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Tuesday - Rob Cowan with Stephen Fry

With Rob Cowan. CD of the Week: Dances - Benjamin Grosvenor; Brainteaser: Who's Singing?; Proms Artist of the Week: Andrew Litton; Rob's Essential Choice: Harris: Symphony No 3.

Rob Cowan's guest this week is the writer, actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry.

9am
A selection of music, including the Essential CD of the Week: Dances, Benjamin Grosvenor, DECCA. We also have our daily brainteaser at 9.30.

10am
Proms Artist of the Week: Andrew Litton.

10:30
Rob's guest this week is the writer, actor, and broadcaster Stephen Fry.

Stephen admits that beneath the puckish and jovial exterior there lies a miasma of contradictions. He strives for bold authenticity and truth, but is known for his modest self-effacement and insecurities. Early success in series such as Blackadder, A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster, led to film roles (Wilde; Gosford Park ; Alice in Wonderland; The Hobbit), novels (The Liar and The Hippopotamus to name but two) autobiographical memoirs (Moab Is My Washpot; More Fool Me, published this month) and a series of challenging and critically-acclaimed documentaries including Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, in which he discusses his bipolar disorder; Stephen Fry: Wagner and Me, on the stain of Nazism on the reputation of Wagner; Stephen Fry: Out There, in which he explores attitudes to homosexuality and the lives of gay people in different parts of the globe. Currently the host of the popular quiz show QI, Stephen has appeared on popular panel games such as Just a Minute and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

Stephen's music choices include classic recordings of Wilhelm Kempff performing Beethoven and Glenn Gould performing Bach, as well as great opera recordings of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro conducted by Georg Solti, Verdi's Rigoletto featuring Luciano Pavarotti and Dame Joan Sutherland, and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler.

11am
Rob's Essential Choice
Harris
Symphony No. 3
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein (conductor)
SONY.

2 hours, 58 minutes

Music Played

  • Aram Khachaturian

    Gayaneh: Lezginka

    Conductor: Kirill Karabits. Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
    • Onyx.
  • Brossard

    Sonate en trio, SDB221

    Orchestra: La Nuova Musica. Conductor: David Bates.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22

    Performer: Benjamin Grosvenor.
    • Decca.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Loquebantur variis linguis

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • anon

    Who's Singing?

    Singer: anon.
  • Leonard Bernstein

    Candide (Overture)

    Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Litton.
    • Virgin.
  • George Enescu

    Romanian Rhapsody, Op 11 No 1

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Dor谩ti.
    • Mercury Living Presence.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    La clemenza di Tito (Overture)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Z眉rich. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Teldec.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Tempest

    Conductor: Andrew Litton. Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
    • Virgin.
  • Richard Strauss

    Tod und Verklarung (conclusion)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • DG.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Aria)

    Performer: Glenn Gould.
    • Sony.
  • Gaspar Sanz

    Canarios

    Performer: Julian Bream (guitar).
    • RCA.
  • Roy Harris

    Symphony No. 3

    Conductor: Leonard Bernstein. Orchestra: New York Philharmonic.
    • DG.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    String Quartet in D, K499 "Hoffmeister"

    Ensemble: Belcea Quartet.
  • Richard Wagner

    Song without Words

    Performer: Llyr Williams (piano).
    • SIGNUM.

Today's Brainteaser Answer - Who's Singing?

The character singing was Sesto, from Mozart鈥檚 La Clemenza di Tito

The music played:

Mozart
La Clemenza di Tito: 鈥淒eh per questo istante solo鈥
Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano)
Vienna Chamber Orchestra
Gyorgy Fischer (conductor)
DECCA 4305132

Broadcast

  • Tue 9 Sep 2014 09:00

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