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Monday - Sarah Walker, plus Rob Cowan with Nicholas Parsons

With Sarah Walker. Including Five Reasons to Love Concert Overtures; Haydn: Trumpet Concerto; Artist of the Week: Leonard Bernstein conducting his West Side Story Symphonic Dances.

9am
A selection of music including '5 reasons to love... concert overtures'. Throughout the week Sarah explores how composers have created colourful pieces that might tell a dramatic narrative (Beethoven's Egmont), represent humour (Malcolm Arnold's A Grand, Grand Overture), depict the action or characters from Shakespeare's plays, and celebrate a historical anniversary.

9.30am
Take part in today's challenge. Two pieces of music are played together - can you work out what they are?

10am
Rob talks to his guest, Nicholas Parsons. Actor, cabaret performer, stand-up comedian, panel show host and quizmaster, Nicholas has had a long and varied career in show business since he first started working in repertory theatre in the 1940s. He became a household name in the 1970s as the host of game show Sale of the Century, but is perhaps best known as the chairman of 91热爆 Radio 4's Just a Minute. Nicholas has chaired the hit comedy panel game since its inception in 1967 and hasn't missed a show in 48 years and over 900 performances. Nicholas will be talking about the seven decades he has spent working in radio, theatre and television, and sharing a selection of his favourite classical music every day at 10am.

10.30am
Sarah features the Building a Library Ten Pieces recommendation from last Saturday's CD Review.

Haydn
Trumpet Concerto

11am
Sarah's Artist of the Week is one of the most charismatic conductors of the 20th century, and one of the first American-born conductors to gain worldwide recognition, Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein's prodigious talent as a pianist coupled with lessons from composer Aaron Copland and conductor Fritz Reiner catapulted him into the limelight in the years following the Second World War. His Young People's Concerts for CBS were particularly influential in drawing people to classical music, and his work with the New York Philharmonic and other orchestras led to an international career. He performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1989 as part of the celebrations marking the fall of the Berlin Wall. Throughout the week Sarah features a selection of Bernstein's glittering recordings.

Bernstein
Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story"
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein (conductor).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    脡cossaise in D major, Op 72 No 3

    Performer: Nikita Magaloff.
    • PHILIPS.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: LEONARD BERNSTEIN

    • Leonard Bernstein

      Candide (Overture)

      Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
      • DG.
  • Franz Schubert

    Sonata in D major, D 384, 'Sonatina'

    Performer: Jean鈥怗uihen Queyras. Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • 5 REASONS TO LOVE...CONCERT OVERTURES

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      Egmont, Op.84 (Overture)

      Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: George Szell.
      • ORFEO.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Lyrical Waltz (Seven Dolls' Dances)

    Performer: Lisa Batiashvili. Orchestrator: Tam谩s Batiashvili. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Esa鈥怭ekka Salonen.
    • DG.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Preludes, Op 32 (Nos 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6)

    Performer: Santiago Rodriguez.
    • ELAN.
  • George Frideric Handel

    'Or let the merry bells ring round' (L鈥橝llegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato)

    Singer: Gillian Webster. Ensemble: Gabrieli Consort & Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • SIGNUM.
  • Edward Elgar

    Romance for bassoon & orchestra, Op.62

    Performer: Karen Geoghegan. Orchestra: Opera North Orchestra. Conductor: Benjamin Wallfisch.
    • CHANDOS.
  • NICHOLAS PARSONS' CHOICE NO.1

    • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

      Waltz in D flat major, Op 64 No 1, 'Minute'

      Performer: Arthur Rubinstein.
      • RCA.
  • NICHOLAS PARSONS' CHOICE NO.2

    • Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

      Polonaise in A flat major, Op 53

      Performer: Arthur Rubinstein.
      • RCA.
  • NICHOLAS PARSONS' CHOICE NO.3

    • Jimmy Forrest

      Night Train

      Ensemble: The Oscar Peterson Trio.
      • VERVE.
  • THE BUILDING A LIBRARY RECOMMENDATION FROM LAST SATURDAY'S CD REVIEW

    • Joseph Haydn

      Trumpet Concerto in E flat major

      Performer: Crispian Steele鈥怭erkins. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Anthony Halstead.
      • I.M.P..
  • Claude Debussy

    Violin Sonata

    Performer: Arthur Grumiaux. Performer: Istvan Hadju.
    • PHILIPS.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: LEONARD BERNSTEIN

    • Leonard Bernstein

      Symphonic Dances (West Side Story)

      Orchestrator: Sid Ramin. Orchestrator: Irwin Kostal. Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
      • SONY.
  • Trad.

    The Song of the Birds

    Music Arranger: Pau Casals. Performer: Sol Gabetta. Ensemble: Cello Ensemble Amsterdam Sinfonietta.
    • SONY.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Quintet for piano and winds in E flat major, K.452

    Performer: Murray Perahia. Performer: Neil Black. Performer: Thea King. Performer: Tony Halstead. Performer: Graham Sheen.
    • CBS MASTERWORKS.
  • Johann Strauss II

    Thunder and Lightning, Op 324

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • Johann Strauss: Waltzes & Polkas: Karajan.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 4.

Imperfect Harmony

The music played:

Tchaikovsky
Symphony No.6 鈥楶athetique鈥: 1st movement (conclusion)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)
LPO

Handel
L鈥橝llegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: 鈥淥r let the merry bells ring round鈥
Gillian Webster (soprano)
Gabrieli Consort & Players
Paul McCreesh (conductor)
SIGNUM

Broadcast

  • Mon 12 Oct 2015 09:00

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