Performance on 3 - BBC SO/Minkowski

Presented by Martin Handley The conductor Mark Minkowski places Stravinsky's neoclassical ballet score alongside one of the original masterpieces of Pergolesi. The impresario Serge Diaghilev suggested to Stravinsky, in exile in Switzerland during the period of the Russian Civil War, that he should arrange a group of 18 'Pergolesi' pieces retrieved from the Conservatory library in Naples. Over half of the works turned out to be by other composers. Whatever the identity of the original authors, Stravinsky warmed to his task after seeing the scores and produced a scintillating ballet. The plot centres round the wily Pulcinella and his jealous girlfriend, Pimpinella with all the usual twists and turns associated with the Italian commedia dell'arte figures. The real Pergolesi, like Stravinsky, enjoyed international fame during his lifetime. His success was partly due to his comic operas, but not least thanks to the impassioned music of his Stabat Mater, which was still widely performed after his death and remains as popular today. Commissioned for Good Friday by the monastery near Naples where he had been residing for his health, it was one of his last works before his death, aged 26. Pergolesi: Stabat Mater Stravinsky: Pulcinella (complete ballet) Marita Solberg (soprano) Natalie Stutzmann (mezzo-soprano) Julien Behr (tenor) Matthew Rose (bass) BBC Symphony Orchestra conductor Marc Minkowski Followed by a week-long focus on Baroque and Baroque-inspired organ music from the BBC Archive and European recitals: Buxtehude: Chorale preludes: Gott der Vater wohn uns bei (BuxWV.190); Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott (BuxWV.199) Bach: Sonata no. 6 in G, BWV.530 Peter Hurford (organ) St Catherine’s College, Cambridge BBC Recording, 1996 Mendelssohn: Sonata Op.65 no 3 Susan Landale (organ) Organ of St James' Basilica, Prague EBU recording, 2009 Schumann: Fugue on B-A-C-H (no.6: Massig)Simon Preston (organ) Royal Albert Hall SIGNUM SIGCD 084 Brahms: Fugue in A flat minor David Sanger (organ) Bromley Parish church BBC Recording, 1992