RADIO CHOICE

ARTLESS American girls, full of vim and vigour, stride through the novels of Henry James on the lookout for adventures and experience. They find themselves in a society of exiles and European aristocrats, and their encounters often bring tragedy. LOVE HENRY JAMES: THE MASTER (RADIO 4 (FM), 11.30AM) shows us how James’s novels bristle with sex, money and intrigue — you just have to wade through the long-winded prose to get to the hot plots.

JIM LAUDERDALE writes songs with arresting titles such as Doin’ Time In Bakersfield, Old Time Angels and I Met Jesus In A Bar. The multi-Grammy Award-winning bluegrass and country star (pictured) has released more than two dozen albums and has had his songs recorded by Elvis Costello, Blake

Shelton, The Dixie Chicks and other stars. This evening, Jim will be the one singing his songs on BOB HARRIS COUNTRY (RADIO 2, 7PM).

TCHAIKOVSKY died shortly after the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, giving rise to the much-disputed theory that this final symphony, the Pathetique, was a musical suicide note. It is, whatever the background story, a sombre work that will be performed tonight for the BBC PROMS 2017 (RADIO 3, 7.30PM) by the Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Voices and the BBC Philharmonic.