This Classical Life

Jess is joined this week by the conductor Jamie Phillips. They share some of their favourite tracks and musical discoveries, including Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto, a jazz arrangement of Holst's The Planets, elegiac piano music by Busoni and a track by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.

Jess Gillam talks to recorder player Lucie Horsch about the music they love including the warm vocal tones of Omara Portuondo, some speaker shaking bass from Mark Guiliana, an early choral classic from Faure and masterful film music from Bernstein and Hans Zimmer.Playlist: Bernstein – West Side Story: Overture [Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story Orchestra, Johnny Green] Omara Portuondo – La sitiera (Rafael Lopez) Mark Guiliana - Bud Schubert – 4 Impromptus Op.142, D.935: No.4 in F minor: Allegro scherzando [Andras Schiff, piano] Faure - Cantique de Jean Racine [City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier] Paul Simon - Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes Hans Zimmer - Matera from 'No Time To Die' Handel – Theodora - oratorio in 3 acts: Act 1 sc.4; As with rosy steps the morn [Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (mezzo-soprano), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Harry Bicket]

Jess Gillam is joined by the conductor Oliver Zeffman to share some of the music they love. Including a rare and beautiful song by Tchaikovsky, a banging tune by Lizzo, plus possibly THE greatest ending in all of music with Mahler’s 8th Symphony.Playlist: Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21, in C Major, K. 467; II. Andante [Mitsuko Uchida (piano), English Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate] Alex Baranowski - Constellations Lizzo - Good as Hell Pauline Oliveros – The Beauty of Sorrow [extract] Jordan Rakei - Brace Tchaikovsky - None but the Lonely Heart, Op. 6, TH 93, No. 6 [Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone), Ivari Ilja (piano)] Abdullah Ibrahim - Maraba Blue Mahler - Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major – ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ Part 2: Finale [Leonard Bernstein, The London Symphony Orchestra, Leeds Festival Chorus]

Conductor and composer Eimear Noone is best known for her film and video game scores - she joins Jess Gillam to swap mixtapes and together they get swept away with a vintage Beethoven recording, dream of Orkney with Erland Cooper and get revved up with AC/DC.

Jess Gillam and tenor Nicky Spence don their Christmas jumpers to share their favourite seasonal music, from Jon Vickers singing Handel to Joni Mitchell, and from Vivaldi's Winter to joyful harmonies from Pentatonix.Playlist: Trad. Jingle Bells - Ella Fitzgerald Trad. arr. Ola Gjeilo - The Coventry Carol (Choir of Royal Holloway) Yma Sumac - Malambo No.1 Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker: Overture & Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy (Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev conductor) R Strauss - Weihnachtsgefuhl (Edita Gruberova) Vivaldi - Concerto No.4 in F minor RV297 ‘Winter’ (Henning Kraggerud violin, Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra) Mervyn Warren - Joyful, Joyful (Pentatonix) Handel - Messiah, Part 1: Comfort ye, my people; Every valley (Jon Vickers tenor, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham conductor) Joni Mitchell - River

Jess Gillam and horn player Felix Klieser share the music they love, with some sumptuous early Prokofiev, Kate Bush, Sidney Bechet, Piazzolla and Sting.Playlist: Mozart - Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat Major, K. 495; III. Rondo, Allegro vivace [Hermann Baumann (horn), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pinchas Zukermann] Piazzolla - Four Seasons of Buenos Aires - Verano Porteno The Police - Every Breath You Take Prokofiev - Autumnal Sketch [Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits] Kate Bush - Pi Sidney Bechet - Petite Fleur Saint-Saens - Romance in F major, Op. 36 R. 195 [Mischa Maisky (cello), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra] Olafur Arnalds - Respite

Jess Gillam chats to composer Erland Cooper about the music they love, with music by Peter Maxwell Davies, The Pixies, Florence Price and Boards of Canada.Playlist: Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin; I. Prelude [Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez] Boards of Canada - Zoetrope CPE Bach - Sonata In A Minor For Oboe Solo Wq. 132: I Poco Adagio [Branford Marsalis] Ennio Morricone - Se telefonando [Mina] Florence Price - Adoration [Randall Goosby] Peter Maxwell Davies - Farewell to Stromness The Pixies - Where is my Mind? Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending [Daniel Pioro]

Jess Gillam and accordionist Samuele Telari swap mixtapes and chat about the music they love, including accordion music by Piazzolla, Satie on the guitar, traditional Italian song and classic David Bowie.

Jess Gillam and composer Eydís Evensen share the music they love, with music from Rachmaninov, Sigur Rós, Christine Southworth and Minnie Riperton.

Jess Gillam and the French cellist Bruno Philippe share some of their favourite music, including movements from Schubert's final string quartet and Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Sixth Symphony, tracks by Amy Winehouse and Alex Turner, and music by Lera Auerbach and John Ireland.Playlist: Puccini - Overture from Madame Butterfly [Orchestra Dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede] De Visee - Sarabande from Pieces for lute, Suite No.7 [Thomas Dunford, Jean Rondeau] Amy Winehouse - Back to Black Lera Auerbach - T'filah (Prayer) for solo violin [Vadim Glutzman] Schubert - String Quartet No.15 in G, 1st movement [Hagen Quartet] John Ireland - Fantasy Sonata [Michael Collins, Michael McHale] Alex Turner - Piledriver waltz Beethoven - Symphony No.6 in F major 'Pastoral', final movement [Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti]