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The very best of classical music

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

1000 Playlist starter – listen and send us your ideas for the next step in our musical journey today.

1030 Song of the Day – harnessing the magic of words, music and the human voice.

1115 Playlist reveal – a sequence of music suggested by you in response to our starter today.

1145 Slow Moment – time to take a break for a moment's musical reflection.

1230 Album of the Week

To listen on most smart speakers say "Ask ѿý Sounds to play Essential Classics”

3 hours, 30 minutes

Music Played

  • Gioachino Rossini

    The Barber of Seville (Overture)

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • Rossini: opera arie e sinfonie.
    • Naive.
    • 3.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Toccata and Fugue in D minor

    Music Arranger: Markus Brönnimann. Ensemble: Ensemble Pyramide.
    • Bachs, Benda and Brönnimann: Music for Flute.
    • Toccata Next.
    • 108.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Andante Cantabile

    Performer: Li-Wei Qin. Orchestra: Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. Conductor: Michael Halász.
    • Russian Cello Concertos.
    • Naxos.
    • 901.
  • Gemma McGregor

    Love was his meaning

    Choir: Corvus Consort. Performer: Louise Thomson. Conductor: Freddie Crowley.
    • Welcome Joy - A Celebration of Women’s Voices.
    • Chandos.
    • 701.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Ball at the Palace (Hamlet Suite Op.116a)

    Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Bernard Herrmann.
    • Great Shakespeare Films Cinema Gala.
    • Decca.
    • 3.
  • Maria Theresia von Paradis

    Sicilienne

    Music Arranger: Samuel Dushkin. Performer: Elena Urioste. Performer: Tom Poster.
    • BIS.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Concerto in A minor RV.356, Op.3`6

    Performer: Avi Avital. Performer: Venice Baroque Orchestra.
    • DG.
  • Thomas Adès

    Les tours de passe-passe (3 Studies from Couperin)

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Thomas Adès.
    • Ades: Tevot; Violin Concerto etc..
    • EMI Classics.
    • 6.
  • Claude Debussy

    La Mer, L. 109: I. De l'aube à midi sur la mer (Transcribed for four-hand piano)

    Performer: Alexander Melnikov. Performer: Olga Pashchenko. Music Arranger: Claude Debussy.
    • Debussy: Préludes du 2e Livre, La Mer.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 113.
  • Franz Schubert

    Du bist die Ruh D. 776

    Orchestrator: Anton Webern. Singer: Benjamin Appl. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Oscar Jockel.
    • Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 105.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Quartet-movement in F major

    Ensemble: Panochovo kvarteto.
    • Dvorak Miniatures.
    • Supraphon.
    • 012.
  • Kodály Zoltán

    Intermezzo (Hary Janos Suite Op.35a)

    Performer: Laurence Kaptain. Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Kodaly: Hary Janos Suite: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jarvi.
    • Chandos.
  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Keyboard Sonata in F sharp major, K 318

    Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin.
    • BIS.
  • Jonathan Dove

    The Magic Flute Dances: IV. Lively - Entranced

    Performer: Emily Beynon. Conductor: Bramwell Tovey. Orchestra: ѿý National Orchestra of Wales.
    • Emily Beynon Plays British Flute Concertos.
    • Chandos.
    • 5.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    String Symphony No. 12 in G Minor, MWV N12 "Fuga": III. Allegro molto

    Orchestra: Heidelberger Sinfoniker. Conductor: Thomas Fey.
    • Mendelssohn: Complete Symphonies.
    • haenssler CLASSIC.
    • 203.
  • William Walton

    Hamlet: Funeral March Overture

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Charles Groves.
    • WARNER.
  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Masks (Romeo and Juliet - suite no.1 Op.64a)

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung.
    • Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet - Excerpts from Suites No.1-3.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 7.
  • John Dowland

    The King of Denmark, his galliard (Battle Galliard)

    Performer: Nigel North.
    • A Varietie of Lute Lessons: Nigel North.
    • Linn.
    • 13.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Foxtrot (Suite for Jazz Band no.1)

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Shostakovich: The Jazz Album - Brautigam, Masseurs.
    • Decca.
    • 3.
  • Giovanni Gabrieli

    Canzon Septimi Toni A 8 (Ii)

    Ensemble: Royal Academy of Music. Ensemble: Juilliard School Brass. Conductor: Reinhold Friedrich.
    • Linn Records.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Piano Quintet in C minor (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: London Soloists Ensemble.
    • Vaughan Williams: Piano Quintet.
    • NAXOS.
    • 1.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Eternal source of light divine (Birthday ode for Queen Anne)

    Singer: Lea Desandre. Singer: Iestyn Davies. Ensemble: Jupiter. Conductor: Thomas Dunford.
    • Eternal Heaven.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Ballade no.1 in G minor Op.23

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Chopin: 4 Ballades, Scherzos, Mazurkas: Emanuel Ax.
    • RCA Red Seal.
    • 1.
  • Gustav Mahler

    Ruckert-Lieder

    Singer: James Atkinson. Orchestra: ѿý Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Nil Venditti.
    • ѿý recording.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no.40 in G minor K.550 (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: The English Concert. Director: Trevor Pinnock.
    • Mozart: Late Symphonies: The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock.
    • Archiv Produktion.
    • 4.
  • Niccolò Paganini

    24 Caprices Op.1 (no.6 in G minor)

    Performer: María Dueñas.
    • Paganini: 24 Caprices — Caprices by Berlioz, Cervelló, Kreisler, Ortiz, Saint-Sa.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 6.
  • Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev

    Islamey Op.18

    Orchestrator: Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov. Orchestra: Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Lan Shui.
    • Russian Spectacular.
    • BIS.
    • 301.
  • Erik Satie

    Je te veux

    Performer: Roland Pöntinen.
    • Erik Satie: Encore: Roland Pontinen.
    • BIS.
    • 2.
  • Johann Strauss II

    Roses from the South, Op.388

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Franz Welser‐Möst.
    • J. Strauss II: Walzes & Overtures: Welser-Most.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 2.

Broadcast

  • Wed 5 Mar 2025 09:30

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