Programme information Saturday 13th February to Friday 19th February 2021 WEEK 7 SMOOTH CLASSICS AT SEVEN with CHARLOTTE HAWKINS Sunday 14th February, 7pm to 9pm To mark St Valentine’s Day, Charlotte has two hours of perfect romantic and relaxing music. Highlights include Pachelbel’s Canon in D, the piece that Charlotte walked down the aisle to, a classical rendition of ‘My Love’ by Paul McCartney and music from Craig Armstrong’s score to Love Actually. Charlotte features Tianwa Yang as her Young Classical Star. The Chinese violinist began learning to play at the age of four, and quickly moved on to the competition circuit. Yang recorded her first album at the age of 13, featuring Paganini's 24 Caprices, making her the youngest musician ever to do so. She followed that with her European debut in 2001, and since then, she has gone on to perform at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic. Classic FM is available across the UK on 100-102 FM, DAB digital radio and TV, on Global Player on your smart speaker (“play Classic FM”), iOS or Android device and at ClassicFM.com. 1 WEEK 7 SATURDAY 13TH FEBRUARY 4pm to 7pm: MOIRA STUART’S HALL OF FAME CONCERT The programme begins with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, inspired by the composer’s fascination with Goethe’s writing, which he described as having a “great power over me”, before Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on an Elizabethan courtly melody. Moira then moves from Greensleeves to green fingers, as she features Paul Reade’s music to The Victorian Kitchen Garden, ahead of an award winning 2020 recording of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 from young star Benjamin Grosvenor; and a Mozart aria sung by Joyce DiDonato, who celebrates her birthday today. Ludwig van Beethoven Egmont Overture Opus 84 Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela Ralph Vaughan Wiliams Fantasia on Greensleeves Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Paul Reade The Victorian Kitchen Garden: Suite Clarinet: Emma Johnson Harp: Skaila Kanga Joseph Haydn Cello Concerto No.1 in C major Steven Isserlis directs the German Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra from the cello Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt Suite No.1 Sakari Oramo conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Erik Satie Gymnopedie No.3 Flute: James Galway Klauspeter Seibel conducts the London Symphony Orchestra Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor Opus 11 Piano: Benjamin Grosvenor Elim Chan conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Bedrich Smetana Vltava (From Má vlast) Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Continued… 2 SATURDAY 13TH FEBRUARY 4pm to 7pm: MOIRA STUART’S HALL OF FAME CONCERT Continued… Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ‘Voi che sapete’ (From The Marriage of Figaro) Soprano: Joyce di Donato Kazushi Ono conducts the Lyon Opera Orchestra James Horner Braveheart – For the Love of a Princess London Symphony Orchestra Antonín Dvořák Symphony No.8 in G major Opus 88 José Serebrier conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 7pm to 9pm: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES with ANDREW COLLINS On the eve of Valentine's Day, Andrew takes the opportunity to select the greatest film love themes. He features the music of the star-crossed lovers in Nino Rota's Romeo + Juliet, and the iconic score to Titanic by James Horner. We also hear the perennial classic 'Moon River' by Henry Mancini, as heard in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Aaron Zigman's moving score to The Notebook. 9pm to 10pm: DAVID MELLOR’S MELODIES David dedicates the programme to magnificent melodies of Central and South America. He features music from the king of the tango, Astor Piazzolla, and Brazilian composer’s Heitor Villa-Lobos’ exciting work The Little Train of Caipira. David also shines the spotlight on one of his favourite orchestras, the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela. 3 SUNDAY 14TH FEBRUARY 4pm to 7pm: JOHN HUMPHRYS John plays the opening movement from one of the best known violin concertos; Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D. Written on the shores of Lake Geneva, where the composer had retreated to seek inspiration, the fresh air of the Alps appeared to help the creative process, as Tchaikovsky completed the work in just one month. Hilary Hahn is the soloist, joined by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko. John also features A Prayer for Wales, performed by Godre'r Aran Male Voice Choir, and plays more of the pieces that ignited his listeners’ interest in classical music. 