BBC Proms • Alfred Brendel • John Adams

PODCAST:

Welcome to the Proms issue podcast! This month we chat about the BBC Symphony Orchestra's new East London home, find out which musicians have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours, and ponder who would win in a piano duel between robot and human.

Plus, we mark the start of this year's Proms season. Tune in to hear a clip from the fantastic 2017 Proms performance of Rachmaninov's Second Symphony that's on our latest cover CD, as well as hear about life behind the scenes at the Royal Albert Hall. There's a taster from our John Adams Recording of the Month, and we have of course brought along a varied selection of new CDs for our 'First listen' section. Expect Schubert, David Diamond, Karg Elert and Smetana.

This month's episode is presented by deputy editor Jeremy Pound, managing editor Rebecca Franks, reviews editor Michael Beek and editorial assistant Freya Parr.

Links: BBC Symphony Orchestra gets new home in East London: http://www.classical-music.com/news/bbc-symphony-orchestra-get-new-home-east-london; Queen's Birthday Honours: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-queens-birthday-honours-list-2018; Sheku Kanneh-Mason tops charts: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44255845; Robot-human piano duel: https://www.insideedition.com/media/videos/robot-and-human-pianists-face-musical-duel-43844; John Adams's Absolute Jest and Naïve and Sentimental Music: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/john-adams-na%C3%AFve-and-sentimental-music-absolute-jest/1373325399; Alfred Brendel Live in Vienna: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/schumann-piano-concerto-brahms-variations-fugue-on/1340588280; First Listen: Emmanuel Pahud's Solo on Warner Classics (Freya's choice): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/solo/1366337273; Smetana's Festive Symphony on Naxos (Jeremy's choice): https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573672; Schubert's Octet on Harmonia Mundi (Rebecca's choice): https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/schubert-oktett/1378977421; David Diamond's Symphony No. 6 on Naxos: https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559842 (Michael's choice)