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A feast of great music

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

Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

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4 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Fri 19 Sep 2025 09:30

Music Played

  • Edward Elgar

    Salut d'amour

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Mazurek in E minor Op.49

    Performer: Jan Mráček. Orchestra: Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: James Judd.
    • Dvorak Violin Concerto etc..
    • ONYX.
    • 5.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Rondino in E flat major WoO.25

    Ensemble: Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer.
    • Beethoven: Octet etc.: Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 9.
  • Clara Schumann

    Gondoliera (3 Part-songs for chorus)

    Choir: North German Radio Choir. Director: Philipp Ahmann.
    • ES-Dur.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto No.2 in B Flat Major (4th mvt)

    Performer: Francesco Piemontesi. Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Conductor: Manfred Honeck.
    • Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117.
    • Pentatone.
  • Leroy Anderson

    Irish Suite: V. The Last Rose of Summer

    Conductor: Leonard Slatkin. Orchestra: ѿý Concert Orchestra.
    • Anderson, L.: Orchestral Music, Vol. 4 - Irish Suite / Scottish Suite / Alma Mat.
    • Naxos.
    • 5.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Keyboard Concerto No 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Christophe Rousset. Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Director: Christopher Hogwood.
    • J.S. Bach The Complete Harpsichord Concertos.
    • Decca.
    • 1.
  • Margaret Bonds

    Montgomery Variations (Benediction)

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Kellen Gray.
    • Linn.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Anthony McGill. Ensemble: Pacifica Quartet.
    • Mozart & Brahms Clarinet Quintets.
    • Cedille.
    • 3.
  • Maurice Ravel

    La Valse

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: Cristian Măcelaru.
    • NAIVE.
  • Orlande de Lassus

    Audi tellus [Sacræ cantiones]

    Choir: Cappella Amsterdam. Conductor: Daniel Reuss.
    • Lassus: Inferno.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 102.
  • Giovanni Bottesini

    Reverie for double bass and piano

    Performer: Thomas Martin. Performer: Anthony Halstead.
    • Bottesini: Vol.4.
    • ASV.
    • 12.
  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Symphony no.2 in E minor Op.27 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Budapest Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Iván Fischer.
    • Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2: Budapest Festival Orchestra, Fischer.
    • Channel Classics.
    • 2.
  • Isabella Leonarda

    Sonata VII à tre

    Ensemble: Concerto Soave. Director: Jean-Marc Aymes.
    • AMBRONAY.
  • Morten Lauridsen

    La rose complète; Dirait-on (Les chansons des roses)

    Choir: Polyphony. Performer: Morten Lauridsen. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Les Chansons Des Roses.
    • Hyperion.
    • 9-10.
  • James Oswald

    Airs for the Autumn, Night Shade

    Ensemble: The Broadside Band.
    • Airs for the Seasons.
    • Sono Luminus.
    • 23.
  • Max Richter

    Vivaldi Recomposed: Summer 3

    Performer: Elena Urioste. Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra.
    • The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 7.
  • Edvard Grieg

    Holberg Suite, Op 40 (Gavotte; Musette)

    Conductor: Neville Marriner. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
    • Hanssler.
  • Franz Schubert

    Impromptu in A flat major, D.899 no.4

    Performer: Radu Lupu.
    • Schubert: Four Impromptus, D899 & D935: Radu Lupu.
    • Decca.
    • 3.
  • Ernest Tomlinson

    2 Miniature Dances: Rigadoon

    Conductor: Ernest Tomlinson. Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Tomlinson: First Suite of English Folk-Dances.
    • Marco-Polo.
    • 1.
  • Carl Nielsen

    Serenata in vano FS.68

    Ensemble: Fibonacci Sequence.
    • Chamber Music for Horn.
    • Deux-Elles.
    • 10.
  • Gustav Holst

    Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (The Planets, Op.32)

    Orchestra: ѿý Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis.
    • Holst: Orchestral Works, Volume 2.
    • Chandos.
    • 13.
  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Piano Concerto No.5 "The Egyptian" in F major, Op.103

    Performer: Louis Schwizgebel. Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos 2 & 5.
    • APARTE.
    • 04.
  • Vincenzo Bellini

    "Casta Diva" from 'Norma'

    Performer: Karen Jones. Singer: Angela Gheorghiu. Choir: Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Evelino Pidò.
    • 'Casta Diva'.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.
  • Louise Héritte-Viardot

    Piano Quartet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 9 "Im Sommer": III. Die Schwüle

    Ensemble: Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.
    • Brahms & Contemporaries, Vol. 2.
    • Chandos.
    • 103.
  • John Rutter

    Suite Lyrique: Rondeau

    Performer: Catrin Finch. Orchestra: Sinfonia Cymru. Conductor: John Rutter.
    • Blessing.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 13.
  • Johann David Heinichen

    Dresden Concerto in F major, S 234

    Conductor: Reinhard Goebel. Orchestra: Musica Antiqua Köln.
    • Archiv Produktion.
  • Leonard Bernstein

    Candide: Overture

    Lyricist: Leonard Bernstein. Lyricist: Richard Wilbur. Lyricist: John Latouche. Lyricist: Dorothy Parker. Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Maestro: Music by Leonard Bernstein (Original Soundtrack).
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 20.

Broadcast

  • Fri 19 Sep 2025 09:30