Radio 3

Elizabeth Alker celebrates summer music-making in the UK and beyond. In the first of this year’s summer editions of Classical Live, we hear highlights from the First Night of the Proms, when pianist Yunchan Lim joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stesevska for Ravel’s G major Piano Concerto. The BBC Proms loom large in our listening across the season, but we’ll also be popping into other summer festivals across Europe; today we visit the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg in Austria and the opening concert of the Leipzig Bach Festival in Germany. Also, every day this week there's a Mozart String Quintet from the elegant rococo Leitheim Castle in Bavaria, with violist Violaine Despeyroux joining Quatuor Voce. From the First Night of the Proms 2026: Aaron Copland Fanfare for the Common Man BBC Symphony Orchestra Dalia Stasevska (conductor) George Gershwin An American in Paris BBC Symphony Orchestra Dalia Stasevska (conductor) From Leipzig Bach Festival 2026: Claudio Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Virgine (excerpt) Marie Luise Werneburg (soprano) Patricia Nolz (soprano) Lucile Richardot (mezzo-soprano) Nick Pritchard (tenor) Robert Pohlers (tenor) Volker Arndt (tenor) Frederick Long (bass) St Thomas' Choir, Leipzig Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Andreas Reize (conductor) From the First Night of the Proms 2026: Maurice Ravel Piano Concerto in G major Yunchan Lim (piano) BBC Symphony Orchestra Dalia Stasevska (conductor) From Leitheim Castle Concerts 2026: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quintet No. 6 in E flat major, K. 614 Quatuor Voce Violaine Despeyroux (viola) From the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg 2026: Franz Schubert Piano Sonata No. 18 in G major, D. 894 Francesco Piemontesi (piano) To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".