Keith Hempton presents Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, performed by clarinettist Paul Dean and the Seraphim Trio. In eight movements and by various means, the work surveys a religious theme from the Book of Revelation from different perspectives. It concerns the end of time when the mystery of God will be completed, as well as imprisonment and war.

Chris Stone presents an essential major operatic event – Beethoven’s ‘rescue opera’ ‘Fidelio’ – with the Festival Orchestra conducted by the legendary Claudio Abbado and a legion of international stars bringing the music to life. The Swedish soprano Nina Stemme is a wonderful Leonore. Tenor Jonas Kaufmann is commanding as the noble Florestan, and bass-baritone Falk Struckmann is equally compelling as the devilish gaoler. So cheer, applaud, and toss your fresh flowers at the talented opera stars who bring so much pleasure to this masterpiece during the opera night on 5MBS.

Michael Owen’s program highlights four orchestral works by the Estonian-born Danish composer Knudåge Riisager (1897-1974), presented by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. Riisager became the most representative exponent of the French-oriented trend in Danish music during the inter-war years. The program opens with the fresh, sparkling Overture for Erasmus, Op. 1, featured in the celebrations for the 1928 Summer Olympics. We move on to Riisager’s lively and humorous piece ‘Jack the Dullard’ Op. 18, which can best be described as a delight. ‘Carnival’ Op. 20 was written for young musicians and is ‘dedicated to all the pranksters and mirthful girls of Copenhagen.’ His virtuosic Symphony No. 1 is another key work you shouldn’t miss. Next is a beautiful piano concerto by a lesser-known composer. Henri Herz was an Austrian-born French composer, virtuoso pianist and piano manufacturer of the Romantic era. In the performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in A major, Op. 34 by Herz, pianist Howard Shelley with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra sends the piano spiralling into a succession of dizzying runs. Robert Schumann composed his Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 in 1841 and heavily revised it in 1851. That one reached publication. However, Johannes Brahms much preferred the original (1841) version and published it in 1891. We will hear the 1851 version. The thrilling final movement is arguably one of the best finales in symphony history! C. Robin Ticciati conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The program concludes with pianist Angela Hewitt performing Max Reger’s piano transcription of Morgen, Op. 27, No. 4 by Richard Strauss.

Ian Johnston celebrates the birthday of Paul Hindemith, born 16 November 1895. Hindemith promoted ‘utility music’, meaning his compositions are intended to be accessible and performable by amateur and young musicians. He believed that music should serve a social function. Glenn Gould gives a stunning account of Hindemith’s most popular keyboard work, the Piano Sonata No. 3, with a magnificent performance of the fugue in the final movement. Hindemith’s Three Songs for Soprano and Large Orchestra, Op. 9, though early, shows the composer’s confident mastery of large orchestral forces. Soprano Janis Martin gives an impressive performance together with the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, conducted by Gerd Albrecht. Lastly, Hindemith’s ‘Hérodiade’ Ballet is a musical melodrama based on ‘orchestral recitation’ in which the instruments of the orchestra rhythmically mimic the cadences of the Stéphane Mallarmé poem on which the plot is based. Pianist Siegfried Mauser performs with the Radio-Symphonie Orchester Frankfurt, conducted by Andreas Albert.

Suzanne Pederson highlights the musical achievements of Sir Charles Mackerras, who studied music in Sydney and Prague and went on to a distinguished conducting career. Mackerras will conduct the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Smetana’s ethereal and uplifting ‘Vltava’, a tone poem inspired by the sparkling waves of the river on which Prague stands. Janáček’s Sinfonietta Op. 60, inspired by Moravian folk music, became one of his most popular works. Charles Mackerras conducts the Vienna Philharmonic. Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance Op. 46 No. 3 is lively and full of Czech national character. The Czech Philharmonic performs it. Charles Mackerras conducts. ‘Song to the Moon’ from ‘Rusalka’ by Dvořák has long been one of the American soprano Renée Fleming’s signature pieces. Again, Charles Mackerras conducts the Czech Philharmonic. One of Mozart’s early ventures into symphonic writing is his Symphony No. 10 in G major, K 74. Charles Mackerras conducts the Prague Chamber Orchestra in this final work.

John Pederson begins with a rendition by the Graduate Singers, conducted by Timothy Marks, of ‘Praise my soul, the King of Heaven’, a free paraphrase of Psalm 103 set to music by John Goss. The Kyrie and Gloria from Haydn’s St. Cecilia Mass, Hob. XXII:5, are celebratory and radiate with joy. Everyone should have a recording of this work. Healey Willan’s ‘In the Heavenly Kingdom’ will be presented by Matthew Larkin (organ), with The Flora Festival Singers conducted by Noel Edison. Mendelssohn’s Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Op. 37 No. 1, will be performed by Pastor de Lasala, organ. Andreas Scholl, countertenor, will sing Vivaldi’s Lift up your Heads, RV 633. The Cambridge Singers will present Rutter’s ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’. Lucy Crowe, soprano Richard Croft, tenor Chœur et Musiciens du Louvre Marc Minkowski, conductor And the program concludes with a performance by the Choir of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, of the Hymn King of Glory, King of Peace by George Herbert, set to music by Joseph David Jones. That list is just a small sample of the uplifting items which this program promises to offer.

