Shakespeare Inspires

The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Clemens Schuldt in Tchaikovsky's Hamlet, Bonis's Ophelie and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. Guy Johnston joins for the premiere of Joseph Phibbs's Cello Concerto.

Recorded at the Barbican, London on Friday 16th January 2026. Presented by Martin Handley.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Fantasy-Overture 'Hamlet'
Joseph Phibbs: Cello Concerto (BBC co-commission with the RPS, Penny Wright, and Andrew Neubauer.) (World premiere)

20.15 Interval

Mel Bonis: Ophelie
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier – suite

Guy Johnston (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Clemens Schuldt (conductor)

A troubled prince, a tragic heroine and the Vienna of your dreams. Tchaikovsky and Mel Bonis embraced the world of Hamlet with all the fervour of true romantics. Richard Strauss, meanwhile, let his flair for storytelling have free rein in his opera Der Rosenkavalier: a delirious whirl of waltzes, wit, and love in all its colours, all on show in this orchestral suite.

The play’s the thing then, and whether it’s the sublime imagery of Shakespeare or the endless imaginative possibilities of the operatic stage, it’s music that creates the drama tonight. Clemens Schuldt conducts and joins the superb British cellist Guy Johnston to make a little bit of musical history: the world premiere of a striking new cello concerto, created specially for Johnston and the BBC Symphony Orchestra by composer Joseph Phibbs.

To listen on most smart speakers just say, 'ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert'.