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Your perfect classical playlist

Georgia Mann plays the best in classical music, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites.

Georgia Mann plays the best classical music for your morning, with discoveries and surprises rubbing shoulders with familiar favourites. Including the Playlister challenge: our regular listener-created sequence inspired by a different piece of music each day. Plus a new classical release in focus for Album of the Week.

1000 Playlister starter: listen and send us your ideas for the next step in today's musical journey. Text 83111 or email essentialclassics@bbc.co.uk.

1030 Album of the Week: an exciting new classical release in focus throughout the week.

1115 Playlister reveal: an uninterrupted sequence of music suggested by you in response to today's starter piece.

1200 Feast of a Piece: indulge your ears with an orchestral masterpiece.

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14 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Mon 20 Apr 2026 09:30
麻豆社 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • William Walton

    Crown Imperial

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andr茅 Previn.
    • Walton: Symphony No. 1 And Other Works: Andre Previn/Royal Philharmonic Orchestr.
    • Telarc.
    • 5.

  • Franz Liszt

    脡tudes d'ex茅cution transcendante, S.139 (Chasse-neige)

    Performer: Boris Giltburg.
    • Liszt: Piano Works.
    • Naxos.
    • 12.

  • William Byrd

    Though Amaryllis dance in green

    Singer: Barbara Bonney. Ensemble: Phantasm.
    • Fairest Isle.
    • Decca.
    • 10.

  • Richard Wagner

    Tannh盲user (Overture)

    Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.
    • EMI.

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    The Sleeping Beauty Suite (The Lilac Fairy)

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Mstislav Rostropovich.
    • 111 Years Of Deutsche Grammophon The Collector's Edition Vol.2.
    • Deutshe Grammophon.
    • 7.

  • Malcolm Arnold

    Brass Quintet no.1, Op.73 (1st mvt)

    Ensemble: Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Conductor: Howard Snell.
    • Malcolm Arnold.
    • Decca.
    • 16.

  • Pietro Locatelli

    Violin Concerto in C Minor, Op 3 No 2 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Isabelle Faust. Ensemble: Il Giardino Armonico. Conductor: Giovanni Antonini.
    • Locatelli: il virtuoso, il poeta (Violin Concertos & Concerti Grossi).
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 16.

  • Takashi Yoshimatsu

    Dream Colored Mobile II, Op. 58a

    Performer: Kyoko Tabe. Performer: Joe Houghton. Performer: Kate Wilson. Orchestra: Manchester Camerata. Conductor: Sachio Fujioka.
    • Yoshimatsu: Piano Concerto "Memo Flora".
    • Chandos.
    • 6.

  • Johann Strauss II

    Thunder and Lightning Polka, Op.324

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • TELDEC.

  • Trad.

    La Martiniana

    Ensemble: L鈥橝rpeggiata. Director: Christina Pluhar.
    • La Torre del Oro.
    • Erato.

  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Symphony in E flat major Wq.183`2

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Gustav Leonhardt.
    • CPE Bach: Symphonies, Cello Concertos, etc: Bylsma/OAE/Leonhardt.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 4.

  • Madeleine Dring

    Trio for flute, oboe and piano; Ist mvt. Allegro con brio

    Performer: Nicholas Daniel. Performer: Adam Walker. Performer: Antonio Oyarzabal.
    • Madeleine Dring: Complete Works for Oboe.
    • Chandos.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    The Red Hill (The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op 89a)

    Performer: Martin Roscoe. Orchestra: 麻豆社 Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vassily Sinaisky.
    • The Film Music of Dmitri Shostakovich, Vol.3.
    • Chandos.
    • 8.

  • Robert Ramsey

    How are the mighty fall'n

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 4.

  • Eric Coates

    Calling All Workers

    Orchestra: New London Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • British Light Music Classics.
    • Hyperion.
    • 1.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    Lilacs (Romance, Op 21, No 5)

    Performer: Dmitri Alexeev.
    • Rachmaninov: Preludes, Op. 23 & 32 - Moments musicaux, Op. 16 - Morceaux de fant.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 17.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Cantata No 140) - chorus

    Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • J.S. Bach, Cantatas Vol 12: Gardiner.
    • Soli Deo Gloria.
    • 19.

  • Edvard Grieg

    In the Hall of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt Suite no.1)

    Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Paavo Berglund.
    • Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites 1 & 2: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Berglund.
    • EMI.
    • 4.

  • Karl Jenkins

    Palladio

    Orchestra: Metamorphosen Berlin. Conductor: Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.
    • Palladio: I. Allegretto.
    • Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.
    • 1.

  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet in B flat major Op.76`4 'Sunrise' (1st mvt)

    Performer: Tak谩cs Quartet.
    • Haydn: Six String Quartets, Op.76.
    • Decca.
    • 13.

  • Franz Leh谩r

    O M盲dchen, mein M盲dchen, wie liebe ich dich! ( from Friederike)

    Singer: Jonas Kaufmann. Orchestra: Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Dirk Kaftan.
    • Magische T枚ne.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 8.

  • Amy Beach

    Berceuse (3 Pieces Op.40)

    Music Arranger: Stephan Koncz. Performer: Andreas Ottensamer. Orchestra: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.
    • DG.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Violin Concerto in F minor, RV 297, 'Winter'

    Performer: Fabio Biondi. Ensemble: Europa Galante.
    • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 10.

  • Claude Debussy

    F锚tes (Nocturnes)

    Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Pierre Boulez.
    • Debussy: Nocturnes/La Mer/Jeux: Boulez.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 1.

  • Claude Debussy

    F锚tes (Nocturnes)

    Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Pierre Boulez.
    • Debussy: Nocturnes/La Mer/Jeux: Boulez.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 2.

  • Claude Debussy

    Sir猫nes (Nocturnes)

    Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Choir: The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. Conductor: Pierre Boulez.
    • Debussy: Nocturnes/La Mer/Jeux: Boulez.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 3.

  • Frank Loesser

    The Inch Worm (from the film Hans Christian Andersen)

    Singer: Danny Kaye.
    • Hans Christian Andersen.
    • Geffen.
    • 4.

  • Joaqu铆n Rodrigo

    Canario (Fantas铆a para un gentilhombre)

    Performer: Milo拧 Karadagli膰. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.
    • Milos Karadaglic - Aranjuez.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 10.

  • Francis Poulenc

    Melancolie

    Performer: Alexandre Tharaud.
    • Alexandre Tharaud - Autograph.
    • Erato.
    • 19.

  • Judith Bingham

    The Drowned Lovers

    Choir: Tenebrae. Singer: Martha McLorinan. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Music of the Spheres.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 14.

  • Charles Villiers Stanford

    The Blue Bird (8 Partsongs Op.119)

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Music of the Spheres.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 15.

  • Orlando Gibbons

    Fantasias for 6 Viols: No. 6

    Ensemble: Fretwork.
    • My Days.
    • Signum Records.
    • 15.

  • Jerome Moross

    The Big Country (main theme)

    Orchestra: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Erich Kunzel.
    • Round-Up.
    • Telarc.
    • 9.

Broadcast

  • Mon 20 Apr 2026 09:30
    麻豆社 Radio 3