Music Matters

Music Matters episodes:

• 03.23.2024

  Sir Mark Elder

  Tom Service talks to Sir Mark Elder about the legacy that he is leaving behind him after 24 years as Music Director at the Hallé Orchestra. He talks to Tom about Charles Hallé and his mission to set up...

  
• 03.16.2024

  Maria Joao Pires

  Kate Molleson travels to the Belgais Center for Arts in rural eastern Portugal, to meet pianist Maria Joao Pires, who celebrates her 80th birthday this year. Among the low buildings, olive groves and orange trees of the arts complex,...

  
• 03.09.2024

  Aurora Orchestra's Winterreise, Kerry Andrew, and Women at the Piano

  Tom Service talks to pianist and writer, Susan Tomes, about her new book Women and the Piano - a History in 50 Lives. Those lives include well-known names today, from Clara Schumann to Nina Simone, but also many women like...

  
• 03.02.2024

  Joyce DiDonato, Caroline Potter on Boulez, Szymanowski's Harnasie

  Presented by Tom Service. This week, Tom talks to the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato about her life in music, and her creative mission to challenge the status quo. From her work in refugee camps, to her long relationship with...

  
• 02.24.2024

  Jeremy Denk and Missy Mazzoli

  Sara Mohr-Pietsch talks to renowned American pianist, Jeremy Denk, ahead of his Wigmore Hall recital of Bach Partitas. He discusses his passion for Bach and the profound impact and connection he has when he plays his music. Sara talks to...

  
• 02.10.2024

  Anna Meredith, Igor Levit

  Tom Service talks to composer Anna Meredith as her soundtrack to the poetic British film The End We Start From, and starring Jodie Comer, is featuring in cinemas across the UK. She talks in detail about the compositional process; from...

  
• 02.03.2024

  Tamara Stefanovich, Martin Hayes

  Kate Molleson talks to pianist Tamara Stefanovich. A champion of 20th and 21st century music, Tamara explains her deep connection with the music of now, how global politics have shaped her life in music, and her insatiable appetite for learning...

  
• 01.27.2024

  Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Alice Sara Ott, Bryce Dessner

  Tom Service meets French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet during his recital tour where he performs both books of Debussy’s Préludes. His 1996 recording of the pieces has just been re-released on vinyl with artwork created by his friend Vivienne Westwood,...

  
• 01.20.2024

  Karita Mattila and Edgar Meyer

  Tom Service meets Finnish soprano, Karita Mattila as she prepares for her role as Klytämnestra in Strauss’s Elektra at the Royal Opera House in London. She talks to him about the roles her voice now allows her to sing 40...

  
• 01.13.2024

  Yannick Nézet-Séguin

  Tom Service speaks to the conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director of the Montreal Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He is one of the starriest and most sought-after conductors in the world. also one...

  
• 01.06.2024

  Meredith Monk

  Sara Mohr-Pietsch talks to one of the 21st-century's leading creative artists – the American composer and interdisciplinary artist, Meredith Monk. Celebrating her 80th birthday the year before last, Meredith’s creativity spans decades and traverses site-specific works and happenings in the...

  
• 12.12.2023

  Budapest: György Kurtág, Ivan Fischer and Márta Sebestyén

  Kate Molleson travels to Budapest to meet Hungary’s greatest living composer, György Kurtág, now 97 years old. Kurtag talks to Kate about the musical homages that he has made to friends, his early focus on the clarity of single notes...

  
• 12.02.2023

  UK Disability History Month, Maria Callas

  Tom Service learns about adaptive instruments, and celebrates Maria Callas's centenary.

  
• 11.25.2023

  Anthony McGill, Imogen Cooper and Weelkes

  Tom Service talks to Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinettist with the New York Philharmonic, as he commences his tenure as Artist-in-Residence at Milton Court in London. They discuss his recent performances of Anthony Davis powerful and operatic work for clarinet and...

  
• 11.18.2023

  The new Bernstein film Maestro

  Ahead of the release of Maestro, Bradley Cooper’s long-awaited film about Leonard Bernstein, Sara Mohr-Pietsch talks to the conductor and composer’s daughters - Jamie and Nina - about their parents' relationship, listening to music with their father as children, and...

  
• 11.11.2023

  Bertrand Chamayou; Michael Barenboim

  As his new album Letter(s) to Erik Satie is set to be released, the French pianist Bertrand Chamayou talks to presenter Tom Service about the connections he sees between the visionary composers it features, including John Cage, James Tenney and...

