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Andrew McGregor with Anna Picard

Andrew McGregor with new releases, and in Building a Library Anna Picard compares recordings of Ravel's' surreal, poignant and funny one act opera, L'enfant et les sortilèges

with Andrew McGregor.

09.30
Building a Library: Anna Picard listens to some of the available recordings of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges and makes a recommendation.

Maurice Ravel's 1925 one act L'enfant et les sortilèges - The Child and the Spells - portrays a spoiled, violent and surly child who gets his comeuppance from all the things he's abused, destroyed and killed. In a stream of surreal set-pieces, inanimate objects (including an armchair, teapot, wallpaper and a clock) and animals (among them a bat, cats, a squirrel, a frog and a dragonfly) lead the child to a genuine sense of remorse and empathy. At once funny and moving, Freudian allusion rubs shoulders with Ravel's take on American musical comedy, and the opera demands a top-flight orchestra, conductor and cast for it to take wing.

10.55
Jeremy Summerly rounds up recent releases of choral music.

11.45
Andrew chooses an outstanding new release as his Disc of the Week.

3 hours, 13 minutes

Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cantata 52: 'Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht!'

    Performer: Xenia Löffler. Singer: Anna Prohaska. Ensemble: Collegium 1704. Conductor: Václav Luks.
    • Accent.
  • Richard Strauss

    Schlagobers Suite, Op.70: IV. Schlagoberswalzer

    Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Conductor: Jonathan Nott.
    • Pentatone.
  • James Oswald

    Divertimento I

    Performer: Sean Shibe.
    • Delphian.
  • Steve Reich

    Electric Counterpoint: I. Fast

    Performer: Sean Shibe.
    • Delphian.
  • Jane Vignery

    Horn Sonata Op.7: III. Allegro

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    March Op.99

    Ensemble: Marinierskapel der Koninklijke Marine. Conductor: Arjan Tien.
    • Channel Classics.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    The Blue Bird (orch. Yates)

    Orchestrator: Martin Yates. Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Martin Yates.
    • Dutton Epoch.
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Concerto for Clarinet & Military Band

    Performer: Olivier Patey. Ensemble: Marinierskapel der Koninklijke Marine. Conductor: Arjan Tien.
    • Channel Classics.
  • John Woolrich

    Ulysses Awakes

    Performer: Simon Rowland-Jones. Ensemble: 12 Ensemble.
    • Sancho Panza.
  • Anonymous

    O Maria maris stella; O Maria virgo davitica

    Choir: Ensemble Gilles Binchois. Director: Dominique Vellard.
    • Evidence.
  • Anon.

    Portum in ultimo

    Ensemble: Lorelei Ensemble. Director: Beth Willer.
    • Impermanence.
    • Dorian Sono Luminus.
    • 1.
  • Toru Takemitsu

    Kaze no uma: Vocalise No. 1

    Ensemble: Lorelei Ensemble. Director: Beth Willer.
    • Impermanence.
    • Dorian Sono Luminus.
    • 2.
  • Maurice Duruflé

    Ubi caritas et amor

    Conductor: Jaan-Eik Tulve. Choir: Vox Clamantis.
    • Sacrum convivium.
    • Mirare.
    • 1.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Vine, Vine and Eglantine

    Choir: Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Director: William Vann.
    • Albion Records.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Old Folks at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

    Choir: Chapel Choir of the Royal Hopsital Chelsea. Director: William Vann. Singer: Thomas Stoddart.
    • Albion Records.
  • Julian Anderson

    Sanctus

    Performer: Michael How. Choir: Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. Director: Geoffrey Webber.
    • Delphian.
  • Roxanna Panufnik

    Unending Love

    Ensemble: Milapfest. Choir: Ex Cathedra Choir. Conductor: Jeffrey Skidmore.
    • Roxanna Panufnik: Celestial Bird.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 1.
  • Roxanna Panufnik

    St Pancras Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis: Magnificat

    Choir: Ex Cathedra Choir. Conductor: Jeffrey Skidmore.
    • Roxanna Panufnik: Celestial Bird.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 5.
  • Roxanna Panufnik

    Salve Regina

    Choir: Ex Cathedra Choir. Conductor: Jeffrey Skidmore.
    • Roxanna Panufnik: Celestial Bird.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 3.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Celllo Sonata in G minor, Op.65

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Dénes Várjon.
    • Hyperion.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Nie ma czego trzeba (arr. Isserlis)

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Dénes Várjon. Music Arranger: Steven Isserlis.
    • Hyperion.

