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Friday - Rob Cowan with Stella Rimington

With Rob Cowan. Including Five Reasons to Love Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues; Artist of the Week: Leopold Stokowski; Rob's Essential Choice: Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No 1.

With Rob Cowan and his guest Dame Stella Rimington.

9am
A selection of music including '5 Reasons to Love... Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues'. Rob picks favourite recordings from Bach's innovative 'Well Tempered Clavier' collection, and shows how they succeed equally well when played on harpsichord, piano or clavichord, including a fine performance by Tatiana Nikolaeva of the Prelude in C from Book 1 - the one attempted by beginner pianists everywhere.

9.30am
Take part in our daily musical challenge and identify the personal relationship that connects two pieces of music.

10am
Rob's guest this week is former MI5 chief turned best-selling author, Dame Stella Rimington. The first woman to be promoted to the rank of Director of a Service branch, since retiring from the Service in 1996 Stella has published a number of novels set in the world of counter-terrorism and intelligence. Stella will be sharing a selection of her favourite classical music, including works by Bach, Vaughan Williams, and Kodaly, every day at 10am.

10.30am
Rob's featured artist is the charismatic conductor Leopold Stokowski, who is perhaps best known for conducting the sound track of Walt Disney's animated film Fantasia. There'll be stunning recordings of Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture Hamlet, and the Love Music from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, plus Rob will introduce several of Stokowski's many stylish orchestral transcriptions, including Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky, and Debussy's Clair de Lune, played by Stokowski's own symphony orchestra.

11am
This week Rob showcases 20th century piano concertos.
Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1 in C major Op.35
Dmitri Alexeev (piano)
Philip Jones (trumpet)
English Chamber Orchestra
Jerzy Maksymiuk (conductor)'.

3 hours

Music Played

  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI

    • Vincent Persichetti

      March from Divertimento for Band

      Conductor: Leopold Stokowski. Orchestra: Leopold Stokowski Symphony Orchestra.
      • EMI.
  • 5 REASONS TO LOVE鈥ACH鈥橲 48 PRELUDES & FUGUES

    • Johann Sebastian Bach

      Prelude and Fugue in B minor Bk 1 No. 24

      Performer: Helmut Walcha.
      • DG.
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Capriccio Espagnol

    Performer: Rudolf G盲hler. Conductor: Charles Mackerras. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • TELARC.
  • Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k

    Slavonic Dance Op. 72/4

    Conductor: George Szell. Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra.
    • DUET.
  • Gioachino Rossini

    Wind Quartet No. 6 in F

    Music Arranger: Berr, Friedrich. Ensemble: Michael Thompson Wind Quartet.
    • NAXOS.
  • RELATIVE VALUES

    • Johann Strauss II

      Die Fledermaus (Overture)

      Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Carlos Kleiber.
      • SONY.
  • STELLA RIMINGTONS CHOICES

    • Trad

      Flow gently, sweet Afton

      Lyricist: Burns, Robert. Choir: Edinburgh University Singers. Director: John Kitchen. Music Arranger: John Kitchen.
      • DELPHIAN.
    • George Frideric Handel

      Sweet Bird from L鈥橝llegro, il Penserosa ed il Moderato

      Singer: Emma Kirkby. Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Director: Christopher Hogwood.
      • L鈥橭ISEAU LYRE.
    • Kreisler

      Sicilienne & Rigaudon In The Style Of Francoeur

      Performer: Artur Balsam. Performer: Yehudi Menuhin.
      • EMI.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI

    • Richard Wagner

      Love Music from Acts II & III of Tristan und Isolde

      Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra.
      • COLUMBIA.
  • ESSENTIAL CHOICE

    • Dmitry Shostakovich

      Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major Op. 35

      Performer: Dmitri Alexeev. Performer: Philip Jones. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jerzy Maksymiuk.
      • EMI.
  • Claude Debussy

    Le Martyre de saint Sebastien (Fragments Symphoniques)

    Conductor: Charles Dutoit. Orchestra: Orchestre symphonique de Montr茅al.
    • DECCA.

Broadcast

  • Fri 20 Feb 2015 09:00

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