Theatres and Churches
Donald Macleod takes a tour of Vienna鈥檚 Churches and Theatres in the company of Franz Schubert.
Donald Macleod takes a tour of Vienna鈥檚 Churches and Theatres in the company of Franz Schubert.
Of all Europe鈥檚 major cities, perhaps Vienna is the one with the reputation as the most comfortable, the most sophisticated, and the most musical. In fact, has any other city been home to so many great composers as Vienna? Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Salieri all spent their best years working there. Yet none of those starry names was born in the city, none were true Viennese. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod explores Vienna through the lens of arguably the greatest home grown composer the city has ever produced 鈥� Franz Schubert 鈥� a man whose short life spanned a crucial period in Austrian history, a time of crisis and much change. In his company we鈥檒l explore Vienna鈥檚 churches and theatres, its parks, coffee houses and taverns, and also glimpse the darker side of the city too 鈥� the excesses of Europe鈥檚 aristocracy and the all seeing eyes of Vienna鈥檚 secret police.
In Friday鈥檚 programme, Donald takes a tour of Vienna鈥檚 Churches in the company of Franz Schubert. We鈥檒l discover the spires and domes which would have characterised the city skyline in Schubert鈥檚 time, and explore the music making which happened within their walls. Donald also delves into another side to the city鈥檚 music making, examining Schubert鈥檚 attempts throughout his life to break into the world of the Viennese theatre, and explores what the music he wrote for the stage might tell us about the composer鈥檚 own opinion of the city of Vienna.
Ave Maria, D839, Op 52, No 6
Barbara Bonney, soprano
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
Mass No 6 in E Flat Major, D950 (Credo)
Vienna Staatsopernchor
Vienna Philharmonic
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Rosemunde incidental music, D797 (Nos 7-9)
Ileana Cotrubas, soprano
MDR Leipzig Radio Chorus
Staatskapelle Dresden
Willi Boskovsky, conductor
Alfonso and Estrella, D732 (Act I, Aria 鈥淪ei mir gegrusst, o Sonne!鈥�)
Christian Gerhaher, baritone (King Froila)
Berlin Philharmonic
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
An die Musik
Elly Ameling, soprano
Dalton Baldwin, piano
Produced by Sam Phillips for 大象传媒 Audio Wales & West
To listen on most smart speakers just say "ask 大象传媒 Sounds to play Composer of the Week"
On radio
More episodes
Next
You are at the last episode
Broadcast
- Fri 3 Jan 2025 16:00大象传媒 Radio 3
Beethoven Unleashed 鈥� the box set
The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems
Composers A to Z
Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod鈥檚 best stories from the last 20 years
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time 鈥� why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.