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Pianist Dame Imogen Cooper on life beyond the concert hall

Tom Service talks to pianist Dame Imogen Cooper about her life in music, and saxophonist Salvador Flores plays live in the studio.

Tom Service with guests, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack for the weekend.

Tom's guest is the pianist Dame Imogen Cooper. After announcing her retirement from performing earlier this year, Tom talks to Dame Imogen about going to Paris to study at the age of 12, her farewell tour, life beyond the concert hall and her final recording, featuring Beethoven's last three sonatas.

Tom is also joined by Washington, DC-based saxophonist Salvador Flores who performs live in the studio and talks about playing in the United States Army Band and his new album "Mosaic" which brings together Classical, Jazz and Latin repertoire.

Our focus on Creators continues with the composer Hannah Kendall who talks to Tom about her 2022 piece "Shouting Forever into the Receiver" in which she explores the impact of the plantation system on contemporary life.

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3 hours

Last on

Today09:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Hervé Niquet

    Chaconne (Millefeuille, after Lalande's Suites)

    Composer: Michel‐Richard de Lalande. Ensemble: Le Concert Spirituel. Conductor: Hervé Niquet.
    • ALPHA.

  • Igor Stravinsky

    Petrushka (The Shrove-tide Fair)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Esa‐Pekka Salonen.
    • Sony Classical.

  • Josquin des Prez

    Mille regretz

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Robert Schumann

    Paino Quintet in E flat (1st mvt)

    Performer: Jonathan Biss. Ensemble: Elias String Quartet.
    • ONYX.

  • Mohammed Abdel Wahab

    La mosh ana-l-abki

    Singer: Fatma Said. Ensemble: Les Frivolités Parisiennes. Conductor: Sammy El Ghadab.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Elena Kats‐Chernin

    Ornamental Air (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Michael Collins. Orchestra: Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Collins.
    • Mozart/Copland/Kats-Chernin: Works for Clarinet and Orchestra: Michael Collins.
    • Chandos.
    • 8.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Water Music Suite in D major HWV.349 (Alla hornpipe)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale. Conductor: Nicholas McGegan.
    • Handel: Water Music: The English Concert, Pinnock.
    • Archiv.
    • 5.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Piano Concerto no.1 in D flat (1st mvt)

    Performer: Jan Bartoš. Orchestra: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jakub Hrůša.
    • Supraphon.

  • Robert Ballard

    Ballet and 8th Courante (1st Lute Book)

    Performer: Toby Carr.
    • DELPHIAN.

  • Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Symphony no.5 in E minor (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic. Conductor: Kirill Petrenko.
    • Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

  • Franz Schubert

    Impromptu in E flat (4 Impromptus D.899)

    Performer: Imogen Cooper.
    • Schubert, Live, Volume 3: Imogen Cooper.
    • Avie.
    • 2.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Bagatelle in E flat (7 Bagatelles Op.33)

    Performer: Imogen Cooper.
    • BBC recording.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata no.32 in C minor (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Imogen Cooper.
    • Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas.
    • Chandos.
    • 8.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto no.27 in B flat (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Imogen Cooper. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Recording courtesy of the European Broadcasting Union.

  • Caroline Shaw

    Dolce Cantavi

    Performer: TENET.
    • The Secret Lovers.
    • Avie.
    • 13.

  • Gavin Higgins

    Bold and to the Fore (Fanfare and Love Songs)

    Ensemble: Tredegar Band. Conductor: Ian Porthouse.
    • Tredegar Town Band Label.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Preludio sinfonico

    Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Ivan Repušić.
    • Puccini: Orchestral Songs & Works.
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 17.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Piece en forme de Habanera

    Performer: Salvador Flores. Performer: Edward Picton-Turbervill.
    • Live performance.

  • Astor Piazzolla

    Tango Etude no.3

    Performer: Salvador Flores. Performer: Edward Picton-Turbervill.
    • Live performance.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Violin Concerto in E minor Op.64 (1st mvt)

    Performer: James Ehnes. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto/Octet: James Ehnes.
    • Onyx.
    • 1.

  • Carl Friedrich Abel

    Frena le belle lagrime (Sifari)

    Singer: Iestyn Davies. Ensemble: Fretwork.
    • Signum Records.

  • John Adams

    Harmonielehre part 3: Meister Eckhardt and Quackie

    Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Edo de Waart.
    • Nonesuch.

  • Sylvius Leopold Weiss

    Passacaglia

    Performer: Miloš Karadaglić.
    • Passacaglia.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Hannah Kendall

    Shouting Forever into the Receiver

    Ensemble: Ensemble Modern. Conductor: Vimbayi Kaziboni.
    • NMC.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no.2 in C minor 'Resurrection' (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • BR-Klassik.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Piano Sonata No 2 in C major, H.XVI.7 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Jean‐Efflam Bavouzet.
    • CHANDOS.

  • George Enescu

    Romanian Rhapsody No 2 in D major

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: Cristian Măcelaru.
    • Enescu: Symphonies Nos. 1-3; 2 Romanian Rhapsodies.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 2.

Broadcast

  • Today09:00
    BBC Radio 3