BBC Music Magazine

Classical music is packed with weird and wonderful musical terminology. Steve Wright speaks to author and critic Jessica Duchen about the meaning and stories behind some of music's most common terms.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The uplifting sound of the horn, particularly in an orchestral setting, is familiar to audiences worldwide – but how do you play this wonderful instrument? Charlotte Smith interviews former London Symphony, London Philharmonic and current Royal Opera House principal horn David Pyatt, who takes her through her first horn lesson.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical excerpts: Brahms Symphony No. 1 London Symphony Orchestra/Jonathan Pasternack Naxos 8.572448 (2011) https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.572448   Franz Strauss Nocturno for Horn and Piano, Op 7 from David Pyatt Recital David Pyatt (horn); Martin Jones (piano) Erato 9029534229 (1998) https://www.warnerclassics.com/release/recital-horn-works   Interview recorded at the Royal Academy of Music, London: https://www.ram.ac.uk Student horn loaned with kind permission by Paxman Musical Instruments, London: https://www.paxman.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Classical film scores have given us some of the most recognisable music ever written – and film screenings with a live orchestral soundtrack in the concert hall are increasingly popular. But where do you start when writing a soundtrack and how do you capture that magic? Michael Beek speaks to British film composer Anne Dudley.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical Excerpt: Anne Dudley ‘Main Title' from Elle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) The Chamber Orchestra of London/Anne Dudley Sony Classical 88985361012 (2017) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elle-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B01KJ331FS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Smoking and alcohol are definite no-nos, but what else can you do to ensure your singing voice is in top condition? Jeremy Pound speaks to Olivia Sparkhall, author of A Young Person's Guide to Vocal Health, to find out.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending consistently tops polls as Britain's favourite classical work, but what is the source of its enduring popularity? Steve Wright interviews writer and broadcaster Andrew Green about his Lark Ascending/Skylark recordings project for the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, in collaboration with the Wildlife Sound Recording Society and British Library's Wildlife and Environmental Sounds Collection.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical Excerpt: Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin); Orchestra of the Swan/David Curtis Signum Classics SIGCD399 (2014) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vaughan-Williams-Ascending-Concerto-Serenade-Introduction/dp/B00N7CM1U0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The life of a performing musician isn't easy. There are multiple mental health challenges, including performance nerves, and a sometimes-overwhelming sense of competition and judgement. Charlotte Smith interviews cellist and former BBC Young Musician winner Laura van der Heijden about how she copes with these pressures.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical excerpt: Lili Boulanger Reflets from album Path to the Moon Laura van der Heijden (cello); Jâms Coleman (piano) Chandos CHAN20274 (2024) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Path-Moon-Laura-Heijden-Coleman/dp/B0CQ6YZXRM/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Opera is a bit like Marmite… you either love it or hate it. But can an opera cynic learn to love this intense art form? Michael Beek chats to star soprano and opera advocate Danielle de Niese.   This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical excerpt: Mozart ‘L'amerò, sarò costane' from Il re Pastore Danielle de Niese (soprano); Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Charles Mackerras Decca 478 1511 (2009) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Arias-Danielle-Niese/dp/B0027T5L4C Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To the uninitiated, the conductor can seem superfluous – simply waving their arms in the air while the orchestra does the hard work. But the art of conducting is fundamental to a great orchestra's sound and identity. Jeremy Pound speaks to BBC Symphony Orchestra principal conductor Sakari Oramo about this mysterious vocation. This episode is sponsored by Bang & Olufsen.   