Programme Information

Sunday 21 December 2008

BBC RADIO 1 Sunday 21 December 2008

Kaiser Chiefs and McFly join Nick Grimshaw as he hosts a BBC Switch Christmas party this evening, while US teen superstars Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers join in the fun by phone.

Nick is also joined by some other fellow Switch team members, including The 5:19 Show's Tom Deacon; Aled from the Chris Moyles Show and The Surgery; and Anthony and Charlotte from Revealed.

Presenter/Nick Grimshaw, Producer/Megan Carver

BBC Radio 1 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 2 Sunday 21 December 2008

Elaine Paige gets festive with a Christmas edition of her programme celebrating the seasonal best of Broadway, Hollywood and the West End.

Presenter/Elaine Paige, Producer/Malcolm Prince

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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The Devil's ChristmasEp 1/4 Sunday 21 to Christmas Eve Wednesday 24 December 12.00midnight-12.20am BBC RADIO 2

Christmas week gets creepy
with Christopher Eccleston

Christmas week gets creepy on BBC Radio 2, as Christopher Eccleston reads a series of classic short stories with a devilish sting in the tail.

The first reading is The Signalman, by Charles Dickens, an eerie tale of a railway tunnel which is haunted by a winter's death that is yet to come...

Reader/Christopher Eccleston, Producer/Frank Stirling

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 3 Sunday 21 December 2008

BBC Radio presents a musical Christmas celebration with a series of one-hour concert performances from seven countries Across Europe...And Beyond, featuring the USA, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Norway. Radio 3 joins an international network of radio stations for a seasonal selection of choral and orchestral music, presented by Andrew McGregor, who reflects on Christmas customs, past, present and future.

USA
12.00noon-1.00pm

The American hour features a Christmas concert from popular acappella group Chanticleer, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Directed by Joseph H. Jennings, Chanticleer go home to California to perform traditional and well-loved Christmas vocal music, from Gregorian chant to gospel.

Some of the musical highlights include: Virga jesse floruit (Gregorian chant, from the Gradual of Eleanor of Brittany); Perotin – Ex semine rosa; Praetorius – In dulci jubilo; Mateo Flecha – El jubilate; Gaspar Fernandes – Xiocochi xicochi conetzintie; Juan Garcia de Zespedes – Convidando esta la noche; Part – O spross aus Isais Wurzel (Seven Magnificat Antiphons); Vytautas Miskinis – O radix jesse (Seven O-Antiphons); William Kirkpatrick – Away In A Manger; Mykola Leontobych – Carol Of The Bells; and Joseph Jennings – Medley Of Christmas Spirituals.

Sweden
1.00-2.00pm

Vocalist Fredrik Lycke is the special guest in a Christmas concert from Stockholm's Berwaldhallen with the Swedish Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andreas Hanson.

The concert features: Stenhammar – Midvinter; Rehnqvist – Don't Be Afraid Of The Darkness; Pereric Moraeus – Holy Night; Trad, arr Ingvar Karkoff – Christmas From Dalecarlia; Trad, arr Gunnar Hahn – Prepare The Royal Highway; Adam, arr Martin Ostergren – O Holy Night; Gruber, arr Ingvar Karkoff – Silent Night; and Britten – Men Of Goodwill: Variations On God Rest Ye Merry.

Austria
2.00-3.00pm

A feast of seasonal Baroque music comes from the spectacularly elaborate Baroque interiors of the Cathedral of St Pölten. The cathedral choir joins forces with a group of instrumentalists from across the Slovakian border, Solamente Naturali, and organist Ludwig Lüsser, to perform a host of music including: Franz Schneider – Transeamus usque ad Bethlehem; Rathgeber – Cum quietum silentium; Murschhauser – Aria pastoralis variate, for organ; Frantisek Brixi – Pastores loquebantur; Albrechtsberger – Jubilemus salvatori; Albrechtsberger – Der tag, der ist so freudenreich, for organ; Franz Aumann – Seid fröhlich, ihr Schäfer; Paisiello – A Christmas Motet; Konigsberger – Two Pastoral Arias, for organ; Franz Krenn – Bone Jesu; Michael Haydn – Parvulus filius; and Albrechtsberger – Pastorale in C, for organ.

Finland
3.00-4.00pm

Kallio Church in Helsinki is the venue from which The Helsinki Chamber Choir perform choral music from eight countries, including the world première of Our Joyful'st Feast by Einojuhani Rautavaara, who celebrates his 80th birthday this year.

The programme also includes Janacek – Graduale in festo purificationis BVM; Martinu – The Annunciation (Four Songs On Virgin Mary); Brahms – Der englische Jäger; Sibelius – Now, Beside The Manger Of The Little One; Matthew Whittall – In The Bleak Midwinter; Selim Palmgren – Prince Of Peace; Leevi Madetoja – Cast Your Everyday Cares Aside; Gallus – Mirabile mysterium; Jonathan Harvey – The Angels; Victoria – O magnum mysterium; Toivo Kuula – Prayer, Op. 34b No 1; and Poulenc: Seeing The Star and Hodie Christuas natus est (4 Motets pour les temps de Noel).

