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Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in Building a Library with Alice Farnham and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by violinist Adrian Chandler and conductor Alice Farnham, who picks her favourite recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by violinist Adrian Chandler and conductor Alice Farnham, who picks her favourite recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

2.10pm Andrew is joined by violinist Adrian Chandler, director of early music ensemble La Serenissima, to showcase some of the new releases that have caught his ear this week.

3pm Building a Library: conductor Alice Farnham surveys recordings of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 and makes a top recommendation.
Since his death in 1911, Gustav Mahler has come to occupy a central place in the history of music and in the orchestral repertory. His Symphony No. 5 is one of the most popular of Mahler's nine symphonies. It was composed during the summers of 1901 and 1902, in the middle of which period Mahler met Alma Schindler, the daughter of a famous landscape painter. Mahler proposed to her in December 1901, and the symphony, with its trajectory from mourning to triumph, reflects this development in its composer’s personal life.

Top choice:
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (cond.)
Decca 460 299 2

3.45pm Record of the Week: the new release that has most impressed Andrew this week.

27 days left to listen

1 hour, 59 minutes

Last on

Saturday 14:00
BBC Radio 3

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Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 in Building a Library with Jeremy Sams and Andrew McGregor

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Music Played

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no.3 in D minor (Part 2; 2nd mvt)

    Singer: Hanna Hipp. Choir: Tiffin Boys’ Choir. Choir: Philharmonia Chorus. Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 3.

  • Franz Schubert

    Das Wandern (Die schöne Müllerin D.795)

    Music Arranger: Roderick Williams. Singer: Roderick Williams. Singer: Roderick Williams. Ensemble: Carducci String Quartet.
    • Franz Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin. A new arrangement for baritone and string q.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 101.

  • Orlando Gibbons

    The Silver Swan

    Choir: Gesualdo Six. Director: Owain Park.
    • Wishing Tree.
    • Hyperion.
    • 12.

  • Christoph Graupner

    Sinfonia in F major GWV.566 (Air and Gigue)

    Ensemble: Il Gardellino. Director: Florian Heyerick.
    • Christoph Graupner: Sinfonias.
    • CPO.
    • 506.

  • Carl Heinrich Biber

    Violin Sonata no.6 in C minor (Passacaglia)

    Ensemble: Ayres Extemporae.
    • Linn.

  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Deuxieme suite in B Minor TWV.43 (Courante and Passpied)

    Ensemble: Ensemble BAROCKIN'.
    • Georg Philipp Telemann Paris Quartets.
    • raumklang.
    • 24.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Violin sonata no.3 in D minor Op.108 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Andrew Wan. Performer: Charles Richard‐Hamelin.
    • Brahms - The Three Violin Sonatas.
    • Analekta.
    • 10.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Peter and the Wolf (No sooner had Peter gone…And now, this is how things stood…)

    Narrator: Viola Davis. Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
    • Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (Live).
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 7.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Violin Sonata in E flat major Op.12 no.3 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Alina Ibragimova. Performer: Cédric Tiberghien.
    • Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Op. 12 & Op. 24.
    • BIS.
    • 106.

  • Record of the Week

    • Aaron Copland

      Symphony no.3 (1st mvt)

      Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
      • Copland: Symphony No. 3 – Walker: Sinfonia No. 5, "Visions".
      • LSO Live.
      • 101.

Broadcast

  • Saturday 14:00
    BBC Radio 3

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