Front Row

Dr Ahmad Sarmast, founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music tells John Wilson of his fears and hopes for music-making as his country falls under the control of the Taliban.Some things can only be expressed in song. That’s the idea behind The Song Project at the Royal Court Theatre where five of our foremost female playwrights - E.V. Crowe, Sabrina Mahfouz, Somalia Nonyé Seaton, Stef Smith and Debris Stevenson - collaborate with composer Isobel Waller-Bridge, choreographer Imogen Knight, designer Chloe Lamford and the Dutch singer Wende, who will be performing the songs. These explore the hopes and anxieties women face, diving into the messiness of birth, death, rage, grace, friendship, motherhood, mothers, loss and ageing. So, the whole of life and its end, then. Chloe Lamford and Wende talk to John Wilson about the project and Wende, accompanied by Nils Davidse sings, live, one of the songs.The Manchester Collective are making their debut at the Proms tomorrow. Founder Adam Szabo explains the ethos behind the group, why music genre shouldn’t get in the way of programming, and bringing little-known composers to light.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Production Co-ordinator: Hilary Buchanan

Last year, Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson was Front Row's artist-in-residence from Reykjavik. Finally this week, he's able to join John Wilson in the studio, where he talks playing at the Proms and how great it is to be back performing in front of live audiences. He shares stories from his new Mozart album (including a childhood tantrum against the child prodigy), and plays Mozart and Cimarosa live in the studio.A storm has blown up over poet Kate Clanchy’s recent reaction to a review on GoodReads of her book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me. The reviewer pointed out racist and ableist tropes in the book. Clanchy has now apologised for getting things wrong but initially accused the reviewer of lies. John is joined by Amy Baxter, founder of Bad Form, which describes itself as ‘a literary review celebrating black, Asian and racialised community writers’. Amy also works as an Editorial Assistant at publishers Hachette, and with her is the poet Anthony Anaxagorou. They consider what the story reveals about the publishing industry and the critical voice. Who is employed and who is listened to, and what lessons can be learned? We hear from the second of the five museums and galleries shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. This year’s prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums during the pandemic, and today we hear from Nat Edwards at The Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds.Main image: John Wilson and Vikingur OlafssonPresenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May

In 1962 the USA and USSR engaged in one of the most terrifying acts of brinksmanship the world has seen. But few people know of the role played by an ordinary British businessman in bringing the Cuban Missile Crisis to an end. New film The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, tells the true story of Greville Wynne, recruited by MI6 to penetrate the Soviet nuclear programme. Director Dominic Cooke talks to Tom about creating this Cold War spy thriller.Deceit is a new four-part drama on Channel 4 documenting the investigation launched by the police in the wake of the Rachel Nickell murder on Wimbledon Common in 1992. It stars Niamh Algar as an undercover officer who tried to reel in the man the police believed was guilty, Colin Stagg. The writer and creator, Emilia di Girolamo, joins Front Row to talk about sexism, classism and how access to hours of original interview recordings helped her craft the script.Lily Allen is making her West End debut in 2.22 A Ghost Story, in which she plays Jenny, a mother convinced a ghost is haunting her baby daughter’s room. But her cocky husband, Sam, is resolute in his refusal to believe her. An old friend of Sam’s and her far less dismissive boyfriend come to dinner. They drink – encountering a lot of spirits there - and debate, until 2.22 in the morning, the hour when, Jenny says, the ghost walks. The play is by Danny Robins, creator of the hit podcast The Battersea Poltergeist. Susannah Clapp, reviews the show and she and Tom Sutcliffe discuss the way ghosts are manifest in plays.And actress Una Stubbs has died aged 84. Matthew Sweet pays tribute to a career which spanned six decades from Rita in Til Death Do Us Part to Mrs Hudson in SherlockPresenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hilary Dunn

Russian composer Igor Stravinsky died 50 years ago this year. Yet his influence is still felt today, whether it's the pounding rhythms of The Rite of Spring or the musical borrowings of The Rake's Progress. Radio 3's Kate Molleson explains how Stravinsky changed the musical landscape, and just why we should be celebrating a composer born nearly 140 years ago.Aurora Orchestra are preparing for their appearance at this year's BBC Proms. And the preparations involve memorising The Firebird, to play on stage without sheet music. Conductor Nicholas Collon and bassoonist Amy Harman discuss what memorising adds to the performance, and whether learning Stravinsky has any extra challenges.Dancer Francesca Velicu earned an Olivier Award for dancing the role of the Chosen One in Pina Bausch's version of The Rite of Spring at English National Ballet. How does it feel to dance to the death?Conductor Sir Simon Rattle has had a lifelong love affair with Igor Stravinsky. He tells John Wilson how he got hooked at an early age, and recommends a playlist for Stravinsky beginners.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sofie VilcinsMain image: Igor Stravinsky at the BBC in 1965.

