Ewa Pobłocka

Described as the purveyor of ‘some of the greatest… Bach pianism on record’, Kate Molleson speaks to the doyenne of the Polish piano world, Ewa Pobłocka, about the release of her second instalment of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. She tells Kate about her childhood in Gdańsk, the sonic temples she envisages building during performance, and the influence of the German Baroque master on Chopin.

Marking 60-years of the humble cassette tape, Kate explores the medium’s unlikely revival as part of Radio 3’s Casseptember season. She talks to the British Phonographic Industry’s representative, Gennaro Castaldo, about the 443% increase in sales the cassette tape has seen over the past decade, and hears from the ethnomusicologist, DJ and filmmaker Arlen Dilsizian about the new releases he distributes on both the Hakuna Kulala and Nyege Nyege Tape label. She learns, too, how the blogger Brian Shimkovitz is using the analogue medium’s creative potential to build audiences for the artists he works with at his Awesome Tapes from Africa label.

The music critic Jeremy Eichler joins Kate to discuss his new book ‘Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance’. He argues against the passive consumption of music ‘for relaxation’, tells Kate why certain areas of the repertoire require active engagement, and examines music’s ability to transcend physical monuments and act instead as one of the most profound forms of memorial.

And as Hollywood writers vote on an agreement the Writers Guild of America have reached with studios to end their five-month strike, we hear from the General Secretary of the Musicians' Union, Naomi Pohl, and Interim Chief Executive of UK Music, Tom Kiehl, about what the deal means for music professionals on this side of the Atlantic.