Radio & TV listings
Schedules may be subject to alteration. For up-to-date listings see Radio Times
1 SATURDAY
7-9am Breakfast
9am-12.15pm Record Review – Building a Library
12.15-1pm Music Matters 1-3pm Inside Music
3-4pm Sound of Cinema
4-5pm Jazz Record Requests 5-6.30pm J to Z
6.30-10pm Opera on 3 live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Boito Mefistofele. Christian Van Horn (Mefistofele), Michael Fabiano (Faust), Angela Meade (Margherita), Jennifer Check (Helen of Troy), Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera/ Joseph Colaneri 10pm-12 midnight Hear and Now 12 midnight-1am Geoffrey Smith’s Jazz
2 SUNDAY
7-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon Sunday Morning 12 noon-1pm Private Passions Daniel Evans, actor and director 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert (rpt) 2-3pm The Early Music Show 3-4pm Choral Evensong
A Service for Advent with Carols from the Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge 4-5pm Choir and Organ 5-5.30pm The Listening Service
5.30-6.45pm Words and Music 6.45-7.30pm Sunday Feature Tales from the Caspian
Sea (Part 1)
7.30-9pm Drama on 3 9-10.30pm Radio 3 in Concert 10.30-12 midnight
Early Music Late
CHOICE 12 midnight12.30am
Classical Fix
3 MONDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics
12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Saint-saëns
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert live from Wigmore Hall, London. Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Ballade No. 2 in F, Ballade
No. 3 in A flat, Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Liszt Ballade No. 2 in B minor. Lara Melda (piano) 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in
Concert from Sage Gateshead. Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Schumann Symphony No. 4, Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1. Royal Northern Sinfonia/
Lars Vogt (piano)
10-10.45pm Music Matters 10.45-11pm The Essay The Lost World of the EP
11pm-12.30am Jazz Now
4 TUESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Saint-saëns
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert from Bath Mozart Fest. Angela Hewitt (piano), London Winds, Michael Mchale (piano), Belcea Quartet
2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from Ulster Hall, Belfast. Strauss Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Shostakovich Symphony No. 8. Tamás Kocsis (violin), Ulster Orchestra/rafael Payare 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay The Lost World of the EP
11pm-12.30am Late Junction
5 WEDNESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Saint-saëns
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert from Bath Mozart Fest. Angela Hewitt (piano), London Winds, Michael Mchale (piano) 2-3.30pm Afternoon Concert 3.30-4.30pm Choral Evensong live from Bristol Cathedral 4.30-5pm New
Generation Artists
5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert live from the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Winter Lights. Dobrinka Tabakova Orpheus’ Comet, Anne Dudley Northern Lights, Guy Barker Trumpet Concerto (The Lanterne of Light), Jonny Greenwood
Suite from Norwegian Wood, Sarah Jenkins new work (world premiere), Dobrinka Tabakova new work (world premiere). Alison Balsom (trumpet),
BBC Concert Orchestra/ Bramwell Tovey
10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay
The Lost World of the EP 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
6 THURSDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Saint-saëns
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert from Bath Mozart Fest. Angela Hewitt (piano), London Winds, Michael Mchale (piano)
2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert live from St David’s Hall,
Cardiff. Handel Messiah. Katherine Watson (soprano), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Gwilym Bowen (tenor), Neal Davies (bass-baritone), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/ Stephen Layton
10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay
The Lost World of the EP 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
7 FRIDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Saint-saëns
1-3pm Lunchtime Concert from Bath Mozart Fest. Angela Hewitt (piano), London Winds,
Michael Mchale (piano)
3-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the Victoria Rooms, Bristol. Stravinsky Suite: Pulcinella, Walton Cello Concerto, Shostakovich Symphony No. 1. Johannes Moser (cello), Bournemouth So/kirill Karabits 10-11pm The Verb
11pm-1am Music Planet
8 SATURDAY
7-9am Breakfast 9am-12.15pm Record Review – Building a Library
12.15-1pm Music Matters 1-3pm Inside Music
3-4pm Sound of Cinema 4-5pm Jazz Record Requests 5-6.30pm J to Z
6.30-10pm Opera on 3 live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Puccini Il trittico. Marcelo Álvarez (Luigi), Amber Wagner (Giorgetta), Kristine Opolais (Suor Angelica), Plácido Domingo (Gianni Schicchi), Stephanie Blythe (Frugola), George Gagnidze (Michele), Maurizio Muraro (Talpa), Maureen Mckay
