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Nicky Spence takes over the presenter chair

Nicky Spence plays the best classical music and meets the musicians who make it happen, including rising star mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina.

Nicky Spence provides the ideal soundtrack for Saturday morning, with the best classical music, in new and landmark recordings, and one or two surprise guests introducing their own releases.

Nicky meets fellow opera star Aigul Akhmetshina, the award winning mezzo-soprano who already has a number of leading roles in major opera houses and two best-selling albums to her name.

Ahead of his appearance at the Last Night of the Proms, Nicky catches up with another mezzo-soprano, and his former teacher, Sarah Walker, to ask her advice and hear about her own experiences singing Rule, Britannia! at the Last Night two times.

And this week's Creator is the multiple academy award winning composer Alan Menken, celebrated for his long-standing collaboration with Disney.

19 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Sat 29 Aug 202609:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Folk Festival (The Gadfly)

    Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vassily Sinaisky.
    • The Film Music of Dmitri Shostakovich, Vol.2: BBC Phil, Sinaisky.
    • Chandos.
    • 8.

  • Edward Elgar

    La Capricieuse Op.17

    Performer: Daniel Lozakovich. Performer: Stanislav Soloviev.
    • Elgar: La Capricieuse Op. 17.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 1.

  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Bassoon concerto in B flat major RV.501 'La Notte'

    Performer: Sergio Azzolini. Orchestra: L’Onda Armonica.
    • Vivaldi: Concerti per fagotto VI.
    • Naive.
    • 1.

  • Franz Liszt

    Nuages gris S.199

    Performer: Yulianna Avdeeva.
    • Metanoia.
    • Pentatone.
    • 7.

  • Andrew York

    Sunburst

    Performer: John Williams.
    • Spirit of the Guitar.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Carnival Overture, Op 92

    Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Semyon Bychkov.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Trad.

    Sekstur from Vendsyssel; The Peat Dance

    Music Arranger: Danish String Quartet. Ensemble: Danish String Quartet.
    • DaCapo.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225 (Singet dem Herrn)

    Choir: Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart. Conductor: Hans-Christoph Rademann.
    • J S Bach: The Motets.
    • Accentus Music.

  • Richard Wagner

    Albumblatt for Frau Betty Schott

    Performer: Jacques Forestier. Performer: Boris Kusnezow.
    • Song & Dance.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Georges Bizet

    Carmen Suite no.1

    Music Arranger: Ernest Guiraud. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: François Leleux.
    • Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1, Symphony & Gounod: Petite Symphonie.
    • Linn.
    • 1.

  • Elena Roussanova

    Mujer fatal [La belle Otero]

    Singer: Aigul Akhmetshina. Performer: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • Mujer Fatal.
    • Decca.
    • 1.

  • Consuelo Velázquez

    Besame mucho

    Music Arranger: Jonathan Palmer Lakeland. Singer: Aigul Akhmetshina. Performer: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • Mujer Fatal.
    • Decca.
    • 6.

  • Joseph Haydn

    Cello concerto no.2 in D major H.7b.2 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Jean‐Guihen Queyras. Orchestra: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Petra Müllejans.
    • Haydn: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Monn: Cello Concerto.
    • harmonia mundi.
    • 6.

  • Bart Howard

    Fly Me To The Moon

    Music Arranger: John Holiday. Singer: John Holiday. Performer: Kevin Miller.
    • Over My Head.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Leoš Janáček

    The Excursion of Mr Broucek to the Moon (Introduction)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • LSO Live.

  • Anthony Hopkins

    Bracken Road (1947 - suite from 'Slipstream')

    Performer: Sergio Tiempo. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
    • Anthony Hopkins: 1947: Suite for Solo Piano & Orchestra: II. Bracken Road.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
    • 1.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Serenade in G major K.525 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' (4th mvt)

    Ensemble: The English Concert. Conductor: Andrew Manze.
    • Mozart: Night music: The English Concert/Manze.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • 4.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Sextet in D major Op.110 (1st mvt)

    Performer: Yuja Wang. Performer: Kirill Troussov. Performer: David Aaron Carpenter. Performer: Maxim Rysanov. Performer: Sol Gabetta. Performer: Leigh Mesh.
    • Yuja Wang Plays Mendelssohn (Live).
    • Verbier Festival Gold.
    • 4.

  • Thomas Arne

    Rule! Britannia

    Singer: Sarah Walker. Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Vernon Handley.
    • BBC recording Last Night of the Proms 1985.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Apres un Reve (3 Songs Op.7)

    Singer: Sarah Walker. Performer: Malcolm Martineau. Performer: Malcolm Martineau. Singer: Sarah Walker.
    • CRD Records.

  • Cathy Berberian

    Stripsody

    Singer: Cathy Berberian.
    • Wergo.

  • Gabriel Fauré

    Les Presents (2 Songs Op.46)

    Singer: Sarah Walker. Performer: Malcolm Martineau.
    • CRD Records.

  • Trad.

    In The Pines

    Music Arranger: Béla Fleck. Singer: Dolly Parton. Singer: Renée Fleming. Performer: Béla Fleck.
    • The Fiddle and the Drum.
    • Renée Fleming Records.
    • 2.

  • Carl Orff

    O Fortuna & Fortune plango vulnera (Carmina Burana)

    Choir: Audivi. Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jader Bignamini.
    • PENTATONE.

  • Alan Menken

    Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid)

    Singer: Samuel E. Wright. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: J.A.C. Redford.
    • Walt Disney Records.

  • Alan Menken

    Go The Distance (Hercules)

    Singer: Roger Bart. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Michael Kosarin.
    • Walt Disney Records.

  • Alan Menken

    Bedtime (The Little Mermaid)

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra.
    • Walt Disney Records.

  • Alan Menken

    A Whole New World (Aladdin)

    Singer: Peabo Bryson. Singer: Regina Belle.
    • EMI Gold.

  • Cecilia McDowall

    A Tree is a Song

    Choir: BBC Singers. Choir: Brent Music Service. Performer: Caroline Jaya-Ratnam. Conductor: Owain Park.
    • BBC recording.

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Prelude in G major (24 Preludes Op.28)

    Performer: Alexandra Dariescu.
    • Preludes: Chopin & Dutilleux.
    • Champs Hill Records.
    • 3.

  • Leonard Bernstein

    Wonderful Town (Overture)

    Music Arranger: Charlie Harmon. Orchestra: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Marin Alsop.
    • Bernstein: Marin Alsop's Complete Naxos Recordings.
    • Naxos.
    • 22.

Broadcast

  • Sat 29 Aug 202609:00
    BBC Radio 3