One of the many highlights of my role at Scala Radio is planning, and occasionally producing, our Sunday evening series. The Sunday 6-8pm slot is the place for one-off shows and short-term series, and in Scala’s 3-and-a-bit years on the airwaves, guest presenters have included DJ Spoony, Jo Brand, Tony Hadley, Chi-Chi Nwanoku, Anne Dudley, David Arnold, Nitin Sawhney and Gemma Cairney.
The series tend to explore an area of classical and classically-inspired music, such as TV scores in TV On The Radio with Segun Akinola, folk and classical in The Scala Radio Songbook with Eddi Reader or gospel and choral music in Scala Radio Sings with Karen Gibson, the founder of the Kingdom Choir. In other series, a presenter might share their classical passions, or they might be brand new to this musical world so they embark on their own classical ‘journey’ and take the listener along for the ride.
We recently had a brilliant series full of calming classical music to help everyone revising for exams. The Study Space, hosted by Bobby Seagull, not only provided a useful soundtrack to help listeners focus, but also commented on the power of classical music to help us find a bit of peace and quiet during stressful times.
I was keen for the series following The Study Space to be more of a specialist music show, and particularly wanted it to celebrate contemporary classical music, a world which we explore a lot across the Scala schedule, in particular in our late-night show The Space, full of atmospheric tracks along with more traditional pieces from the core repertoire. I emailed the brilliant Scala music team to ask them to suggest presenters for a series focusing on contemporary classical music, and received some great ideas, but when I went to make a cup of tea several minutes later, I was hit by the obvious choice. Of course it had to be Max Richter.
I’m always delighted when artists ‘break out’ of the classical world and become familiar names to people who don’t think they’re classical fans. This is, in part, where Scala comes in: we want the station to be an accessible listen for people who aren’t sure where to start in the world of classical music, or who wouldn’t even class themselves as fans of the genre. Household names in the classical world tend to be, as the name suggests, ‘crossover’ artists like Katherine Jenkins, Andrea Bocelli or Russell Watson, or they may simply be staggeringly talented soloists who possess that lucky, hard-to-define quality which leads them to achieve blockbuster chart success, such as Nigel Kennedy, or perhaps exposure on a wider platform, such as cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason who shot to fame following his appearance at the royal wedding.
But Max Richter is something different. He’s quite simply a fascinating artist. His re-workings of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are perhaps his best-known works, or maybe you discovered him via his exceptional album The Blue Notebooks, or the use of his music in TV shows, films and trailers. His compositions can sound deceptively simple at times and are often incredibly moving, such as his Voices project, utilising the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to powerful effect.
After the no-brainer realisation at the kettle, I knew there was no other option apart from Max Richter, and luckily I had this epiphany at the perfect time, while Max was in the UK to promote the release of The New Four Seasons: Recomposed and to perform at Royal Hospital Chelsea. When I contacted his label, they informed me he was interested in doing some presenting, and so we arranged for him to curate and present 3 episodes of an imaginatively-titled series Max Richter on Scala Radio.
Max has hand-picked every track across the series, sharing his musical influences – most notably J.S.Bach and Schubert – and contemporary artists he admires such as Caroline Shaw, Julianna Barwick, the Labeque sisters, Hannah Peel and Mari Samuelsen. He also introduces some of his own pieces from across his career, explaining how and why the pieces came into being, and what he set out to achieve through composing them.
It was a joy to work with Max in the studio and I really hope you enjoy the finished series. It’s clearly a very personal selection, and a lot of the pieces are very calming and contemplative, at times veering towards the minimal. Perfect Sunday evening listening! Max introduced me to some new names – keep an ear out for Alabaster DePlume and Patricia Wolf – and hopefully you’ll make some musical discoveries too. After all, that’s what Scala Radio’s all about.
Max Richter on Scala Radio broadcasts 6-8pm on 19th June, 26th June and 3rd July. Find out more here.
