Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Thursday - Rob Cowan with Jean Sprackland

With Rob Cowan. Five Reasons to Love the Songs of Gabriel Faure; Artist of the Week: Ferenc Fricsay, featured conducting Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

9am
A selection of music including '5 reasons to love... the songs of Gabriel Faur茅' Throughout the week Rob dips into the songbooks of Faur茅, with choices including Le Secret, Apr猫s un r锚ve and Lydia. Rob highlights Faur茅's subtle word settings, unusual harmonies and the sympathetic way he depicts nature and the world around him, with recordings by singers including G茅rard Souzay, Pierre Bernac and Anne Sofie von Otter.

9.30am
Take part in today's challenge: listen to the clues and identify the mystery music-related object.

10am
Especially for National Poetry Day, Rob's guest this week is the poet and writer Jean Sprackland. Jean's first collection of poetry, Tattoos for Mothers Day was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection and her second book, Hard Water, was on the shortlist for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award. Her third collection, Tilt, won the Costa Poetry Award and The Guardian described her most recent book of poetry, Sleeping Keys, as 'an uncommon pleasure to read'. Jean has also written a series of short stories and a non-fiction work titled Strands, a series of meditations on walking the beaches between Blackpool and Liverpool. She will be sharing a selection of her favourite classical music with Rob every day at 10am.

10.30am
To celebrate the new 91热爆 Ten Pieces project, Rob chooses music that complements this exciting selection of works.

11am
Rob's artist of the week is the conductor Ferenc Fricsay. One of the most acclaimed conductors of his generation, and famed for conducting without a baton, Hungarian-born Fricsay studied violin and piano with Bart贸k and composition with Kod谩ly. After going into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Budapest, he conducted the first symphony concert in the Hungarian capital after the liberation in 1945, and was appointed as conductor of the Budapest Opera and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. Fricsay went on to forge an international career, conducting orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He performed his final concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall before his untimely death from stomach cancer at the age of 48. Throughout the week Rob showcases gems from Fricsay's small but precious catalogue of recordings.

3 hours

Music Played

  • Gerald Finzi

    Fughetta from 5 Bagatelles, Op 23 No 5

    Performer: Robert Plane. Orchestra: Royal Northern Sinfonia. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • NAXOS.
  • S茅bastien de Brossard

    Symphonie pour le Graduel in D major

    Ensemble: La Nuova Musica. Conductor: David Bates.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Rondo in B flat major for piano and orchestra, WoO 6

    Performer: Pierre鈥怢aurent Aimard. Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • WARNER.
  • 5 REASONS TO LOVE...FAURE SONGS

    • Gabriel Faur茅

      Notre amour, Op 33 No 2

      Performer: Janine Reiss. Singer: Mady Mespl茅.
      • EMI.
  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Romeo and Juliet (Act 4)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Valery Gergiev.
    • Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Valery Gergiev, LSO.
    • LSO Live.
    • 27.
  • Joseph Haydn

    The Representation of Chaos (The Creation)

    Ensemble: Handel and Haydn Society. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO.
  • Knut Nystedt

    Jesus, din sote forening a smake

    Choir: Concert Clemens. Conductor: Carsten Seyer-Hansen.
    • DANACORD.
  • Gustav Holst

    A Somerset Rhapsody Op.21' 2

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Nutcracker (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)

    Conductor: Mstislav Rostropovich. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • 111 Years Of Deutsche Grammophon The Collector's Edition Vol.2.
    • Deutshe Grammophon.
    • 14.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Sugar Rum Cherry

    Music Arranger: Duke Ellington. Orchestra: Duke Ellington Orchestra.
    • COLUMBIA.
  • Franz Waxman

    Promenade (Four Scenes from Childhood)

    Performer: Marianne Thorsen. Performer: Ian Brown.
  • JEAN SPRACKLAND'S CHOICE NO.1

    • Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k

      Song to the Moon (Rusalka)

      Singer: Krassimira Stoyanova. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Pavel Baleff.
  • JEAN SPRACKLAND'S CHOICE NO.2

    • Thomas Tallis

      Spem in alium

      Choir: Tallis Scholars. Conductor: Peter Phillips.
      • GIMELL.
  • Gerald Finzi

    Clarinet Concerto

    Performer: Michael Collins. Orchestra: 91热爆 Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Collins.
    • CHANDOS.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: FERENC FRICSAY

    • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Symphony No.6 in B minor 'Pathetique'

      Orchestra: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay.
      • DG.
  • Camille Saint鈥怱a毛ns

    La muse et le po猫te, Op 132

    Performer: Ulf Hoelscher. Performer: Ralph Kirshbaum. Conductor: Pierre Dervaux. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • Brilliant Classics.

Mystery Object

Answer: Celesta

Broadcast

  • Thu 8 Oct 2015 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.