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The very best of classical music

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 an orchestral masterpiece.

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15 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Tue 17 Mar 202609:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Émile Waldteufel

    Les Patineurs, Op 183

    Orchestra: Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Willi Boskovsky.
    • Offenbach: Gaite Parisienne/ Waldteufel: Waltzes: Rosenthal/Boskovsky.
    • EMI.
    • 22.

  • Henry Purcell

    Pavan in G minor Z.752

    Ensemble: Accademia Bizantina. Conductor: Stefano Montanari.
    • Henry Purcell, O Solitude: Andreas Scholl/Accademia Bizantina.
    • Decca.
    • 16.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Slavonic Dance Op.46 no.4 in F major

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
    • Brahms: Hungarian Dances &Dvorak: Slavonic Dances: Haitink.
    • Philips.
    • 14.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Mandolin Concerto in C major, RV 425

    Performer: Giovanni Scaramuzzino. Orchestra: Europa Galante. Director: Fabio Biondi.
    • Vivaldi: Concerti per mandolini: Europa Galante/Biondi.
    • Virgin Veritas.
    • 16-18.

  • Geraldine Mucha

    Macbeth Suite (Banquet)

    Orchestra: Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andreas Sebastian Weiser.
    • Macbeth And Other Orchestral Works.
    • ARCO DIVA.
    • 4.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Valse-Scherzo, Op.34

    Performer: Julia Fischer. Orchestra: Russian National Orchestra. Conductor: Yakov Kreizberg.
    • Pentatone.

  • Arvo Pärt

    ...which was the Son of...

    Choir: Polyphony. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Arvo Part: Triodion, Nunc Dimittis, Salve Regina.
    • Hyperion.
    • 3.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV1051: I. Allegro

    Orchestra: Le Concert des Nations. Director: Jordi Savall.
    • Bach: Brandenburg Concertos.
    • Alia Vox.
    • 17.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Preludio sinfonico

    Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Puccini: Orchestral Music.
    • Chandos.
    • 1.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Serenade in D Major K.250 'Haffner' (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Die Kölner Akademie. Conductor: Michael Alexander Willens.
    • Mozart: Haffner Serenade & Ein musikalischer Spaß.
    • BIS.
    • 201.

  • Michael Torke

    Javelin

    Orchestra: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Yoel Levi.
    • Michael Torke: Three: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
    • Ecstatic Records.
    • 1.

  • Franz Liszt

    Liebestraume - 3 notturnos S.541 for piano: no.1 in A flat major

    Performer: Saskia Giorgini.
    • Pentatone.

  • Helvi Leiviskä

    Suite No 2 for Orchestra, Op 11 (1st mvmt, The Coming of Spring)

    Orchestra: Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Dalia Stasevska.
    • Helvi Leiviska: Orchestral Works Vol. 1.
    • Bis.
    • 2.

  • Joby Talbot

    The Mad Hatter's Tea Party (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - suite)

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Christopher Austin.
    • Signum.

  • William Bolcom

    3 Ghost Rags: No. 1, Graceful Ghost Rag

    Performer: Marc‐André Hamelin.
    • Bolcom: The Complete Rags.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.

  • William Walton

    Then sing aloud to God (Belshazzar's Feast)

    Singer: Bryn Terfel. Choir: BBC Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis.
    • Warner Apex.

  • Heitor Villa‐Lobos

    Aria (Bachiana brasileira no.5)

    Singer: Renée Fleming. Orchestra: New World Symphony. Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • RCA.
    • 5.

  • Francesca Caccini

    Ciaccona

    Performer: Luigi Cozzolino. Ensemble: Cappella di Santa Maria degli Angiolini. Director: Gian Luca Lastraioli.
    • Maria, dolce Maria.
    • Brilliant Classics.
    • 3.

  • Gustav Holst

    Nunc dimittis

    Choir: Choir of The Queen's College, Oxford. Conductor: Owen Rees.
    • The Crown of Life.
    • Signum Records.
    • 9.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Symphony no.47 in G major (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Christopher Hogwood.
    • Haydn: Symphonies, Vol.7: Academy of Ancient Music/Hogwood.
    • L'Oiseau-Lyre.
    • 4.

  • Trad.

    Alexander's Hornpipe; Harvest Home

    Performer: Jordi Savall. Performer: Andrew Lawrence‐King. Performer: Frank McGuire.
    • The Celtic Viol 2: Savall/Lawrence-King/McGuire.
    • Alia Vox.
    • 7.

  • Maurice Ravel

    String Quartet in F major (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Alban Berg Quartett.
    • EMI.

  • John Foulds

    Music-Poem Op 5 No 20 'Mirage'

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Franz Schubert

    Impromptu in A flat major, D.935 no.2

    Performer: Mitsuko Uchida.
    • Schubert: Impromptus.
    • Philips.
    • 6.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    Overture in C major

    Orchestra: The Women’s Philharmonic. Conductor: JoAnn Falletta.
    • Koch.

  • Witold Lutosławski

    Variations on a theme of Paganini

    Performer: Martha Argerich. Performer: Nelson Freire.
    • Rachmaninov:Suite No.2 /Ravel a Valse/Lutoslawski:/Paganini Variations - Argeric.
    • Philips.
    • 6.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Finlandia Op.26

    Orchestra: Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Osmo Vänskä.
    • The Sound of Sibelius: Lahti SO, Vanska.
    • Bis.
    • 10.

Broadcast

  • Tue 17 Mar 202609:30
    BBC Radio 3