 | | BBC RADIO 2 Saturday 13 December 2008 | |
Suzi Quatro
Saturday 13 December
8.00-9.00pm BBC RADIO 2 | | | | |
Suzi Quatro plays the music she heard in her formative years, from doo-wop to Motown and rock 'n' roll, taking listeners through the Fifties and Sixties right up to the present day. Once a month, Suzi talks to a special guest about their American influences and, on tonight's show, it's the turn of Tony Hicks of The Hollies, who made his first musical appearance on TV and radio at the age of 12. The voices of Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Graham Nash combined to make one of the most distinctive sounds in popular music. Just after Tony joined the band, an amazing run of hits began – including I Can't Stop, The Air That I Breathe and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. Tony has been with The Hollies for more than four decades. Presenter/Suzi Quatro, Producer/Mark Simpson BBC Radio 2 Publicity | | BBC RADIO 3 Saturday 13 December 2008 | |
World Routes
Saturday 13 December
3.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 3 | | | | |
Continuing BBC Radio 3's coverage of this year's Musicport Festival in Bridlington – described as "the UK's largest indoor music festival" – Max Reinhardt presents a live set by the Warsaw Village Band, recorded in October. Warsaw Village Band is a group of young musicians who have made it their mission to revitalise the traditional music of Poland and broaden its appeal to their own generation. They won the Best Newcomer category at the 2004 Radio 3 Awards for World Music with their album Uprooting and, here, they perform songs from their new release, Infinity, which is the subject of Reinhardt's interview with band members Maja Kleszcz and Wojtek Krzak. Presenter/Max Reinhardt, Producer/Felix Carey BBC Radio 3 Publicity Opera On 3 –
Live From The Met: Tchaikovsky's Queen Of Spades
Saturday 13 December
6.00-9.30pm BBC RADIO 3 |  |
 Seiji Ozawa returns to the Met
to conduct Tchaikovsky's The
Queen Of Spades Seiji Ozawa returns to the Met, for the first time since 1992, to conduct this revival of Tchaikovsky's The Queen Of Spades which features soprano Maria Guleghina as Lisa, tenor Ben Heppner as Ghermann and Felicity Palmer as The Countess. The Queen Of Spades is based on Alexander Pushkin's masterpiece about a man who loses his fortune and his mind to cards. Lisa is the wealthy granddaughter of the Countess. Ghermann is madly in love with Lisa, but he's too poor to have much hope of her hand. He must learn the Countess's gambling secret in order to strike it rich and marry Lisa. Lisa, however, kills herself when she realises that Ghermann's obsession with gambling has driven him mad, while Ghermann commits suicide after losing his fortune. The live performance is presented by Margaret Juntwait, with guest commentator Ira Siff. The two intervals include live backstage interviews with some of the artists and the legendary quiz. Presenter/Margaret Juntwait, Producer/Tony Sellors BBC Radio 3 Publicity Hear And Now
Saturday 13 December
10.30pm-12.00midnight BBC RADIO 3 | | | | |
Elliott Carter, who turns 100 on 11 December, has been at the forefront of American contemporary music for over 60 years. BBC Radio 3 celebrates his birthday this week with in-depth interviews revealing different aspects of his life and work, on Hear And Now and Discovering Music. There is also a special edition Performance On 3 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which has had a long relationship with him. Here, Ivan Hewett spends a weekend at Carter's home talking about his life and work. It reveals much about his career, from apprentice years with Nadia Boulanger to the emergence of the Carter style that has marked him as one of the most influential figures on the modernist scene. Despite the severity of the thinking which Carter applied to works like the Concerto for Orchestra and Penthode, there emerges a man with a continued fascination for jazz and for whom the sheer joy of making music – making it a satisfying experience for those who play and listen to it – is paramount. Presenter/Ivan Hewett, Producer/Andrew Kurowski BBC Radio 3 Publicity | | BBC RADIO 4 Saturday 13 December 2008 | |
The EMI Story
Saturday 13 December
10.30-11.00am BBC RADIO 4 | | | |  |
 Guy Hands talks about the bold
changes he has made at EMI EMI is a music industry icon, and has been home to bands from the Sex Pistols to The Beatles and Coldplay, and artists from Robbie Williams to Katy Perry. Ever since the Sixties revolution in pop music and culture, the company has been at the heart of the British music scene. Glamorous and hip, it was famous for paying its executives on both sides of the Atlantic huge wages; while its artists defined what it was to live the life of a superstar. But all that came to a screeching halt in 2007, when the loss-making company was bought by private equity firm Terra Firma, led by leading financier Guy Hands – the total deal was a whopping £4billion. The stakes are high; a significant amount of Terra Firm cash is invested in EMI and it has to service a huge interest bill on the debt which helped buy the company. Guy has cut extravagant expenses and he's said the policy of signing as many artists as possible (there were 14,000 on the roster) while taking huge bets on a few isn't sustainable. In a rare and candid broadcast interview, the first since the takeover, Guy talks to Damian Reece about the bold and controversial move, which has seen swingeing job losses, massive cost cutting and criticism from some artists' managers. He says his first year at EMI has been "very tough... I've got some brickbats, and it's been very painful, but frankly that's what a good businessman should do – they shouldn't go and hide." Guy admits the timing of the deal – just at the beginning of the credit crunch – has had an impact on investment plans and that EMI will take longer to turn round than he originally thought. A turbulent 2007 saw stellar artists including The Rolling Stones, Sir Paul McCartney and Radiohead leave the company. Damian Reece, Head of Business at the Daily Telegraph, investigates the background to one of the most dramatic takeovers in recent times. Presenter/Damian Reece, Producer/Liz Carney BBC Radio 4 Publicity Blithe Spirit
Saturday 13 December
2.30-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4 | | | | |
Maggie Steed, Roger Allam and Natalie Cassidy are among the cast who star in this new production of Noël Coward's classic comedy, Blithe Spirit. Charles Condomine, a socialite and writer, invites the splendidly eccentric medium Madame Arcati to conduct a séance at his Kent country house. Charles doesn't actually believe in spiritualism, but is merely gathering material for a new novel. Things, however, soon begin to go wrong when the ghost of his first wife, Elvira, turns up and tries, with ever increasing vigour and malicious invention, to disrupt the relationship between Charles and his new wife, Ruth. First performed in 1941, the play was written – according to Coward's autobiography – at great speed during a holiday in Wales. The play went on to break box office records, and for three decades was the longest-running comedy in the history of the British theatre. Roger Allam stars as Charles, Maggie Steed as Madame Arcati, Zoe Waites as Elvira and Hermione Gulliford as Ruth, with David Killick as Dr Bradman, Tilly Tremayne as Mrs Bradman and Natalie Cassidy as Edith. Producer/Patrick Rayner BBC Radio 4 Publicity | | BBC RADIO 5 LIVE Saturday 13 December 2008 | |
Fighting Talk
Saturday 13 December
11.00am-12.00noon BBC RADIO 5 LIVE | | | | |
Ahead of tomorrow's BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, Colin Murray presents the topical sports panel show, Fighting Talk, live from Liverpool. Colin plays judge and jury to a panel of guests battling it out to win points for punditry and putting their spin on the latest stories and issues from the world of sport. Presenter/Colin Murray, Producer/Simon Crosse BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity 5 Live Sport
Saturday 13 December
12.00-7.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE | | | | |
Mark Pougatch presents an afternoon of live football, kicking off with commentary of the Barclays Premier League clash between Middlesbrough and Arsenal live from the Riverside Stadium at 12.45pm. Listeners can also hear coverage of all the 3pm games, including Liverpool v Hull, Manchester City v Everton and Celtic v Hearts in the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League. Mark also brings listeners reports from the third day's play in the first Test between India and England in Ahmedabad. At 5.30pm there's commentary of Tottenham v Manchester United, live from White Hart Lane. Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/tbc BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity | BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA
Saturday 13 December 2008 | |
Test Match Special
Saturday 13 December
3.50-11.30am BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA | | | | |
The Test Match Special team bring listeners uninterrupted commentary on the third day's play of the first Test between India and England, live from Ahmedabad. Producer/Jen McAllister BBC 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity 5 Live Football League
Saturday 13 December
2.45-5.15pm BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA | | | | |
BBC 5 Live Sports Extra brings listeners commentary on a leading game in the Coca-Cola Championship this afternoon, plus reports and score updates from across the Football League. Producer/Jen McAllister BBC 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity | 
