The Full Works Concert - Wednesday 26 March 2014

Jane Jones continues her exploration of the best releases so far of 2014, featuring music from VOCES8.

In tonight's Full Works Concert, Jane Jones continues to showcase the best album releases of 2014, including Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto by the Beethoven expert Rudolf Buchbinder, and a gorgeous new recording by the British vocal group VOCES8 (pictured).

It’s fair to say that Rudolf Buchbinder is obsessed with Beethoven. He owns some of the composer’s original manuscripts, and has studied his music in great depth over the last few years. After decades of work on the original scores, Buchbinder has now released live performances of all of Beethoven's piano concertos. He directs the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from the keyboard, in concerts that took place in May 2011 at the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. Tonight, we hear him playing Beethoven's mighty 'Emperor' Concerto.

The repertoire of vocal group VOCES8 ranges across the centuries - from Renaissance music to jazz and pop arrangements. For their debut album on the Decca label, the mood is determinedly ethereal to suit the title, Eventide. There are enchanting modern arrangements of ancient latin hymns as well as contemporary classics - including Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, which we hear tonight.

On her new recording, the violinist Arabelle Steinbacher is joined by conductor Daniel Dodds who directs the Festival Strings Lucerne in Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 3, 4 and 5. Steinbacher has had a long relationship with Mozart's concertos, and was playing No.4 at the age of eight. Jane Jones shares Steinbacher's brilliant recording of Violin Concerto No.3 in G major.


Brahms was well into his 40s by the time he completed a symphony – but by the time he reached his third, he’d hit his stride. Sweeping string melodies and autumnal colours interwoven with his recurring musical motto of ‘free but joyful’ create one of the composer’s most personal works. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in these live concert recordings.
 

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major Opus 73
Rudolf Buchbinder directs the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from the keyboard 

Morten Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium
VOCES8 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto No.3 in G major K.216
Arabella Steinbacher directs the Lucerne Festival Strings from the violin 

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.3 in F major Opus 90
Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra