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Episode details

Radio 3,23 May 2026,119 mins

Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 in Building a Library with Joanna MacGregor and Andrew McGregor

Record Review

Available for 29 days

Andrew McGregor with the best new classical releases, joined by composer Soosan Lolavar and pianist Joanna MacGregor, who surveys recordings of Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and picks her favourite. c2.10pm Composer Soosan Lolavar joins Andrew to spotlight a batch of new releases that have caught her ear. 3pm Building a Library: pianist Joanna MacGregor joins Andrew to survey recordings of Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and make a top recommendation. "I want to tell you that I have written a very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo", wrote Brahms to Clara Schumann of his new concerto in 1881. He was being ironic. Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat is famously one of the grandest-scaled piano concertos in the cannon. Following 22 years after his first concerto, the work was an immediate success and has remained popular with pianists and audiences ever since. c3.45pm Record of the Week: the new release that has most impressed Andrew this week.

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    Variation dansée [Pizzicati] (Sylvia)
    Variation dansée [Pizzicati] (Sylvia)
    Léo Delibes
  3. 2.
    String quartet no.1 Op.20 (2nd mvt)
    String quartet no.1 Op.20 (2nd mvt)
    Alberto Ginastera
  4. 3.
    Duetto [Vivo] (Pulcinella Suite)
    Duetto [Vivo] (Pulcinella Suite)
    Igor Stravinsky