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Programme information

Saturday 5th October to Friday 11th October 2019

WEEK 41

Isata Kanneh-Mason | image credit: Robin Clewley

THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH: CLASSIC FM LIVE

Wednesday 9th October, 8pm to 10pm

Fireworks, outstanding soloists and the world’s greatest music played to a sold-out

audience. It can only mean one thing: Classic FM Live. Join Jane Jones for the exclusive broadcast of last night’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus take to the stage under the

direction of Stephen Barlow to celebrate 90 years of Decca Records. Two of the label’s brilliant young artists – pianists Benjamin Grosvenor and Isata Kanneh-Mason –

perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise respectively.

Classic FM is available across the UK on 100-102 FM, DAB digital radio and TV, at

ClassicFM.com, and on the Classic FM and Global Player apps.

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WEEK 41 SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER 3pm to 5pm: MOIRA STUART’S HALL OF FAME CONCERT Join Moira Stuart for her weekly concert programme, celebrating the pieces voted into the world’s biggest poll of classical music tastes: the Classic FM Hall of Fame. Moira begins this afternoon’s concert with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, inspired by his travels in the Scottish Highlands. It’s followed by Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.2, which the composer wrote when he was still a student. We also hear a film favourite courtesy of John Williams, before some celebratory music by Handel. Felix Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture Opus 26 (‘Fingal’s Cave’) Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Frederic Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor Opus 21 Piano: Daniil Trifonov Mikhail Pletnev conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra John Williams Harry Potter – Hedwig’s Theme Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra George Butterworth The Banks of Green Willow Mark Elder conducts the Halle Orchestra Thomas Tallis Spem in alium Peter Philips conducts the Tallis Scholars Jean Sibelius Karelia Suite Opus 11 Neeme Järvi conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra George Frederic Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks Trevor Pinnock conducts The English Concert 5pm to 7pm: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES with ANDREW COLLINS This evening, Andrew celebrates World Space Week with music from films that help us earthlings dream about infinity and beyond. We’ll hear Richard Strauss’s epic tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra, now synonymous with space thanks to its inclusion in Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also featured is James Horner’s tense and dramatic score to Ron Howard’s masterpiece, Apollo 13, and selections from 34-year-old American composer Justin Hurwitz’s contribution to the 2019 film, First Man.

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SATURDAY 5th OCTOBER 7pm to 9pm: COWAN’S CLASSICS with ROB COWAN Rob presents the first in a series of special programmes celebrating Live Music Month on Classic FM. The highlights include a rich and romantic slice of Wagner from the last concert ever given by the great conductor Arturo Toscanini; a performance from one of the greatest voices of the 20th century – Luciano Pavarotti –singing Puccini in concert in Philadelphia; and the marvellous pianist Sviatoslav Richter playing Schubert’s delightful Impromptus, live in Moscow. 9pm to 10pm: SOUNDS AND SWEET AIRS with DEBBIE WISEMAN (5 / 8) Classic FM’s Composer in Residence, Debbie Wiseman, presents the fifth episode in the new series of Sounds and Sweet Airs: the programme that shines the spotlight on some of the world’s greatest female composers – and the stories behind their music.

Debbie explores the great achievements made by female composers over the centuries. We’ll discover the only woman to be appointed to the position of Professor at the Paris Conservatoire during the 19th century and hear music by Francesca Caccini – the most highly paid performer and composer at the Medici court in the early 17th century.

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SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER 3pm to 5pm: CHARLOTTE HAWKINS This week, Charlotte’s Young Classical Star is the 27-year-old British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. The son of a piano teacher, Grosvenor began playing the piano at the age of six, going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2011, he became the first British pianist in 60 years to sign to the prestigious Decca label and when he graduated in 2012, he received the Queen’s Award for Excellence for the best all-round student of the year. Grosvenor is just one of the star soloists performing at Classic FM Live this coming Tuesday, when he’ll play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, but this afternoon, Charlotte features his superb performance of Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No.2. 7pm to 9pm: DAVID MELLOR October is Live Music Month on Classic FM – and tonight, David Mellor presents the first of four special programmes featuring the great orchestras of the world, captured live in concert. Over the coming weeks, David showcases orchestras across Europe, America and beyond, but tonight, he starts closer to home with a selection of great British ensembles.

Tonight’s programme of all-British music includes brilliant recordings from the Royal Scottish National, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, from across the last five decades. 9pm to 10pm: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC with CATHERINE BOTT Despite being completely dedicated to their work, many great composers indulged in the odd ‘comedy’ composition. As the evenings draw in, tonight, Catherine Bott explores a repertoire of light-hearted music to brighten the mood.

Among his brooding masterpieces, Beethoven managed to write a whole piece entitled Rage Over a Lost Penny. Rossini, meanwhile, channelled his hatred for one particular singer into a composition which turned out to be a charming one-note aria.

Catherine also features music by Haydn, who sprinkled his Symphony No.94 with multiple musical surprises.

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MONDAY 7TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH Join Jane Jones as she begins the second week of Classic FM’s Live Music Month.

In this first half of tonight’s concert, we hear the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of their Conductor Laureate, Vladimir Ashkenazy. We begin with Shostakovich’s Festive Overture before Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.2, recorded as part of the orchestra’s full Rachmaninov cycle at the Royal Festival Hall in 2015.

