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Friday - Sarah Walker, plus Rob Cowan with Nicholas Parsons

With Sarah Walker. Including Five Reasons to Love Concert Overtures; Satie: Le piege de Medusa; Artist of the Week: Leonard Bernstein conducting his own Chichester Psalms.

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 music-related challenge and identify a piece of music played backwards.

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 ´óÏó´«Ã½ 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 NEW: Music in Time
Sarah places Music in Time as she showcases the first use of a prepared piano in music from the Modern age - La Piège de Medusa by the French composer Erik Satie.

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
Chichester Psalms
Vienna Boys' Choir
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein (conductor).

3 hours

Music Played

  • Francis Poulenc

    Le Lion amoureux (Les Animaux modeles Suite)

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: Charles Dutoit.
    • DECCA.
  • Franz Liszt

    Les jeux d'eau à la Ville d'Este (Années de pèlerinage III)

    Performer: Jorge Bolet.
    • DECCA.
  • 5 REASONS TO LOVE...CONCERT OVERTURES

    • Antonín Dvořák

      Othello Overture, Op 93

      Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
      • DG.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Voi che sapete (The Marriage of Figaro)

    Singer: Cecilia Bartoli. Orchestra: Wiener Kammerorchester. Conductor: György Fischer.
  • Pablo de Sarasate

    Zapateado, Op 23 No 2

    Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet.
  • Clara Schumann

    Konzertsatz in F minor

    Performer: Lucy Parham. Orchestra: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Barry Wordsworth.
    • CIRRUS CLASSICS.
  • Richard Wagner

    Spinning Chorus (The Flying Dutchman)

    Singer: Ricarda Merbeth. Singer: Silvia Hablowetz. Choir: Berlin Radio Choir. Orchestra: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Conductor: Marek Janowski.
    • PENTATONE.
  • NICHOLAS PARSONS' CHOICE NO.1

    • Glenn Miller

      In The Mood

      • BLUEBIRD.
  • NICHOLAS PARSONS' CHOICE NO.2

    • Eric Coates

      London Again Suite: II. Langham Place

      Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Charles Groves.
      • WARNER.
  • Bedrich Smetana

    Vltava (Má vlast)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay.
    • Dvorak: Symphony No. 9: Berlin Philharmoniker, Ferenc Fricsay.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 5.
  • MUSIC IN TIME: MODERN

    • Erik Satie

      Le piège de Meduse

      Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
      • HARMONIA MUNDI.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Trio in C minor, Op.9 No.3

    Orchestra: Trio à cordes français. Performer: Gérard Jarry. Performer: Serge Collot. Performer: Michel Tournus.
    • EMI.
  • ARTIST OF THE WEEK: LEONARD BERNSTEIN

    • Leonard Bernstein

      Chichester Psalms

      Choir: Vienna Boys' Choir. Orchestra: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
      • DG.
  • Johann Nepomuk Hummel

    Piano Quintet in E flat minor, Op. 87

    Ensemble: Wanderer Trio. Performer: Christophe Gaugué. Performer: Stéphane Logerot.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Ottorino Respighi

    Fountains of Rome

    Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Seiji Ozawa.
    • DG.

Recording Rewind

The music played:

Wagner
Der fliegende Hollander: Summ’ und brumm’ (‘Spinning Chorus’)
Bayreuth Festival Chorus & Orchestra
Karl Bohm (conductor)
DG ELOQUENCE

Broadcast

  • Fri 16 Oct 2015 09:00

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