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A feast of great music

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

Ian Skelly 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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25 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Friday09:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • LĂ©o Delibes

    Les chasseresses (Sylvia)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge.
    • Delibes: The 3 Ballets: Richard Bonynge.
    • Decca.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Sonata in D Major for 2 Pianos, K 448 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Daniel Barenboim. Performer: Martha Argerich.
    • Mozart, Schubert & Stravinsky Piano Duos.
    • DG.
    • 1.

  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    Sinfonietta (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Matthias Bamert.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Thomas Campion

    Never weather-beaten sail

    Choir: Stile Antico.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Petite suite de concert Op.77 (No.1 La Caprice de Nanette)

    Conductor: Adrian Leaper.
    • MARCO POLO.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Pushkin Waltzes, Op 120: No 2 in C sharp Minor

    Performer: Martha Argerich. Performer: Sergei Babayan. Music Arranger: Sergei Babayan.
    • Prokofiev For Two.
    • DG.
    • 17.

  • Benny Goodman

    Don't be that way - Stompin' at the Savoy

    Composer: Edgar Sampson. Ensemble: The Julian Bliss Septet.
    • A Tribute to Benny Goodman.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 1.

  • William Walton

    Violin Concerto (2nd mvt: Presto capriccioso alla napolitana)

    Performer: Charlie Lovell-Jones. Orchestra: Sinfonia of London. Conductor: John Wilson.
    • Walton: Orchestral Works.
    • Chandos Records Limited.
    • 6.

  • François Couperin

    Les Nations, 1st Order 'La Française' (1st mvt)

    Orchestra: Les Talens Lyriques. Conductor: Christophe Rousset.
    • Couperin: Les Nations.
    • ApartĂ©.
    • 1.

  • Hugo AlfvĂ©n

    Shepherd girl's dance (The Mountain King, Op.37)

    Orchestra: Stockholm Sinfonietta. Conductor: Jan‐Olav Wedin.
    • A Swedish Pastorale.
    • BIS.
    • 015.

  • Sergey Rachmaninov

    7 Morceaux de salon, Op 10: No 7 Mazurka

    Performer: Boris Giltburg.
    • Rachmaninoff: Piano Works.
    • Naxos.
    • 119.

  • Edward Elgar

    Symphony no.2 in E flat major Op.63 (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Violin Concerto in D minor (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Viktoria Mullova. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos.
    • PHILIPS.

  • Chiara Margarita Cozzolani

    Nisi Dominus (Vespers)

    Ensemble: I Gemelli. Conductor: Emiliano Gonzalez‐Toro.
    • NAIVE.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83: II. Allegro appassionato

    Orchestra: Royal Northern Sinfonia.
    • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Handel Variations.
    • Ondine.
    • 102.

  • Joseph Haydn

    String Quartet in G Major, Op 76 No 1 (2nd mvt)

    Ensemble: Chiaroscuro Quartet.
    • Haydn: String Quartets Op. 76 Nos. 1-3.
    • BIS.
    • 2.

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Tsar's Departure and Farewell)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade: Philharmonia/Ashkenazy.
    • Decca.
    • 5.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Deh vieni non tardar (The Marriage of Figaro)

    Singer: Joyce DiDonato. Choir: Choeur de l'Opéra de Lyon. Orchestra: Opéra de Lyon. Conductor: Kazushi Ono.
    • Diva Divo - Opera Arias: Joyce DiDonato.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 3.

  • Reinhold Moritzevich GliĂšre

    The Bronze Horseman (Waltz)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Edward Downes.
    • Gliere – Bronze Horseman/Horn Concerto.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 11.

  • Georges Bizet

    Jeux d'enfants, Op.22; Galop - Le Bal

    Orchestra: Les Siùcles. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.
    • Mirare.

  • Elsa Barraine

    Les tziganes

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: Cristian Măcelaru.
    • WARNER.

  • Jean Guyot

    Ave Maria ... Signum magnum

    Choir: Cinquecento.
    • Hyperion.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Scherzo

    Ensemble: Nash Ensemble.
    • HYPERION.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Krystian Zimerman. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 9.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cantata "Ich habe genug" BWV 82

    Performer: Albrecht Mayer. Singer: Matthias Goerne. Ensemble: Camerata Salzburg. Conductor: Sir Roger Norrington.
    • Bach, J.S.: Cantatas Nos. 82, 158 & 56.
    • DECCA.
    • 1.

  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Chopin

    Nocturne in A flat major, Op 32 No 2

    Performer: Ingrid Fliter.
    • LINN.

  • Gabriel FaurĂ©

    Sicilienne Op.78

    Performer: Emmanuel Pahud. Performer: Mariko Anraku.
    • Beau Soir, French and Japanese melodies: Pahud/Anraku.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 6.

  • Louise Farrenc

    Symphony No 2 in D Major, (3rd mvt)

    Orchestra: Insula Orchestra. Conductor: Laurence Equilbey.
    • Erato.

  • Albert de Rippe

    (Sandrin) Douce memoire, transc. for lute

    Performer: Paul O’Dette.
    • Rippe: Works for lute 'Un perfaict sonneur de Leut'.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 105.

  • AntonĂ­n Dvoƙák

    Cello Concerto in B minor Op.104 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein. Performer: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Jiƙí Bělohlávek.
    • Alisa Weilerstein Dvorak.
    • DECCA.
    • 3.

Broadcast

  • Friday09:30
    BBC Radio 3