Musical Excerpt Dora Pejacevic Symphony, Op. 41 – IV. Allegro Appassionato (opening) BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo Chandos CHAN 5299 https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205299 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The team from BBC Music Magazine demystify the world of classical music through down-to-earth discussion and lively interviews. Want to know what an orchestral conductor actually does? Or how to write an effective soundtrack? Then this is the podcast for you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we chat to the multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Cosmo Sheldrake from his home in Dorset. True to form, he recorded his side of the conversation outdoors in the countryside, so there are quite a few birds and woodland creatures keeping us company throughout this episode. He explains how he records the most intimate, low-level sounds of animals, fungi, rain and even tree sap, and how he goes about recontextualising them in his music. He also tells us all about his musical childhood with his mother, who was trained in Mongolian overtone chanting and who had previously lived and travelled with the pioneering electronic composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.Links:Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake https://www.amazon.co.uk/Entangled-Life-Worlds-Change-Futures/dp/B084T51RCY/The Mystic Spiral: Journey of the Soul by Jill Purce https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mystic-Spiral-Journey-Soul-Imagination/dp/0500810052Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World's Music by Dust to Digital https://dust-digital.com/pages/excavated-shellac-an-alternate-history-of-the-world-s-music-1907-1967-tracklistSmithsonian Folkways (ethnographic recordings and folk from around the world) https://folkways.si.edu/Listen to all the music featured in this episode on our Spotify playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZoAZxQIlWVfH1dsiP5GAV?si=a1187808f9334992Music featured:Cuckoo Song (Cosmo Sheldrake, Wake Up Calls)Teo (Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain)Wriggle (Cosmo Sheldrake, The Much Much How How and I)Rich (Cosmo Sheldrake, Pelicans We) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we meet the star Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński to discuss the laborious process of recording previously undiscovered works, his passion for breakdancing and the music he listens to while he's on the move. He also tells us about why he believes the post-pandemic concert format works surprisingly well, and why he prefers listening to ambient music when he travels as opposed to music by the likes of Palestrina and Tallis. Listen to all the music featured in this episode on our Spotify playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7BIiAN1ge4UruD9bKO0VFb?si=1e27450900554e0fMusic featured:Victoria: O Magnum Mysterium (Choir of Westminster Cathedral/David Hill)Mozart: The Magic Flute (Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Mackerras)Hasse: Sanctus Petrus et Sancta Maria Magdalena (Jakub Józef Orliński, Il Pomo d'Oro/Maxim Emelyanychev)Handel: Rinaldo: Aria. Sibilar gli angui d'Aletto (Argante) (Christopher Purves, Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Swedish pianist Peter Jablonski discusses his recent recording of music by Stanchinsky (out now on Ondine), discovering the music of Bacewicz and his downtime during the pandemic has seen him fall in love with the piano all over again.Recordings featured: Stanchinsky: Piano Sonata in E flat minor (Peter Jablonski)Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Yuri Boukoff, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire/Ljubomir Romansky)Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 (Martha Argerich , LSO/Claudio Abbado)Chopin: Mazurka, Op. 6 No. 4 (Peter Jablonski)Bacewicz: Children's Suite – VII: Gavotte (Morta Grigaliūnaitė) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Reviews editor Michael Beek sits down for a chat with Hannah Rankin. The professional boxer and classically trained bassoonist discusses dividing her time between the worlds of sport and music, choosing the perfect ‘walk-out' music for when she enters the ring and some of her most cherished works to play and listen to.Recordings featured:Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Philadelphia Orchestra/Leopold Stokowski)Bill Conti: Rocky – Gonna Fly Now (DeEtta Little, Nelson Pigford (vocals); Studio Orchestra/Bill Conti)Pierné: Solo de Concert, Op. 35 (Karen Geoghegan (bassoon), Philip Fisher (piano))Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, K 191 – Rondo (Stepan Turnovsky (bassoon); Vienna Mozart Academy/Johannes Wildner)Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel – Overture (Philharmonia Orchestra/Charles Mackerras)Brahms: Hungarian Dances (Maxim Vengerov (violin), Vag Papian (piano); Virtuosi/Mikhail Parhamovsky) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

