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.
Last on
Music Played
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Sergey Rachmaninov
Moment Musicaux in E minor Op.16 No.4
Performer: Barry Douglas.- Chandos.
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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.
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Carlo Gesualdo
Madonna, io ben vorrei
Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: Paul Agnew.- Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo.
- harmonia mundi.
- 03.
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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.
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George Enescu
Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25: II. Andante sostenuto e misterioso
Performer: Diana Tishchenko. Performer: Zoltán Fejérvári.- Warner Classics.
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Camille Saint‐Saëns
Carnival Of The Animals: XIV. Finale
Orchestra: Utah Symphony. Conductor: Thierry Fischer.- Hyperion.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat, K452: I. Largo - Allegro moderato
Performer: Christian Ihle Hadland. Orchestra: Oslo Kammerakademi.- Lawo.
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Ralph Vaughan Williams
Tuba Concerto in F Minor (Arr. for Euphonium & Orchestra): III. Finale - Rondo alla tedesca. Allegro
Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Ben Gernon.- Chandos.
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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.
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Allan Pettersson
Vox Humana: ii. Ballade
Singer: Conny Thimander. Ensemble: Musica Vitae. Ensemble: Ensemble SYD. Conductor: Daniel Hansson.- CPO.
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Joseph Haydn
Symphony No.99 in E-flat major, Hob.I:99
Orchestra: Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- CORO.
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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.
- Aparté.
- 1.
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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.
- Aparté.
- 5.
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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.
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Robert Schumann
Symphony No.2 in C major: ii. Scherzo
Orchestra: Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe.- Aparte.
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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
Tchaikovsky: Plus One, Vol. 2: Grande Sonate, Méditation & Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux
Barry Douglas (piano)
Chandos CHAN20121
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020121
Schumann: Violin Concerto & Brahms: Double Concerto
Antje Weithaas (violin)
Maximilian Hornung (cello)
NDR Radiophilharmonie
Andrew Manze (conductor)
CPO 555172-2
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo
Les Arts Florissants
Paul Agnew (conductor)
Harmonia Mundi HAF890530708 (2CDs)
http://www.harmoniamundi.com/#!/albums/2553
Strangers in Paradise: music by Ravel, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Prokofiev
Diana Tishchenko (violin)
Zoltán Fejérvári (piano)
Warner Classics 9029540391
https://www.warnerclassics.com/release/strangers-paradise
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 & The Carnival of the Animals
Utah Symphony
Thierry Fischer (conductor)
Hyperion CDA68223
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68223
9.30am – Building a Library – Kirsten Gibson on Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
Composer: Henry Purcell
Reviewer: Kirsten Gibson
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
Other Recommended Recordings:
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
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
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
10.20am – New Releases
Mozart/Danzi/Beethoven For Piano and Winds
Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)
Oslo Kammerakademi
LAWO LWC1187
The Symphonic Euphonium II: David Childs plays Vaughan Williams, Gregson, Mealor and Ball
David Childs (euphonium)
BBC Philharmonic
Ben Gernon (conductor)
Chandos CHAN10997
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010997
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
http://rubiconclassics.com/release/histoires-dun-ange/
Allan Pettersson: Vox Humana & 6 Sånger
Kristina Hellgren (soprano)
Anna Grevelius (alto)
Conny Thimander (tenor)
Jakob Höström (baritone)
Musicae Vitae
Ensemble SYD
Daniel Hansson
CPO 999286-2
10.45am – New Releases – Anna Picard on music by Haydn, Reicha, Beethoven and Schumann
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
https://thesixteenshop.com/products/haydn-london-symphony-no-99-and-harmoniemesse
Reicha: Grande Symphonie de Salon & Beethoven: Septet, Op. 20
Le Concert de la Loge
Julien Chauvin (violin and director)
Aparté AP211
https://www.apartemusic.com/albums/reicha-beethoven-symphonies-de-salon/?lang=en
Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos
Jan Lisiecki (piano/director)
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Deutsche Grammophon 4837637 (3CDs)
https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/us/cat/4837637
Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)
PHI LPH032
https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/symphonies-nos-2-4-lph032
11.15am – Record of the Week
Dvořák & Martinů: Piano Concertos
Ivo Kahánek (piano)
Bamberger Symphoniker
Jakub Hrůša (conductor)
Supraphon SU42362
https://www.supraphon.com/album/504510-dvorak-martinu-piano-concertos
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