  
• 10.21.2023

  Christian Thielemann, Angélique Kidjo, National Brass Band Championships

  As his new recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra of the complete symphonies of Anton Bruckner - all eleven of them - hit the record stores, Tom Service speaks to the German conductor Christian Thielemann. He tells Tom about what...

  
• 10.07.2023

  Tom Service talks to conductor Semyon Bychkov

  Tom Service talks at length to one of the 21st-century's leading conductors, Semyon Bychkov. Celebrating his 70th birthday last year, Semyon prizes servitude to music’s spirit and using one’s talent to find how best to let it unfold. Tom meets him...

  
• 09.30.2023

  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...

  
• 09.16.2023

  Dame Janet Baker

  Presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch speaks to one of the most treasured and celebrated British mezzo-sopranos, Dame Janet Baker. Following the recent celebrations of her 90th birthday, she reflects on her life in music, the physical and mental toll of performance, and...

  
• 09.09.2023

  Abel Selaocoe, Leif Ove Andsnes

  Kate Molleson is joined by South African cellist, singer and composer Abel Selaocoe with his cello in tow, as he prepares to tour this autumn with The Bantu Ensemble. Abel talks about the "swirling cultures" from which he takes his...

  
• 07.08.2023

  Noye's Fludde

  As a new collaborative production of Britten's one-act opera Noye's Fludde hits the stage in Leeds and Manchester this week, Tom Service speaks to staff and children from the Ingram Road Primary School during rehearsals in Holbeck to learn about...

  
• 07.01.2023

  Elim Chan, 400 years of William Byrd

  As Radio 3 marks the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s death, Tom Service visits Lincoln Cathedral, the centre of musical activity where the composer held positions as organist and master of the basilica’s choristers early in his career. He talks...

  
• 06.24.2023

  Classical Manchester

  As the Royal Northern College of Music celebrates its 50th anniversary, Tom Service talks to current students at the college and former alumni - including the pianist Alexandra Dariescu and conductor Alpesh Chauhan. He meets the RNCM’s Principal, Linda Merrick,...

  
• 06.17.2023

  Windrush 75, Nicole Paiement, Nigel Brooks

  Presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch explores the musical legacy of the Windrush generation, as part of the BBC's coverage of the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush's arrival at Tilbury Docks on 22nd June 1948. The composer Shirley J. Thompson joins Sara...

  
• 06.10.2023

  Barrie Kosky and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites

  As the CBSO prepares for a summer of tours to Aldeburgh, Japan, and the BBC Proms, the orchestra’s new Chief Conductor Kazuki Yamada speaks to presenter Tom Service about the joy of music and the goosebumps he experiences while conducting....

  
• 06.03.2023

  Brad Mehldau, François-Xavier Roth

  With his new memoir ‘Formation - Building a Personal Canon, Part I’ hitting bookshops, and a new collaborative album with the tenor Ian Bostridge released this week, the American Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau joins Kate Molleson to discuss his childhood...

  
• 05.27.2023

  Ivan Fischer, Ligeti Centenary

  Marking the centenary of Hungarian composer György Ligeti, Tom Service talks to musicians who knew him and who love his music. Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and composer and conductor Thomas Adès explore the musical universe of the Violin Concerto; pianist Tamara Stefanovich...

  
• 05.20.2023

  Terence Blanchard, Simon Armitage

  On the verge of receiving the coveted George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America, the trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard joins Sara Mohr-Pietsch. He discusses his ventures into the operatic world, the success of...

  
• 05.13.2023

  Rhiannon Giddens, Christian Gerhaher, Gong Baths

  Tom Services talks to German baritone Christian Gerhaher during rehearsals for Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the Royal Opera House. Having recently recorded all the songs of Robert Schumann as well as Mahler, Brahms and Schubert, Christian reveals how he sees...

  
• 04.29.2023

  Nicola Benedetti, Gorecki Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

  Sara Mohr-Pietsch talks to violinist Nicola Benedetti as she prepares for her inaugural programme as Edinburgh International Festival director, becoming the first Scot to hold the position in the festival's 75-year history. Nicola discusses the challenges of balancing the festival...

  
• 04.22.2023

  Javier Perianes, Music and artificial intelligence

  Presenter Tom Service is joined by the Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, ahead of his concert at Wigmore Hall, to discuss the creative and musical connections between Enrique Granados and the trio of German composers – Robert and Clara Schumann, and...

  
• 04.15.2023

  John Eliot Gardiner at 80

  Tom Service talks to conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner at his home in Dorset as he celebrates his 80th birthday later this week. His work as Artistic Director of his Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...

  
• 04.08.2023

  Classical music in British society

  Tom Service explores classical music's place in British society, in light of the current national debates around funding from Arts Council England and the proposed cuts to the BBC's performing groups. The programme asks questions about how classical music and...

  
• 04.01.2023

  Rachmaninov on Lake Lucerne

  Kate Molleson marks the 150 anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninov's birth. She visits his home in Switzerland - after years of renovation, the beautiful Villa Senar, on the banks of Lake Lucerne, is reopening to the public. This is...

  
• 03.25.2023

  Anna Clyne, Pekka Kuusisto, Martin Fröst

  Kate Molleson talks to composer Anna Clyne, clarinettist Martin Frost and violinist Pekka Kuusisto together about the concertos Anna has written for the acclaimed soloists. The UK premiere of her clarinet concerto for Martin - Weathered - took place at...

  
• 02.25.2023

  David Hockney's art installation Bigger and Closer, with music by Nico Muhly

  Tom Service visits the installation Bigger and Closer at Lightroom in London, a journey into the creative mind of David Hockney, with images of his work projected on huge walls with a score especially written to accompany it by the...

  
• 02.18.2023

  Evelyn Glennie

  Tom Service visits Evelyn Glennie to discuss her life and career. As a soloist and improviser, the profoundly deaf musician created a role that had never existed in the classical world before, that of a solo percussionist. Growing up on...

  
• 02.11.2023

  Lea Desandre, Sonic Meditations and The Rhinegold

  As her career takes flight, the French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre talks to presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch about her love of baroque music, how her ballet training has influenced both her voice and stage presence, and the special musical alchemy that she...

  
• 02.04.2023

  Stephen Hough, Don Paterson, Elzara Batalova

  Stephen Hough talks to presenter Kate Molleson about his new memoir, Enough, a candid exploration of his love for the piano. He discusses growing-up in a household with little music, through his education in Cheetham’s School in Manchester as a...

  
• 01.28.2023

  Dobrinka Tabakova, CBSO School, Symphonies of 1933

  Composer Dobrinka Tabakova talks to Tom Service about her artist residency at The Hallé in Manchester. She discusses her love of melody, the thrill of writing for youth orchestra, the importance of understanding the character of the musicians she writes...

  
• 01.21.2023

  Lise Davidsen

  Ahead of her performance in the Royal Opera House’s production of Tannhäuser, Tom Service joins the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen backstage at Covent Garden during rehearsals for Wagner’s story of love, redemption, and mythical depiction of the Wartburg Song Contest....

  
• 01.14.2023

  14/01/2023

  Ahead of his concert with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Tom Service travels to Poole to talk to the German virtuoso horn player Felix Klieser. Born without arms, Felix is celebrated for his wide range of expression and colours and has...

  
• 01.10.2023

  John Rutter

  Beloved by choirs and audiences all over the world, John Rutter is one of the most popular and successful choral composers of the last half-century. In particular, for many people, Rutter’s carols and carol arrangements are the sound of Christmas....

  
• 01.07.2023

  Kaija Saariaho

  As part of Radio 3's New Year New Music, Kate Molleson talks at length to one of the 21st-century's leading creative artists – the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Celebrating her 70th birthday this year, Kaija describes music as a...

  
• 12.17.2022

  Olivier Latry and Notre-Dame, Paris

  Kate Molleson travels to Paris to join Olivier Latry, titular organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral, as he reflects on the possibilities of making music outside the iconic building following 2019’s devastating blaze. He describes how the spirit of the cathedral has...

  
• 12.03.2022

  Santtu-Matias Rouvali

  Sara Mohr-Pietsch talks to conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali about his work with the Philharmonia, currently busy with his second season leading the London-based orchestra. He discusses the composers who challenge him when conducting, and tells why humour is so important in...

  
• 11.26.2022

  Ailish Tynan, older people and music, Beethoven in Russia, UK Music diversity report

  Kate Molleson speaks to Irish soprano Ailish Tynan at home with her dog. She reminisces about growing up in Ireland, learning her craft as a young artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and working with students at...

  
• 11.19.2022

  Alice Sara Ott, Climate Change, and Qatar

  Ahead of her concert next week with the LSO, Tom Service speaks to the pianist Alice Sara Ott who is also preparing to embark on a tour which features lighting and images alongside performances of Chopin’s Op 28 preludes, and...

  
• 11.12.2022

  Tine Thing Helseth, London Jazz Festival and Arts Council England Funding

  On the eve of the launch of her new album, ‘Seraph’, featuring works for trumpet and string orchestra by James Macmillan, Grieg, and Satie, Tom Service speaks to Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth about her diagnosis with cancer last year,...