb and Feldman
Duration: 09:02
George Enescu – A Music Matters Composer’s Portrait
![George Enescu – A Music Matters Composer’s Portrait]()
Tom Service presents a portrait of the Romanian composer George Enescu, as his masterpiece opera Oedipe is staged for the first time at the Royal Opera House in London. Catalogued by Casals as the most gifted musical mind since Mozart, Enescu was a child prodigy equally at ease on the violin – the instrument for which he was a renowned virtuoso – and the piano. After training in Vienna and Paris, he wrote music of incredible complexity with his celebrated Romanian Rhapsodies, inspired by the folk music of his homeland, being the most accessible. We hear about the man, the composer, the performer and the teacher – including from his most famous pupil, Yehudi Menuhin. Other contributors are Professor Erik Levi, expert on music of the 20th-Century; the Romanian violinist Remus Azoitei; Romanian musicologist Valentina Sandu Dediu; and the American conductor Lawrence Foster, former director of the Enescu Festival in Bucharest.
More information:
Oedipe at Royal Opera House
Remus Azoitei
Enescu Festival
Oedipe will be broadcast live on Opera on 3 on Saturday 4th June4.48 Psychosis – an opera by Philip Venables
![4.48 Psychosis – an opera by Philip Venables]()
Tom talks to composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman about Venables’s new opera 4.48 Psychosis, based on the iconic play by Sarah Kane which explores depression. It’s the first ever adaptation of her work in an opera and is premiered next week Lyric Hammersmith in London. The original play contains no characters and has no stage directions but reads as existential poetry of harrowing beauty. So how have the creative talent taken UP this challenge? What’s the musical language of this opera? And does it make room for a message beyond the frontiers of this auto-biographical piece?
More information:
4.48 Psyschosis by the Royal Opera, at the Lyric Hammersmith
Philip Venables
Ted HuffmanSteven Osborne on the piano music of Crumb and Feldman
![Steven Osborne on the piano music of Crumb and Feldman]()
Tom interviews the pianist Steven Osborne on the parallels and differences between George Crumb and Morton Feldman, two American modernist composers obsessed with new sounds and textures in music, whose music he’s just recorded for Hyperion. Osborne, not known for this kind of repertoire, explains why he was keen on comparing these two opposite approaches to music. While Feldman is interested in long, quiet music, where the production and decay of sound are what matters, Crumb goes for vibrant textures as he explores pioneering sound techniques.
More information:
Steven Osborne
Photo ©Ben Ealovega
The Music of Silence at Milton Court
Steven Osborne at the PromsCredits
Role Contributor Presenter Tom Service Interviewed Guest Steven Osborne Interviewed Guest Erik Levi Interviewed Guest Remus Azoitei Interviewed Guest Lawrence Foster Interviewed Guest Steven Osborne Interviewed Guest Philip Venables Broadcasts
- Sat 21 May 201612:15BBC Radio 3
- Mon 23 May 201622:00BBC Radio 3
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