Denmark
5.00-6.00pm

The recently formed Danish National Vocal Ensemble present a concert from a 13th-century church in Soborg, directed by Michael Bojesen. Musical highlights include: Schulz, arr Bojesen – Jesus, Here Come Thy Little Ones; Bach – Singet dem Herrn, BWV225; Ich steh' an deiner Krippen hier, BWV469; Niels la Cour – Three Latin Motets; Morten Lauridsen – O magnum mysterium; Britten – A Hymn To The Virgin; Trond Kverno – Corpus Christi Carol; Gruber, arr Bojesen – Silent Night; and Johannes Crüger – My Heart, Lift Your Wings Of Joy.

Czech Republic
6.00-7.00pm

A celebration of Advent and Christmas comes from Baroque Bohemia, amid the marbled walls and reflective ceilings of Prague's Mirror Chapel. Sopranos Hanna Blazikova and Stanislava Mihalcova and baritone Tomas Kral, joined by Collegium Marianum, are directed by Jana Smeradova and perform Rovensky's Rorate coeli, Oh Lord, How Have I Deserved and a selection from the hymnal Capella regia musicalis (1693) as well as Schmelzer – Sonata a 3 Pastorale, Adam Michna – selection from the hymn-cycle Ceska marianska muzika (1647) and Caldara – Christmas Cantata (excerpts).

Norway
7.00-8.00pm

The Christmas celebrations across Europe conclude with a performance at Oslo Concert Hall, featuring seasonal works by Bach and Mendelssohn combined with popular Norwegian Christmas carols. The performance, by the Oslo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, is conducted by Peter Szilvay.

The closing music includes Praetorius, arr Gaute Storaas – Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming; Bach – Jauchzet, frohlocket (Christmas Oratorio); Sibelius – Suite Belshazzar's Feast; Geirr Tveitt – Hardanger Folk Tunes; Norwegian trad, arr Storaas – My Heart Always Wanders; Soraas, arr Storaas – It Shines In The Silent Streets; Mendelssohn – Von himmel hoch and Norwegian trad, arr Terje Kvam – Deilig er jorden.

Presenter/Andrew McGregor, Producer/Simon Jordan

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Drama On 3 – The Cherry Orchard By Anton Chekhov Sunday 21 December 8.00-10.00pm BBC RADIO 3

Sarah Miles, Nicholas Le Prevost and Anne-Marie Duff are among the stars in this new production of Chekhov's last play, The Cherry Orchard.

Considered by many to be Chekhov's finest work, The Cherry Orchard is a timeless tragi-comedy. It deals with the decline of the Russian aristocracy after the emancipation of the serfs and delivers truths about all societies in times of transition.

Using a new translation by Sasha Dugdale from the original Russian text, the production attempts to provide a fresh reconnection to Chekhov's original and remain true to the author's conviction that, as well as heart-breaking drama, this is a delightful comedy. In fact, Chekhov's much-debated demands for a mingling of comedy in the high-tragedy of the play were what Constantin Stanislavski – the play's first director – stamped his production with, and what led to the play's reputation and popular success.

The play is set at the end of the 19th century, in rural Russia, where an impoverished aristocratic family refuse to take the necessary steps to prevent their estate and beloved cherry orchard from going under the hammer. It is bought by a local self-made businessman, the son of a serf made good, who plans to demolish the house and turn the cherry orchard into tiny allotments which will be let as dachas (summer cottages).

This Drama On 3 also features Matthew Marsh and Suzannah Fielding. Sasha Dugdale is a poet and translator of 30 contemporary Russian plays. The featured music is composed and performed by Dr Olga Thomas.

Producer and director/Peter Kavanagh

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Choreographers and dancers seem to be pushing themselves much further and harder to innovate, challenging themselves and their audiences in extreme ways, pushing the boundaries of inspiration. This Sunday Feature two-parter asks what today's dance makers risk to renew their form and how far they will go for a dance.

In this concluding programme, it is the turn of the dancers. What are the risks and rewards of being a muse? How far is a dancer prepared to push their body to make a dance and what is it that dance does for them? The focus of this programme is the boundary between choreographer and dancer, and dancer and their own imagination.

Contributors include exceptional ballerina Sylvie Guillem, who is currently working with Russell Maliphant on a new Robert Lepage theatre work – she talks about moving in innovative ways. In addition, Ellen Van Shuylenburch – who has lived in exile all her life through chasing the best choreographers and teachers – describes trying to repeatedly renew herself.

