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Celebrating classical greats

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with a masterpiece.

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29 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Today 09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Piano Quintet no.2 in A major Op.81 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Boris Giltburg. Ensemble: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Romance in C Major Op.48

    Performer: Tianwa Yang. Orchestra: Malmö SymfoniOrkester. Conductor: Marc Soustrot.
    • Saint-Saëns: Works for Violin & Orchestra.
    • Naxos.
    • 201.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Piano Sonata no.3 in B minor Op.58 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Benjamin Grosvenor.
    • Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3.
    • Decca.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    Hippolyte et Aricie, Act V: Chaconne

    Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: William Christie.
    • ERATO.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony No 2 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.
    • Brahms: Symphonies.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Henry Purcell

    Timon of Athens, Z. 632: Duet and Chorus. 'Come, Let Us Agree'

    Singer: Gillian Fisher. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Singer: Stephen Varcoe. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Purcell: King Arthur, Music for Queen Mary, Come Ye Sons of Art, Hail! Bright Ce.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 83.

  • Clara Schumann

    Konzertsatz in F minor

    Performer: Lucy Parham. Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Barry Wordsworth.
    • CIRRUS CLASSICS.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Oboe Quartet in F Major, K. 370 - 3rd movement, Rondeau

    Ensemble: Britten Oboe Quartet.
    • A Tribute to Janet.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 3.

  • Erwin Schulhoff

    Suite for Chamber Orchestra (6th mvt, Jazz)

    Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: James Conlon.
    • CAPRICCIO.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV.847 (Well-tempered Clavier, Bk 1)

    Performer: Víkingur Ólafsson.
    • DG.

  • Franz Biebl

    Ave Maria

    Choir: VOCES8. Choir: Ringmasters.
    • Biebl: Ave Maria.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.

  • Alexander Glazunov

    Concert waltz for orchestra no. 2 (Op.51) in F major

    Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • Orfeo.

  • Francis Poulenc

    Trois novelettes, FP 47: III. Andantino tranquillo sur un thème de Manuel de Fal

    Performer: Eric Le Sage.
    • Poulenc - Piano Music, Vol. 1.
    • RCA Red Seal.
    • 30.

  • Hugo Alfvén

    Midsummer vigil - Swedish rhapsody no. 1 Op.19

    Orchestra: German Symphony Orchestra Berlin. Conductor: Łukasz Borowicz.
    • CPO.

  • Laura Snowden

    The Memory Garden

    Performer: Jack Hancher.
    • The Memory Garden: Guitar Music from England.
    • Deux-Elles.
    • 11.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Brindisi (La Traviata)

    Singer: Angela Gheorghiu. Singer: Roberto Alagna. Choir: London Voices. Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Verdi per due.
    • EMI CLASSICS.
    • 19.

  • Peter Warlock

    The Lady's Birthday

    Performer: Jennifer Partridge. Choir: Baccholian Singers of London.
    • Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge . Warlock: The Curlew.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 18.

  • George Gershwin

    Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

    Performer: Wayne Marshall.
    • A Gershwin Songbook & Improvisations.
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS.
    • 9.

  • Alexander Borodin

    String Quartet No. 2 in D Major: III. Nocturne

    Performer: Joshua Bell. Music Arranger: Craig Leon. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Michael Stern.
    • Je n'aime pas le violon, mais ça j'aime bien !.
    • RCA Red Seal.
    • 8.

  • Edward Elgar

    From the Bavarian Highlands, Op. 27: III. Lullaby

    Performer: Rufus Frowde. Choir: Hertfordshire Chorus. Conductor: David Temple.
    • DE PROFUNDIS: Choral works by Parry and Elgar.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 109.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 94 "Surprise" (1st mvt)

    Conductor: Ádám Fischer. Orchestra: Danish National Chamber Orchestra.
    • Haydn: Late Symphonies, Vol. 1.
    • Naxos.
    • 105.

  • Pauline Viardot

    Havanaise

    Performer: Joseph Middleton. Singer: Louise Alder.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Max Bruch

    Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Ecesu Sertesen. Performer: Kyoungmin Park. Orchestra: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Howard Griffiths.
    • Bruch: Double Concertos, Adagio appassionato & Loreley Overture.
    • Sony Classical/Sony Music.
    • 8.

  • Robert Schumann

    Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 47

    Performer: Hrachya Avanesyan. Performer: Diemut Poppen. Performer: Alexander Chaushian. Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin.
    • Schumann: Piano Quartet, Op. 47 - Brahms: Piano Quintet, Op. 34.
    • BIS.
    • 1-4.

  • Percy Grainger

    Molly on the Shore

    Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Within A Dream: A celebration of the Artistry of Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos.

  • Christopher Simpson

    Division on John come kiss me now

    Ensemble: Palladian Ensemble.
    • Linn.

  • Charlotte Sohy

    Symphony in C sharp minor Op.10 'Grande Guerre' (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. Conductor: Bar Avni.
    • Symphonies in 3 Movements.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 2.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 "Grand": I. Allegro molto e con brio

    Performer: Boris Giltburg.
    • Beethoven 32, Vol. 2: Piano Sonatas Nos. 4-7.
    • Naxos.
    • 101.

  • Samuel Coleridge‐Taylor

    Petite suite de concert Op.77 (No.1 La Caprice de Nanette)

    Conductor: Adrian Leaper.
    • MARCO POLO.

Broadcast

  • Today 09:30
    BBC Radio 3