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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.

29 days left to listen

1 hour, 59 minutes

Last on

Yesterday 14:00
BBC Radio 3

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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, Op 26 No 2 (2nd mvt, Allegro vivace e leggero)

    Performer: Jiaxin Min.
    • Fuga Libera.

  • Franz Liszt

    Ballade No. 2 in B minor, S171

    Performer: Jiaxin Min.
    • Fuga Libera.

  • Béla Bartók

    Eight Hungarian Folksongs, Sz. 64 (1st mvt, Fekete főd, fehér az én zsebkendőm)

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

  • Ruth Wall

    My Lagan Love

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

  • Fanny Mendelssohn

    4 Lieder for Piano, Op 8, No 1 (Allegro moderato)

    Performer: Ana-Marija Markovina.
    • Hänssler Classic.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection' (5th mvt ' Im Tempo des Scherzo')

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

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Macbeth, Act II: La luce langue

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

  • Johannes Brahms

    Fantasien, Op 116 (1st mvt, Capriccio)

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.
    • ECM.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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

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

  • Camille Saint‐Saëns

    Danse macabre

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

  • George Gershwin

    20 Variations & Finale on a Theme of Gershwin

    Performer: Lucas Debargue. Music Arranger: Lucas Debargue.
    • Sony.

Broadcast

  • Yesterday 14:00
    BBC Radio 3

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