To help us forget the day’s atrocities, William Booker begins with the gem ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’ in G minor. This sonata was composed by the Galante-era composer Johann Gottlieb Janitsch, and it will be presented by Notturna dir. Christopher Palameta. Although he wrote most of his works for the viola da gamba, we will hear a performance of Marin Marais’ Les Folies d’Espagne Suite, in an edition by Guy Robert and played by flautist Jean-Claude Valihan. Bernardo Pasquini, an Italian Baroque composer, mastered composition for harpsichord and organ. Harpsichordists Marina Scaiosi and Francesco Tasini bring their technical and expressive expertise to play Pasquini’s 2-Harpsichord Sonata No. 13 in A minor with great aplomb. Claude Le Jeune was a pivotal figure during the Renaissance period because he was part of the musical movement known as musique mesurée, which practised precise rhythmic patterns. Huelgas, an ensemble well known for its sheer beauty of performance in the antique style, will present Le Jeune’s Le Printemps with great authority. In England during the first half of the seventeenth century, the flute and the lute were the most popular instruments. The program concludes with Handel’s Sonata in F minor Op. 1 No. 4, originally for recorder and continuo, arranged for flute and lute and performed by René Clemencic (flute) and András Kecskés (lute). But that is by no means all that this enthralling program has to offer. Other composers include Ferrabosco the younger, Ragazzi, and Macquart.

Ian Johnston presents a St Cecilia’s Day Nocturne program beginning with Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, a work grounded in eighteenth-century musical tradition. The Quartetto Italiano will perform it. The Ensemble Bella Musica de Vienna, directed by Michael Dittrich, will next play Six Dances Allemandes Hob. IX:12 by Haydn. Next, to celebrate the power of music, soprano Simone Kermes, the Cologne Chamber Choir, Collegium Cartusianum, conducted by Peter Neumann, will present Ode to Cecilia’s Day HWV 76 by Handel. This will be followed by a violin sonata by Johann Baptist Vanhal, an excerpt from Purcell’s Indian Queen, and, to conclude the program, the Menuet Da Ballo Hob. IX:4 by Haydn.

Ian Johnston begins with the Sérénade mélancolique Op. 26 by Tchaikovsky. This magical, dreamy music sounds like a scene from a ballet. Violinist Salvatore Accardo is accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis. A vogue for orientalism was in full swing during Robert Schumann’s lifetime. His Oratorio ‘Paradise and the Peri’, Op. 50 concerns the Peri, a creature from Persian mythology expelled from Paradise who tries to re-enter it and, despite many difficulties, ultimately succeeds. The work was well received at its premiere, but today it is inexplicably not often performed. A fine performance of this gem features Lina Johnson (soprano), Marianne Beate Wieland (mezzo-soprano), Kieran Carrel (tenor), Le Concert Des Nations, La Capella Nacional, Jordi Savall (conductor). The concluding work is Clara Schumann’s Notturno, No. 2 from her Soirées musicales Op. 6, played by pianist Hugh Fullarton. A Nocturne is an ‘inside’ genre associated with the composer’s innermost sentiments.

Yvonne Schwerdt’s program is a smorgasbord of musical styles, beginning with the Witches’ Sabbath Intermezzo from Puccini’s ballet-opera ‘Le Villi’, in which the Willis (fairies) punish the unfaithful bridegroom by making him dance until he dies. Riccardo Muti conducts the Filarmonica della Scala. Next, Korngold’s Late-Romantic style Piano Quintet in E major, Op. 15, teems with themes that almost overwhelm as they delight. Kjell Lysell & Ulf Forsberg (violins), Nils-Erik Sparf (viola), Mats Lidström (cello), Bengt Forsberg (piano). Elgar’s Falstaff Symphonic Study Op. 68 portrays the exploits of the fat knight, a goodly, portly man with a cheerful look from Shakespeare’s Henry IV. It’s easy to enjoy even if you’re not familiar with the plot of Shakespeare’s play. The London Philharmonic is conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Grieg originally wrote his Holberg Suite for piano, and the Australian pianist Gerard Willems will perform it. With its lively and often mischievous charm, Carl Nielsen was especially proud of his Flute Concerto. Flautist Lisa Hansen and the New York Scandia Symphony, conducted by Dorritt Matson, will present this final work.