Synopsis
An edited version of the regular Building a Library slot where guest experts review available recordings of a work from the classical music repertoire and give a recommendation.
Episodes
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![Building a Library: Verdis Aida]()
Building a Library: Verdi's Aida
01/04/2017 Duration: 55minSet in the Egypt of the Pharaohs, Verdi's Aida premiered at the Cairo opera house in 1871
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![Building a Library: Mozarts Clarinet Concerto]()
Building a Library: Mozart's Clarinet Concerto
25/03/2017 Duration: 50minMozart's final instrumental work was written for his friend, clarinettist Anton Stadler.
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![Building a Library: Messiaens Quartet for the End of Time]()
Building a Library: Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
21/03/2017 Duration: 48minMessaien's piece was premiered at a prisoner of war camp, outdoors in the rain, in 1941.
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![Building a Library: Schoenbergs Gurrelieder]()
Building a Library: Schoenberg's Gurrelieder
11/03/2017 Duration: 47minBuilding a Library on Schoenberg's epic cantata Gurrelieder. Nicholas Baragwanath guides us through this gargantuan late flowering of 19th-century Romanticism in which Schoenberg wove together a sumptuous score that can be surprising to people accustomed to the more astringent sound world of his later works.
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![Building a Library: Survey of Ethel Smyth recordings]()
Building a Library: Survey of Ethel Smyth recordings
04/03/2017 Duration: 49minKate Kennedy explores the music of an underrated English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement.
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![Building a Library: Ivess Second Symphony]()
Building a Library: Ives's Second Symphony
27/02/2017 Duration: 58minEdward Seckerson joins Andrew McGregor to assess recordings of Ives Symphony No. 2.
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![Building a Library: Rodrigos Concierto de Aranjuez]()
Building a Library: Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez
18/02/2017 Duration: 47minTom McKinney heads to Spain with the ever-popular Rodrigo Guitar Concerto.
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![Building a Library: Bachs B Minor Mass]()
Building a Library: Bach's B Minor Mass
11/02/2017 Duration: 55minSir Nicholas Kenyon sifts through the available recordings of Bach's B minor Mass. It was one of Bach's last compositions, completed in 1749, the year before his death. He refashioned music that he had composed throughout his career. The Mass was never performed in its entirety during Bach's lifetime but is now regarded as a supreme masterpiece.
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![Building a Library: Rossinis The Barber of Seville]()
Building a Library: Rossini's The Barber of Seville
04/02/2017 Duration: 51minBen Walton compares recordings of Rossini's hugely popular opera on Beaumarchais's play.
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![Building a Library: Sibeliuss Tapiola]()
Building a Library: Sibelius's Tapiola
28/01/2017 Duration: 44minTapiola is Sibelius's final masterpiece for orchestra. Andrew Mellor recommends a version
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![Building a Library: Beethovens String Quartet No 12, Op. 127]()
Building a Library: Beethoven's String Quartet No 12, Op. 127
21/01/2017 Duration: 53minStephen Johnson compares recordings of the first of Beethoven's late string quartets.
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![Building a Library: Tchaikovskys Fourth Symphony]()
Building a Library: Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony
14/01/2017 Duration: 47minRob Cowan sifts through "Tchaik 4," a piece written at a time of emotional turmoil.
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![Building a Library: Schuberts Fantasy in C, D934, for violin and piano.]()
Building a Library: Schubert's Fantasy in C, D934, for violin and piano.
07/01/2017 Duration: 50minHarriet Smith compares recordings of Schubert's piece, which baffled its 1828 audience.
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![Building a Library: Bruckners Third Symphony]()
Building a Library: Bruckner's Third Symphony
31/12/2016 Duration: 46minDedicated to his hero Wagner, Bruckner revised his Third Symphony several times.
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![Building a Library: Mozarts Piano Concerto no. 21]()
Building a Library: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 21
24/12/2016 Duration: 48minDavid Owen Norris sifts through the available recordings of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21
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![Building a Library: Lassuss Lagrime di San Pietro]()
Building a Library: Lassus's Lagrime di San Pietro
17/12/2016 Duration: 57minCaroline Gill compares recordings of Lassus's depiction of the sorrows of St Peter.
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![Building a Library: Puccinis La fanciulla del West]()
Building a Library: Puccini's La fanciulla del West
10/12/2016 Duration: 49minFlora Willson pans for gold in available recordings of Puccini's California-based opera
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![Building a Library: Haydns Symphony no. 99]()
Building a Library: Haydn's Symphony no. 99
03/12/2016 Duration: 50minSymphony No.99 is an example of late, great Haydn. Richard Wigmore recommends a recording
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![Building a Library: Survey of Barbara Strozzi]()
Building a Library: Survey of Barbara Strozzi
26/11/2016 Duration: 51minDr Hannah French surveys recordings of music of 17th-century Venetian Barbara Strozzi.
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![Building a Library: Bachs Lutheran Masses]()
Building a Library: Bach's Lutheran Masses
19/11/2016 Duration: 53minJonathan Freeman-Attwood surveys recordings of Lutheran Masses by JS Bach.
