Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20070924 | With Tom Service. Radio 3 celebrates Sir Colin Davis's 80th birthday with recordings from the archive. These concerts span the majority of his career, covering signature composers from his repertoire, performed by the orchestras and opera companies with whom he has built up a close relationship. 1/5. Tonight's concert includes a 1965 New Philharmonia Orchestra recording of excerpts from Berlioz's Les Francs-juges. Stravinsky: Petrushka BBC Symphony Orchestra Colin Davis (conductor) Berlioz: Les Francs-juges April Cantelo (soprano) Helen Watts (mezzo-soprano) Emile Belcourt (tenor) Raimund Herincx (baritone) The Ambrosian Singers Gerhard: Symphony No 4 (New York) Colin Davis (conductor). Berlioz performed in 1965 by the New Philharmonia Orchestra, plus Stravinsky and Gerhard. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |
| 02 | 20070925 | With Tom Service. 2/5. Radio 3 continues its celebration of Colin Davis's birthday with an example of his work as music director at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Mozart is a composer close to his heart, and we hear Act 2 from a 1971 performance of The Marriage of Figaro. This is followed by another of Davis's signature composers, Tippet, and we hear the world premiere of his Triple Concerto from the 1980 Proms season. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Act 2) Countess Almaviva - Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) Count Almaviva - Victor Braun (baritone) Figaro - Geraint Evans (baritone) Susanna - Reri Grist (soprano) Cherubino - Patricia Kern (mezzo-soprano) Marcellina - Heather Begg (mezzo-soprano) Bartolo - Noel Mangin (bass) Royal Opera House Orchestra Colin Davis (conductor) Tippett: Concerto for violin, viola, cello and orchestra Gyorgy Pauk (violin) Nobuko Imai (viola) Ralph Kirshbaum (cello) London Symphony Orchestra Colin Davis (conductor). Act 2 from a 1971 performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, plus Tippet from 1980. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |
| 03 | 20070926 | With Tom Service. Radio 3 continues its celebration of Colin Davis's birthday. 3/5. A concert given by the Dresden Staatskapelle, with whom Colin Davis is honorary conductor, including an orchestral work by Berlioz, whom Davis has championed throughout his career. Colin Davis (conductor) Weber: Overture (Euryanthe) Dvorak: The Wild Dove Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique. A concert from the Dresden Staatskapelle, including an orchestral work by Berlioz. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |
| 04 | 20070927 | With Tom Service. 4/5. Radio 3 continues its celebration of Colin Davis's 80th birthday with a concert from his time as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Tippett is a signature composer for him, and this concert includes the Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage and the world premiere performance of The Rose Lake. Gerhard Oppitz (piano) Colin Davis (conductor) Tippett: Ritual Dances (The Midsummer Marriage) Ravel: Concerto in G for piano and orchestra Tippett: The Rose Lake Debussy: La mer. Including the Ritual Dances from Tippet's The Midsummer Marriage, and The Rose Lake. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |
| 05 | 20070928 | With Tom Service. 5/5. Radio 3 concludes its celebration of the eightieth birthday of Sir Colin Davis by coming right up-to-date with a Prom concert recorded this year with the European Union Youth Orchestra. Davis is an authoritative interpreter of the music of Sibelius and this performance includes his Fifth Symphony. Colin Davis (conductor) Brahms: Tragic Overture; Symphony No 3 Sibelius: Symphony No 5. Prom concert recorded in 2007 with the European Union Youth Orchestra, featuring Sibelius. Performance on 3 has been replaced by Radio 3 Live in Concert. |