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Elite pianist Leif Ove Andsnes calls in to play live

Tom Service plays the best classical music alongside the latest stories in the arts world, with special guest pianist Leif Ove Andsnes.

Tom Service provides the ideal soundtrack for Saturday morning, with the best classical music in new and landmark recordings and one or two surprise guests introducing their own releases.

This week, Tom welcomes the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes to play the studio piano and talk about his current projects, including a recording of the works of compatriot Geirr Tveitt, whose folk-influenced piano writing has held a fascination for Leif for many years.

As Glyndebourne Festival gears up for its first ever production of Puccini’s Tosca, Tom meets director Ted Huffman to find out how he brings a new interpretation to such a perennial favourite and also meets American soprano Caitlin Gotimer, who sings the titular role of the singer Floria Tosca.

And in The Creators this week, composer, sound artist, and member of The Pogues, Jem Finer tells the story behind his 1,000-year-long piece of music Longplayer, already 26 years into its playing cycle, with only 974 to go.

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3 hours

Last on

Saturday09:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Richard Wagner

    The Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walkure)

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • The Berlin Album: Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • James McMillan

    Lux aeterna

    Choir: SANSARA. Conductor: Tom Herring.
    • Cloths of Heaven.
    • Convivium Records.
    • 15.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Symphony No. 7 in D Minor (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello suite No 3 in C major, BWV 1009 (Prelude)

    Performer: Alon Sariel.
    • Plucked Bach III.
    • Pentatone.
    • 3.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, K 466 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes. Orchestra: Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
    • Mozart Momentum - 1785.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 2.

  • Tod Machover

    Interlude No 1 'After Bach' (2011 version)

    Ensemble: iO String Quartet.
    • ...But Not Simpler....
    • Bridge Records.
    • 2.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Song Without Words in D major, Op. 109

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma. Performer: Kathryn Stott.
    • Sony Masterworks.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Horn Concerto no.2 in D major H.7d.4 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Felix Klieser. Orchestra: Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn. Conductor: Ruben Gazarian.
    • Horn Concertos.
    • Berlin Classics.
    • 6.

  • Gustav Mahler

    I went this morning over the field (Songs of a Wayfarer)

    Singer: Christian Gerhaher. Orchestra: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Conductor: Kent Nagano.
    • Sony Classical.

  • Robert Schumann

    No.2 from Three Romances, Op.94

    Performer: Oleg Shebeta-Dragan. Performer: Gunnar Mextorf.

  • Modest Mussorgsky

    A Night on the Bare Mountain

    Music Arranger: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.
    • Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition; A Night On The Bare Mountain.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 16.

  • Geirr Tveitt

    God's goodness and God's greatness (50 Folk Tunes from Hardanger, Op 150 No 11)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.

  • Geirr Tveitt

    Piano Sonata No 29, Op 129, 'Sonata etere' (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.
    • Leif Ove Andsnes: Geirr Tveitt.
    • Simax.
    • 2.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op 30 No 4

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes.

  • Franz Schubert

    Symphony no.3 in D major D.200 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Pablo Heras‐Casado.
    • Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 4.

  • Biagio Marini

    Passacaglio a 4 - La Calisto (3rd Act, final scene)

    Ensemble: Ensemble Correspondances. Conductor: Sébastien Daucé.
    • Cavalli: La Calisto.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 328.

  • Pietro Locatelli

    Caerdroea an Ceol

    Composer: Catrin Finch. Composer: Aoife Ní Bhriain. Performer: Aoife Ní Bhriain. Performer: Catrin Finch.
    • Bendigedig.

  • Amy Beach

    Dreaming (4 Sketches, Op 15 No 3) arr. for cello & piano

    Performer: Ariana Kashefi. Performer: Peter Limonov.
    • In Parallel - Rachmaninov, Amy Beach, Alma Mahler.
    • Champs Hill Records.
    • 6.

  • Edward Elgar

    Serenade for strings in E minor, Op 20 (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
    • TELDEC.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony No 108 in B flat major (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Il Giardino Armonico. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Haydn2032, Vol. 19: Trauer.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 12.

  • Josephine Lang

    Arabeske

    Performer: Karin Fernandes.
    • She, Invisible Vol. I.
    • Azul Music.
    • 3.

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Violin concerto in D major, Op 35 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Augustin Hadelich. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto - Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole.
    • London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • 103.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    E lucevan le stelle (Tosca)

    Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Nicola Rescigno.
    • Puccini: Tosca.
    • Decca.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Orsu, Tosca, parlate (Tosca, Act 2)

    Singer: Maria Callas. Singer: Giuseppe Di Stefano. Singer: Tito Gobbi. Orchestra: Orchestra del Teatro della Scala Milano. Conductor: Victor de Sabata.
    • Puccini: Tosca.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Vissi d'arte (Tosca)

    Singer: Mirella Freni. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Nicola Rescigno.
    • Puccini: Tosca.
    • Decca.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Mario! Mario! Mario! - Non la sospiri (Tosca, Act 1)

    Singer: Mirella Freni. Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Nicola Rescigno.
    • Puccini: Tosca.
    • Decca.

  • Hugo Wolf

    Italian Serenade

    Ensemble: Signum Quartett.
    • Signum Quartett: Quartet Movements.
    • Capriccio.
    • 1.

  • Julius Eastman

    Melt To and Back Again (Gay Guerrilla, No 4)

    Ensemble: Wild Up. Conductor: Christopher Rountree.
    • No. 4, Melt To and Back Again.
    • New Amsterdam Records.
    • 1.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    Gavotte with 6 variations

    Performer: Bruce Liu.
    • WAVES: Music by Rameau, Ravel, Alkan.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Sinfonia, 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' (Solomon)

    Orchestra: Collegium Musicum 90. Director: Simon Standage.
    • Handel and the Oratorio for Concerts.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 29.

  • Fritz Kreisler

    Prelude and allegro in the style of Pugnani

    Performer: Daniel Lozakovich. Performer: Hélène Mercier.
    • Lost to the World.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 12.

  • Jem Finer

    Longplayer

    Performer: Jem Finer.
    • Longplayer.
    • Artangel.

  • Ottorino Respighi

    Spring (3 Botticelli Pictures)

    Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 16.

  • Béla Bartók

    Romanian Folk Dances

    Ensemble: Il Giardino Armonico. Director: Giovanni Antonini.
    • La Roxolana.
    • Alpha.
    • 09.

Broadcast

  • Saturday09:00
    BBC Radio 3