Antonio Pappano conducts Mozart's great comic opera The Marriage of Figaro. 
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A Brahms discovery!
András Schiff gives the first broadcast of a new piece by Johannes Brahms in a soon to be published edition by Christopher Hogwood . Tom Service learns the fascinating provenance and re-discovery of this little piece written by the 20 year-old Johannes. Written in 1853, the work - that Hogwood has called 'Albumblatt', (sheet from an album) - is a fabulously enchanting melody in A minor. But it's more than that: it's proper piece with a beginning, middle, and end – and it also has more than a few secrets to give up!
Bärenreiter to publish the Hogwood edition of Albumblatt
Photo: Copy of Christopher Hogwood’s edition of Albumblatt © BBC -
Frederick Delius at 150
Sunday 29th January marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Delius. With the help of composer Anthony Payne, writer Daniel Grimley, violinist Tasmin Little and pianist Piers Lane, Tom challenges the perception that Delius was just a sentimental pastoralist exploring what the problem with Delius has been and why we should hear what his music is really about.
More information: The Delius Society
Photo: Delius in 1907 © The Delius Trust -
Would Rachmaninov have enjoyed Twitter?
Pianist Stephen Hough provides the latest of our reflections on the musical world in 2012. His subject can be put quite concisely, in less than 140 characters in fact: would Rachmaninov have enjoyed Twitter? Hough, whose blogs and tweets are some of the most fascinating of any classical musician anywhere, gives us his thoughts on the relationship between the public and private sides of being a world-famous concert pianist. Social media, as he rightly says, are here to stay!
More information: Stephen Hough
Photo: Stephen Hough © Sim Canetty-Clarke -
Dallapiccola: The Prisoner
Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola knew what it was like to be a prisoner. In 1917 when he was a teenager, he and his family were interned in Graz by the Austrians. It was an experience that haunted him, but it would take decades before he would turn the strength of those feelings into music and the result is one of the most important operas of the 20th century: The Prisoner. That’s the view expressed by conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, who leads a performance of the opera in London on Thursday. He and writer Misha Donat explain to Tom why The Prisoner is such an essential document of 20th century’s political and musical experience, and why its message is still so resonant today.
More information: The Prisoner at the Royal Festival Hall - Thurs 26th January
Photo: Luigi Dallapiccola © Anna Dallapiccola
Broadcasts
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BBC Radio 3Sat 21 Jan 2012 12:15 BBC Radio 3
Podcast
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Music Matters
The latest news on classical music. Interviews with key UK and international performers, composers,...