Further contributions come from drastic classicist and perfectionist Michael Clark; Robert Swinston, who has dedicated 28 years to Merce Cunningham; Jonathan Goddard, the first contemporary dancer to be awarded NDA Best Dancer of the Year (2007); and Dave Toole, whose distinctive ability to dance on his arms transformed his life from a dispirited post office worker to a performer with Candoco, DV8 and Coisceim.

Presenter/Judith Mackrell, Producer/Frances Byrnes

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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To commemorate keyboard legend Zoe Zawinul, who would have been 75 this year, biographer Brian Glasser talks to Julian Joseph about his last CD, recorded just two months before he died. Julian presented a tribute to Zawinul, the icon of jazz fusion and the creator of Weather Report, at last year's London Jazz Festival.

Julian also chats with two members of close-harmony group Take 6 – Alvin Chea and Joey Kibble – as well as co-founder Clause McKnight. The band formed in the early Eighties on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, and their latest CD, The Standard, takes them through a repertoire that includes tracks from Trumpeter Till Bronner, George Benson and Jon Hendricks. The tracks that get the Take 6 treatment include Sweet Georgia Brown, Someone To Watch Over Me and Windmills Of Your Mind.

Presenter/Julian Joseph, Producer/Keith Loxam

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 4 Sunday 21 December 2008

Ezra Caged Sunday 21 December 4.30-5.00pm BBC RADIO 4

American Modernist poet and editor Ezra Pound was arrested in Italy at the end of the Second World War having made pro-Mussolini radio broadcasts.

For a time, he was held in a wire cage at a detention camp near Pisa. Eventually, he was taken to the United States, where he was tried and incarcerated in a mental institution. His Italian prison experiences fed into some of the finest poems he ever wrote, the Pisan Cantos.

Jeremy Harding reads the poems and explores their meanings. Pound recorded the poems himself and, alongside Jeremy's interrogation of their meaning and history, listeners hear archive recordings of Pound's remarkable readings.

Reader/Jeremy Harding, Producer/Tim Dee

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Great White Hopes Sunday 21 December 5.00-5.40pm BBC RADIO 4

The failure of black youths at school has long been recognised as a "silent catastrophe", an issue that has stirred public debate and risen higher within the government's educational agenda.

However, whilst the headlines have focused on black youths, successive reports indicate that many working-class white youths are performing even worse in their GCSEs.

In Great White Hopes, broadcaster Henry Bonsu compares and contrasts the reasons for black and white failure at school, and investigates whether white boys struggling at school would benefit from receiving specialist strategies to help them succeed in their education.

He also examines schemes aimed at helping black boys, such as increased parental involvement, more role models and black teachers, and asks if similar plans could help their white counterparts.

Presenter/Henry Bonsu, Producer/Mark Smalley

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 5 LIVE Sunday 21 December 2008

5 Live Sport Sunday 21 December 12.00noon-6.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Eleanor Oldroyd presents an afternoon of live football. Commentary comes from West Brom v Manchester City from the Hawthorns at 1.30pm, with coverage of Newcastle v Tottenham at St James Park from 3pm and Arsenal v Liverpool from the Emirates at 4pm.

There are also reports from Falkirk v Celtic in the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, London Wasps v Saracens in rugby union's Guinness Premiership and updates from the third day's play of the Second Test between India and England in Mumbai.

Presenter/Eleanor Oldroyd, Producer/TBC

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA Sunday 21 December 2008

Test Match Special Sunday 21 December 3.50-11.30am BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

The Test Match Special commentary team present uninterrupted commentary of the third day's play of the Second Test between India and England, live from Mumbai.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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Football Sunday 21 December 2.55-5.00pm BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary comes live from the Barclays Premier League clash between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St James's Park.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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BBC 6 MUSIC Sunday 21 December 2008

The Music Week celebrates a year of musical happenings with a few rounds of Have I Got Music News For You? Listeners can expect much silliness as Matt Everitt goes head-to-head with Julie Cullen for the Music News crown, with special-guest team mates lending their support.

Presenters/Matt Everitt and Julie Cullen, Producer/Tom Green

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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BBC WORLD SERVICE Sunday 21 December 2008

BBC World Service offers listeners another chance to hear the story of the happiest person in the world, Matthieu Ricard. Neuroscientists in the US have declared Ricard, the French translator for the Dalai Lama, to be the happiest man they have ever tested.

As a young man, he gave up his privileged Parisian life and the promise of a distinguished career as a genetic scientist to train as a Buddhist Monk in India. He has brought the scientific rigour of his early life to collaborating in research into how the brain can function better through meditation and happiness. Here, he talks to Emily Kasriel about his decision to become a monk, what happiness is and how it can be achieved.

Presenter/Emily Kasriel, Producer/Anna Horsbrugh-Porter

BBC World Service Publicity

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