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Isata Kanneh-Mason plays the studio piano

Tom Service with the perfect classical soundtrack and an all-star morning of guests, including Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sir Mark Rylance, Peter Dawkins and John Wilson.

Tom Service with guests, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack for the weekend!

This week, Tom welcomes the pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason to the Saturday Morning studio. Isata's new album, dedicated entirely to the music of Prokofiev, has just been released, including Prokofiev's fiendishly difficult Piano Concerto No 3 - a work which she dazzled the Proms audience with in 2023. Isata plays more Prokofiev in the studio, plus her own transcription of music by the British singer-songwriter Raye.

Tom will also be heading to St Albans to talk to the actor Sir Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, The BFG, Bridge of Spies) and the philosopher Peter Dawkins about the life and legacy of Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), whose 400th anniversary is celebrated this year. Widely regarded as the father of the scientific method, Bacon’s approach to learning and discovery has led to many of the technological and medical advances we take for granted today. He was also fascinated by music (he played the lute) and by the properties of sound, which he tried to explain through a series of sonic experiments, and Tom will be delving into Bacon’s famous Sound-Houses - visionary 17th-century descriptions of advanced acoustical research facilities described in his utopian work, New Atlantis.

And in our ongoing 'Creators' series, one of the most sought-after conductors on the music scene today, John Wilson, talks about re-forming the Sinfonia of London in 2018 with a group of superb, hand-picked musicians. It's the third incarnation of the orchestra, and John tells Tom about its history and how he has put his own stamp on the ensemble.

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3 hours

Last on

Yesterday09:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Emmanuel Chabrier

    Espana

    Ensemble: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Escales.
    • Chandos.
    • 01.

  • Orazio Benevoli

    Missa Dum complerentur: Kyrie

    Ensemble: I Fagiolini. Conductor: Robert Hollingworth.
    • Benevoli: Missae Angelus Domini & Dum complerentur.
    • CORO.
    • 8.

  • Henri Büsser

    Appassionato

    Performer: Timothy Ridout. Performer: Jonathan Ware.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Richard Strauss

    Ein Heldenleben: I. The Hero

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.
    • R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Suite & Ein Heldenleben.
    • Orfeo.
    • 1.

  • Scott Joplin

    Peacherine rag for piano

    Performer: Benjamin Loeb.
    • Joplin: Piano Rags, Vol. 2.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.

  • William Walton

    'Spitfire' Prelude and Fugue

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • Hyperion.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    Tristes apprets (Castor et Pollux)

    Singer: Nadine Koutcher. Orchestra: MusicAeterna. Conductor: Teodor Currentzis.
    • Sony.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Scherzo in D minor

    Orchestra: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
    • Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Dances from Aleko & Scherzo in D Minor.
    • Telarc.
    • 5.

  • Georg Philipp Telemann

    Fantasia no.10 in E major TWV.40:35 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Paolo Pandolfo.
    • GLOSSA.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no.7 in A major Op.92 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • Teldec.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Prelude in C major (10 Pieces, Op 12)

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason.

  • Raye

    Where's my Husband?

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason. Music Arranger: Isata Kanneh‐Mason.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Piano Concerto No 3 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason. Orchestra: Philharmonia. Conductor: Ryan Bancroft.
    • DECCA.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cantata no.146 'Wir mussen durch viel Trubsal' (Opening chorus)

    Ensemble: Bach Collegium Japan. Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki.
    • BIS.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Horn Concerto No 2 in E flat major, K 417 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Anthony Halstead. Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • Mozart: The Horn Concertos - Halstead, The Academy of Ancient Music.
    • Decca.
    • 6.

  • Eugene Lockhart

    The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise

    Ensemble: The Buffalo Bills.
    • Remembering Time.
    • RCA/Legacy.
    • 11.

  • Ida Moberg

    Sunrise (Sunrise - Suite)

    Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Johannes Gustavsson.
    • Aulin, Moberg, Andrée: Orchestral Works.
    • Nilento.
    • 5.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Cello Concerto in B minor Op.104 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein. Performer: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Jiří Bělohlávek.
    • Alisa Weilerstein Dvorak.
    • DECCA.
    • 3.

  • Thomas Tomkins

    Ut-re-mi-fa-so-la

    Ensemble: Fretwork.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.

  • Daphne Oram

    Beauty and the Beast, Pt 3

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No 6 'Pathetique' (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Delyana Lazarova.

  • Thomas Adès

    Asyla: III. Ecstasio

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Adès.
    • Adès: Asyla, Tevot, Polaris.
    • LSO Live.
    • 3.

  • Vincenzo Bellini

    Norma: Casta Diva

    Singer: Elsa Dreisig. Orchestra: Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova Orchestra. Conductor: Massimo Zanetti.
    • ERATO.

  • Leokadiya Kashperova

    Two Roses (In the midst of nature)

    Performer: Mengjie Han.

  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    Symphony in F sharp major, Op.40 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Chandos.

  • William Walton

    Violin Concerto (2nd mvt: Presto capriccioso alla napolitana)

    Performer: Charlie Lovell-Jones. Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Walton: Orchestral Works.
    • Chandos Records Limited.
    • 6.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Daphnis et Chloe (conclusion)

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Choir: Sinfonia of London Chorus. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Thomas Tallis

    God grant we grace [Tallis's canon] (9 Psalm Tunes)

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto No. 2 (4th mvt)

    Performer: Simon Trpceski. Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Cristian Măcelaru.
    • Brahms: Piano Concertos.
    • Linn Records.
    • 7.

Broadcast

  • Yesterday09:00
    BBC Radio 3