We then head into the archives, for a vintage performance of Brahms’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel by the Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, recorded live in Vienna 40 years ago. Dmitri Shostakovich Festive Overture in A major Opus 96 Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra Sergei Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 in E minor Opus 27 Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra Johannes Brahms Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Opus 24 Piano: Alfred Brendel

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TUESDAY 8TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH: THE GSTAAD MENUHIN FESTIVAL Jane Jones presents another concert as part of Classic FM’s Live Music Month. We’re transported to the Gstaad Menuhin Festival: an event founded by the great Yehudi Menuhin in 1957, which takes place annually in the Swiss Alps. We’ll hear two exclusive recordings: Pierre Bleuse conducts the Basel Chamber Orchestra in Bizet’s Symphony in C, written when the composer was only seventeen, before the Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta takes to the stage for Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No.2. We then journey from the Swiss Alps to Israel, for a historic, live concert recording of Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto. The work was written while the composer was staying in Paris and became a firm favourite of Marie Antoinette. Georges Bizet Symphony in C major Pierre Bleuse conducts the Basel Chamber Orchestra Camille Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.2 in D minor Opus 119 Cello: Sol Gabetta Pierre Bleuse conducts the Basel Chamber Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Flute & Harp Concerto in C major K.299 Flute: Uri Shaham Harp: Judith Liber Paul Paray conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

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WEDNESDAY 9TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH: CLASSIC FM LIVE Fireworks, outstanding soloists and the world’s greatest music played to a sold-out audience. It can only mean one thing: Classic FM Live. Join Jane Jones for the exclusive broadcast of last night’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus take to the stage under the direction of Stephen Barlow to celebrate 90 years of Decca Records and two of the label’s brilliant young artists – pianists Benjamin Grosvenor and Isata Kanneh-Mason – perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise respectively.

One of the country’s great choirmasters, Gareth Malone, directs a selection of choral favourites and new works, and we’ll also hear a new work by Classic FM’s Composer in Residence, Debbie Wiseman, written specially for Decca Records’ 90th birthday.

Other highlights include the Dance of the Knights from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Sergei Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet Opus 64 – Dance of the Knights Stephen Barlow conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Gabriel Fauré Pavane Opus 50 Stephen Barlow conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Debbie Wiseman Decca 90 Debbie Wiseman conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Gareth Malone January Gareth Malone conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Gareth Malone Wherever You Are Gareth Malone conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Chorus George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Piano: Benjamin Grosvenor Stephen Barlow conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi Aida – Grand March Stephen Barlow conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Continued…

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WEDNESDAY 9TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH: CLASSIC FM LIVE Continued… Frédéric Chopin Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Piano: Isata Kanneh-Mason Stephen Barlow conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture Opus 49 Stephen Barlow conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

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THURSDAY 10TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH: LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA As we continue Classic FM’s Live Music Month, Catherine Bott celebrates some of the London Symphony Orchestra’s best live recordings.

We begin with the orchestra’s first ever recording on their own record label, LSO Live: Dvořák’s Symphony No.9 (‘From the New World’). We also hear Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Maria João Pires as soloist, before Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, who returns to conduct the LSO later this month.

Antonin Dvořák Symphony No.9 in E minor Opus 95 (‘From the New World’) Colin Davis conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Robert Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 54 Piano: Maria João Pires John Eliot Gardiner conducts the London Symphony Orchestra Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition Gianandrea Noseda conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

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FRIDAY 11TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LIVE MUSIC MONTH: LUCIANO PAVAROTTI, LIVE IN HYDE PARK On the eve of what would have been the late, great tenor’s 84th birthday, Catherine Bott presents the entirety of Luciano Pavarotti’s iconic 1991 ‘Live in Hyde Park’ concert, recorded in front of a crowd of over 100,000 people, including the Prince and Princess of Wales. The star tenor performs some of the most recognisable arias in all opera, including Puccini’s ‘E lucevan le stelle’ and ‘Nessun dorma’, alongside a variety of lesser-known gems. Giuseppe Verdi I Vespri Siciliani – Overture Giacomo Meyerbeer ‘Mi batte il cor.. O Paradiso’ (from the opera L’Africaine) Giuseppe Verdi ‘Le mia letizia infondere’ (from the opera I Lombardi) Giuseppe Verdi ‘Quando le sere al placido’ (from the opera Luisa Miller) Jules Massenet ‘Pourquoi me réveiller’ (from the opera Werther) Giacomo Puccini ‘Recondita armonia’ (from the opera Tosca) Giacomo Puccini ‘E lucevan le stelle’ (from the opera Tosca) Ruggero Leoncavallo ‘Vesti la giubba’ (from the opera Pagliacci) Cesare Bixio ‘Mamma’ Cesare Bixio ‘La mia canzone al vento’ Continued…

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FRIDAY 11TH OCTOBER 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT: LIVE MUSIC MONTH – LUCIANO PAVAROTTI: LIVE IN HYDE PARK Continued… Ernesto de Curtis ‘Non ti scordar di me’ Eduardo di Capua ‘O sole mio’ Ernesto de Curtis ‘Torna a Surriento’ Giacomo Puccini ‘Tra voi belle, brune e bionde’ (from the opera Manon Lescaut) Giacomo Puccini ‘Donna non vidi mai’ (from the opera Manon Lescaut) Giacomo Puccini ‘Nessun dorma’ (from the opera Turandot) Tenor: Luciano Pavarotti Leone Magiera conducts the Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra