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Art centres, Giovanni Antonini, Opera and food

As the Barbican Centre in London celebrates its fortieth anniversary, Tom Service asks if the future of music venues and cultural hotspots is going big or small.

As the Barbican Centre in London celebrates its 40th anniversary, Tom Service asks if the future of music venues and cultural hotspots is going big or small, and how should they engage with the communities around them. We talk to the Barbican’s Artistic Director Will Gompertz about the challenges they face with diversity and inclusion, and put those same questions to two other different sized arts centres – the CCA in Glasgow and the ARC in Stockport – in order to find out how arts centres can best serve the communities they are rooted in.

Tom takes a trip to The Holbeck in Leeds where, during the pandemic, Alan Lane’s ground breaking Slung Low Theatre company operated the venue as a food bank, serving the local community with a mission to ‘provide the best cultural life for the people of Holbeck’. Slung Low’s work has been an inspiration for Kate Whitley, the composer and founder of the Multi-Story Orchestra; she tells us how in making the connections between an arts organisation and the communities where they work, there are resonances for the whole of classical music culture.

Food and Music are undoubtedly two things that bring people together. We talk to author Pierpaolo Polzonetti about the importance of food in opera with reference to his new book, ‘Feasting and Fasting in Opera - From Renaissance Banquets to the Callas Diet’, and to mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston about her online resource and cookbook, ‘Notes from Musician’s Kitchens’. Plus, we find out what she really eats on stage…

And we talk to conductor Giovanni Antonini about his 'Haydn 2032' project, in which he aims to record all 107 Haydn symphonies by 2032, and immerse ourselves in the world of Haydn’s life-affirming music.

Producer: Martin Webb

Available now

44 minutes

Music Played

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27: II. Allegro molto

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Lso Live.
  • Soweto Kinch

    White Juju

    Performer: Soweto Kinch. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Lee Reynolds.
    • EFG London Jazz Festival, Fri 19 Nov 2021, Barbican Hall, London..
  • George Frideric Handel

    Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV17, Act 1 Scene 1 No.1, Viva il nostro Alcide!

    Ensemble: Concentus Musicus Wien. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Così fan tutte; ossia La scuola degli amanti, K.588 Act 1 - La mia Dorabella

    Orchestra: Vienna State Opera Choir. Conductor: Karl Kamper.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    La fanciulla del West; Act II, Il. Mio bimbo è grande e piccino

    Singer: Mara Zampieri. Singer: Juan Pons. Singer: Plácido Domingo. Orchestra: Orchestra Del Teatro Alla Scala, Milano. Conductor: Lorin Maazel.
    • Sony Classical.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La Traviata; Act 1 - Libiamo ne'lieti calici (Brindisi)

    Orchestra: Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Conductor: Zubin Mehta.
    • Decca.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Falstaff; Act I

    Performer: Enrico Facini. Performer: Bryn Terfel. Performer: Anthony Mee. Performer: Anatoly Kocherga. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Trad.

    Leaving of Liverpool

    Performer: Alisdair Hogarth. Music Arranger: Richard Miller. Singer: Jennifer Johnston.
    • Rubicon.
  • Engelbert Humperdinck

    Hänsel und Gretel; Act 3. Knusper, knusper, knäuschen

    Singer: Ruth Ziesak. Singer: Jennifer Larmore. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Singer: Hanna Schwarz Die Knusperhexe. Conductor: Donald Runnicles.
    • Teldec.
  • Pupils from Harris Academy Peckham & The Multi-Story Orchestra

    The Endz [extract]

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No. 2 in C Major; I. Allegro

    Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Alpha.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No. 24 in D Major, HOB.I24 II. Adagio Cantabile

    Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Alpha.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Hob. I:1: I. Presto

    Orchestra: Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper. Conductor: Max Goberman.
    • Max Goberman - The Symphonies of Haydn.
    • Sony Classical.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No. 82 in C Major, HOB.I82 Lours IV. Finale. Vivace Assai

    Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Alpha.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No. 87 in A Major, HOB.I87 II. Adagio

    Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Alpha.

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