British clarinettist Julian Bliss has an extremely wide breadth of listening tastes, from heavy metal to core classical via jazz and funk. In this episode, he tells us about his passion for Rachmaninov and Oscar Petersen and why he thinks wind band music should be taken more seriously in the UK. He also reflects on the last year of lockdown and what it meant for his practice and approach to performance.Recordings featured:Stranger on the Shore (Acker Bilk)Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 (Martha Argerich, Berlin Philharmonic/Claudio Abbado)Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Alexandre Tharaud, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Vedernikov)The Masquerade is Over (Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley)Eric Whitacre: EquusPuccini: Madama Butterfly (Maria Callas, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Herbert von Karajan)Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (London Symphony Orchestra/Bernard Haitink)Glass: Etude No. 2 (Vikingur Olafsson)Invaders Must Die (The Prodigy) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We speak to Radio 3 broadcaster and producer Georgia Mann, who recently took over the reins on the station's morning programme, Essential Classics. She tells us all about the new musical discoveries she's made so far in the job, her experiences of live music during lockdown, starting out as a singer in Gilbert & Sullivan musicals and how to be articulate live on radio when a performance blows you away.Recordings featured:Miles Davis: Lift to the ScaffoldTrad: Blow the wind southerly (Sheku Kanneh-Mason)Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Pathétique' (Igor Levit)Peggy Granville-Hicks: Sinfonia Pacifica (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra/Richard Mills)Ruth Gipps: Symphony No. 2 (BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Rumon Gamba)Hannah Peel: Sunrise Through the Dusty NebulaBach: Cello Suite No. 1: Prelude (Yo-Yo Ma)Rossini: The Barber of Seville – Largo et Factotum (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Vittorio Gui & Sesto Bruscantini)Verdi: Requiem: Dies Irae (London Symphony Orchestra/Colin DavisElla Fitzgerald: Cheek to CheekSerge Gainsbourg: Les goemonsMozart: Laudate Dominum (Felicity Palmer, Choir of St John's College Cambridge, The Wren Orchestra/George Guest) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Montenegrin guitarist talks about falling in love with the guitar in Montenegro, ‘growing up' in London, his favourite guitar to play, the healing power of Mozart and his latest album The Moon & The Forest.Recordings featured:Joby Talbot: Ink Dark Moon – Luminoso (Miloš Karadaglić)Howard Shore: The Forest (Miloš Karadaglić)Albéniz: Suite Española – Asturias (Andres Segovia)JS Bach: Suite No. 4 in E major BWV 1006a - Prelude (John Williams)Mahler: Symphony No. 5 - Finale (Vienna Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein)Mozart: String Quartet No. 2 in D major, K 155 (Armida Quartett) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we have the delightful composer-librettist duo Héloise Werner and Octavia Bright on the podcast. The pair worked together on a one-woman opera The Other Side of the Sea and spoke to us from their respective London homes at the end of the UK lockdown, discussing themes of grief and isolation, as well as the role music plays in their lives and the ever-changing emotional responses they've had to it over the last year. They also share stories of carnival music and the human compulsion to dance.Music featured:Héloïse Werner: Coronasolfège for 6 (The Gesualdo Six)Britten: Peter Grimes (Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner)Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto (Yehudi Menuhin, Philharmonia Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler)Mozart: Clarinet Concerto (Sabine Meyer, Berlin Philharmonic/Claudio Abbado)Bach: St Matthew Passion (Choir of King's College, Cambridge/Stephen Cleobury)Bach: Violin Partita No. 3 in E (Christian Tetzlaff)Rebirth Brass Band: Do Whatcha WannaTeresa Cristina: Para Não Contrariar VocêBeverly Glenn-Copeland: Ever NewErrollyn Wallen: Concerto Grosso (Chineke! Orchestra/Anthony Parnther)Megan Thee Stallion: BodyBeyoncé: Sweet DreamsListen to all the music featured in this episode on our Spotify playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4JfJPzQGlqYTOxmuG3tZhn?si=1b5fcf5e26924b30 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Author and Indian classical singer Amit Chaudhuri talks to BBC Music Magazine about his relationship with western and Indian classical music, the allegories and narratives that can be created within music and his experience of working as the librettist on Ravi Shankar's opera Sukanya.His latest book, Finding the Raga: An Improvisation on Indian Music, was published recently by Faber, and is part memoir/part essay, focused on his enduring love for Indian classical music and the power of the voice.Music featured:Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Chile BluesUstad Dilshad Khan: Raga TodiKishori Amonkar: Raga Shuddh Kalyan – Khyal In Drut TeentalPandit Bhimsen Joshi: Sun Surat RangiliVishmadev Chatterjee: Bamana De BataBeethoven: Symphony No. 7 (Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan)Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 7 (Jonathan Biss)Ravi Shankar: Sukanya (London Philharmonic Orchestra/David Murphy)Listen to all the music featured in this episode on our Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3j2hzTzleS7cTs6GdIyDwa?si=dfca6ff7b9354707 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As he turns 70 years old, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber tells us about his remarkable life in music, from growing up in one of Britain's most famous musical families to performing on the world's finest stages and his unending passion for helping to create tomorrow's great players.Music featured: Shostakovich: Cello Concerto (Mstislav Rostropovich, Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy)Bernstein: Mambo (Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela/Gustavo Dudamel)Elgar: Cello Concerto (Julian Lloyd Webber, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Yehudi Menuhin)Mozart: Symphony No. 40 (Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We speak to DJ, broadcaster and presenter Edith Bowman about her fanatical love of film music and the scores that have shaped who she is today. A former Radio 1 DJ, Bowman has spent the last few years presenting the Soundtracking podcast, in which she talks to directors, actors and composers about the use of music in their films.She tells us about the origins of this podcast and the musical discoveries she’s made through it, the scores she returns to time and time again, and the opportunities lockdown has afforded to independent cinema.Recordings featured:‘Hand Covers Bruise’ from The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)‘Just Us’ from Soul (Trent Reznor and Atticus)‘Welcome to Lunar Industries’ from Moon (Clint Mansell)‘Bathroom Dance’ from Joker (Hildur Guðnadóttir)‘Cavatina’ from The Deer Hunter (John Williams)‘The Way of the Ghost’ from Ghost of Tsushima (Ilan Eshkeri) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Introducing the third season of the Music to my Ears podcast, where we sit down with artists, musicians, broadcasters and writers to find out about the music that has made them who they are today. This season, we hear from guests including DJ Edith Bowman, who tells us about the power of watching films with live orchestras; musician Como Sheldrake, who describes the process of recording the sounds of nature with ultra-high sensitive microphones; and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, who shared stories of his bohemian musical upbringing alongside his brother Andrew. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's episode of the Music to my Ears podcast, we speak to Paul Morley, the pop journalist and musician and, more recently, classical music devotee . Brought up in Stockport, Paul cut his teeth in music journalism in Manchester. He then went on to write for the New Musical Express, where he rapidly became one of the paper’s most respected critics, leading to regular appearances on radio and TV.In 1983, Morley and producer Trevor Horn founded ZTT Records, which soon hit both the top of the charts and the headlines with the release of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Welcome to the Pleasuredome album. In the same year, they also formed the group The Art of Noise, which had a string of hits including a cover of Prince’s Kiss, featuring Tom Jones.In more recent years, however, Paul has turned his attention towards classical music, and in 2010 took part in a BBC Four documentary called The Art of Composing, which saw him study at the Royal Academy of Music for a year. In 2020, he charted his developing interest in a new book called A Sound Mind: How I Fell In Love with Classical Music, which has now been published by Bloomsbury.Paul talked to BBC Music Magazine’s deputy editor Jeremy Pound over Zoom during the second period of lockdown in England, and told him how, from his pop and rock background, he gradually fell under classical music’s spell.Recordings featured:Brian Eno: Fullness of Wind (Variation on Pachelbel's Canon in D)Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande: 'Je les tiens dans le mains'London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon RattleLSO Live LSO0790Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2: I. OvertureBorodin QuartetDecca 4834159Janáček: Words Fail See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's episode of the Music to my Ears podcast, we talk to the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, violinist and producer Caroline Shaw about the music that underscores her day-to-day life and how she balances the various facets of her fascinating career. Orange, her album of string quartets recorded and performed by the