Record Review

9.00am

Ìý

Bach: Oboe Concertos BWV 1055, 1056 & 1061; Cantatas 52 & 84
Xenia Loffler (oboe)
Anna Prohaska (soprano)
Collegium 1704 (ensemble)
Václav Luks (conductor)
Accent ACC 24347


Strauss: Schlagobers suite Op.70 plus orchestral music by Debussy & Ligeti

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Jonathan Nott

Pentatone PTC5186 (3 CDs)

Ìý

Acoustic & electric guitar music by Lang, Wolfe, Reich, Macmillan plus Scottish traditional

Sean Shibe (guitars)

Delphian DCD34213

Ìý

Chamber music for horn by Jane Vignery, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Widmann, R. Strauss, F. Strauss and Hindemith

Tillmann Höfs (horn)
Akiko Nikami (piano)

Genuin GEN18615

Ìý

Ìý

9.30am – Building a Library – Anna Picard on Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges

Ìý

Composer: Maurice Ravel

Piece: L’enfant et les sortilèges

Reviewer: Anna Picard

Ìý

Recommended Recording:


Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Mikko Franck
Julie Pasturaud (mezzo-soprano)
Jean-Francois Lapointe (baritone)
Francois Piolino (tenor)
Sabine Devieilhe (soprano)
Chloé Briot (mezzo-soprano)
Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto)
Nicolas Courjal (bass)
Erato 0190295896928 (2 CDs)

Ìý

Other Recommended Recordings:

Ìý

Below are other recordings that Anna Picard also liked, although we can’t guarantee availability.


Berliner Philharmoniker
Simon Rattle (conductor)
Warner Classics 2641972


Orchestre National de France
Lorin Maazel (conductor)
Deutsche Grammophon 423 718-2

10.20am – New Releases

Music for winds by 19th and 20th century Russian composers

Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy
Soloists of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Major Arjan Tien (conductor)

Channel Classics CCS 40818

Ìý

Orchestral music by Vaughan Williams plus David Matthews’s Norfolk March
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Martin Yates (conductor)

Dutton Epoch CDLX 7351 (Hybrid SACD)

Ìý

Contemporary music by Lutoslawski, Woolrich,Whitley and Dessner

12 Ensemble

Sancho Panza SPANCD001

Ìý

10.50am New Releases: Jeremy Summerly on choral music

Sacred vocal music from 13th century Spain

Ensemble Gilles Binchois
Dominique Vellard (conductor)

Evidence EV CD 051

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

Ancient and contemporary vocal music
Lorelei Ensemble

Dorian Sono Luminus DSL 92226 (CD & Blu-ray)

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

Motets by Duruflé and Poulenc plus gregorian chant
Vox Clamantis
Jaan-Eik Tulve

Mirare MIR 366

Ìý

Vaughan Williams: Choral premieres
Chapel choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
William Vann (conductor)

Albion Records ALB CD 034

Ìý

Julian Anderson: Choral music
The Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge
Geoffrey Webber (conductor)

Delphian DCD 34202

Ìý

Roxanna Panufnik: Choral music
Ex Cathedra (choir)
Milapfest (ensemble)
Jeffrey Skidmore (conductor)

Signum classics SIG CD 543

Ìý

11.45am – Disc of the Week

Music for cello and piano by Chopin & Schubert
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Dénes Várjon (piano)
Hyperion CDA68227

Ìý

Ìý

* * * ENDS * * *

Broadcast

  • Sat 29 Sep 2018 09:00

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