Broadcast highlights

David Quantick concludes his fast-moving comedy encyclopaedia on classical music with a look at modern classical music and Elgar.

As composer Sir Peter Maxell Davies celebrates his 75th birthday year, Tom Service travels to Scotland’s Orkney Islands to visit him. Born in Salford in 1934, Maxwell Davies has been a figureheard of British classical music since the 1950s, taking up the post of Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004. In 1971 he moved to the Orkney island of Hoy, and now lives on the island of Sanday. In this programme, he and Tom talk about the importance of his local community, the influence of Scotland and the Orkney landscape on his work, his passion for education and thoughts on politics and the monarchy.

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra at London’s Royal Festival Hall in a programme of Janácek, Lindberg and Stravinsky. Featuring the UK premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Graffiti for chorus and orchestra, the concert also includes Janacek’s enduringly popular Sinfonietta and colourful ballet music for The Firebird.

 

TV highlights

 

Leeds International Piano Competition
Friday 9 October, 7.30pm

Every three years since 1963, Leeds plays host to the cream of young international concert pianists who travel there to take part in the city’s International Piano Competition. Past winners have included musical greats like Rada Lupu and Murray Perahia. Huw Edwards introduces the fourth finalist, Alessandro Taverna from Italy, who plays Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1. There is expert analysis from concert pianists Cristina Ortiz and Lucy Parham, plus behind-the-scenes reports from Clemency Burton-Hill.

 

Metropolitan Opera Season
Saturday 10 October, 8pm

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and soprano Danielle de Niese star in Mark Morris’s energetic, dance-filled production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. James Levine conducts.