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Programme information

Saturday 27th April to Friday 3rd May 2019

WEEK 18

CLASSIC FM’S REVISION HOUR

Saturday 27th April, 9pm to 10pm

As the exam season arrives for GCSE, A level and university students, Classic FM is

broadcasting its first ever series solely for students.

To support them through what can be a stressful time, the station is launching Classic FM’s Revision Hour – a new eight-part Saturday night series packed with classical

music specially chosen to help concentration and relax the listener. To host two programmes each across the series, Classic FM welcomes four brand-new presenters

to its star weekend line-up. Presenters are to be announced.

Each programme will have a different theme – starting tonight with myths about revision and what does and doesn’t work – and and will include practical advice and tips, which

will also be available at ClassicFM.com

Classic FM is available across the UK on 100-102 FM, DAB digital radio and TV, the Classic FM app, at ClassicFM.com and on the Global Player.

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WEEK 18 SATURDAY 27TH APRIL 5pm to 7pm: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES with ANDREW COLLINS April has been a remarkable month for fans of fantasy films, with the arrival of the new biopic Tolkien with music by Thomas Newman, and the eagerly anticipated premiere of the latest season of Game of Thrones. To celebrate, Andrew Collins arms himself with a sword, a bow and an axe to traverse through the great music of the fantasy genre, until he discovers the one great theme to rule them all. On our quest, we’ll hear music from the German-Iranian composer Ramin Djawadi, who has scored all seven of HBO’s Game of Thrones series, and cues from Howard Shore's epic soundtrack to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. We’ll also travel to galaxies far, far away, with one of James Horner’s finest scores, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, and selections from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which propelled music by Richard Strauss into the public consciousness. 7pm to 9pm: COWAN’S CLASSICS with ROB COWAN This week, Rob marks two distinctive anniversaries. To begin, he features a piece that’s turning 270 years young today – Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks – with an effervescent recording from the Canadian Baroque specialists Tafelmusik. Today also marks the date the world lost the brilliant Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, who passed away on this day in 2007. To pay tribute, Rob features his stirring performance of Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 2. 9pm to 10pm: CLASSIC FM’S REVISION HOUR (1 / 8) As the exam season arrives for GCSE, A level and university students, Classic FM is broadcasting its first ever series solely for students. To support them through what can be a stressful time, the station is launching Classic FM’s Revision Hour – a new eight-part Saturday night series packed with classical music specially chosen to help concentration and relax the listener. To host two programmes each across the series, Classic FM welcomes four brand-new presenters to its star weekend line-up. Presenters are to be announced. Each programme will have a theme, starting tonight with myths about revision and what does and doesn’t work. The evening begins with music from a certain Shakespeare play which is bound to feature in a few exam papers, before hearing some of the biggest works by Mozart and Tchaikovsky: two composers with very different working schedules. There’ll also be music from an inspirational orchestra who plays everything from memory, plus the most famous fictional student of all time: Harry Potter. In addition, Classic FM has teamed up with The Student Room – the UK’s biggest online student community – to offer practical advice and tips on dealing with exam stress, last-minute cramming, general wellbeing and keeping exams in perspective. They will be included in each programme and available at ClassicFM.com. The series will also be available via Classic FM’s Listen Again function.

