Pergolesi and Mascagni

Donald Macleod explores some of the greatest “one-hit wonders” in classical music.

Donald Macleod and Sarah Willis explore the life and music of Giovanni Pergolesi and Pietro Mascagni – two more of classical music’s greatest “one-hit wonders”.

Classical music is littered with composers who are famous for just a single piece of music. In a special week of Composer of the Week programmes, Donald Macleod is joined by Berlin Philharmonic horn player Sarah Willis to explore ten of these composers and examine episodes from their lives, alongside their compositions – both their popular hits and some of their less familiar music. They also try to isolate why certain works have captured the popular imagination of audiences around the world.

In Thursday’s programme, Donald and Sarah explore the life and music of Giovanni Pergolesi, whose huge posthumous fame has now been reduced to just a sole work, and a composer at the other end of the scale, who even in his own lifetime, despite his best efforts, was primarily famous for just a single piece – Pietro Mascagni.

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater (excerpt)
Barbara Bonney, soprano
Andreas Scholl, countertenor
Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset, director

Pergolesi: Conversione di San Guglielmo (Sinfonia)
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Pergolesi, Dixit Dominus, Opening chorus
Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera di Lugano
Orchestra Mozart
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater (excerpt)
Giulia Semenzato, soprano
Lucile Richardot, mezzo-soprano
Ensemble Resonanz
Riccardo Minasi, conductor

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana (Easter Hymn, Inneggiamo & Intermezzo)
Melody Moore, soprano (Santuzza)
Brian Jagde, tenor (Turiddu)
Elisabetta Fiorillo, mezzo-soprano (Lucia)
Lester Lynch, baritone (Alfio)
Roxana Constantinescu, mezzo-soprano (Lola)
Dresden Philharmonic
Leipzig Radio Choir
Marek Janowski, conductor

Mascagni: Rapsodia Satanica, Prologue
Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Frank Strobel, conductor

Produced by Sam Phillips, for BBC Wales