Attacca Quartet, was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award earlier this year. Freya Parr spoke to Caroline over Zoom from her home in Amherst, Massachusetts.Recordings featured:Verdi: La Traviata ‘Dite alle giovine’ ­– Anna Netrebko, Vienna Philharmonic/Carlo Rizzi (DG 475933)Tune-Yards: Water FountainBach: Partita No. 2: V. Chaconne (Itzhak Perlman (violin) – Warner Classics 2564612981Bach: Brandenburg Concerto (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) (Erato 5615522)The Bangles: Eternal Flame See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, reviews editor Michael Beek sits down with the Russian-British conductor Vasily Petrenko. Vasily recently said farewell as chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic and is about to embark on final season as chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.Speaking from his father’s home in St. Petersburg, Vasily talks about returning to the condtuctor’s podium after months in lockdown, saying goodbye to the RLPO and his new appointment with the Royal Philharmonic in 2021.Recordings featured:Bernstein: West Side Story – Mambo (New York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein)JS Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I – Prelude No. 1 in C major (Sviatoslav Richter, piano)Sounds of NatureBeethoven: Grosse Fuge in B flat major, Op. 133 (arr. string orchestra) (Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Peter Oundjian) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, reviews editor Michael Beek sits down with the award-winning British film and television composer Debbie Wiseman OBE (Wolf Hall, Father Brown, Wilde) for a chat about her work. Debbie shares insights into her methods, conducting, her favourite music to listen to and a sneak preview of her latest film score, To Olivia.Recordings featured:Chopin: Preludes Op. 28 – No. 4 in E minorEric Lu (piano)Warner Classics 9029529234Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, K364 – PrestoAnne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Bruno Giuranna (viola); Academy of St Martin in the Fields/Neville MarrinerWarner Classics 7543022Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony – III. Turangalîla IMannheim National Theatre Orchestra/Alexander SoddyOehms OC472Joseph Horovitz: Oboe Concerto – Lento ModeratoNicholas Daniel (oboe); Royal Ballet Sinfonia/Joseph HorovitzWhite Line CDWHL2114Debbie Wiseman: To Olivia – An Everlasting Gobstoppper and a Shivery SmileNational Symphony Orchestra/Debbie WisemanDecca See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, BBC Music Magazine’s editor Oliver Condy talks to the former Guardian editor and now principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Alan Rusbridger.While the editor of a national paper during the Arab Spring, Wikileaks controversies, the newspaper hacking scandal, riots in the UK and more, Alan Rusbridger found time to learn and perform Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, a feat he describes in his book Play It Again: An Amateur Against the Impossible.Recordings featured:Chopin: Ballade No. 1Murray Perahia (piano)Sony Classical Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the OrchestraNew York Philharmonic/Leonard BernsteinSony Classical Bach arr. Busoni: Nun komm, der Heiden HeilandAlfred Brendel (piano)Decca Beethoven: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131Takacs QuartetDecca Schubert: Variations on an Original ThemeAndreas Staier & Alexander Melnikov (piano)Harmonia Mundi See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Music to my Ears podcast, BBC Music Magazine speaks to Karina Canellakis, who is currently chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and has been recently appointed as principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.Karina was born and brought up in a very musical family in New York. She initially studied and began her career as a violinist and played in a number of the world’s leading orchestras, and it was while she was playing with the Berlin Philharmonic as a member of its Orchester-Akademie that she was encouraged to take up conducting by Sir Simon Rattle. From that moment, she has never looked back, and has since led top ensembles across the globe, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra where she held her first post, as assistant conductor. She is equally at home in opera, and has conducted major productions of works by composers ranging from Mozart to Maxwell Davies.Karina talked to BBC Music Magazine’s deputy editor Jeremy Pound over Zoom during the second period of lockdown, and talked to him about the thrill of of working with contemporary composers, the rarity of female role models and the sheer joy of Wagner.Recordings featured:Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Op. 67 No. 5Alexander Armstrong (narrator), Richard Casey, Ian Buckle (piano