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Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra in Building a Library with Emily MacGregor and Andrew McGregor

Emily MacGregor recommends her favourite recording of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. Plus a round-up of the best classical new releases.

9.30
Building a Library: Emily MacGregor recommends a her favourite recording of Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra.

For Bartók, the circumstances surrounding the composition of his Concerto for Orchestra could hardly have been more miserable. In 1940 he fled his native Hungary to escape the Nazis and spent the remaining five years of his life in the United States, those years blighted by despair, painful illness and abject poverty. But unknown to Bartók, two fellow Hungarians, violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor Fritz Reiner, conspired to persuade Serge Koussevitzky to offer a generous commission. In 1943, the glamorous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra visited Bartók in his New York hospital, and flamboyantly presented the composer, not only with a commission for an orchestral work but also a $500 down payment. Bartók began work in August and finished the Concerto for Orchestra just under three moths later. It spotlights, often with brilliance and playfulness, all the sections of the orchestra and perhaps only its central Elegy, which Bartók called a 'lugubrious death-song', reflects the circumstances of its composition. The work's recorded history begins at the beginning in 1944 with Koussevitzky and the Boston SO and has been much recorded ever since, a 20th-century classic by one of the century's greatest composers.

10.45
Yshani Perinpanayagam on new piano recordings.

11.25
Record of the Week: an outstanding new release.

2 hours, 47 minutes

Last on

Sat 22 Jan 2022 09:00
BBC Radio 3

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Building a Library on the works of Amy Beach with Katy Hamilton and Andrew McGregor plus Celebrating Haitink

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Music Played

  • William Walton

    Facade: No. 1. Fanfare & No. 2. Hornpipe - sailors come to the drum

    Singer: Roderick Williams. Singer: Tamsin Dalley. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Swan. Conductor: Bruce O’Neil.
    • Sir William Walton: A Centenary Celebration.
    • Somm.
    • 1.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Klavierstücke (4), Op. 119: No.s 2 & 3

    Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • Brahms: Late Piano Works, Opp. 116-119.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 18.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Alborada del gracioso

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Maurice Ravel: Ma Mère L’oye; Boléro; Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales; Pavane Pou.
    • Chandos.
    • 9.

  • Carl Reinecke

    Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 230: I. Allegro

    Ensemble: Hyperion-Trio.
    • Reinecke: Complete Piano Trios.
    • CPO.
    • 1.

  • William Walton

    Facade: No. 20. Popular Song

    Singer: Roderick Williams. Singer: Tamsin Dalley. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Swan. Conductor: Bruce O’Neil.
    • Sir William Walton: A Centenary Celebration.
    • Somm.
    • 20.

  • Claude Debussy

    Salut printemps, L. 24 (Arr. M. Gaillard for Women's Choir & Piano)

    Lyricist: Louis-Philippe de Ségur. Choir: Bavarian Radio Symphony Choir. Conductor: Howard Arman.
    • Debussy & Hahn: Vocal Works.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 1.

  • Ondřej Adámek

    Follow Me: II. - (Live)

    Conductor: Peter Rundel. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Ondřej Adámek: Follow Me & Where Are You?.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 2.

  • Richard Strauss

    Wiegenlied, Op. 41 No. 1 & Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1

    Singer: Jessye Norman. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt.
    • Jessye Norman sings Strauss: Five Songs & Salome.
    • LPO.
    • 4.

  • Johannes Brahms

    6 Pieces op. 118 No. 2. Intermezzo in A major (Andante teneramente)

    Performer: Paul Lewis.
    • Brahms: Late Piano Works, Opp. 116-119.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 12.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Waltz No. 5 in A-flat major, op. 42

    Performer: François Chaplin.
    • Chopin: 19 Valses.
    • Aparte.
    • 5.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Moments Musicaux, Op. 16: I. Andantino in B Flat Minor

    Performer: Jean‐Paul Gasparian.
    • Rachmaninov.
    • Evidence Classics.
    • 6.

  • George Walker

    Piano Sonata No. 1: I. Allegro energico

    Performer: Steven Beck.
    • George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas.
    • Bridge.
    • 1.

  • Alexander Tsfasman

    Jazz Suite: Polka & Fast Movements

    Performer: Ludmila Berlinskaya. Performer: Arthur Ancelle.
    • George Gershwin; Alexander Tsfasman: 2 Pianos.
    • Melodiya.
    • 4.

