Composer/poet Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1897. He went on to become a leading figure in the development of Brazil's classical music scene, as a composer, conductor, musicologist, and a professor of harmony in the National Music Institute in Rio de Janeiro, as well as other institutions. Along with Francisco Mignone and other prominent musicians, he was a founding member of the new Conservatório Brasileiro de Música, and together with Villa-Lobos he helped innovate music teaching in Brazil. His considerable musical legacy includes 48 songs, two symphonies, the orchestral suite Reisado do Pastoreio, the opera Malazarte, numerous chamber works, and around 80 piano pieces. A selection of the latter forms the basis of this podcast discussion between pianist Clélia Iruzun and Raymond Bisha.

In this podcast Raymond Bisha talks with Julian Azkoul, Director of United Strings of Europe, about how the group started, about their album, and about how they started recording for BIS label at the invitation of their legendary founder and producer Robert von Bahr. It is hard to overstate how important Robert's unequivocal support was for the ensemble. All that, plus music by Osvaldo Golijov, Olli Mustonen, Dobrinka Tabakova and Igor Stravinsky.

“I feel that you will achieve your greatest triumphs in [the symphonic] genre for I consider you to have precisely the properties that make a great symphonic composer. This is my firm belief.” Thus wrote Jan Sibelius in 1914 to his former student Leevi Madetoja. Raymond Bisha presents supporting evidence for that foresight in extracts from Madetoja's First and Third Symphonies and the Okon Fuoko Suite performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under John Storgårds.

The musical partnership of pianists Anna Geniushene and Lukas Geniušas, both esteemed prize-winners of major international competitions, is not just a testament to their flourishing solo careers and a shared musical heritage and philosophy. It is a profound expression of their deep emotional connection, a bond that resonates in their performances and captivates audiences world-wide. With their unique synergy, this husband-and-wife duo brings a fresh and thrilling perspective to the world of piano duos, setting them apart from their peers.

Joby Talbot has written music for several of Christopher Wheeldon's ballets including The Winter's Tale, the focus of this podcast, as well as Like Water for Chocolate and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In this podcast Joby talks about how he goes about composing music for a ballet and his ongoing collaboration with Christopher Wheeldon. The Opus Arte label has released all three of these ballets in a box set on both DVD and BluRay; they can also be streamed by going to the Royal Ballet and Opera website.

This podcast introduces a recently released, diverse programme of works for guitar trio bound by the common thread of music inspired by stories from literature, stage or screen. Performed by the Volterra Project Trio, the album's seventeen tracks take us from the rhythmic exuberance and tragic beauty of Bernstein’s West Side Story to the evocative poetry of childhood in Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. The presenter is Raymond Bisha.

In his album liner notes Behzod Abduraimov writes: "I see this pairing as an opportunity to present two vastly different emotional and philosophical worlds within the same album. I want to offer listeners a striking contrast: the depth and complexity of Prokofiev’s world against Shor’s more lyrical and accessible approach. Each piece reflects different facets of the human experience, and I believe there is value in sharing this diversity of sentiment, texture, and mood. I hope this pairing brings something refreshing and thought-provoking to listeners.