duet)Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily PetrenkoWarner Classics 9029575952Wagner: Die Walküre: PreludeWolfgang Windgassen (Tristan), Birgit Nilsson (Isolde), Christa Ludwig (Brangäne), Martti Talvela (King Marke), Eberhard Waechter (Kurwenal), Peter Schreier (Seemann Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Karl BöhmDG 4497722Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Act III): 'Denn einer nur freie die Braut'Vienna Philharmonic/Georg SoltiDecca 4786192Stephen Sondheim: Sweeney ToddBryn Terfel (bass-baritone), Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Paul DanielDG 4778554 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Poet Wendy Cope joins our editorial assistant Freya Parr over Zoom from her home in Cambridgeshire to discuss how her enduring relationship with classical music has changed throughout the course of her life, with various careers as a primary school teacher, journalist and now poet. Introduced to the piano at the age of five, music has been a constant in Wendy’s life, with many of her poems having now been set by the UK’s leading composers. She tells us all about this fascinating process, and how it feels to hear your words set to music. Website: classical-music.com/podcastsRecordings featured:Mozart: Serenade No. 13 ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’: I. Allegretto (Vienna Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan Warner Classics 4768762)Bach: ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’ Cantata BWV 140 (English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir/John Eliot Gardiner Deutsche Grammophon 4807512)Bach: Concerto for Two Violins and Strings in D minor (2nd movement): Isabelle Faust, Bernhard Forck (violins), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Harmonia Mundi HMM90233536)Schubert: Im Frühling (Ian Bostridge (tenor), Julius Drake (piano) Warner Classics 5563472)Peter Maxwell Davies: Farewell to Stromness (Peter Maxwell Davies (piano) Naxos 950161)Tibetan Singing Bowls and Ocean Waves Sounds for Relaxation See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Irish soprano Ailish Tynan talks to BBC Music Magazine's editor Oliver Condy about her musical experiences in lockdown, recent streamed performances at the Royal Opera house and at Wigmore Hall and at home with her family, as well as the music that has inspired her throughout the year.Recordings featured:Wolf: GanymedJohn McCormack (tenor), Edwin Schneider (piano)Symposium SYMPCD1164 Schubert: Die ForelleAilish Tynan (soprano), Iain Burnside (piano)Delphian DCD34165 Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Ablösung im SommerChristiane Karg (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)Harmonia Mundi HMM905338 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Editorial assistant Freya Parr meets virtually with composer Errollyn Wallen. They discuss how lockdown effects a composer and what music Errollyn counld not live without.Website: classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Comedian and host of The Guilty Feminist podcast Deborah Frances-White joins our editorial assistant Freya Parr at her home in central London. She tells stories about sneaking into the opera when she first arrived in London from Australia, her experiences of music as part of the Jehovah’s Witness religion and the breadth of music she’s discovered through hosting The Guilty Feminist podcast.Website: classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Introducing a brand new season of BBC Music Magazine’s Music to my Ears podcast. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be joined by a raft of famous faces from the classical music world and beyond, including comedian Deborah Frances-White, former Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger, composer Errollyn Wallen, poet Wendy Cope and conductor Vasily Petrenko. Join us for a new episode every Wednesday and subscribe now to stay updated. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason joins our managing editor Rebecca Franks at the Royal Academy of Music to share the music she’s listened to throughout her life. From discovering Rachmaninov on CD in the car with her parents and seven highly musical siblings to streaming Yuja Wang and Beyoncé today, we hear about the music that’s shaped who she is as both a performer and avid listener.Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FaFkcK2TQLVg50BNYvk9A?si=a0hckCZxRySz1rI4vEPZ9AWebsite: classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Familiar to BBC Radio 4 listeners as an announcer, newsreader and, perhaps above all, the voice of the Shipping Forecast, Zeb Soanes has been a classical music enthusiast from a young age. He tells us about the music that has inspired him over the years.Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/69MDC2lhe97UXwT1EKfWv8?si=A8I3CUNUR6iRxeUisPF7oAWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