7pm to 9pm: SMOOTH CLASSICS AT SEVEN with CHARLOTTE HAWKINS To mark St Valentine’s Day, Charlotte has two hours of perfect romantic and relaxing music. Highlights include Pachelbel’s Canon in D, the piece that Charlotte walked down the aisle to, a classical rendition of ‘My Love’ by Paul McCartney and music from Craig Armstrong’s score to Love Actually. Charlotte features Tianwa Yang as her Young Classical Star. The Chinese violinist began learning to play at the age of four, and quickly moved on to the competition circuit. Yang recorded her first album at the age of 13, featuring Paganini's 24 Caprices, making her the youngest musician ever to do so. She followed that with her European debut in 2001, and since then, she has gone on to perform at Berlin Philharmonic Hall, with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic. 9pm to 10pm: SIR TREVOR McDONALD’S HEADLINERS (7 / 8) Sir Trevor McDonald tells the stories of more headline-making musicians and composers. It’s hard to imagine headlines that were worse than those which followed the premiere of Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.1. It was under-rehearsed, the conductor was drunk, and Rachmaninov himself fled the performance early. Sir Trevor demonstrates that it deserved better, with a performance from the Russian National Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev. He also features music from the original classical “rock star”. The term “Lisztomania” was coined to describe the legions of fans who would steal locks of Liszt’s hair and swoon in his presence. Leif Ove Andsnes plays his Liebestraum No.3. Then, Sir Trevor pays tribute to one of the greatest tenors and film stars of the mid-20th century, Mario Lanza, who was born just over 100 years ago, but died at the age of only 38. We hear Lanza perform his signature song, ‘Be My Love’. 4 MONDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 8pm to 10pm: THE CLASSIC FM CONCERT with JOHN SUCHET As voting for the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2021 is well underway, John dedicates the week of concerts to the current top 300, as chosen by listeners in 2020. Opening the programme, the only entry by William Walton to feature in the chart, Crown Imperial, composed for the ill-fated coronation of King Edward VIII, before an out of this world symphony by Mozart. After, we hear one of the chart’s three new entries last year, John Williams’ moving score to Seven Years in Tibet, played by his long-time collaborator Yo-Yo Ma, and there’s a critically acclaimed recording of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 by Daniil Trifonov. William Walton Crown Imperial David Willcocks conducts Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No.41 in C major K.551 (‘Jupiter’) Charles Mackerras conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra John Williams Seven Years in Tibet Cello: Yo-Yo Ma John Williams conducts a studio orchestra Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor Opus 30 Piano: Daniil Trifonov Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra Jean Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela Opus 22 No.3 Cor Anglais: Jukka Hirvikangas Osmo Vänskä conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra 5 TUESDAY 16TH FEBRUARY 8pm to 10pm: THE CLASSIC FM CONCERT with JOHN SUCHET To begin tonight’s showcase of the Classic FM Hall of Fame, John whisks us away to Rome with Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien, inspired by a trip the composer took with his brother. After, a Karl Jenkins favourite, before the great Kiri te Kanawa sing’s Marietta’s Lied, from Korngold’s opera The Dead City, with libretto by his father, Julius Korngold, which only entered the chart in 2016. Star soloists Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon and Emmanuel Pahud then come together for a sparkling performance of Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, and Herbert von Karajan directs the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a full performance of Brahms’ Symphony No.4, which re-entered the chart in 2020. Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky Capriccio Italien Opus 45 Neeme Järvi conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Karl Jenkins Palladio London Philharmonic Strings Erich Wolfgang Korngold Marietta’s Lied (From The Dead City) Soprano: Kiri te Kanawa Stephen Barlow conducts the London Symphony Orchestra Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals Violin: Renaud Capuçon Cello: Gautier Capuçon Flute: Emmanuel Pahud Studio Musicians Johannes Brahms Symphony No.4 in E minor Opus 98 Herbert von Karajan conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Morten Lauridsen O Magnum Mysterium Harry Christophers conducts The Sixteen 6 WEDNESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY 8pm to 10pm: THE CLASSIC FM CONCERT with JOHN SUCHET Continuing the celebration of music in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, John bookends the programme with two great Czech musical exports that feature in the current chart. First, Smetana’s tribute to the country’s longest river, the Vltava, and later we hear Novák’s Slovak Suite, played in full by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Libor Pešek. Elsewhere, there’s a contemporary favourite by the youngest composer in the Classic FM Hall of Fame, Alberto Giurioli, and Jack Liebeck plays Snow Drop from The Glorious Garden by Debbie Wiseman, Classic