The Classic FM Concert with John Suchet

John showcases a new recording of, in his opinion, the finest of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos – the Piano Concerto No.4 – from Gianluca Cascioli accompanied by Ensemble Resonanz. Premiered at the same concert as Beethoven’s Symphonies No.5 and No.6, the marathon event was the final time Beethoven would appear as soloist with an orchestra.

There’s also an exciting performance of Rossini’s overture to his comic opera The Barber of Seville, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play Borodin’s Symphony No.1.

Gioachino Rossini
The Barber of Seville – Overture
Rinaldo Alessandrii conducts Concerto Italiano

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No.4 in G major Opus 58
Piano: Gianluca Cascioli
Riccardo Minasi conducts Ensemble Resonanz

Dmitri Shostakovich
Ballet Suite No.3
Neeme Järvi conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Alexander Borodin
Symphony No.1 in E-flat major
Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

John marks St. Andrew’s Day with music inspired by, and written about, Scotland together with some of the great Scottish classical artists. The programme opens with Mendelssohn’s tribute to the highlands, which in a letter to his sister he described as having extraordinarily affected him: the Hebrides Overture.

There’s also a Robbie Burns classic sung by Voces8, and a selection of works performed by some of Scotland’s finest musicians today, including violinist Nicola Benedetti.

A performance of Mozart’s Symphony No.35 from one of the county’s most celebrated ensembles, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, concludes the programme.

Felix Mendelssohn
Hebrides Overture Opus 26
(‘Fingal’s Cave’)
John Eliot Gardiner conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Traditional
‘My love is like a red, red rose’
Flute: Gareth McLearnon
Voces8

Max Bruch
Scottish Fantasy Opus 46
Violin: Tasmin Little
Vernon Handley conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Hamish MacCunn
The Land of the Mountain and the Flood
Alexander Gibson conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Malcolm Arnold
4 Scottish Dances Opus 59
Bryden Thomson conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Marietta’s Lied
Violin: Nicola Benedetti
Kiril Karabits conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Anon
A Scots Tune
Guitar: Sean Shibe

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No.35 in D major K.385
Charles Mackerras conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

John marks the first day of December, and the start of Advent, with a sprinkling of seasonal music, beginning with an outing on the ice – Les Patineurs by Waldteufel – and Winter from Vivaldi’s perennial hit the Four Seasons.

There’s also a cosy film favourite from Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, and a stunning performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, before a suite of music from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which though performed around the world today, was a critical failure at its premiere.

Émile Waldteufel                                          
Les Patineurs Opus 183
André Rieu conducts the André Rieu Orchestra

Antonio Vivaldi                                                   
Four Seasons Opus 8 – Winter 
Rachel Podger directs Brecon Baroque from the violin

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
Nutcracker: Suite
George Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Anon                                                                
‘Deck the hall with boughs of holly’
Organ: Jonathan Vaughn
Matthew Owens conducts the Wells Cathedral Choir

Felix Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto in E minor Opus 64
Violin: Maxim Vengerov
Kurt Masur conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

Patrick Doyle                                                      
Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire – Harry in Winter
Studio Orchestra

Edvard Grieg
Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Piano: Stephen Hough

Johann Sebastian Bach                            
‘Jauchzet, frohlocket’
(Feom the Christmas Oratorio BWV.248)
Harry Christophers conducts The Sixteen and the Symphony of Harmony & Invention

Humperdinck’s charming overture to Hansel & Gretel opens the programme that includes several seasonal favourites. There’s a celebration of traditional melodies in Vaughan Williams’ Folk Songs of the Four Seasons, which was written for the Women’s Institute and features a raucous arrangement of the ‘Wassail Song’.

A highlight of the evening Glazunov’s orchestral interpretation of the season, and Maria-Joao Pires plays Schumann in his most virtuosic form.

Engelbert Humperdinck                                       
Hansel & Gretel – Overture 
Colin Davis conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden

Adolphe Adam                                     
‘O Holy Night’
Organ: Aaron Shilson
Sarah MacDonald conducts the Girl Choristers and Lay Clerks of Ely Cathedral

Claude Debussy
Reverie
Piano: Helene Grimaud

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

Alexander Glazunov                                      
The Seasons Opus 67 – A Winter Landscape
Dmitri Kitajenko conducts the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra

George Frideric Handel
Sarabande
Paul Bateman conducts the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra

Frederick Delius                                               
Sleigh Ride
John Rutter conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Robert Schumann
Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 54
Piano: Maria-Joao Pires
John Eliot Gardiner conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

John presents another programme of music perfect for a winter’s night, beginning with a stroll through Nordic scenery in Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, before a moving performance of the carol ‘Away in a Manger’ by Tenebrae.

The centrepiece of the programme is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.1, nicknamed ‘Winter Daydreams’. One of the composer’s earliest successful works, he remained fond of it throughout his career, describing the piece in a letter as “better than any of my other more mature works”. John selects a performance from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko.

Jean Sibelius                                                    
Karelia Suite Opus 11
Neeme Järvi conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

William James Kirkpatrick                                    
‘Away in a Manger’ 
Organ: James Sherlock
Nigel Short conducts Tenebrae

Arcangelo Corelli                                                 
Concerto Grosso No.8 in G minor Opus 6
(‘Christmas’)
Renato Fasano conducts Virtuosi di Roma

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky                                          
Symphony No.1 in G minor Opus 13
(‘Winter Daydreams’)
Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

In Dulci Jubilo                                                         
Organ: Daisy Fancourt
Howard Goodall conducts the Enchanted Voices

Joseph Haydn
Keyboard Concerto in G major Hob.XVIII:4
Piano: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Gabor Takacs-Nagy conducts the Manchester Camerata