British composer Sally Beamish joined us via video conferencing software in lockdown to discuss the surprising musical discoveries she’s been making while at home with her partner, falling in love with Bartók’s string quartets and a vibrant Colombian joropo concert she attended earlier this year.Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CUCWUTOQEalD9Ieu4Uqjm?si=cYv6JIpcTcaCQCuwcAVbRQWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jake Heggie is one of America’s busiest and most popular composers. Music for voices sits at the heart of what continues to be a varied career, from his first opera – Dead Man Walking – to his latest song cycle based on poems by Margaret Attwood. In this podcast he talks to Michael Beek about his craft, finding his voice with opera and his greatest musical loves and inspirations.Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2vLnj9bKq67FCw9LMU5Ejw?si=DDlmzIUBRrmOWfP8IiA4dQWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Organist, choirmaster and presenter Anna Lapwood talks about her role at Pembroke College as director music, her first recording with the choir there and her musical loves that ranges from Richard Strauss and Tchaikovsky to the choral music of Caroline Shaw. Oliver Condy met her before the lockdown at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, just down the road from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where Anna had been presenting BBC Young Musicians for BBC Four.Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2kOOe5tCIBMkgqi3e7ZzAl?si=Ri4uAFhtTyK75doNasckUAWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Founder and conductor of the groundbreaking Aurora Orchestra, Nicholas Collon explores the music that has inspired him over the years, from the Bach piano pieces he learnt as a child to glorious moments of English choral music.Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/36bnWpyFELm1D9vW0qw5jx?si=WhTnLEVjTnqhbgzBLrUVqAWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson tells us about the music that’s shaped her life, from the Spanish piano music she listened to in the car as a child to Philip Glass’s violin transcriptions, which helped her learn how to circular breatheEpisode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Le4hLRhoSU2QAXtVBdnsg?si=mCttrkKcSZmjmniPi2xMnAWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Following his recital with recorder player Michaela Petri at the Bath Bachfest, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani strolled around the centre of the Georgian city with Oliver Condy and shared his favourite music, including a symphonic discovery and the single piece of music he couldn’t live without…Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2v78HC0EKL7tiArRw4ApM7?si=qT5om-FHTFqiIzh3vCsMLQWebsite: Classical-music.com/podcasts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BBC Music Magazine’s brand new podcast, Music to my Ears, features a series of interviews with well-known classical musicians and composers about their musical passions and discoveries. Join us for a new episode every Wednesday and Subscribe to stay updated. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this month's podcast, we discuss Yo-Yo Ma's intrepid musical exploration across the globe, from the Silk Road to Appalachian America. Plus, we discuss the plans for this year's slightly different BBC Proms season and what London's Wigmore Hall is doing to welcome artists back to its stage. We've also each brought along a new recording we've been enjoying, including a fresh interpretation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, plus works by Morton Gould and Louis-Gabriel Guillemain.NEWS:Pentecost - Sequentia - Veni Sancte SpiritusBenedictine nuns of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Fidélité of Jouques, ProvenceTHE MAGAZINEScarcely Cricket Not Our First Goat RodeoYo-Yo Ma (cello), Stuart Duncan (violin), Edgar Meyer (bass), Chris Thile (mandolin)Sony Masterworks 19439738552Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1: IV. PrestoAlina Ibragimova (violin), State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia ‘Evgeny Svetlanov’/Vladimir JurowskiHyperion CDA68313FIRST LISTENFreya's choice:Beethoven: Symphony No. 5: I. Allegro con brioMusicAeterna/Teodor CurrentzisSony 19075884972Michael's choice:Louis-Gabriel Guillemain : Symphony in E flat major, Op. 14 No.2 : I. AllegroBrillance IndéniableAlana Youssefian (violin), Le Bien AiméAvie AV2412Jeremy's choice:Morton Gould – SymphonettesConga from Symphonette No. 4ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra/Arthur FagenNaxos 8559869This podcast was presented by BBC Music Magazine’s deputy editor Jeremy Pound, with reviews editor Michael Beek and editorial assistant Freya Parr. The jingles were composed by Christopher Maxim and the episode was produced by Jack Bateman and Ben Youatt. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.