Record Review Podcast

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Mozart Piano Concerto No 21 in C Dec 12, 2022

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Natasha Loges chooses her favourite recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 ('Elvira Madigan').

Perhaps the only piece of music to be named after a Swedish slack line dancer, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 gained its soubriquet after its remarkable slow movement was used as part of the soundtrack to the 1967 film Elvira Madigan. But circus acts or no, this concerto from 1785 is Mozart at the absolute height of his powers, the foremost pianist-composer of his day, breaking new ground with a series of concertos whose musical depth, virtuosity, inventiveness, woodwind writing and symphonic scale were all unprecedented.

There are literally hundreds of recordings of this great work, many made by the giants of 20th- and 21st-century piano-playing on modern pianos. But intriguingly, there is a much smaller, if growing number made by musicians who use instruments of the period, allowing us to hear the extraordinary range of colours and textures conjured up by Mozart and which he himself would have heard.

Richard Strauss's Don Juan Nov 28, 2022

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William Mival chooses his favourite recording of Richard Strauss's symphonic poem Don Juan.

In Strauss's Don Juan, the infamous libertine bursts onto the stage with a dazzling flourish. The following 16 minutes are no less compelling, the irresistible, swaggering Don superbly evoked through sumptuous and virtuosic orchestration, including tender violin and oboe solos and heroic, triumphant horn calls. Strauss, in his mid-20s, could already do it all! It's music that, even after 130 years, still keeps orchestras and conductors on very much on their mettle.

Grieg's Violin Sonata No 3 in C minor Nov 21, 2022

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Katy Hamilton with her pick of recordings of the last and greatest of Edvard Grieg's three violin sonatas, written when the composer was living in Troldhaugen in 1886-7.

Haydn's Harmoniemesse Nov 14, 2022

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Richard Wigmore chooses his favourite recording of Joseph Haydn's Harmoniemesse in B flat.

In 1802, when Haydn completed the Harmoniemesse (having, as he put it, "toiled wearily and laboriously"), the 70-year-old was acknowledged as Europe's greatest living composer. The mass setting, Haydn's last major completed work, never gained the same popularity as his two late oratorios The Creation and The Seasons. But it has long been recognised as one of Haydn's supreme achievements into which, despite old age and failing health, he poured a lifetime of experience to create music both fresh and inspiring. The orchestra is the largest Haydn used for any of his six masses and its name comes from its large section of wind ('harmonie') instruments.

Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 Nov 08, 2022

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The pianist Joanna MacGregor's pick of the ultimate recording of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto in B flat minor, Op. 23

Tchaikovsky's famous piano concerto is one of the most popular concertos in the repertoire - full of swaggering great tunes and still, soulful melodies. And many of the piano titans of the past and present have recorded it. Joanna will cut a swathe through the available recordings and come up with a suggestion for your library. And there should be plenty of fireworks along the way.

Schumann's Myrthen Oct 31, 2022

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Elin Manahan-Thomas's chooses her favourite recording of Schumann's song-cycle Myrthen.

The 26 songs that Schumann published under the title Myrthen (Myrtles) were all composed in 1840, the year in which great songs flowed out of him in a great flood of inspiration. He gave a beautifully bound edition of the Myrthen songs to his bride Clara on the eve of their wedding that year. This cycle contains some of Schumann's most popular songs such as Der Nussbaum and Die Lotosblume. And some of the greatest Lieder singers from Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to Christian Gerhaher have recorded their interpretations of many of these great songs.

Mozart's Symphony No 31 in D, 'Paris' Oct 24, 2022

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Simon Heighes with his pick of recordings of Mozart's sparkling and tuneful Symphony no.31 in D, nicknamed the "Paris" Symphony.

Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending Oct 17, 2022

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Continuing Radio 3's Vaughan Williams Today season, marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, Kate Kennedy chooses her favourite recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending.

In Vaughan Williams' modal and folk music-inflected The Lark Ascending a solo violin takes flight above the orchestra evoking for many the very essence of an idealised English countryside. But this popular work, written on the eve of the First World War, has perhaps inevitably become freighted with nostalgia for both a lost generation and a rural way of life which was soon to vanish forever.

JS Bach's St Matthew Passion Oct 10, 2022

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Bach's St Matthew Passion is one of the most profound and popular choral works with many diverse interpretations of record to choose from, and Joseph McHardy joins Andrew McGregor to recommend his favourite.

Brahms' Double Concerto Oct 03, 2022

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Roger Parker recommends a recording of Brahms Double Concerto in A minor.

The Double Concerto was Brahms' last orchestral work, composed in 1887. It was written partly as a gesture of reconciliation towards his friend the violinist, Joachim. The old friends had fallen out over Joachim's divorce. The concerto has been praised for its "vast and sweeping humour". It needs two brilliant and well matched soloists.

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