(Sister Genovieffa), Kristina Mkhitaryan (Lauretta), Atalla Ayan (Rinuccio), Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera/ Bertrand de Billy
10pm-12 midnight
Hear and Now
12 midnight-1am
Geoffrey Smith’s Jazz
9 SUNDAY
7-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon Sunday Morning 12 noon-1pm Private Passions Lubaina Himid, artist (rpt) 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert from Wigmore Hall, London. Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Ballade No. 2 in F, Ballade No. 3 in A flat, Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Liszt Ballade No. 2. Lara Melda (piano) (rpt)
2-3pm The Early Music Show 3-4pm Choral Evensong from Bristol Cathedral (rpt) 4-5pm Choir and Organ 5-5.30pm The
Listening Service
5.30-6.45pm Words and Music 6.45-7.30pm Sunday Feature Tales from the Caspian
Sea (Part 2)
7.30-9pm Drama on 3 9-10.30pm British
Composer Awards from the British Museum, London 10.30-12 midnight
Early Music Late
CHOICE 12 midnight12.30am
Classical Fix
10 MONDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schubert: Schooldays (rpt)
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert live from Wigmore Hall, London. Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Ysaÿe Violin Sonata in E minor, John Adams Road Movies. Augustin Hadelich (violin), Charles Owen (piano)
2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the Royal Festival Hall, London. Strauss Suite: Der Rosenkavalier, Four Last
Songs, Eine Alpensinfonie. Sophie Bevan (soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra/ Santtu-matias Rouvali 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay
Writing Music
11pm-12.30am Jazz Now
11 TUESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schubert: Composing for Money (rpt) 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the Royal Festival Hall, London. Schubert Sonata in A minor, Piano Sonata in C ‘Reliquie’, Sonata in B flat. Mitsuko Uchida (piano) 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay
Writing Music
11pm-12.30am Late Junction
12 WEDNESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics
12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schubert: Friends and Unfinished Business (rpt)
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert
2-3.30pm Afternoon Concert 3.30-4.30pm Choral Evensong live from St Stephen Walbrook, London with the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-fields 4.30-5pm New
Generation Artists
5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the Royal Festival Hall, London. Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s Journey. Stravinsky Variations (Aldous Huxley in Memoriam), Threni, Tango,
Berio Sinfonia. Elizabeth Atherton (soprano), Maria Ostroukhova (mezzo-soprano), Thomas Walker (tenor), Joel Williams (tenor), Theodore Platt (baritone), Clive Bayley (bass), The Swingles, London Philharmonic Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra/ Vladimir Jurowski
10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay
Writing Music
11pm-12.30am Late Junction
13 THURSDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schubert: Joyless and Friendless (rpt)
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert live from the Temple Church, London. Temple Winter Festival. Palestrina Hodie Christus natus est, Missa Hodie Christus natus est, Nico Muhly new work, Nesbett Magnificat, Byrd Lullaby, Praetorius Magnificat V (with In dulci jubilo). Tallis Scholars/peter Phillips 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay
Writing Music
11pm-12.30am Late Junction
14 FRIDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schubert: Penniless and ill (rpt)
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert live from Victoria Hall, Hanley. Mozart Symphony No. 35, Saint-saëns Cello Concerto
No. 1, Tchaikovsky Andante cantabile Op. 11a, Beethoven Symphony No. 4. Leonard Elschenbroich (cello), BBC Philharmonic/ben Gernon 10-10.45pm The Verb 10.45-11pm The Essay
15 SATURDAY
7-9am Breakfast 9am-12.15pm Record Review – Building a Library
12.15-1pm Music Matters 1-3pm Inside Music
3-4pm Sound of Cinema 4-5pm Jazz Record Requests 5-6.30pm J to Z
6.30-9.30pm Opera on 3 live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Verdi La traviata. Diana Damrau (Violetta), Juan Diego Flórez (Alfredo), Quinn Kelsey (Giorgio Germont), Michael Mayer (director), Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera/yannick Nézet-séguin 9.30-10pm Between the Ears The Silence of the Lambs 10pm-12 midnight
Hear and Now 12 midnight-1am
Geoffrey Smith’s Jazz
16 SUNDAY
EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION CHRISTMAS
MUSIC DAY
7-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon Sunday Morning 12 noon-1pm Private Passions Mark Morris, author
