Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Part 1 | 20091211 | Presented by Petroc Trelawny. The BBC Symphony Orchestra return to the Barbican Hall in London for a concert in which they perform works spanning two centuries of the intertwined musical stories of Hungary and Austria. The concert opens with Gyorgy Kurtag's ...quasi una fantasia..., an overt reference to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which is also titled 'quasi una fantasia', but a piece that uses the full spatial possibilities of the Barbican Hall with members of the orchestra spread around the auditorium. It is followed by Mozart's Piano Concerto in E flat, often known as Jeunehomme, and penned when the compser was working in Salzburg, for a visiting female French pianist - Miss Jeunehomme. Kurtag: ...quasi una fantasia... Mozart: Piano Concerto No 9 in E flat, K271 (Jeunehomme) Jonathan Biss (piano) BBC Singers Robert Spano (conductor) Followed by a focus on Sing Hallelujah, a UK-wide celebration of choral singing inspired by Handel's famous chorus. BBC SO in Kurtag's ...quasi una fantasia... and Mozart's Piano Concerto No 9 in E flat. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |
| 02 | Part 2 | 20091211 | Presented by Petroc Trelawny. The BBC Symphony Orchestra return to the Barbican Hall in London for a concert in which they perform works spanning two centuries of the intertwined musical stories of Hungary and Austria. Kodaly along with Bartok was an advocate of Hungarian folk music and although his Matrai Pictures are written as a seamlessly fluid piece, they are a compilation of five folk-songs which form a narrative thread. The concert ends with Bartok's 'pantomime' The Miraculous Mandarin, a score full of vibrant orchestrations, forceful rhythms and, once again, Hungarian folk themes. Jonathan Biss (piano) BBC Singers Robert Spano (conductor) Kodaly: Matrai Pictures Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin Followed by a focus on Sing Hallelujah, a UK-wide celebration of choral singing inspired by Handel's famous chorus. BBC Symphony Orchestra in Kodaly's Matrai Pictures and Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |