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Haydn's 'Emperor' String Quartet in Building a Library with Laura Tunbridge and Andrew McGregor

Andrew McGregor with a thorough look at the week's classical music releases, plus news and recommendations.

Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases.

c2.10pm
The pianist Natalie Burch joins Andrew to review the latest new releases that have caught her ear.

3pm Building a Library: musicologist and academic Laura Tunbridge joins Andrew to survey recordings of Haydn's "Emperor" String Quartet, Op.76 No.3, and make a top recommendation.

Haydn dedicated the final half-a-dozen string quartets he composed, perhaps among his most ambitious, to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdődy. Written while still employed at the court of Prince Esterházy II, Haydn penned the third of the set - his so-called 'Emperor' quartet - around the same time as his oratorio 'The Creation', with some arguing he managed to distil the full force of his full compositional power and intense symphonic style into the resources of just four performers.

Top choice:
Quatuor Arod
Erato 2173287521

c3.45pm Record of the Week: the new release that has most impressed Andrew this week.

19 days left to listen

1 hour, 59 minutes

Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto no.5 in D major (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Kristian Bezuidenhout. Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Director: Cecilia Bernardini.
    • Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 175, 449 & 466.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 9.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    English suite no. 3 in G minor (Gigue)

    Music Arranger: Duo Kiasma. Ensemble: Duo Kiasma.
    • Polaris.
    • Cypres.
    • 6.
  • Samuel Barber

    Piano Sonata in E flat minor Op.26 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Jiaxin Min.
    • Fuga Libera.
  • Franz Liszt

    Ballade no.2 in B minor S.171

    Performer: Jiaxin Min.
    • Fuga Libera.
  • Béla Bartók

    Black is the earth (8 Hungarian Folksongs Sz.64)

    Singer: Lotte Betts-Dean. Performer: Joseph Havlat.
    • Delphian.
  • Ruth Wall

    My Lagan Love

    Music Arranger: Joseph Havlat. Singer: Lotte Betts-Dean. Performer: Joseph Havlat.
    • Delphian.
  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    Songs Without Words Op.8 (no.1)

    Performer: Ana-Marija Markovina.
    • Hänssler Classic.
    • 15.
  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no.2 'Resurrection' (5th mvt)

    Singer: Louise Alder. Singer: Beth Taylor. Choir: Bavarian Radio Symphony Choir. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • BR KLassik.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La luce langue (Macbeth)

    Singer: Lise Davidsen. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Verdi.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 3.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Capriccio in D minor (7 Fantasies Op.116)

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.
    • ECM.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Queen of the Night's aria (The Magic Flute)

    Music Arranger: Pierre Cussac. Singer: Agathe Peyrat. Performer: Pierre Cussac.
    • Je chante la nuit.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 5.
  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Danse macabre

    Music Arranger: Pierre Cussac. Music Arranger: Agathe Peyrat. Singer: Agathe Peyrat. Performer: Pierre Cussac.
    • Je chante la nuit.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 6.
  • Lucas Debargue

    Summertime - 20 concert variations and finale on a theme of Gershwin

    Performer: Lucas Debargue.
    • Sony.
  • Record of the Week

    • George Frideric Handel

      Giulio Cesare in Egitto (E pur cosi....Piangero la sorte mia....Dall'ondoso periglio)

      Singer: Christophe Dumaux. Singer: Louise Alder. Orchestra: The English Concert. Conductor: Harry Bicket.
      • Handel: Giulio Cesare.
      • Linn.
      • 6 & 7.

Broadcast

  • Sat 3 Oct 202614:00

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