Paradise opens at the Olivier auditorium of the National Theatre tomorrow. It's a new version of a play that had its premiere, and was acclaimed, in 409BC - Philoctetes by Sophocles. Just before the final preview begins, writer Kae Tempest tells Kirsty Lang why this ancient story of a wounded soldier, in constant pain, abandoned on an island, grips them today.John Boyne’s new novel is a humorous and scathing takedown of the world of social media through the lens of a particularly grotesque family. He talks to Kirsty about how the Twitter backlash to one of his previous books inspired The Echo Chamber, and his new-found love of writing in a comic style.GIANT, the largest artist led-space in the UK has opened in Bournemouth. Its director Stuart Semple joins us to discuss the inaugural exhibition, Big Medicine, and his hopes for the future of art in his hometown.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hilary Dunn

Phil Wang joins us to discuss his stand up show, Philly Philly Wang Wang that he filmed at the London Palladium over the pandemic. Exploring race, romance, politics, and his mixed British-Malaysian heritage, he talks about his addiction to making people laugh, as well as explaining why he doesn't fear getting cancelled. Shape Open have created an online exhibition featuring the work of 24 disabled and nondisabled artists working across Europe and North America, and has disability as its theme, and particularly the experience of the individuals during lockdown. One of the artists, Abi Palmer, discusses the exhibition All Bound Together and the work she's made for it.Nearly 20,000 pages of lost manuscripts by French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline have emerged, causing controversy - and a lawsuit. Céline was one of France’s most important 20th century literary figures. He was also a virulent anti-Semite, described by Le Monde as “one of the Nazis’ most famous French friends”. The whereabouts and provenance of the papers, combined with Céline’s reputation, are creating a storm in the French literary world, six decades after his death. Damian Catani’s biography of Céline is about to be published and he talks to Samira Ahmed about the significance of the manuscripts and the qualities of the writing.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Production Co-ordinator Fiona Anderson Studio Manager: Gayl Gordon Producer: Julian May

Sir Tom Stoppard's Olivier Award-winning play Leopoldstadt closed because of Covid in March 2020. Tomorrow it returns to the same stage and the same cast will tell again the story a Jewish family, in Vienna in the first half of the 20 century. They fled the pogroms in the East and later suffered terribly under Nazi rule. The plot has parallels with Stoppard's own family - all four of Stoppard's grandparents perished in concentration camps. He talks about returning to the theatre, if he has revised the play in the interregnum, and if he is tempted to revisit his earlier plays. We hear from the first of the five museums and galleries shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021. This year’s prize will reflect the resilience and imagination of museums during the pandemic, and today we hear from Catherine Hemelryk from the Centre of Contemporary Art in Derry-Londonderry.Ryan Bancroft has just finished his first year as the Principal Conductor for BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and this week he makes two appearances at the BBC Proms. He tells us how he became a conductor, his excitement for music by Welsh composers and his favourite aspects of American music.Novelist Nick Laird talks to us about writing grief as he creates an elegy for his fatherPresenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones

Sarah, Duchess of York, talks to Nick Ahad about her debut Mills and Boon novel, Her Heart for a Compass, based on the life of her ancestor, Lady Margaret. She talks about the parallels between her own life and her heroine’s, including finding freedom in America. She discusses the impact of newspaper headlines on her mental health, her plans to make a feature film about Prince Albert's mother Louise, and what she makes of TV series The Crown. Composer Max Richter’s new album ‘Exiles’ is a combination of new works, new recordings and new orchestrations of some of his most popular pieces. He talks to Nick about what writing for an orchestra can add, and how he uses his music as activism.

On the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion, we talk to representatives from both The British Museum and The Archaeological Museum at the American University of Beirut, who are working together to restore eight ancient glass vessels which were severely damaged.We review Vivo, a new full length cartoon film on Netflix featuring compositions by and the voice of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Does it reach Hamiltonian levels of greatness or is it a less spectacular creation?The DCMS has announced that UK musicians and performers do not need visas or work permits for short-term tours in 19 EU countries. What does this mean for touring performers? Is it all good news and what about those EU member states that haven’t agreed?Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Oliver Jones

Booker Prize shortlisted Turkish writer Elif Shafak has a new novel: The Island Of Missing Trees. Set in Cyprus it follows lovers who risk everything in a divided island. And one of the narrators is a fig tree. Shafak explains about melding passionate ecological and political information and messages.Jonathon Heyward makes his Proms debut this week conducting the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He tells Samira why he loves working with youth orchestras, isn't so keen on being labelled a ‘young conductor’, and how much he’s looking forward to getting on to the podium at the Royal Albert Hall. In Stillwater, the new film starring Matt Damon, he plays Bill Baker, an Oklahoma oil rig worker determined to secure the release of his daughter Allison, in prison in Marseille for the murder of her flatmate and lover, Lina. Frustrated by legal, language and cultural barriers his own conduct strays beyond the legal. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film which is controversial because of the parallels of its plot with the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, for which Amanda Knox was convicted and eventually acquitted. Knox has denounced the film.Presenter:Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris