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Episode 2

With Napoleon's own musicianship and tastes in question, is there any place for him as an impresario? Composers' views were divided, as Donald Macleod finds.

With Napoleon's own musicianship and taste severely in question, could there be any rightful place for him as an impresario? Donald Macleod hunts out the composers who benefited from Napoleon's cultural largesse, including the Italian whose success in a competition to commemorate the life of a Republican military hero was to lead to great things. Plus, there's another glimpse into the world of Revolutionary singing, as Laura Mason explores the legends surrounding the creation of the piece destined to become France's national anthem.

1 hour

Last on

Tue 4 Dec 2012 18:30

Music Played

  • Claude Balbastre

    Marche des Marseillais et 'Ca ira'

    Performer: André Isoir (organ)

    • Caliope: CAL9917.
    • 1.
  • Giovanni Paisiello

    Marche Funebre a l'occasion de la mort du General Hoche

    Performer: Toulouse Capitole Choir, Performer: Touse Capitole Orchestra, Performer: Michel Plasson (conductor)

    • EMI: CDC74470.
    • 15.
  • Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Alceste end of Act 2

    Performer: Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), Performer: Monteverdi Choir, Performer: English Baroque Soloists, Performer: John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

    • Philips: 470293-2.
    • 5.
  • Étienne Méhul

    Overture La Chasse du Jeune Henri

    Performer: Orchestra of the Gulbenkian Foundation, Performer: Michel Swierczewski (conductor)

    • Nimbus: NI5184.
    • 1.
  • Jean-François Le Sueur

    Oratorios for the Coronations of the Sovereign Princess of Christendom - Opening March

    Performer: Das Neue Orchester, Performer: Christopher Spering (conductor)

    • Opus111: Ops3089.
    • 1.
  • Giovanni Mirabassi

    Ah! 'Ca ira'

    Performer: Giovanni Mirabassi (piano)

    • Sketch: SKE333015.
    • 3.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 4 Dec 2012 12:00
  • Tue 4 Dec 2012 18:30

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