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert from Wigmore Hall, London. Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Ysaÿe Violin Sonata in E minor, John Adams Road Movies. Augustin Hadelich (violin), Charles Owen (piano) (rpt) 2-3pm The Early Music Show 3-4pm Choral Evensong from St Stephen Walbrook, London with the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-fields (rpt)
4-9pm Christmas Music from the EBU
9-10.30pm Drama on 3 10.30-11.30pm
Early Music Late
17 MONDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Rimsky-korsakov 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert live from Wigmore Hall, London. Mozart Serenade in B flat ‘Gran Partita’. Ensemble Zefiro
2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert 10-10.45pm Music
Matters (rpt)
10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Jazz Now
18 TUESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Rimsky-korsakov 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert live from the Barbican Hall, London. Romanian Rhapsody. Brahms Violin Concerto, Debussy Images, Enescu Romanian Rhapsody No. 1. Leonidas Kavakos (violin), London Symphony Orchestra/simon Rattle 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
19 WEDNESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Rimsky-korsakov 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-3.30pm Afternoon Concert 3.30-4.30pm Choral Evensong live from Bath Abbey
4.30-5pm New
Generation Artists
5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, as part of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales’s tour of China. Rossini Overture to L’italiana in Algeri, Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto in C, Dvoˇrák Symphony No. 8. Matthew Featherstone (flute), Shimeng Sun (harp), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/xian Zhang 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
20 THURSDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Rimsky-korsakov 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the Music Hall, Aberdeen. Reopening Gala Concert of the Music Hall. Prokofiev Suite: Lieutenant Kijé, Grieg Piano Concerto, Sibelius Symphony No. 2. Alice Sara Ott (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/alpesh Chauhan 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
21 FRIDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics
12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Rimsky-korsakov 1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-7pm In Tune
7-7.30pm In Tune Mixtape 7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden. Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Philip Lane Wassail Dances, Trad Ding Dong! Merrily on
High, Once in Royal David’s
City, O Come, All Ye Faithful, Philip Ledger Still, still, still
Bob Chilcott Mid-winter, The Twelve Days of Christmas, The Shepherd’s Carol, John Rutter Star Carol, What Sweeter Music, Jesus Child, Shepherd’s Pipe Carol, Leroy Anderson Sleigh Ride. BBC Singers, BBC
Concert Orchestra/john
Rutter, Bob Chilcott
10-10.45pm The Verb 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-1am Music Planet
22 SATURDAY
7-9am Breakfast 9am-12.15pm Record Review – Building a Library
12.15-1pm Music Matters 1-3pm Inside Music
3-4pm Sound of Cinema
4-5pm Jazz Record Requests 5-6.30pm J to Z
6.30-9.30pm Opera on 3 live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Puccini La Fanciulla del West. Eva-maria Westbroek (Minnie), Jonas Kaufmann
(Dick Johnson), eljko Luˇci´c (Jack Rance), Carlo Bosi (Nick), Michael Todd Simpson (Sonora), Matthew Rose (Ashby),
Oren Gradus (Jake Wallace), Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera/marco Armiliato 9.30-10pm Between the Ears
A Message from the Moon 10pm-12 midnight
Hear and Now
12 midnight-1am
Geoffrey Smith’s Jazz
23 SUNDAY
7-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon Sunday Morning 12 noon-1pm Private Passions Eric Idle (comedian)
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert from Wigmore Hall, London. Mozart Serenade in B flat ‘Gran Partita’. Ensemble Zefiro (rpt)
2-3pm The Early Music Show 3-4pm Choral Evensong from Bath Abbey (rpt)
4-5pm Choir and Organ 5-5.30pm The
Listening Service
5.30-6.45pm Words and Music 6.45-7.30pm Sunday
Feature The Winter Forest 7.30-9pm Drama on 3
Sea Longing 9-10.30pm Radio 3 in Concert 10.30-11.30pm
Early Music Late
24 MONDAY CHRISTMAS EVE
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics
12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schütz
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert CHOICE 2-5pm Winter Walk with travel writer Horatio Clare, who wanders freely into the forest, starting at the village of Holzbronn in the Black Forest, west of Stuttgart. The walk will be accompanied by Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise and Mahler’s epic orchestral songs.
