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The very best of classical music

Tom McKinney plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites, new discoveries and the occasional musical surprise.

Tom McKinney plays the best in classical music, with familiar favourites, new discoveries and the occasional musical surprise.

0930 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1010 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1045 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1130 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

3 hours

Music Played

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La forza del destino (Overture)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Verdi - Overtures and Preludes: Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major Op.81 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Jonathan Biss. Ensemble: Elias String Quartet.
    • ONYX.
  • Francesca Caccini

    Lasciatemi

    Performer: Sylvain Bergeron. Performer: Amanda Keesmaat. Performer: Luc Beauséjour. Singer: Shannon Mercer.
    • Francesca Caccini: O Viva Rosa.
    • Analekta.
    • 7.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 25 in G minor, K 183 (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Danish National Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: 8 Bit.
    • W.A. Mozart Symphonies Vol.7 (1773).
    • DACAPO.
    • 13.
  • Jón Þórarinsson

    The Blue and Brightly Shining Star

    Choir: The Hamrahlid Choir.
    • COME AND BE JOYFUL.
    • One Little Independent Records.
    • 5.
  • Franz Liszt

    Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C Sharp Minor

    Performer: Lang Lang. Music Arranger: Vladimir Horowitz.
    • Memory.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Festive Overture Op.96

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Shostakovich: Ballet Suites: Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi.
    • Chandos.
    • 19.
  • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

    String Quartet in G minor Op.14 no.6

    Ensemble: Les Adieux.
    • Marie-Antoinette: Music for a Queen.
    • Naive.
  • Gustav Holst

    Nocturne (A Moorside Suite)

    Music Arranger: Peter Dörpinghaus. Ensemble: Salaputia Brass.
    • Roots.
    • Oehms Classics.
    • 202.
  • Trad.

    Mitt hjerte alltid vanker

    Music Arranger: Christian Eggen. Singer: Lise Davidsen. Orchestra: Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Christian Eggen.
    • Christmas from Norway.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 6.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050: I. Allegro

    Ensemble: The Hanover Band. Director: Andrew Arthur.
    • Johann Sebastian Bach: Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1050, 1053, 1056 & 1057.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 101.
  • Elena Kats‐Chernin

    Spirit and the Maiden (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Streeton Trio.
    • STREETON TRIO.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Egmont Overture

    Orchestra: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Decca.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    12 Variations on 'Ah! Vous dirais-je, maman' K.265

    Performer: Myung-Whun Chung.
    • ECM New Series.
  • Ēriks Ešenvalds

    Stars

    Composer: Sara Teasdale. Choir: VOCES8.
    • Lux.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 7.
  • Jean Sibelius

    Pelleas et Melisande Op.46 (At the Castle Gate)

    Orchestra: Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Petri Sakari.
    • Sibelius - Incidental Music.
    • Chandos.
    • 1.
  • Jocelyn Pook

    How sweet the moonlight (The Merchant of Venice)

    Singer: Andreas Scholl. Performer: Siobhán Armstrong. Performer: Elizabeth Kenny. Ensemble: Baroque String Quartet.
    • Decca.
  • ö

    Cosmogony

    Ensemble: The Hamrahlid Choir.
    • One Little Independent Records.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony no.59 in A major 'Fire' (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Royal Northern Sinfonia. Conductor: Rebecca Miller.
    • Signum.
  • Cecilia McDowall

    God is Light

    Choir: The Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Hyperion.
  • Johann Strauss II

    Wiener Blut

    Orchestra: Orchester der Wiener Volksoper. Conductor: Franz Bauer-Theussl.
    • Strauss: Walzes: Vienna Volksoper Orch/Bauer-Theussl.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 002.
  • Agostino Steffani

    Sfere amiche (Niobe, regina di Tebe)

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Director: Stephen Stubbs. Orchestra: Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra. Director: Paul O’Dette.
    • ERATO.
  • Florence Price

    Elfentanz

    Performer: Dawn Wohn. Performer: Esther Jung-A Park.
    • Perspectives.
    • Delos.
    • 7.
  • Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz

    Harp concerto in B flat major (Rondeau - Allegro)

    Performer: Xavier de Maistre. Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: William Christie.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Nocturne Opus 32 No.2

    Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.
    • Chopin Nocturnes.
    • Hyperion.
    • 10.
  • Joaquín Rodrigo

    Canario (Fantasía para un gentilhombre)

    Performer: Miloš Karadaglić. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.
    • Milos Karadaglic - Aranjuez.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 10.

Broadcast

  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 09:00

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