Record Review Podcast Podcast
Building a Library: a guide to the best recordings of the greatest classical music. Each week an expert and enthusiast brings along a wide range of recordings of a well-known piece. They explore the music and the different ways of performing it, ending with a recommendation for your library
UK Only
Episodes to download
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Building a Library: Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem
Mon 10 Jul 2017
Alexandra Coghlan recommends the best recording of Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem
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Building a Library:Jan谩膷ek's Sinfonietta
Sat 1 Jul 2017
Richard Morrison recommends the best recording of Jan谩膷ek's Sinfonietta.
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Building a Library: Telemann's 'Water Music'
Sat 24 Jun 2017
Simon Heighes recommends the best recording of Telemann's 'Water Music'
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Building a Library: Beethoven's Diabelli Variations
Mon 19 Jun 2017
Iain Burnside recommends the best recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations.
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Building a Library: Survey of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor recordings
Sat 10 Jun 2017
Ivan Hewett and Andrew survey recordings of the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
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Building a Library:Sinfonia da Requiem by Benjamin Britten
Sat 3 Jun 2017
Building a Library:Sinfonia da Requiem by Benjamin Britten
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Building a Library: The Mikado by Sir Arthur Sullivan
Sat 27 May 2017
Sarah Lenton recommends the best recording of The Mikado by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
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Building a Library: Sofia Gubaidulina
Sat 20 May 2017
Gillian Moore surveys recordings of music by Russia's greatest living composer.
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Building a Library: Monteverdi's L'Orfeo
Mon 15 May 2017
Jeremy Summerly joins Andrew for a live review of recordings of Monteverdi's opera.
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Building a Library: Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto
Sat 6 May 2017
Prokofiev was soloist at the concerto's 1921 premiere, which has become his most popular.
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Building a Library: Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 24
Sat 29 Apr 2017
Liederkreis was written in the year he devoted to song composition after marrying Clara.
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Building a Library: Mahler's Second Symphony
Tue 25 Apr 2017
Bill Mival assesses recordings of the epic 'Resurrection' symphony, live from Spiritland.
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Building a Library: Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata
Sat 15 Apr 2017
Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata was overshadowed by the success of his Piano Concerto No. 2.
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Building a Library: Kodaly's Dances of Galanta
Sat 8 Apr 2017
Kodaly's joyful work is based on the Hungarian dances of Galanta where he lived as a boy.
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Building a Library: Verdi's Aida
Sat 1 Apr 2017
Set in the Egypt of the Pharaohs, Verdi's Aida premiered at the Cairo opera house in 1871
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Building a Library: Mozart's Clarinet Concerto
Sat 25 Mar 2017
Mozart's final instrumental work was written for his friend, clarinettist Anton Stadler.
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Building a Library: Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
Tue 21 Mar 2017
Messaien's piece was premiered at a prisoner of war camp, outdoors in the rain, in 1941.
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Building a Library: Schoenberg's Gurrelieder
Sat 11 Mar 2017
Nicholas Baragwanath guides us through Schoenberg's epic Romantic cantata, Gurrelieder.
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Building a Library: Survey of Ethel Smyth recordings
Sat 4 Mar 2017
Explore the music of an underrated composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement
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Building a Library: Ives's Second Symphony
Mon 27 Feb 2017
Edward Seckerson joins Andrew McGregor to assess recordings of Ives Symphony No. 2.
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Building a Library: Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez
Fri 17 Feb 2017
Tom McKinney heads to Spain with the ever-popular Rodrigo Guitar Concerto.
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Building a Library: Bach's B Minor Mass
Thu 9 Feb 2017
Bach completed this piece by refashioning music he'd composed throughout his career
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Building a Library: Rossini's The Barber of Seville
Thu 2 Feb 2017
Ben Walton compares recordings of Rossini's hugely popular opera on Beaumarchais's play.
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Building a Library: Sibelius's Tapiola
Fri 27 Jan 2017
Tapiola is Sibelius's final masterpiece for orchestra. Andrew Mellor recommends a version
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Building a Library: Beethoven's String Quartet No 12, Op. 127
Fri 20 Jan 2017
Stephen Johnson compares recordings of the first of Beethoven's late string quartets.
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Building a Library: Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony
Fri 13 Jan 2017
Rob Cowan sifts through "Tchaik 4," a piece written at a time of emotional turmoil.
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Building a Library: Schubert's Fantasy in C, D934, for violin and piano.
Fri 6 Jan 2017
Harriet Smith compares recordings of Schubert's piece, which baffled its 1828 audience.
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Building a Library: Bruckner's Third Symphony
Wed 21 Dec 2016
Dedicated to his hero Wagner, Bruckner revised his Third Symphony several times.
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Building a Library: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21
Tue 20 Dec 2016
David Owen Norris sifts through the available recordings of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21
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Building a Library: Lassus's Lagrime di San Pietro
Fri 16 Dec 2016
Caroline Gill compares recordings of Lassus's depiction of the sorrows of St Peter.
Browse previous episodes of the Record Review Podcast
All episodes since 2010, listed alphabetically by composer surname.
