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Relax into the day with classical

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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12 days left to listen

3 hours, 30 minutes

Last on

Wed 4 Mar 202609:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Bedrich Smetana

    The Bartered Bride (Overture)

    Orchestra: Pro Arte Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Janacek: Sinfonietta etc: Pro Arte Orchestra/Mackerras.
    • EMI.
    • 11.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Baryton Trio in D major H.11.36 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Simone Eckert. Performer: Bettina Ihrig. Performer: Dorothee Palm.
    • Haydn & Friends.
    • haenssler CLASSIC.
    • 4-6.

  • Marguerite Monnot

    Hymne Ă  l'amour

    Performer: Thibaut Garcia.

  • AntonĂ­n Dvoƙák

    Slavonic Dance in B major Op.72 no.9

    Orchestra: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andrew Davis.
    • Nobel Prize Ceremony Music.
    • FINLANDIA.
    • 6.

  • John Tavener

    Song for Athene

    Choir: Gabrieli Consort. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • DG.

  • Jocelyn Pook

    Wonderland

    Ensemble: Ambache Chamber Ensemble.
    • Seven Sisters : Chamber Music by British Women.
    • Ambache Recordings.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 41 in C major, K 551, 'Jupiter' (1st mvt)

    Conductor: Colin Davis. Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden.
    • Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39 & 41: Sir Colin Davis.
    • Philips.
    • 5.

  • Jean‐Philippe Rameau

    Chaconne (Les Indes galantes)

    Orchestra: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • Rameau: Une Symphonie Imaginaire: Musiciens du Louvre/Minkowski.
    • Archiv.
    • 17.

  • FrĂ©dĂ©ric Chopin

    Scherzo no.2 in B flat minor Op.31

    Performer: Louis Lortie.
    • Chopin: Nocturnes/Scherzos/Sonata in B flat minor: Lortie.
    • Chandos.
    • 4.

  • John Bull

    Bulls Goodnighte

    Performer: Pierre Gallon.
    • After Dark: A Midnight Fantasia.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 8.

  • Louise Farrenc

    Overture in E minor, Op.23

    Orchestra: NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Johannes Goritzki.
    • Louise Farrenc: Symphony no.2, Overtures.
    • CPO.
    • 5.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Matinées musicales, Op. 24

    Orchestra: Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester. Conductor: Okko Kamu.
    • Ondine.

  • Gabriela Montero

    Improvisation on Vivaldi's Winter

    Performer: Gabriela Montero.
    • EMI.

  • Morten Lauridsen

    Sure on this shining night (Nocturnes)

    Choir: Polyphony. Performer: Morten Lauridsen. Conductor: Stephen Layton.
    • Lauridsen: Nocturnes, Mid-Winter Songs, Les Chansons des Roses: Polyphony, Layto.
    • Hyperion.
    • 16.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Talvikuva [Winter Scene] (5 Esquisses Op.114)

    Performer: HĂ„vard Gimse.
    • Naxos.

  • Miles Davis

    Generique

    • Ascenseur pour l'Ă©chafaud.
    • Supreme Media.
    • 1.

  • Franz Schubert

    Piano Trio in E flat major, D.929 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Renaud Capuçon. Performer: Gautier Capuçon. Performer: Frank Braley.
    • Virgin Classics.

  • Judith Bingham

    The darkness is no darkness

    Choir: VOCES8.
    • DECCA.

  • Jacques Offenbach

    Barbe-bleue (Overture)

    Conductor: Neville Marriner. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • Philips.

  • Olivia Belli

    Sonatina for Nausicaa

    Performer: Olivia Belli.
    • Daimon: Piano Concerto, Ithaca Suite & Sonatina for Nausicaa.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 12-14.

  • Camille Saint‐SaĂ«ns

    Tarantelle in A minor Op.6

    Performer: Sharon Bezaly. Performer: Harri MĂ€ki. Orchestra: Tapiola Sinfonietta. Conductor: Jean‐Jacques Kantorow.
    • BIS.

  • William Walton

    Facade Suite

    Orchestra: Orchestra of Opera North. Conductor: David Lloyd‐Jones.
    • Lambert: Horoscope – Bliss: Checkmate – Walton: Façade.
    • Hyperion.
    • 6-16.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Suite in G minor BWV 995 (Prelude)

    Performer: Thomas Dunford.
    • ALPHA.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Marche Slave, Op.31

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.
    • ORFEO.

  • Louis Couperin

    Suite in D minor: Courante, Sarabande and Canaries

    Performer: Pavel Kolesnikov.
    • HYPERION.

  • Igor Stravinsky

    Danse infernale (The Firebird)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme JĂ€rvi.
    • Russian Masterpieces: SNO, LSO, Jarvi.
    • Chandos.

Broadcast

  • Wed 4 Mar 202609:30
    BBC Radio 3