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Programme information

Saturday 17th August to Friday 23rd August 2019

WEEK 34

Nicola Benedetti. Photography credit: Andy Gotts.

MOIRA STUART’S HALL OF FAME CONCERT

Saturday 17th August, 3pm to 5pm

Join Moira Stuart for her weekly concert programme, celebrating the pieces voted into

the world’s biggest poll of classical music tastes: the Classic FM Hall of Fame.

This week’s show includes Nicola Benedetti (above) playing Massenet, a choral work Mozart composed in the final year of his life, and a complete performance of

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto: a piece which was unsuccessful at its premiere, but is now one of the most important works in the violin repertoire.

Classic FM is available across the UK on 100-102 FM, DAB digital radio and TV, at

ClassicFM.com, and on the Classic FM and Global Player apps.

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WEEK 34 SATURDAY 17TH AUGUST 3pm to 5pm: MOIRA STUART’S HALL OF FAME CONCERT Join Moira Stuart for her weekly concert programme, celebrating the pieces voted into the world’s biggest poll of classical music tastes: the Classic FM Hall of Fame. This week’s show includes Nicola Benedetti playing Massenet, a choral work Mozart composed in the final year of his life, and a complete performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto: a piece which was unsuccessful at its premiere, but is now one of the most important works in the violin repertoire. Jules Massenet Thais – Meditation Violin: Nicola Benedetti Daniel Harding conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ave Verum Corpus K.618 Nigel Short conducts Tenebrae & the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Gerald Finzi Eclogue Piano: Tom Poster Nicholas Collon conducts the Aurora Orchestra

Johann Sebastian Bach Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture Opus 49 Neeme Jarvi conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

Tomaso Albinoni Adagio in G minor Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Frederic Chopin Waltz in A minor Opus 34 No.2 Piano: Stephen Hough

Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major Opus 61 Violin: Janine Jansen Paavo Jarvi conducts the German Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra

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SATURDAY 17TH AUGUST 5pm to 7pm: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES with ANDREW COLLINS Tonight, Andrew looks backwards at films reaching significant milestone anniversaries in 2019.

Turning double digits this year are Michael Giacchino's nostalgic score from Pixar's animation Up and James Horner's stirring soundtrack to James Cameron's epic Avatar, whilst sci-fi game-changer The Matrix, with music by Don Davis, turns twenty.

Other films with significant anniversaries include American Beauty, Manhattan, and Driving Miss Daisy. The programme closes with Wagner's epic Ride of the Valkyries, used to great effect in the Francis Ford Coppola classic Apocalypse Now. 7pm to 10pm: COWAN’S CLASSICS with ROB COWAN Rob begins this evening’s programme with Debussy’s evocative Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and led by a conductor renowned for his interpretation of the French repertoire: Charles Munch. He’ll then travel beyond the Classic FM Hall of Fame with the NDR Symphony Orchestra under conductor Günter Wand, and a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 (‘Eroica’). Rob rounds the programme out with the Trumpet Concerto by Hummel – which, at the time of its premiere, revolutionised the possibilities for this brass instrument. 9pm to 10pm: PERFECT PITCH with KARTHI GNANASEGARAM (2 / 4) Karthi Gnanasegaram presents the second programme in this new, four-part series which celebrates the worlds of sport and classical music. Karthi’s guests this evening include the British tennis champion Andy Murray. Tune in to discover why a certain recording by tenor Andrea Bocelli is his favourite piece of classical music. Also joining Karthi this week: the former England cricket captain and current sports commentator, David Gower, who explains his love of the music of Vaughan Williams.

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SUNDAY 18TH AUGUST 3pm to 5pm: CHARLOTTE HAWKINS This week, Charlotte’s Young Classical Star is the British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason.

At just 23 years old, Isata is the oldest sibling in this seven-strong star family. For her undergraduate studies, she held the prestigious Elton John Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music – and performed with Sir Elton in Los Angeles. She has won countless prizes and has played both in the UK and across the world, from the USA, Canada and the Caribbean to the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Signed to Decca Classics, Isata’s debut album, Romance, takes listeners on a journey through the extraordinary life of Clara Schumann. 7pm to 9pm: DAVID MELLOR Tonight, David celebrates the music of South America: from the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, known throughout the world as the ‘king of the tango’, to the Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos and his Little Train of The Caipira. 9pm to 10pm: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC with CATHERINE BOTT Tonight, Catherine goes interstellar and jets off into the fantastical world of science fiction.

Along the way, we check in on The Planets courtesy of Holst, discover how music and gravity go hand-in-hand, and learn how Bach’s Goldberg Variations proved to aliens that we’re not so different after all.

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MONDAY 19TH AUGUST 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – A MUSICAL RAINBOW Tonight, Jane Jones presents a colourful evening of music from across the rainbow.

We start the evening with Gershwin’s jazz-infused Rhapsody in Blue, and journey down the Blue Danube with Strauss towards a beautiful rendition of ‘My Love is Like a Red Red Rose’, via lavender, yellow, and green (courtesy of Joe Green – or, if you prefer, Giuseppe Verdi). Our concert also includes the past Master of the Queen’s Music, Arthur Bliss, and his Colour Symphony, and an arrangement of Harold Arlen’s hit song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.

