Pianist Steven Osborne live from Wigmore Hall

Mark Forrest brings you an afternoon of exclusive music-making including a live concert from London's Wigmore Hall and music-making from the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra beginning a week focusing on recent performances from some of Germany's great orchestras.

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Vasily Petrenko, brings Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances to life, alongside Arvo Pärt’s Greater Antiphons, a work of profound stillness and ritual beauty.
From the Imperial Hall Concerts in the Bavarian town of Füssen, a performance of Beethoven’s Gassenhauer - or 'Street Song '- Piano Trio, a spirited and witty work for clarinet, cello and piano. Its playful finale takes a popular tune of the day and transforms it through a series of inventive variations.

But we begin with live music from Wigmore Hall, introduced for Classical Live by Petroc Trelawny. The acclaimed British pianist Steven Osborne performs Beethoven's monumental set of variations on a waltz by Diabelli, an epic display of pianism taking the listener on an hour-long emotional rollercoaster.

Beethoven: 33 Variations on a waltz by Diabelli
Steven Osborne (piano)

*****

Sergey Rachmaninov
Symphonic Dances
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko (conductor)

Imperial Hall Concerts, Füssen:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Trio No 4 in B flat ('Gassenhauer')
Ib Hausmann (clarinet)
Samuel Shepherd (cello)
Mengjie Han (piano)

Arvo Pärt
Greater Antiphons
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko (conductor)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers) just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live"

Show less