8 episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 01 | Cellist Pablo Casals | 20040509 | 20041205 | The cellist Steven Isserlis grew up with the recordings of Pablo Casals and believes even now that no-one has surpassed Casals' complete artistry on the cello. Through recordings of solo Bach, chamber music by Schubert and Beethoven and orchestral pieces by Dvorak and Schumann, he reveals to Tom Robinson what makes Casals such an iconic musician. |
| 01 | 02 | Violinist Joseph Szigeti | 20040516 | 20041212 | The pianist Mitsuko Uchida fell in love with the recordings of the Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti in the early seventies. Through performances of unaccompanied Bach, Mozart, Brahms and music by Szigeti's contemporaries Prokofiev and Bartók, she shares with Tom Robinson her conviction that no-one can compete with Szigeti's intelligence and humanity as a violinist. |
| 01 | 03 | Dietrich Fischer-dieskau | 20040523 | 20050501 | The tenor Mark Padmore has long been inspired by the vocal mastery of the German bass-baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who, more than anyone, placed the songs of Schubert at the heart of the recital repertoire. Through recordings of Schubert made soon after his release from a prisoner-of-war camp, and from his association with Gerald Moore, as well as through interpretations of Bach, Wagner and Schumann, Fischer-Dieskau's iconic legacy is revealed. |
| 01 | 04 LAST | Dennis Brain | 20040530 | 20050508 | For a horn player like Michael Thompson, there can really be only one icon, Dennis Brain. As soloist, chamber musician, orchestral section leader and composer's muse, Brain changed forever expectations of the instrument and all within a life cut short by a car crash in 1957. Brain's iconic reputation is revealed through recordings of Mozart, Britten, Hindemith and Marin Marais. |
| 02 | 01 | Janet Craxton | 20060205 | The oboist Nicholas Daniel was taught by his icon, Janet Craxton. He tells Tom Robinson why her teaching and her example has been so influential in his own career and he pinpoints exactly what it was - in solo, chamber and orchestra repertoire - that made her the outstanding oboe player of her generation. With music by Mozart, Haydn, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Francis Routh and Francis Poulenc. | |
| 02 | 02 | Vlado Perlemuter | 20060212 | Kathryn Stott revisits the recordings of a great influence on her development as a young pianist, Vlado Perlemuter. The Russian-born pianist, who died in 2002, studied Ravel's music with the composer and was an exquisite interpreter of Chopin. He was also, in part, responsible for Kathryn's own preference for French music, as she reveals. | |
| 02 | 03 | Maria Callas | 20060219 | The violinist Isabelle van Keulen is one of the many admirers of La Divina, Maria Callas. Inspired as much by her teaching as her performances, Isabelle shares some of her favourite moments from Callas' operatic roles including Carmen, Medea and Donna Leonora from La Forza del Destino and selects telling exchanges from recordings of her Masterclasses at Juilliard. | |
| 02 | 04 LAST | Julian Bream | 20060226 | Lutenist Anthony Rooley draws on the pioneering recordings of Julian Bream. Featuring solo lute music by John Dowland, consort performances of music by William Byrd and part of Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal After Dowland. |