Christian Thielemann, Angélique Kidjo, National Brass Band Championships

Music Matters

As his new recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra of the complete symphonies of Anton Bruckner - all eleven of them - hit the record stores, Tom Service speaks to the German conductor Christian Thielemann. He tells Tom about what had, for him, been a burning desire to embark on the journey to record all of the composer’s symphonies, as well as the consolations of working with one of the world’s greatest orchestras. Thielemann shares his vision, too, for audiences in the German capital following the recent news he’ll succeed Daniel Barenboim as the General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera.

With preparations well underway for this year’s London Jazz Festival, Tom catches-up with the ‘Queen of African Music’ - Angélique Kidjo. She describes her first encounter with Beethoven among the vinyl records of classical music her father had collected before the disruption of Benin’s dictatorships, and speaks about her escape to Paris in the 1980s, as well as the joyous spirit of defiance and power of music in the conflicts she’s witnessed in Sudan and Uganda.

And as ensembles around the country gear up for the finals of this year’s National Brass Band Championships, Music Matters eavesdrops on the preparatory rehearsals of last year’s winner’s, Foden’s Brass Band. With contributions from principal cornet, Mark Wilkinson, principal trombone and Chairman, John Barber, flugel horn player, Melanie Whyle, and conductor, Russell Gray, Tom also speaks to the composer of this year’s test piece, Edward Gregson, about his ‘Of Men and Mountains’, which will be performed by twenty bands at this year’s championships.