The Classic FM Concert with John Suchet

Tonight, John features music inspired by the written word.

John starts the programme with a classic fairytale: Rossini’s overture to La Cenerentola, or Cinderella, before music from the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

It wouldn’t be a celebration of writing without representation from William Shakespeare, so we hear three different musical interpretations of his plays, by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Prokofiev.

Other highlights include a tribute to Thomas Hardy by Holst, Eric Whitacre’s setting of a Rudyard Kipling poem and a Faustian waltz by Liszt.

Giaochino Rossini
La Cenerentola – Overture
Carlo Rizzi conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Patrick Doyle
My Father’s Favourite
Piano: Patrick Doyle

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
Romeo & Juliet
Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.17 in D minor Opus 31 No.2
(‘Tempest’)
Piano: Murray Perahia

Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Lark Ascending
Violin: Nicola Benedetti
Andrew Litton conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Sergei Prokofiev
Romeo and Juliet – Dance of the Knights
Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Gustav Holst
Egdon Heath
Richard Hickox conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Eric Whitacre
The Seal Lullaby
Piano: Christopher Gynn
Eric Whitacre conducts the Eric Whitacre Singers

Franz Liszt
Mephisto Waltz
Herbert von Karajan conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

As we reach the September equinox, and the first day of astronomical autumn, John presents a programme full of music to mark the change in the seasons, perfect for any weather!

To begin, ‘Autumn’ from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, played by violinist Adrian Chandler, joined by La Serenissima. Elsewhere, Vaughan Williams’ suite for Folksongs of the Four Seasons, which culminates in a rambunctious celebration of a good harvest, before Fanny Mendelssohn’s gentle musical depiction of September and a pastoral Finzi serenade.

There’s also an exclusive new work written by Classic FM’s composer in residence, Debbie Wiseman inspired by autumnal scenery, and to end the programme, John takes us to the colder climes of Finland, with Sibelius’ Karelia Suite.

Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons Op. 8 – Concerto No.3
(‘Autumn’)
Adrian Chandler directs La Serenissima from the violin

Alexander Glazunov
The Seasons Op. 67 – Autumn
José Serebrier conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Folksongs of the Four Seasons: Suite
Martin Yates conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Debbie Wiseman
Falling Leaves of Autumn
Piano: Dave Hartley
John Ashton Thomas conducts a studio orchestra

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
The Seasons Op. 37b – Autumn Song
Clarinet: Emma Johnson
Julian Reynolds conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Edvard Grieg
In Autumn Op. 11
Sakari Oramo conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Fanny Mendelssohn
September
(From ‘Das Jahr’)
Piano: Lauma Skride

Gerald Finzi
The Fall of the Leaf Op. 20
Mark Elder conducts the Hallé Orchestra

Jean Sibelius
Karelia Suite Op. 11
Neeme Järvi conducts the Gothenburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Tonight, John presents a programme full of musical comedy, including music that has been used, and arguably abused, by comedians, cartoons, and parodists over the years. The programme opens with Strauss’s best-known waltz, By the Beautiful Blue Danube, which was turned into an exploding orchestral mess in a Monty Python sketch.

We hear Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C-sharp minor, played to great drama in Walt Disney’s early animated short The Opry House. Though Rachmaninov had come to dislike the popular piano work, this animation brought a smile to the famously grumpy composer. He said “I have heard my inescapable piece done marvellously by some of the best pianists, and murdered cruelly by amateurs, but never was I more stirred than by the performance of the Maestro Mouse”.

Elsewhere, off-key horns are the gag in Mozart’s Musical Joke, and we hear Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, but without Elmer Fudd’s added lyrics.

Johann Strauss Jr
By the Beautiful Blue Danube Op. 314
Riccardo Muti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
A Musical Joke K.522
Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts Concentus Musicus Vienna

Waltz in D-flat major Op. 64 No.1
(‘Minute’)
Piano: Stephen Hough

Richard Wagner
Ride of the Valkyries
Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Sergei Rachmaninov
Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3 No.2
Piano: Vladimir Ashkenazy

Amilcare Ponchielli
Dance of the Hours
Marcello Viotti conducts the Munich Radio City Orchestra

Franz von Suppé
Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna – Overture
John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor Op. 13
(‘Pathétique’)
Piano: Angela Hewitt

Luigi Denza
‘Funiculi, Funicula’
Tenor: Luciano Pavarotti
Anton Guadagno conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Communale de Bologne

Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in Eb major Op. 33 No.2
(‘The Joke’)
Emerson String Quartet

Tonight John presents a very special evening in honour of the English composer John Rutter, celebrating his 75th birthday. The stalwart of choirs and Christmas concerts is one of the best-recognised living choral composers, and was described by conductor David Willcocks as “the most gifted composer of his generation”.

We hear some of his most celebrated works from his longstanding career, beginning with The Lord Bless You and Keep You, before A Gaelic Blessing and his Requiem, alongside other pieces including his Suite for Strings and the Beatles Concerto.

The Lord Bless You and Keep You
John Rutter conducts the City of London Sinfonia and Cambridge Singers

Suite for Strings
John Rutter conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

A Gaelic Blessing
Robert Prizeman conducts Libera and a studio orchestra

Requiem
Soprano: Alice Halstead
Cello: Sebastien van Kuijk
Oboe: Thomas Barber
John Rutter conducts the Aurora Orchestra and Cambridge Singers

Suite Lyrique
Harp: Catrin Finch
John Rutter conducts Sinfonia Cymru

The Lord is my Shepherd
John Rutter conducts the City of London Sinfonia and Cambridge Singers

Beatles Concerto
Pianos: Paul Schaefer and Peter Rostal
John Rutter conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

In tonight’s concert, John shines the spotlight on composers who were supported and commissioned by royalty: the wealthy patrons who put up the money so bring some of the greatest musical pieces to fruition.

The programme begins with great pomp, and a Handel favourite composed for the coronation of King George II, before two very different pieces written by former Masters of the Kings Music, Boyce’s Symphony No.1, and Patrick Hawes’ Highgrove Suite.

Elsewhere, there’s a contemporary choral piece commissioned for a royal wedding; music written by Elgar to celebrate the birth of Princess Margaret; and John tells the story of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, a true eccentric who was so impressed by Wagner that he gave him a house so that he could complete The Mastersingers of Nuremberg in peace.

George Frideric Handel
Zadok the Priest
Martin Neary conducts the English Chamber Orchestra & Westminster Abbey Choir

Patrick Hawes
Highgrove Suite
Harp: Claire Jones
Patrick Hawes conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra

Willian Boyce
Symphony No.1 in Bb major
Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Richard Wagner
The Mastersingers of Nuremberg – Prelude
Riccardo Chailly conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Edward Elgar
Nursery Suite
Bryden Thomson conducts the Ulster Orchestra

Paul Mealor
Ubi Caritas
James O’Donnell conducts the Westminster Abbey Choir and the Choir of the Chapel Royal

George Frideric Handel
Water Music Suite No.1 in F major
John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists