Episodes
| Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20240420 | A thorough look at the week's classical music releases, plus news and recommendations. | |
| Brahms' 3rd Symphony In Building A Library With Nigel Simeone And Andrew Mcgregor | 20240413 | Andrew McGregor with the best new recordings of classical music. 1405 Horn player Sarah Willis brings an exciting pile of new releases to the studio. 1500 Building a Library Nigel Simeone chooses his favourite version of Brahms' 3rd Symphony in F major, Op. 90. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Symphony No. 2. In the meantime, Brahms had written some of his greatest works, including the Violin Concerto, two overtures (Tragic Overture and Academic Festival Overture), and Piano Concerto No. 2. The first movement begins with a musical theme that spells the notes F-A♭-F which is thought to represent Brahms' personal motto, frei aber froh (free but happy). He had first developed this motto many years earlier in response to Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, who himself had already adopted a personal motto F-A-E, frei aber einsam (free but lonely). The influential music critic Eduard Hanslick said, 'Many music lovers will prefer the titanic force of the First Symphony; others, the untroubled charm of the Second, but the Third strikes me as being artistically the most nearly perfect. 1545 Record of the Week: Andrew's top pick Nigel Simeone chooses his favourite version of Brahms' 3rd Symphony. A thorough look at the week's classical music releases, plus news and recommendations. In Building a Library, Nigel Simeone chooses his favourite version of Brahms' 3rd Symphony, plus horn player Sarah Willis with an exciting pile of new releases. |
| Monteverdi's Vespers In Building A Library With Jeremy Summerly And Andrew Mcgregor | 20240427 | Jeremy Summerly's personal recommendation for Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, plus the best of the week's new classical releases. Presented by Andrew McGregor. 9.30am Writer Gillian Moore's pick of new releases from the week. 10.30am Building a Library Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers for the Blessed Virgin is an ambitious and beautiful sequence of psalms, motets and sonatas. Conductor Jeremy Summerly joins Andrew to present his ultimate recommendation to buy, download or stream. 11.30am Record of the Week Andrew's pick of the best of the best new releases from the last seven days. Jeremy Summerly's personal recommendation for Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. A thorough look at the week's classical music releases, plus news and recommendations. |