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SUNDAY 28TH APRIL 3pm to 5pm: CHARLOTTE HAWKINS This week, Charlotte’s Young Classical Star is the Swiss cellist, Cristophe Croisé. Born in 1993, Croisé made his debut at Carnegie Hall at just 17 years old and swiftly established an international reputation. He performs regularly with distinguished orchestras, and has been praised by critics around the world for his stunning virtuosity and sense of musicality that’s well beyond his years. Today, Charlotte shares Croisé’s take on the music of Vivaldi. 7pm to 9pm: DAVID MELLOR This week, David responds to various listeners requests and shares a charming story of how the English artist L.S. Lowry introduced a young lady to the world of classical music. David also features performances of Vaughan Williams’ Linden Lea and his arrangement of Loch Lomond, and offers the chance to hear a former leader of the London Symphony Orchestra in action with the music of Rimsky-Korsakov. 9pm to 10pm: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC with CATHERINE BOTT Composing classical music has long been considered a labour of love but for some of the great masters, it involved a little more labour, and barely any love at all. Tonight, Catherine Bott reveals the famous works that renowned composers hated writing, and the happy accidents that were born from last-minute favours, social aspirations, and sometimes, just a bit of fun. Discover which piece Saint-Saens refused to see published in his lifetime, the orchestral tour-de-force Tchaikovsky claimed was “completely without artistic merit”, and – in the words of Ravel – the ageless masterpiece “with no music in it”.

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MONDAY 29TH APRIL 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – NEW RELEASES Over the next three nights, we celebrate the best new releases of 2019 so far. Tonight’s concert includes a great recording from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and their new series devoted to Schubert symphonies. The astonishing 19-year-old Dutch recorder player Lucie Horsch plays Bach with a twist, and the 24-year-old Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki leads the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1. Plenty of other new releases feature, including Beethoven played by Anne-Sophie Mutter, a new work by Ludovico Einaudi, some sublime Samuel Barber from the choir Voces8, and the latest recording from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Jane Jones presents. Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings Voces8 Ludwig van Beethoven Romance No.1 in G major Opus 40 Violin: Anne-Sophie Mutter Diego Matheuz conducts the Saito Kinen Orchestra Felix Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor Opus 25 Jan Lisiecki leads the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra from the piano Franz Schubert Symphony No.3 in D major D.200 Edward Gardner conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Ludovico Einaudi Golden Butterflies Violin: Federico Mecozzi Cello: Redi Hasa Piano: Ludovico Einaudi Edward Elgar Mina Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Joseph Haydn Symphony No.65 in A major Hob.I:65 Giovanni Antonini conducts the Basel Chamber Orchestra Johann Sebastian Bach Oboe Concerto in D minor BWV.1059 (arranged for recorder) Recorder: Lucie Horsch Bojan Čičić conducts the Academy of Ancient Music

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TUESDAY 30TH APRIL 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – NEW RELEASES Jane Jones continues Classic FM’s celebration of the best new releases of 2019 so far. Our concert opens with Mozart’s penultimate symphony, performed by the NDR Radiophilharmonie under Andrew Manze. We’ll also hear the latest release from the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, before music by Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Weber and Bach. The range of soloists performing tonight includes pianist Jonathan Biss, violinists Isabelle Faust and Tasmin Little, and clarinettist Andreas Ottensammer. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No.40 in G minor K.550 Andrew Manze conducts the NDR Radiophilharmonie Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor Opus 13 (‘Pathetique’) Piano: Jonathan Biss Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Concerto in D minor BWV.1052 Violin: Isabelle Faust Bernhard Forck conducts the Academy of Ancient Music, Berlin Morten Lauridsen O Magnum Mysterium Stephen Cleobury conducts the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Carl Maria von Weber Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor Opus 73 Clarinet: Andreas Ottensamer Mariss Jansons conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Clara Schumann 3 Romances for Violin and Piano Opus 22 Violin: Tasmin Little Piano: John Lenehan

