Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Wednesday - Sarah Walker with Howard Brenton

With Sarah Walker. Essential CD of the Week: Glinka - Overtures and Dances; Artist of the Week: Maria Joao Pires; Playwright Howard Brenton; Sarah's Essential Choice: Maria Callas.

Sarah Walker with her guest, the playwright and screenwriter Howard Brenton.

9am
A selection of music, including the Essential CD of the Week: Glinka - Overtures and Dances featuring the USSR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov, and at 9.30am, our daily brainteaser: First Names

10am
Artist of the Week: Maria Joao Pires

10.30am
This week, Sarah's guest is the award-winning playwright and screenwriter Howard Brenton. Known for his state-of-the-nation political comedies and satires, his plays have included #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, The Churchill Play, Weapons of Happiness, Anne Boleyn, 55 Days (a fictional meeting between Cromwell and Charles I) and, with David Hare, Pravda and Brassneck. He has written a number of screenplays, including episodes for the 91热爆 TV series, Spooks, and has produced translations of plays by Goethe, Brecht and Georg B眉chner.

11am
Essential Choice: Maria Callas.
In celebration of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas, Sarah Walker presents classic recordings from her spectacular operatic career.

3 hours

Music Played

  • Malcolm Arnold

    Four English Dances, Set 2 (Con brio)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Chandos.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    The Creatures of Prometheus (Overture)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
  • Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

    Premiere Polka in B flat major

    Orchestra: State Academic Symphony Orchestra of The Russian Federation. Conductor: Evgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov.
    • Regis.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Rob Roy - Overture

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Alexander Gibson.
    • CHANDOS.
  • anon

    Puzzle

    Conductor: anon.
  • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    3 Nocturnes Op.9 (no.1 in B flat minor)

    Performer: Maria Jo茫o Pires.
    • DG.
  • Jacques Ibert

    Escales

    Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Munch.
    • RCA Living Stereo.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Zadok the priest, HWV 258

    Performer: Thurston Dart. Performer: John Langdon. Choir: Choir of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Sir David Willcocks.
    • Decca.
  • Edvard Grieg

    Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 45

    Performer: Augustin Dumay. Performer: Maria Jo茫o Pires.
    • DG.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 6 in D major, 'Le matin' (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. Conductor: 脕d谩m Fischer.
    • Nimbus.
  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 5: Sturmisch bewegt

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • DG.
  • Jacques Offenbach

    Galop from Genevieve de Brabant

    Orchestra: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Erich Kunzel.
    • TELARC.
  • Anon.

    Flos regalis virginalis

    Ensemble: Trio Medi忙val.
    • ECM.
  • Alfredo Catalani

    La Wally: 'Ebben? Ne andro lontana'

    Singer: Maria Callas. Orchestra: Philharmonia. Conductor: Tullio Serafin.
    • EMI.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Trio in E flat major for horn, violin and piano, Op 40 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Daniel Phillips. Performer: William Purvis. Performer: Richard Goode.
    • BRIDGE.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Piano Sonata No 50 in D major, H XVI 37

    Performer: Alfred Brendel.
    • PHILIPS.

Today鈥檚 Brainteaser Answer

Puzzle

Listen to three clips of music, identify the first names of the composers, and this should lead you to a聽famous baby. The pieces were: Walking the Dog, by GEORGE Gershwin;the Poem of Ecstasy, by ALEXANDER Scriabin; and the Nonet, by LOUIS Spohr. George Alexander Louis - the full name of Prince George of Cambridge, son of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

The music played:

George Gershwin
Walking the dog
Katia and Marielle Labeque (piano duo)
SONY CLASSICSAL 48381聽聽聽

Alexander Scriabin
Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54
New York Philharmonic
Pierre Boulez (conductor)
SONY CLASSICAL SM2K64100聽

Louis Spohr
End of 1st movement of Nonet in F, Op. 31
Nash Ensemble
CRD CRD3354聽聽

Broadcast

  • Wed 4 Dec 2013 09:00

Our Classical Century

Our Classical Century

Radio 3 explores 100 key musical moments that shaped us, from 1918 to the present day.

Time Travellers: the podcast

Time Travellers: the podcast

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough presents quirky tales gathered from the corners of history.