5-6.15pm Words and Music 6.15-7.30pm New
Generation Artists
7.30-10pm Radio 3 in Concert from the Barbican Hall, London. Berlioz L’enfance du Christ. Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano), Robert Murray (tenor), Etienne Dupuis (baritone), Matthew Rose (bass), BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra/edward Gardner 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Jazz Now
25 TUESDAY CHRISTMAS DAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schütz
1-2pm Sean Rafferty at home with Bryn Terfel
CHOICE 2-2.30pm A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge
2.30-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-6.15pm Words and Music 6.15-7.30pm New
Generation Artists
7.30-10pm Proms 2018 (rpt) 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
26 WEDNESDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schütz
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-3.30pm Afternoon Concert 3.30-4.30pm Choral Evensong from the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford
4.30-5pm New
Generation Artists
5-6.15pm Words and Music 6.15-7.30pm New
Generation Artists
7.30-10pm Proms 2018 (rpt) 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Late Junction
27 THURSDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schütz
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-6.15pm Words and Music 6.15-7.30pm New Generation Artists 7.30-10pm Proms 2018 (rpt) 10-10.45pm Free Thinking 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12 midnight Exposure 12 midnight-12.30am
Late Junction
28 FRIDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Schütz
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 2-5pm Afternoon Concert 5-6.15pm Words and Music 6.15-7.30pm New Generation Artists 7.30-10pm Proms 2018 (rpt) 10-10.45pm The Verb 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-1am Music Planet
29 SATURDAY
7-9am Breakfast 9am-12.15pm Record Review – Building a Library
12.15-1pm Music Matters 1-3pm Inside Music
3-4pm Sound of Cinema 4-10pm Opera on 3 from the Royal Opera House, London. Wagner Götterdämmerung. Stefan Vinke (Siegfried), Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde), Markus Butter (Gunther), Stephen Milling (Hagen), Emily Magee (Gutrune), Karen Cargill (Waltraute), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Alberich), Claudia Huckle (First Norn), Irmgard Vilsmaier (Second Norn), Lise Davidsen (Third Norn), Lauren Fagan (Woglinde), Rachael Lloyd (Wellgunde), Angela Simkin (Flosshilde), Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House/antonio Pappano 10pm-12 midnight
Hear and Now 12 midnight-1am
Geoffrey Smith’s Jazz
30 SUNDAY
7-9am Breakfast
9am-12 noon Sunday Morning 12 noon-1pm Private Passions Valerie Singleton, TV and radio presenter
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert (rpt) 2-3pm The Early Music Show 3-4pm Choral Evensong from the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford (rpt)
4-5pm Choir and Organ 5-5.30pm The Listening Weekly TV & radio highlights
On our website each week we pick the best of the classical music programmes on radio, TV and iplayer. To plan your weekly listening and viewing, go to classical-music. com or sign up to our weekly newsletter to be sent information about the week’s classical programmes directly to your inbox. Service
5.30-6.45pm Words and Music 6.45-7.30pm Sunday Feature Literary Pursuits: Les Misérables 7.30-9pm Drama on 3 9-10.30pm Radio 3 in Concert 10.30-11.30pm
Early Music Late
31 MONDAY
6.30-9am Breakfast 9am-12 noon
Essential Classics 12 noon-1pm Composer of the Week Gershwin
1-2pm Lunchtime Concert 5-6.15pm Words and Music 6.15-7.30pm New Generation Artists 7.30-10pm Proms 2018 (rpt) 10.45-11pm The Essay 11pm-12.30am Jazz Now