Join the Academy of St Martin in the Fields' Music Director Joshua Bell and guest first violinist Nick Kendall (Time for Three) on tour with ASMF in South America September 2022 as they discuss Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, player-led direction, the Acadmey of St Martin in the Fields and the joy of being back touring.

Joshua Bell appears courtesy of Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment.

Musical extracts heard in this episode are from Joshua’s recording of the concerto with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Berlin Philharmonic in 2005, reproduced here with the kind permission of Sony available here:  https://JoshuaBell.lnk.to/athomewithmusic and  www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Violi…rto/dp/B000AY9OHQ.

Find out more about ASMF at https://www.asmf.org/

Photos:
Joshua Bell: Alan Kerr
Nicolas Kendall: @cauediniz

Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields Podcasts

19: Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto - in conversation with Joshua Bell & Nick Kendall

This episode of the Academy Podcast looks back at one of the defining moments in the orchestra’s history: recording the soundtrack for the multi Oscar-winning film Amadeus. Sir Neville Marriner and British actor Simon Callow, reflect on their memories of the events and characters working on the Oscar-winning film, and conductor Ludwig Wicki, explains the challenges and potential pitfalls of performing a film score live.

This podcast was recorded ahead of the orchestra's 2015 'Amadeus Live' concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The Academy returned to repeat this performance in November 2018. 

Musical extracts heard in this episode are from the Academy’s recordings in the Philips Complete Mozart Edition (available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Mozart-Various-Artists/dp/B000050GG5), reproduced here with the kind permission of Universal.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields Podcasts

Episode 5: Amadeus

The incomparable pianist Murray Perahia delves into the details of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos in a two part special. These episodes were originally produced to accompany the 'Perahia Plays Beethoven' series at London's Barbican over the 2016/17 classical season.

In Part 1, Murray focuses on Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3.

Musical extracts heard in this episode are from Murray and the Academy’s live recording of the Beethoven Piano Concertos under the baton of Sir Neville Marriner in 1988, reproduced here with the kind permission of Sony (available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/B001IMFHUM).

Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields

Episode 7: Murray Perahia talks Beethoven - Part 1

In part two of this 2-part series, the incomparable pianist Murray Perahia delves into the details of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5.

These episodes were originally produced to accompany the 'Perahia Plays Beethoven' series at London's Barbican over the 2016/17 classical season.

Musical extracts heard in this episode are from Murray and the Academy’s live recording of the Beethoven Piano Concertos under the baton of Sir Neville Marriner in 1988, reproduced here with the kind permission of Sony (available here: www.amazon.co.uk/d/B001IMFHUM).

Episode 8: Murray Perahia talks Beethoven - Part 2

In this episode of the Academy Podcast, Ben Eshmade talks to members of the Academy Chamber Ensemble in the group's 50th anniversary year. Get a behind-the-scenes insight into life with this world-renowned ensemble, as musicians Tomo Keller, Stephen Stirling, Stephen Orton and Lynda Houghton discuss the group's rehearsal techniques, favourite repertoire and most memorable on-tour moments.

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Music clips in this episode:

Mendelssohn / Gershwin
Recorded at Performance Santa Fe by Bill Heltman in 2015

Schumann
Recorded at the Bravo Vail Music Festival in 2017

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Image (c) Jonathan Hess

Episode 9: 50 years of the Academy Chamber Ensemble

Hear from two of the world's most in-demand musicians in this episode of the Academy Podcast. Composer and double bassist Edgar Meyer and Joshua Bell talk about the Overture for Violin and Orchestra, which was specially written for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Music Director Joshua Bell.

The UK premiere was given at London's Cadogan Hall in January 2018.

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Podcast Producer: Ben Eshmade

Music clips from the world premiere of Edgar Meyer's 'Overture for Violin and Orchestra' recorded at the Bravo Vail Music Festival in 2017

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Image: Edgar Meyer and Joshua Bell at Bravo! Vail © Zach Mahone

Episode 10: Edgar Meyer and Joshua Bell

In this very special episode of the Academy Podcast, we eavesdrop on a conversation between Lady Marriner and Sir David Attenborough speaking about the history, performances and recordings of the Academy and our founder Sir Neville Marriner.

Podcast Producer: Ben Eshmade
Photo by Fraser Watson

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MUSICAL EXCERPTS

All musical excerpts in this podcast are from Academy recordings, conducted or directed from the violin by Sir Neville Marriner:

Mozart - Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (No. 10) from Mozart Double Piano Concertos with soloists Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Provided courtesy of Universal Music Netherlands.
Corelli – Concerto Grosso in F major, Op. 6, No. 6
Corelli – Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6, No. 1
Vivaldi – Violin Concerto in B-flat major, RV 383a, La Stravaganza
Baermann – Adagio for clarinet and strings in D flat major
Handel – Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, Op. 3, No. 1, HWV 312
Butterworth – The Banks of Green Willow
Strauss – Metamorphosen
The above Decca and Argo recordings all provided courtesy of Universal Music Group.
Elgar – In The South. Provided courtesy of Collins Classics / Phoenix Music International.

Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields Podcast

Episode 11: Lady Marriner in conversation with Sir David Attenborough

In the latest episode of the Academy podcast, we eavesdrop on a conversation between harpsichord heroes Mahan Esfahani and John Constable.

Mahan, who was inspired to take up the instrument as a child, in part, after seeing the Academy perform live, has made it his life’s mission to rehabilitate the harpsichord in the mainstream of concert instruments. He has a busy and varied solo career and can regularly be heard on BBC Radio 3, most recently presenting a 3-part series, 'The Alternative Bach'.

John Constable is Principal pianist and harpsichordist for the Academy, a post he has held since 1984. He was principal pianist of the London Sinfonietta from when it was founded in 1968 up until 2017.

Hear Mahan Esfahani in performance with the Academy this summer, in the cities of Flensburg (28 July) and Kiel (29 July). Tour details and tickets: https://www.asmf.org/whats-on/tomo-keller-mahan-esfahani-germany/

Produced by Ben Eshmade.

Music extracts: JS Bach's Goldberg Variations performed by Mahan Esfahani (available here: https://dg.lnk.to/EsfahaniGoldbergYD) and Manuel de Falla's Harpsichord Concerto with soloist John Constable - full recording available on Spotify. Reproduced with permission from Universal Music.

Photo credit: Ben Eshmade.

Episode 13: The Harpsichord with Mahan Esfahani and John Constable

In the latest episode of the Academy podcast, we look back at the Academy's 12-hour performance of Gavin Bryars' iconic work 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet'.

The performance involved professional musicians and people with experience of homelessness performing together throughout the night at Tate Modern and attracted an audience of over 1000 people.

More info at www.asmf.org/whats-on/never-failed-me-yet/

Produced by Ben Eshmade.

Photo credit: Alan Kerr.

Episode 14: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

In this final episode of the Academy's podcast in its current form, producer Ben Eshmade talks to Joshua Bell from his home in New York during lockdown and we go back to a rehearsal in London in early 2020, before the world shutdown and orchestral concerts and touring came to an abrupt halt. Joshua Bell discusses performing and directing the Paganini 1st Violin Concerto and directing the Academy in Brahms Symphony 4.

Episode 8: Murray Perahia talks Beethoven - Part 2

The Academy Podcast