Crotchety Composers with Michael and Hilary Whitehall
Following their successful podcast The Wittering Whitehalls, the inimitable husband and wife double act, Michael and Hilary Whitehall, present Crotchety Composers on Classic FM, on Sundays at 9pm.
The special three-part Sunday night series will explore some of classical music’s most celebrated composers, showcasing their best-loved music whilst also revealing another side to their genius, with tales of short-tempers, grouchiness and witty put-downs.
They will feature the famously grumpy Beethoven, who would stop playing if audiences didn’t give him their full attention; the irritable Brahms, who once said, “If there is anyone present whom I have not insulted, I beg his pardon”, and Rachmaninov, whom despite his success, seldom smiled in photographs and was once dubbed a ‘six-foot scowl’ by Stravinsky.
Crotchety Composers will be a frank and honest look at the human side to some of the most famous composers, with some fascinating insight and a trademark Michael Whitehall opinion or two, combined with Michael and Hilary’s love of classical music.
Michael Whitehall said: “The elegiac and romantic Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, particularly the second movement, is one of my favourite pieces of music. I can’t believe Rachmaninoff was grumpy and if he seldom smiled in photos, I’d do the same. I hate being photographed.”