George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Wayne Marshall conducts the Alborg Orchestra from the piano

Johann Strauss (II) By the Beautiful Blue Danube Opus 314 Gerard Schwarz conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Nigel Hess Ladies in Lavender – Main Theme Violin: Joshua Bell Nigel Hess conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Giuseppe Verdi ‘Va pensiero’ (from the opera Nabucco) David Parry conducts the Opera North Orchestra & Chorus

George Butterworth The Banks of Green Willow Richard Hickox conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Xian Xinghai Yellow River Piano Concerto Piano: Lang Lang Long Yu conducts the China Philharmonic Orchestra

Hans Zimmer The Thin Red Line – Light Violin: Maxim Vengerov Gavin Greenaway conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Traditional My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose Flute: Gareth McLearnon Voces8 Arthur Bliss A Colour Symphony David Lloyd Jones conducts the Orchestra of Opera North Continued…

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MONDAY 19TH AUGUST 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – A MUSICAL RAINBOW Continued… Harold Arlen ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ Annunzio Mantovani conducts the Mantovani Orchestra

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TUESDAY 20TH AUGUST 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT Tonight Jane Jones picks up the orb, sceptre and crown to present a concert fit for royalty.

There’s no better way to start the evening than with Handel’s Zadok the Priest, which we hear performed by the English Chamber Orchestra and the Westminster Abbey Choir. This is followed by Patrick Hawes’ Highgrove Suite, commissioned by HRH Prince Charles, and performed by the former Royal Harpist to the Prince of Wales, Claire Jones.

Other highlights tonight include a choral work possibly written for Queen Elizabeth I’s fortieth birthday, and music for the king of the jungle, from the recent Lion King film. George Frideric Handel Zadok the Priest Martin Neary conducts the English Chamber Orchestra & Westminster Abbey Choir

Patrick Hawes Highgrove Suite Harp: Claire Jones Patrick Hawes conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Flute Concerto in D minor H.425 Flute: Rachel Brown Roy Goodman conducts the Brandenburg Consort

Thomas Tallis Spem in Alium Peter Phillips conducts the Tallis Scholars

Joseph Haydn Symphony No.95 in C minor Colin Davis conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Hans Zimmer The Lion King (2019) – Simba Lives Studio Orchestra

Hugo Alfven The Mountain King: Suite Neeme Jarvi conducts the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

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WEDNESDAY 21ST AUGUST 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – GOOD ARTISTS BORROW, GREAT ARTISTS STEAL Inspired by the quote attributed to Stravinsky, Picasso, Eliot, Jobs and more, tonight Jane Jones presents a programme of composers who repurposed music by others.

The evening begins with Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, the most famous of many works based on Paganini’s Caprice No.24, followed by Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. We also hear a symphony copied almost note for note by Mozart, and Beethoven’s homage to Handel.

Ralph Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Violin: Jennifer Pike Salvatore di Vittorio conducts the Chamber Orchestra of New York

Sergei Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Opus 43 Piano: Daniil Trifonov Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra

Michael Haydn Symphony in G major P.16 Matthias Bamert conducts the London Mozart Players

Franz Bendel Hommage a Chopin Opus 111 No.1 Piano: Jonathan Plowright

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky Suite No.4 in G major Opus 61 ‘Mozartiana’ Evgeny Svetlanov conducts the Russian State Symphony Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven 12 Variations on a Theme by Handel WoO.45 Piano: Daniel Barenboim Cello: Jacqueline du Pre

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THURSDAY 22ND AUGUST 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – STICKY ENDINGS Tonight, Catherine Bott looks at the murky mysteries and dark deeds behind composers’ deaths.

We start with music by Mozart, whose early death has been the subject of speculation and accusations for the last 200 years, from rumours of rival composers to Freemason conspiracies. We’ll hear the lighter side of Mozart in his Piano Concerto No.21, before Tchaikovsky's tragic Symphony No.6 (‘Pathetique’).

Other mysteries include perhaps one of the most infamous deaths in music history: a self-inflicted wound from a conducting staff, and a composer whose skull was stolen.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No.21 in C major K.467 Daniel Barenboim conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from the piano

Jean-Baptiste Lully Armide – Passacaglia Café Zimmerman

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 in C minor Opus 74 (‘Pathetique’) Valery Gergiev conducts the Kirov Orchestra

Charles-Valentin Alkan Barcarolle Opus 65 No.6 Piano: Marc-Andre Hamelin

Joseph Haydn Violin Concerto in G major Hob.VIIa:4 Daniel Hope directs the Zurich Chamber Orchestra from the violin

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FRIDAY 23RD AUGUST 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – MYTHS AND LEGENDS Tonight, Catherine Bott spends the evening in the company of spirits, trolls, sorcerers and thieves, as she presents a concert of myths and legends.

The evening starts in Ancient Greece, in the depths of the underworld as Orpheus tries to win back the soul of his beloved, before we encounter a Norwegian legend and a mythical submerged Breton city. We also hear from a few British legends, with two musical celebrations of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and a certain Nottingham archer.

Jacques Offenbach Orpheus in the Underworld – Overture Neeme Jarvi conducts the Orchestra of the Suisse Romande

Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt Suite No.1 Sakari Oramo conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Christoph Willibald Gluck Dance of the Blessed Spirits Mark Minkowski conducts Les Musiciens du Louvre

Paul Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Kent Nagano conducts the Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Claude Debussy Preludes Book 1 – La Cathedrale Engloutie (‘The Submerged Cathedral’) Piano: Daniel Barenboim

Michael Kamen Robin Hood Prince of Thieves – Overture Michael Kamen conducts the Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Henry Purcell King Arthur Suite Collegium Aureum

Edward Elgar King Arthur Suite George Hurst conducts the Bournemouth Sinfonietta

Franz Liszt Mephisto Waltz No.1 Herbert von Karajan conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra