The Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Tuesday 17th November 2020 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Salzburg Festival. Episode 1.

Sarah Walker presents highlights from the 2020 Salzburg Festival, which has at its heart a celebration of Beethoven in this his 250th anniversary year. Today, one of Beethoven's Razumovsky quartets is performed by the highly sought-after Belcea Quartet, alongside Daniil Trifonov playing Berg's Piano Sonata No 1, and songs by Gounod and Massenet. Beethoven: String Quartet No 9 in C, Op 59 No 3 (Razumovsky) - Belcea Quartet. Berg: Piano Sonata No 1 - Daniil Trifonov (piano). Gounod: L'absent; Massenet: En fermant les yeux, des Grieux (aria from Manon) - Benjamin Bernheim (tenor), Carrie-Ann Matheson (piano).

Monday 23rd November 2020 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

A Trio by Beethoven and a Quintet by Bliss.

A live recital of chamber music from London's Wigmore Hall, featuring Beethoven's String Trio in C minor and Bliss's Clarinet Quintet. Beethoven: String Trio in C minor, Op 9 No 3; Bliss: Clarinet Quintet. Jonathan Stone (violin), Donald Grant (violin), Hélène Clément (viola), Marie Bitlloch (cello), Robert Plane (clarinet).
(Live)

Tuesday 24th November 2020 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Beethoven, Fardon and Dvorák String Quartets.

Celebrating its 76th anniversary in 2020, Cheltenham Music Festival presents a series of live recitals from St David's Hall in Cardiff. The Carducci Quartet play Beethoven's Serioso quartet, a work that may well reflect the personal anxieties besetting Beethoven at the time he wrote it in 1810. Bringing us right up to the present day, commissioned by the Festival, the young British composer Daniel Fardon's new work Elements of Disco receives its world premiere. The programme ends in a rather happier frame of mind than Beethoven was experiencing. It's been suggested that Dvo?ák found the inspiration for his American Quartet during the early morning walks he took during an especially happy summer visit to Spillville in north-east Iowa. Introduced by Nicola Heywood Thomas. Beethoven: String Quartet in F minor (Serioso), Op 95. Daniel Fardon: Elements of Disco. Dvo?ák: String quartet No 12 in F major (American) Op 96. Carducci Quartet.

Monday 7th December 2020 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Mozart and Britten.

Andrew McGregor presents a live recital from London's Wigmore Hall, with the Doric Quartet performing quartets by Mozart and Britten. Mozart: String Quartet in D, K575, Prussian. Britten: String Quartet No 3, Op 94. Doric Quartet.

Monday 21st December 2020 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Alina Ibragimova and Friends.

Georgia Mann presents the first of four concerts this week from LSO St Luke's featuring violinist Alina Ibragimova. She is joined by pianist Alasdair Beatson for Debussy's elegant and exquisite Violin Sonata, Arvo Part's sublime exercise in stillness Spiegel im Spiegel, and César Franck's richly romantic Violin Sonata. Recorded on October 30, 2020. Debussy: Violin Sonata; Arvo Part: Spiegel im Spiegel; Franck: Violin Sonata in A. Alina Ibragimova (violin), Alasdair Beatson (piano).

Wednesday 23rd December 2020 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 16:30 to 18:15 (1 hour and 45 minutes long)

A Winter's Journey.

In this programme of highlights from from last June's live Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts at Wigmore Hall, Andrew McGregor introduces pianist Imogen Cooper in Schubert's 12 German Dances, D790, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Mishka Ruhdie Momen in Schumann's 3 Romances, and tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Mitsuko Uchida in Schubert's great song-cycle Winterreise. Schubert: 12 German Dances, D790. Imogen Cooper (piano). Schumann: Three Romances, Op 94. Steven Isserlis (cello), Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano). Schubert: Winterreise, D911. Mark Padmore (tenor), Mitsuko Uchida (piano).

Friday 8th January 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

John Toal introduces a recital from the acclaimed pianist Martin James Bartlett - winner of BBC Young Musician in 2014. It was recorded in St Mark's Church of Ireland in the East of the city: the church in which CS Lewis was baptised, where his parents were married and his grandfather was Rector. Music includes works by Rachmaninov and Gershwin. Bach/Busoni: Ich Ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ. Bach/Hess: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Schumann/Liszt: Widmung. Wagner/Liszt: Isolde's Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde. Rachmaninov: Prelude in B minor, Op 32 No 10. Prelude in G, Op 32 No 5. Prelude in G Sharp minor, Op 32 No 12. Vocalise, Op 34 No 14 (arr. Wild). Where Beauty Dwells, Op 21 No 7 (arr. Wild). Polka de WR. Gershwin: The Man I Love. Gershwin (arr. Wild): Embraceable You. Gershwin: I Got Rhythm. Martin James Bartlett (piano).

Monday 11th January 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Beautiful Boccherini.

A live recital from London's Wigmore Hall, with Sreven Isserlis and friends performing music for strings by 18th-century cellist and composer Luigi Boccherini. Boccherini: String Quintet in D minor, G280; Sonata in C minor for cello and basso continuo, G2b; Cello Concerto in G, G480. Steven Isserlis (cello), Jonian Ilias Kadesha (violin), Irene Duval (violin), Simone Jandl (viola), Vashti Hunter (cello), Lucy Shaw (double bass), Maggie Cole (harpsichord).

Monday 25th January 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents a 2015 recital from London's Wigmore Hall, with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet performing piano music by Beethoven, Boulez, Ohana and Debussy. The French pianist here presents Beethoven's two-movement Piano Sonata No 24 in company with three Gallic masterworks, including Boulez's gritty Piano Sonata No 1 and a selection of Maurice Ohana's Debussy-inspired Études d'interprétation. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 24 in F sharp, Op. 78, à Thérèse; Boulez: Piano Sonata No 1; Ohana: 12 Études d'interprétation - Book 1 No 2; Mouvements parallèles - Book 1 No. 5; Quintes - Book 1 No 4; Main gauche seule; Debussy: Etudes - Book I: No. 2 - Pour les tierces; No 4 - Pour les sixtes; No 5 - Pour les octaves. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano).

Tuesday 26th January 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

LSO St Luke's: Russian Roots.

Georgia Mann presents the first of this week's Russian Roots series recorded at LSO St Luke's in 2020. To begin the series, pianist Steven Osborne performs an all-Rachmaninov concert, which ends with the composer's first piano sonata, which was composed in Dresden during 1908 and was originally inspired by Goethe's Faust. Georgia Mann (presenter). Rachmaninov: Moments musicaux, Op 16 Nos 1-3; Piano Sonata No 1 in D minor, Op 28. Steven Osborne (piano).

Monday 1st February 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Wigmore Hall Mondays - Sol Gabetta & Polina Leschenko.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents a November 2015 recital from London's Wigmore Hall, with Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta and Russian pianist Polina Leschenko playing pieces by Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov in a programme of Romantic classics notable for their emotional intensity. Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C, Op 3. Tchaikovsky: Lensky's Aria (Eugene Onegin). Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op 19. Sol Gabetta (cello), Polina Leschenko (piano).

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Schwetzingen Festival 1/4. Episode 1.

The Ebene Quartet plays two youthful Beethoven string quartets, recorded at last year's Schwetzingen Festival in Germany. Although radiating vitality and exuberance, this renowned French ensemble has been together for more than two decades, managing still to retain freshness of approach and individuality of interpretation. Culminating in what was his 250th anniversary year, the Ebenes recently toured the world with the quartets of Beethoven, recording the cycle in a critically-acclaimed CD set. Here, the group present two contrasting works from the composer's first set of quartets, published in 1801 when Beethoven was not quite 30 years old. Presented by Sarah Walker. Beethoven: Quartet in A, Op 18/5; Quartet in C minor, Op.18/4. Ebene Quartet.

Monday 15th February 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Wigmore Hall Mondays: Igor Levit.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents a 2015 concert from London's Wigmore Hall, with Russian-German pianist and former New Generation Artist Igor Levit playing Tchaikovsky's Meditation and his cycle The Seasons. Tchaikovsky: Meditation, Op 72 No 5; The Seasons. Igor Levit (piano).

Friday 19th February 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

A Tower and a Garden: Shaw and Chausson.

Recorded in March 2019 at St Mary's in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, the Calidore String Quartet conclude their curated series of concerts with a work by a composer with whom they enjoy a close association, the Pulitzer prize-winning young American, Caroline Shaw. The Quartet are then joined by two more former Radio 3 New Generation Artists, pianist Zee Zee and violinist Jennifer Pike, for a performance of Ernest Chausson's Concert for Piano, Violin and String Quartet. Introduced by Fiona Talkington. Zee Zee (piano), Jennifer Pike (violin), Calidore String Quartet. Caroline Shaw: First Essay `Nimrod". Chausson: Concert for piano, violin and string quartet, Op 21.

Monday 22nd February 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Wigmore Hall: Trio Wanderer.

A 2014 recital in which Trio Wanderer plays Schubert's Notturno in E flat, dark and brooding in nature and , making an ideal companion for Tchaikovsky's mighty Piano Trio, written as a memorial work following the death of the composer's close friend and champion Nikolai Rubinstein. Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch from Wigmore Hall. Trio Wanderer. Schubert: Notturno in E flat, D897. Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, Op 50.

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Chamber music from Glasgow's RSNO Centre.

Today's lunchtime concert was recorded at the RSNO Centre in Glasgow, in early March 2020, with a live audience. Pianist Steven Osborne remarked from the stage, that `If I had to pick one concert to play for the rest of my life, it would be this one." These final two piano sonatas by Beethoven were written in the early 1820s and provoked the composer to remark that the piano was, `after all an unsatisfactory instrument". He was pushing sonata form and the piano instrument of his time to the very limits. Pianist Alfred Brendel has described the finale of Beethoven's Op 110 sonata thus, `In a last euphoric effort, its conclusion reaches out beyond homophonic emancipation, throwing off the chains of music itself." Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 31 in A flat major Op 110. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor Op 111. Steven Osborne (piano).

Thursday 4th March 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Nash Ensemble - At Fives and Sixes. Episode 1.

As part of a series from LSO St Luke's in London, the Nash Ensemble performs romantic Czech chamber music, including sextets by Martinu and Dvorák, plus a dance for string trio composed by Hans Krasa in 1944 at Terezin Concentration Camp. Presented by Katie Derham. Nash Ensemble. Martinu: String Sextet. Krasa: Tanec for String Trio. Dvorák: String Sextet in A, Op 48.

Friday 5th March 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Mozart Chamber Music.

Sarah Walker introduces the last in this series recorded at Cedars Hall, Wells, featuring pianist Shai Wosner, a former Radio 3 New Generation Artist. Today he is joined by fellow members of the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove. Clarinettist Sasha Rattle plays Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, and then Shai Wosner joins the string players for a chamber version of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 14 in E flat, with its demanding solo part, at times cleverly integrated into the texture. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A, K581. Sacha Rattle (clarinet), William Hagen, Irène Duval (violin), Clare Finnimore (viola), Zlatomir Fung (cello). Mozart: Piano Concerto in E flat. K449. Shai Wosner (piano), Irène Duval, William Hagen (violin), Clare Finnimore (viola), Zlatomir Fung (cello).

Monday 8th March 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

International Women's Day at Wigmore Hall.

Georgia Mann presents a live recital from London's Wigmore Hall celebrating International Women's Day, with pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason playing works by Clara Schumann and Sofia Gubaidulina, along with a piece specially commissioned for the occasion by Natalie Klouda. Clara Schumann: Notturno, Op 6 No 2; Scherzo No 2 in C minor, Op 14; Natalie Klouda: Nightscapes 2020 (commissioned by BBC Radio 3, first performance); Sofia Gubaidulina: Chaconne; C Schumann: Piano Sonata in G minor. Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano).

Tuesday 9th March 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Nash Ensemble: Elgar Plus.

Georgia Mann presents the first concert in a new series, in which the Nash Ensemble shed light on the influences of European masters on Elgar. Schumann was a particularly strong influence on Elgar who once described him as his 'ideal'. Today, Elgar's much-loved violin sonata is paired with Schumann's piano quartet. Elgar: Violin Sonata. Lawrence Power (violin), Alasdair Beatson (piano), Nash Ensemble. Schumann: Piano Quartet. Lawrence Power (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Adrian Brendel (cello), Alasdair Beatson (piano), Nash Ensemble.

Monday 22nd March 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

The Nash Ensemble plays Bruch and Brahms.

Andrew McGregor presents a live recital from London's Wigmore Hall, with celebrated chamber group the Nash Ensemble performing Brahms' Piano Quintet and a selection from Bruch's 8 Pieces, Op 82. Bruch: 8 Pieces, Op 82, Nos 1, 5 and 7. Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34. The Nash Ensemble.

Wednesday 31st March 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Music from Maida Vale. Episode 2.

A week of specially recorded chamber music from Maida Vale studios in London. Presented by John Toal. Bartok: String Quartet No 2 Sz.67. Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major Op.74 No.10. Heath Quartet.

Thursday 1st April 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Music from Maida Vale. Episode 3.

A week of specially recorded chamber music from Maida Vale studios in London. Presented by John Toal. Mozart: Adagio in B minor K540. Elgar: Piano Quintet in A minor Op.84. Heath Quartet Tom Poster (piano).

Monday 5th April 2021 (starting this afternoon)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

The Cardinall's Musick - Gibbons, Greaves, Tomkins and More.

Andrew McGregor presents a 2019 recital from London's Wigmore Hall by the Cardinall's Musick. Founded by Andrew Carwood in 1989, the vocal ensemble has gone on to perform and record much-praised collections of English music from the Renaissance, including a complete edition of William Byrd, who features in this mixed programme alongside his contemporaries and successors. Gibbons: O Clap Your Hands. Greaves: England Receive the Rightful King. Tomkins: O God, the Proud Are Risen Against Me. Hilton: As There Be Three Blue Beans. Byrd: The Eagle's Force. East: O Metaphysical Tobacco. Byrd: Deus venerunt gentes. Allison: O Lord Bow Down. Tomkins: The Hills Stand About Jerusalem. Weelkes: O Lord God Almighty. Byrd: Ad Dominum cum tribularer. The Cardinall's Musick.

Tuesday 6th April 2021
Time: 13:00 to 14:00 (1 hour long)

Perth Easter Festival.

Pianist Steven Osborne joins Scottish Chamber Orchestra soloists to perform Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time at Perth Concert Hall. Written while the composer was imprisoned by the Nazis in Stalag VIII-A at Gorlitz, the piece was first performed in the camp to the other prisoners. Messiaen took his inspiration from texts in the Book of Revelations - a mighty angel, apocalyptic scenes, birdsong, heavenly silence and the end of time itself. Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time. Steven Osborne (piano), Maria Wloszczowska (violin), Maximilio Martin (clarinet), Philip Higham (cello).