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WEDNESDAY 1ST MAY 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – NEW RELEASES Jane Jones presents a third evening of the finest new releases of 2019 so far, including the album that marks the return of one of the biggest stars in classical music: Lang Lang. Orchestral music from Wagner’s opera Parsifal is performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Gautier Capucon plays Schumann’s Cello Concerto; and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Christian Thielemann treat us to a very special performance form this year’s New Year’s Day Concert. We’ll also hear from the London Symphony Orchestra, the incredibly talented Kanneh-Mason Trio, and, to begin, a Prokofiev symphony taken from a new box set of Seiji Ozawa’s complete recordings for the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No.1 in D major Opus 25 (‘Classical’) Seiji Ozawa conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Frederic Chopin Prelude in D-flat major Opus 28 No.15 (‘Raindrop’) Piano: Lang Lang Ludwig van Beethoven Triple Concerto in C major Opus 56 Violin: Gordan Nikolitch Cello: Tim Hugh Piano: Lars Vogt Johann Strauss Junior An Artist’s Life Opus 316 Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Robert Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor Opus 129 Cello: Gautier Capucon Bernard Haitink conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe Richard Wagner Parsifal – Prelude to Act I Andris Nelsons conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Traditional Deep River The Kanneh-Mason Trio

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THURSDAY 2ND MAY 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – LEONARDO DA VINCI 500 The Italian polymath of the Renaissance, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, died on this day 500 years ago. His interests and research stretched beyond the imaginable: from playing and listening to music, drawing, painting, sculpting and architecture; to science, mathematics, inventing and engineering; as well as literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy and botany. Just one strand of da Vinci’s talents is exemplified in a series of musical inventions, and tonight, Catherine Bott pays homage by looking at some of the other musical inventions which shook the classical music world, as well as a few composers who dabbled in inventing themselves. The harpsichord enjoyed huge popularity in the Baroque period but by 1720, an Italian by the name of Bartolomeo Cristofori thought it was time to update it. The keyboard principle was the same, but a series of hammers striking the strings rather than plucking them opened up a whole new range of possibilities for composers and performers. One composer who quickly mastered the art of writing for this new instrument (and plenty of others) was Mozart, and we’ll hear a perfect demonstration with his Piano Concerto No.17. Other iconic inventions include the first single-reeded instrument, the clarinet, and its younger brother, the saxophone. And those composers who fancied themselves as inventors? Edward Elgar, who would happily spend hours in his shed tinkering away at little experiments, and Borodin, who is co-credited with discovering the ‘Aldol Reaction’. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No.17 in G major K.453 Maurizio Pollini leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from the keyboard Christobal de Morales Parce mihi Domine Saxophone: Jan Garbarek Hilliard Ensemble Edward Elgar The Wand of Youth Suite No.1 Opus 1a Mark Elder conducts the Hallé Orchestra Bernhard Crusell Clarinet Concerto No.1 in E-flat major Opus 1 Michael Collins leads the Swedish Chamber Orchestra from the clarinet Alexander Borodin Petite Suite Neeme Jarvi conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

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FRIDAY 3RD MAY 8pm to 10pm: THE FULL WORKS CONCERT – A SHEEN OF DEW ON FLOWERS: A CLASSIC FM EXCLUSIVE Last month, Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices gave the world premiere performance of a new work by Joby Talbot, at London’s Barbican Hall. The work – named A Sheen of Dew on Flowers – was commissioned by Independent Opera to reflect on the incredible strength, romance and legacy of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s marriage, while 2019 marks the bi-centenary of their births. Classic FM was there to record this special concert and tonight, Catherine Bott hosts this exclusive broadcast. A Sheen of Dew on Flowers is performed alongside Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.3 (‘Scottish’), which was dedicated to Queen Victoria by the composer. Mendelssohn also arranged the work for the monarch and Prince Albert to play together as a piano duet. Felix Mendelssohn Symphony No.3 in A minor Opus 56 (‘Scottish’) Natalie Murray Beale conducts Britten Sinfonia Joby Talbot A Sheen of Dew on Flowers Mezzo-Soprano: Kelley O’Connor Baritone: Tobias Greenhalgh Natalie Murray Beale conducts Britten Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia Voices Johann Strauss Homage to Queen Victoria of Great Britain Opus 103 John Georgiadis conducts the London Symphony Orchestra Martin Phipps & Benji Merrison Victoria – Suite Mediaeval Baebes and the Chamber Orchestra of London