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Presented by Tom Service Tom talks to Sakari Oramo, Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as they embark on a cycle of Sibelius's symphonies at the Barbican Centre in London. Inside rehearsals for a new production of Verdi's Aida at English National Opera, Tom meets the director Phelim McDermott - who's known for his work with Philip Glass and sees Verdi's opera as a partner piece for Glass's Egyptian-themed opera Akhnaten - and the conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson. The critic Paul Driver and music writer and teacher Frances Wilson discuss the role of music criticism today, as a new biography of Ernest Newman, the most celebrated critic in early 20th-century Britain, comes out. And organ builder and restorer Martin Renshaw talks about his crusade, including a conference in London this weekend, to save church organs across the UK, which are falling into disrepair or are being sold abroad.
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