Composers of the Year - Episode 3

Andrew McGregor introduces music by BBC Radio 3's four Composers of the Year in 2009, beginning with one of the great masterpieces of English opera in a highly acclaimed production by the Royal Opera House. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Dido ...... Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano) Belinda ...... Lucy Crowe (soprano) Aeneas ...... Lucas Meacham (baritone) Second Woman ...... Anita Watson (soprano) Sorceress ...... Sara Fulgoni (mezzo-soprano) First Witch ...... Eri Nakamura Second Witch ...... Pumeza Matshikiza (soprano) Spirit ...... Iestyn Davies (countertenor) Sailor ...... Ji-Min Park (tenor) Royal Opera Extra Chorus Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Christopher Hogwood (conductor) 3.15pm Mendelssohn at Buckingham Palace Sean Rafferty and Jonathan Marsden of the Royal Collection follow the trail of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's favourite composer. 3.40pm Andrew McGregor introduces one of Handel's charming Italian cantatas, a cautionary tale of the dendrological results of attempted seduction. Handel: Apollo e Dafne Nuria Rial (soprano) Fulvio Bettini (bass) English Concert Alfredo Bernardini (director) Recorded at the Foundling Museum 4.40pm Farewell Symphony Richard Briers plays Haydn in a short play about the last days of the composer's life. In May 1809, as French troops take Vienna, Napoleon arranges for one of his officers to visit Joseph Haydn. Joseph Haydn ...... Richard Briers Johann Elssler ...... Ben Askew Nannerl ...... Annabelle Dowler French Officer ...... Matt Addis Written by Stephen Wyatt. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. 5.00pm Last Chance to Hear... Andrew McGregor introduces some of the best music BBC Radio 3's four Composers of the Year have to offer. Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks Le Concert Spirituel Herve Niquet (director) 5.20pm Haydn: Cello Concerto No 1 in C Truls Mork (cello) Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Iona Brown (director) 5.45pm Purcell: Arise, my muse, Z320 Michael Chance, James Bowman (countertenors) Charles Daniels (high tenor) King's Consort Robert King (director) 6.05pm Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture and selection of incidental music Orchestra of the 18th Century Frans Bruggen (conductor).