Composer of the Week Podcast Folgen

As performer, composer, impresario, musical director, and teacher, Antonio Vivaldi was a key figure in the musical life of Baroque Italy. Thanks to his set of Concertos “The Four Seasons”, he remains one of the most famous and best loved composers today. This week, Donald Macleod puts these four celebrated concertos front and centre as he also explores the four seasons of Vivaldi’s own life, lingering a little in his summer. We'll follow him from the start of his musical story, teaching at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, through his time as an opera composer, catering to the crowds who swarmed to Venice during carnival season, to his successes away from Venice. Vivaldi had many highs in his career, however he also had some difficult low points, finding himself embroiled in scandal and accused of immoral behaviour, before dying in poverty in a foreign city – his star having fallen from favour.Music Featured:Violin Concerto in E major, Op 8 no. 1 RV 269 “Spring” Credo, RV 591 L’oracolo in Messenia – “S’in campo armato” La costanza trionfante de gl'amori e de gl'odii, RV 706 Ottone in villa, RV 729 – “Frema pur, si lagni Roma” Farnace, RV 711 - “Gelido in Omni” Armida - Act I Scene 13: “Armata di furore” Concerto for Multiple Instruments, 'per l'orchestra di Dresda' in G minor, RV 576 Magnificat in G minor, RV 610b Violin Concerto in G minor, Op 8 no. 2 RV 315 “Summer” Violin Concerto in F major, RV 293 Op.8 no 3 “Autumn” Dorilla in Tempe, RV709 – Act II, Scene 8: “Arsa da rai cocenti” Griselda, RV 718 – “Ho il cor gia lacero”; “No, non tanta crudelta”; Terzetto “Non piu regina”; “Son infelice tanto” Farnace, RV 711 – “Forse, o caro, in questi accenti...” Lauda Jerusalem, RV609 Violin Concerto in F minor, RV 297 Op.8 no. 4 “Winter”Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Sam PhillipsFor full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Mel Bonis (1858 – 1937) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57jAnd you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Mel Bonis's name may not be a familiar one these days, but she produced somewhere in the region of three hundred compositions. There's no doubt that she was sensitive to gender discrimination. It's why she chose to publish her music under the name of Mel rather than her birth name Mélanie.She was born in 1858 to parents of modest means. Her father worked for the watch company Breguet, still in business today, and her mother worked in the haberdashery trade. Neither of them held any particular interest in music, so it was down to young Mélanie to teach herself the play the family's piano. Her talent was recognised by a visiting friend who facilitated a meeting with one of the leading lights of the day, César Franck, an esteemed professor of organ at Paris's prestigious Conservatoire. Mélanie enrolled and showed great promise as a student, winning several end of year prizes. Her studies came to an abrupt end when her parents refused to give their consent to her marriage to a fellow student there, a poet, critic and singer, Amédée Hettich. Her life took a sharp turn two years later when, at the instigation of her parents, she married a twice widowed man of comfortable means. Thereafter her life as a composer had to take a back seat to the demands of raising five step-children and three of her own children with her husband, Albert Domange. Even so, she managed to continue to compose, producing music for her own instrument, the piano, and in almost every other genre as well.Étiolles, Op 2 Ophélie, Op 165 Piano Quartet No 1 in B flat major, Op 69 - II. Intermezzo. Allegretto tranquillo Impromptu pour piano, Op 1 5 pièces pour piano No 1: Gai Printemps, Op 11 No 2: Romance sans paroles, Op 29 No 3: Menuet, Op 14 No 4: Églogue, Op 12 No 5: Papillons, Op 28 Cello sonata in F major, Op 67 – III. Très lent Fantaisie, Op 72 "Septuor" Près de ruisseau, Op 9 Pensées d’automne, Op 19 Piano Quartet No 1, Op 69 – I. Moderato and IV. Final. Allegro ma non troppo Villanelle, Op 4 Dès l’aube, Op 18 Marionnettes, Op 42 Sonata for Flute and Piano Suite Orientale, Op 48 No 2 Valses-caprice, Op 87 Elève toi mon âme L’Oiseau Bleu, Op 74 Cello sonata in F major, Op 67 – I. Moderato quasi andante Suite en forme de valses, Op 35 to 39 La chanson de Rouet, Op 24 Carillon mystique, Op 31 Les Gitanos, Op 15 No 2 Suite en Trio, Op 59 Salomé, Op 100 Mazurka-ballet, Op 181 Trois melodies, Op 91 Soir et Matin, Op 76 Scènes de la Forêt La Cathédrale Blessée, Op 107 Sonate pour violon et piano, Opus 112 – IV. Finale Finale, Op 187 Miocheries, Op 126, No 13, La toute petite s’endort Regina coeli, Op 45 Piano quartet No 2 in D major, Op 124 Cantique de Jean Racine, Op 144 Le songe de Cléopatre, Op 180Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah SmithFor full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Mel Bonis (1858 – 1937) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h57jAnd you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the turbulent life of Dmitry Shostakovich, and asks the ultimate question: Who was he? A faithful Soviet lackey… or a secret dissident?Dmitry Shostakovich, like his home country of Russia, was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. From the very beginning of his career, he pushed the boundaries, but under Stalin’s stifling regime, experimental artists were enemies of the state, and Shostakovich was at the top of the wanted list. The composer was forced to censor his work and betray his own morals to survive - or was he?Some say Shostakovich was Stalin’s faithful lackey; others read dissident messages in his music. This week, Donald Macleod traces five turning points in the composer's career, we start with his First Symphony. Admitted to the Conservatoire while still just a child and battling ill health, his debut made a splash for all the right reasons – and the wrong ones too. Then we hear about the fateful night that Stalin paid a visit to the opera, and Shostakovich’s career as a composer was changed forever. After denouncing his music, Stalin offered Shostakovich an opportunity to rescue his reputation however, it comes at great personal cost. The death of Stalin should have meant rebirth for Shostakovich, but once again he finds himself backed into a corner, forced to make a decision that shocks and mystifies those closest to him.Music Featured:Piano Concerto No. 2 In F Major, Op. 102: II. Andante Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10: II. Allegro Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10: IV. Allegro molto Symphony No. 2 in B Major, Op. 14 “To October” The Nose, Op. 15, Act 2: Scene 6 Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District, Op. 29, Act 2: Scene 5 Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43: I. Allegretto poco moderato Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op 47: IV. Allegro non troppo Violin Concerto No. 1 In A Minor, Op. 99: I. Nocturne. Moderato From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: III. Lullaby Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67: IV. Allegretto Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93: IV. Andante – Allegro The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a: VII. Introduction String Quartet String Quartet No. 7 In F. Sharp Minor, Op.108: I Allegretto Hamlet Suite, Op. 116a: Ophelia's Insanity String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: I. Largo Symphony No. 13 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 113 “Babi Yar”: IV. FearsPresented by Donald Macleod Produced by Alice McKeeFor full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fdx8And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z