Saturday Classics

Pianist James Rhodes continues his series of three consecutive Saturday Classics, sharing the music, recordings and musicians he's most passionate about. Today's show includes Teodor Currentzis, the Russian-Greek conductor who once claimed 'I will save Classical Music', in Stravinsky and Shostakovich, chamber music by Schubert and Tchaikovsky, and the iconic Herbert Von Karajan with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Bruckner.

Pianist James Rhodes is back with the first of three consecutive Saturday Classics, choosing the music, recordings and musicians he's most passionate about. Today's show includes the iconic pianists Martha Argerich, Vladimir Horowitz, and Mikhail Pletnev, plus violinist James Ehnes in Bach and Mendelssohn, and Mariss Jansons conducting Wagner.

James Rhodes has been obsessed with the iconic Canadian pianist Glenn Gould for as long as he can remember. Ahead of his Sunday Feature tomorrow, this afternoon he selects his pick of Gould's idiosyncratic and often controversial recordings - from his distinctive Bach, to Beethoven with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, his own transcription of the Meistersingers Overture, and Prokofiev's 7th Piano Sonata, which the New York Times described as 'an explosive burst of rock and roll with a chromatic edge'. James presents his documentary Geeking Glenn Gould on Sunday 25th June at 1845. CANADA 150: a week of programmes from across Canada, marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the nation and exploring the range and diversity of Canadian music and arts.

Rob Cowan with music by Richard Strauss, Debussy, Verdi and Copland from performers including Mirella Freni, Gérard Souzay and Maurizio Pollini.

Pianist James Rhodes presents a personal selection of music including works by Stravinsky, Sibelius and Schumann, and performances by Arcadi Volodos and Radu Lupu. James will be back with a Saturday Classics devoted to Glenn Gould on the 24th June.

Pianist James Rhodes presents a personal selection of music including works by Chopin, Saint-Saëns and Beethoven, and performances by Krystian Zimerman and Garrick Ohlsson. Plus extracts of Don Giovanni conducted by Teodor Currentzis. James is back with more choices next Saturday at 1pm.

Live from Free Thinking at Sage Gateshead the composer and pianist Richard Sisson brings his infectious enthusiasm to an idiosyncratic journey through music articulated by the boundless, cyclic, remorseless unfolding of Time; from the clock's ominous striking of midnight in Prokofiev's Cinderella to vivid evocations of heady times past in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, with works by Finzi, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven along the way. For many years the piano playing half of cabaret act Kit and the Widow, Richard has composed extensively, particularly for the theatre, including the music for Alan Bennett's The History Boys.

CBeebies presenter Chris Jarvis chooses music composed for, and about, children - including pieces by Mozart, Britten, Debussy, Mussorgsky, Humperdinck, Poulenc, Tchaikovsky, Delibes, Paul Paterson and Jim Parker's "Captain Beaky and his Band"!

Rob presents a specially chosen selection of music including works by Franck, Bach and Bartok, performed by Ernest Ansermet, Zuzana Ruzickova and Stanley Drucker.

On the eve of the BAFTA awards, film critic Peter Bradshaw presents a personal selection of music from cinema and beyond: from Hannibal Lecter's favourite Bach, to Katharine Hepburn as Clara Schumann, and a Handel aria used in a chilling Michael Haneke horror film. Plus Peter's memories of his days at Cambridge University alongside star student George Benjamin, and his own youthful endeavours with composition lessons and the classical guitar.

Rob Cowan with music by Beethoven, Arnold, Chopin and Debussy, in classic recordings from artists including Fritz Wunderlich, Emil Gilels, Thomas Beecham and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.

Music from Finzi, Mozart, Prokofiev and Elgar with performers including David Oistrakh, Eugene Ormandy, Fritz Reiner and Karl Richter.

Conductor Jessica Cottis was born in Australia and grew up there. Now based in the UK she regularly returns to conduct in Sydney, Queensland and Adelaide. Ahead of Australia Day later this week she presents a personal selection of contemporary music from her homeland, including orchestral works by Peter Sculthorpe and Richard Meale, and the didgeridoo playing of the virtuosic William Barton. Image Credit: MJ Cruz.

Rob Cowan's hand-picked selection this afternoon includes Smetana's Czech Song and a work by Brahms for the unusual combination of choir, two horns and harp, as well as Bach from pianist Friedrich Gulda and a major orchestral piece by Edward Gregson.

Dance critic Mark Monahan presents music for the ballet from the 1930s to the present day. Including music by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Khachaturian and Philip Glass.

Michel Roux Jr does not allow music in his restaurants nor in their kitchens. For him the food is the music. However, he is a great music lover - of both classical music and, in particular, of the mainly French chanson tradition. In this edition of Saturday Classics he presents a selection of music including Wagner, Vivaldi, Mozart, Brassens, Piaf, Brel and Trenet. First broadcast in December 2013.

Dance critic Mark Monahan goes on a whistle-stop tour through the first 100 years of the ballet as we know it today, looking at the ground-breaking works that took cities such as Paris and St Petersburg by storm. He traces the history of ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake which were - surprisingly - both resounding flops when Tchaikovsky premiered them, only being rescued later by the dance-maker Marius Petipa. And he looks at the enormous influence of Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, beginning with Mikhail Fokine's 1907 ballet Chopiniana, leading to famous scores by Stravinsky and Ravel. Image of Mark Monahan courtesy of David Rose.

Rob Cowan's selection this week includes Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli playing Liszt, Vaclav Neumann conducting Milhaud and George Szell in Mozart.

Deborah Bull is a former Royal Ballet principal dancer and was a Creative Director of the Royal Opera House. She is currently assistant principal at King's College London. Deborah chooses music which was not originally written for the ballet but was later appropriated by choreographers for the ballet stage. Her choices include music by Tchaikovsky, Bach, Ravel, Schubert, Stravinsky and Max Richter.

In the second of two programmes, journalist Simon Heffer charts a chronological profile of the life and music of the French composer Maurice Ravel. Today's programme includes "Le Tombeau de Couperin" and "La Valse", plus excerpts from Ravel's two piano concertos and the opera "L'Enfant et les sortilèges".