  • Ernest Bloch

    Schelomo

    Performer: Edgar Moreau. Orchestra: Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. Conductor: Michael Sanderling.
    • Transmission.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 8.

Record Review


9.00am

 

 

Sir William Walton: A Centenary Celebration (Façade – An Entertainment & Henry V)

Roderick Williams (baritone)

Tamsin Dalley (mezzo-soprano)

Kevin Whately (narrator)

Orchestra of the Swan

Bruce O'Neil (conductor) 

Somm  SOMMCD 277 

https://somm-recordings.com/recording/sir-william-walton-a-centenary-celebration/ 

 

 

Brahms: Late Piano Works, Opp. 116-119

Paul Lewis (piano)

Harmonia Mundi  HMM902365

https://store.harmoniamundi.com/format/923164-brahms-late-piano-works-opp-116-119 

 

 

Maurice Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye; Boléro; Valses nobles et sentimentales; Pavane pour une infante défunte; Alborada del gracioso

Sinfonia of London 

John Wilson (conductor) 

CHANDOS  CHSA 5280

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205280 

 

 

Carl Reinecke: Complete Piano Trios

 

Hyperion Trio

CPO  555476-2  (2 CDs) 

https://naxosdirect.com/items/complete-piano-trios-572508 

 

 

 

 

9.30am - Building A Library:  Emily MacGregor on Bartok Concerto for Orchestra

 

 

Recommended Recording:   

 

Iván Fischer

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Philips 4767255

 

 

Other Recommendations:

 

 

Fritz Reiner

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

RCA Living Stereo G010003641701P

 

 

Leonard Bernstein

New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Sony G010001223098K

 

 

Susanna Mällki

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

BIS BIS2378

 

 

 

 

10.15am – New Releases

 

 

Debussy & Hahn: French Vocal Music

Christiane Karg (soprano)

Gerold Huber (piano)

Angela Brower (alto)

Max Hanft (piano)

Tareq Nazmi (bass)

Anna Maria Palii (soprano)

Daniel Behle (tenor)

Nikolaus Pfannkuch (tenor)

Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Howard Arman  (conductor) 

BR Klassik  900529 

https://www.br-klassik.de/orchester-und-chor/br-klassik-cds/br-chor/cd-debussy-hahn-br-chor-arman-100.html 

 

 

Ondřej Adámek: Musica Viva: Follow Me; Where Are You?

Isabelle Faust (violin)

Magdalena Kozená (mezzo-soprano) 

Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Peter Rundel (conductor)

Sir Simon Rattle (conductor) 

BR Klassik 900638 

https://www.br-shop.de/shoplink/follow-me-where-are-you.html 

 

 

Jessye Norman sings Strauss: Five Songs & Salome

Jessye Norman (soprano)

London Philharmonic Orchestra         

Klaus Tennstedt 

LPO  LPO0122 

https://www.lpo.org.uk/recordings/new-releases.html 

 

 

1040am - New Releases: Yshani Perinpanayagam’s pianos [live: 40.00]

 

 

Brahms: Late Piano Works, Opp. 116-119

Paul Lewis (piano)

Harmonia Mundi  HMM902365

https://store.harmoniamundi.com/format/923164-brahms-late-piano-works-opp-116-119 

 

 

Chopin: 19 Valses

Francois Chaplin

Aparté  AP270

https://www.apartemusic.com/albums/chopin-19-valses/?lang=en 

 

 

Rachmaninoff

Jean-Paul Gasparian (piano)

Evidence Classics  EVCD085

http://evidenceclassics.com/ 

 

 

George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas

Steven Beck (piano)

Bridge  BRIDGE9554 

https://bridgerecords.com/products/9554 

 

 

George Gershwin; Alexander Tsfasman: 2 Pianos

Ludmila Berlinskaya, Arthur Ancelle (pianos)

Melodiya  MELCD 1002564 

https://melody.su/en/ 

 

 

 

11.20am – Record of the Week

 

 

Transmission – Music by Bloch, Bruch, Korngold & Ravel

Edgar Moreau (cello)

Luzerner Sinfonieorchester,

Michael Sanderling (conductor) 

Warner Classics  9029510510

https://www.warnerclassics.com/release/transmission 

 


Broadcast

  • Sat 22 Jan 2022 09:00
    BBC Radio 3

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