Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue from the BBC Proms

All summer, we’re in residence at the Royal Albert Hall for highlights from the BBC Proms. Today, we hear highlights from conductor Marin Alsop’s America-themed Prom with the Philharmonia Orchestra, including Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue. And there’s more from the Proms: Britten’s Simple Symphony performed by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra playing Stravinsky’s Symphony of Winds. Away from the Royal Albert Hall, we visit the Mozart Festival Würzburg, where pianist Severin von Eckardstein plays music by Prokofiev, and we return to this year’s Cheltenham Music Festival to hear more from our Radio 3 New Generation Artists. Today, the clarinettist Oleg Shebeta-Dragan is joined by two former members of the scheme – pianist Dominic Degavino and cellist Leo Popplewell – in the Clarinet Trio by Brahms.

From the BBC Proms 2026:
Leonard Bernstein
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Philharmonia Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)

From Cheltenham Music Festival 2026:
Johannes Brahms
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Oleg Shebeta-Dragan (clarinet)
Dominic Degavino (piano)
Leo Popplewell (cello)

From the BBC Proms 2026:
Joan Tower
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
Philharmonia Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)

George Gershwin orch. Grofé
Rhapsody in Blue
Marcus Roberts Trio
Philharmonia Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)

From Cheltenham Music Festival 2026:
Max Bruch
4 Pieces for Clarinet, Cello and Piano (Op. 83, Nos. 1, 2, 6 and 7)
Oleg Shebeta-Dragan (clarinet)
Dominic Degavino (piano)
Leo Popplewell (cello)

From the BBC Proms 2026:
Benjamin Britten
Simple Symphony, Op. 4
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (director)

From the 2026 Mozart Festival Würzburg:
Sergei Prokofiev
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75 (excerpts)
Severin von Eckardstein (piano)

From the BBC Proms 2026:
Igor Stravinsky
Symphony of Wind Instruments
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Alain Altinoglu (conductor)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".