BBC Radio 3 to clear the schedule for Ravel
Martin Cullingford
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
BBC Radio 3 will clear its schedule on Ravel’s birthday for a day devoted to the composer’s music.
Following on from similar focuses devoted to Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Schubert and Webern, March 7 will celebrate the French composer’s music through recordings dating from the 1930s to the present day.
Performers involved include pianists Pascal and Ami Rogé in a recital from Wigmore Hall (including a two-hand arrangement of Boléro), the Nash Ensemble, and New Generation Artist mezzo Clara Mouriz. There will also be a series of downloads called Ravel Revealed exploring aspects of his life.
Other programmes announced include a 25-part series of interviews with composers in their workplaces, part of Hear and Now and presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch, and a series exploring the relationship between music and Jewish identity, presented by Norman Lebrecht.
Announcing the station’s spring season this morning at London's Broadcasting House, controller Roger Wright also unveiled a number of non-music programmes on the station, including a day dedicated to Dylan Thomas’s poetry to mark his centenary, and a performance of Antony and Cleopatra with Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston to mark Shakespeare’s 450th anniversary.