Episode 1

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam are one of the world's greatest orchestras - many people think they're the best of all. This week Louise Fryer presents concert performances from the orchestra's current season, conducted by Ivan Fischer, Bernard Haitink, and their Chief Conductor Mariss Jansons. The music runs from Mozart to Mahler - Jansons and the Concertgebouw got rave reviews for their performance of his Second Symphony when they brought it to London recently, and you can hear them playing it on home turf. The orchestra's hall, after which they're named, is a beautiful building with a beautiful acoustic, and the week also features the select band of players from the full ensemble who form the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra. Plus performances with and without the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra by two young Dutch musicians who are former Radio 3 New Generation Artists: violinist Janine Jansen and mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn. And on Thursday, we pop south over the border to Belgium for the second in our Gluck double-bill of operas telling the tragic tale of the ancient Greek princess Iphigenia - the exciting productions staged recently at La Monnaie in Brussels.

Mozart: Overture to The Magic Flute
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
Ivan Fischer (conductor)

Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Janine Jansen (violin)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
Mariss Jansons (conductor)

2.40pm
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings
Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Marco Boni (conductor)

3.10pm
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no. 1 in F minor
Janine Jansen (violin)
David Kuyken (piano)

3.40pm
Tchaikovsky: Selection of songs
Christianne Stotijn (mezzo)
Julius Drake (piano)

4.00pm
Rachmaninov: Symphony no. 2
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
Mariss Jansons (conductor).