Eurovision 2023: classical music from every finalist country

BBC Radio 3's Breakfast show has compiled a special Eurovision-themed playlist, featuring classical music from each of the 26 countries performing at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final.

The playlist was broadcast in full during the Breakfast show on Friday 12 May. It's now available on BBC Sounds, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lkmf

BBC Radio 3's Breakfast show has compiled a special Eurovision-themed playlist, featuring classical music from each of the 26 countries performing at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final.

The playlist was broadcast in full during the Breakfast show on Friday 12 May. It's now available on BBC Sounds, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lkmf

Eurovision provided Radio 3 with the perfect opportunity for a Breakfast journey,' says Radio 3 Breakfast presenter Petroc Trelawny. 'It includes some of the finalist countries are places we visit regularly - France, Germany, Austria and Italy.

'But it was so good to mine the musical riches of Cyprus, Moldova, Albania and Australia too. And it seems that on a Venn diagram of Radio 3 listeners and Eurovision fans, there is more crossover than you might expect.'

The full playlist is as follows:

Classical music from all 26 Eurovision 2023 Finalists

Norway
Edvard Grieg

Peer Gynt: Morning Mood
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner (Chandos)

Israel
Paul Ben-Haim

Berceuse sfaradite
Itzhak Perlman (violin) / Samuel Sanders (piano) (EMI)

Portugal
Pedro de Cristo

Ave maris stellapor
Cupertinos (choir) / Luís Toscano (Hyperion)

Serbia
Dušan Bogdanović

Chaconne & Gigue (inspired by Bach)
Thibaut Garcia (guitar) (Warner Classics)

From the album Bach Inspirations (Warner Classics)

Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach

Sinfonia [fragment] in D major BWV.1045
Berlin Academy for Early Music / Bernhard Forck
From the album J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos (Harmonia Mundi)

Czech Republic
Antonín Dvořák

Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op 72 No 10
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelík (Deutsche Grammophon)

Cyprus
Hieronymos Tragodistēs

O Great Pascha
Cappella Romana / Alexander Lingas

Sweden
Traditional Swedish

Du Ar Den Forsta
Anna Maria Friman / Arve Henriksen / Trio Mediæval
From the album TRIO MEDIAEVAL & ARVE HENRIKSEN (ECM)

Croatia
Dora Pejačević

Snow drops; Lilies of the Valley; Forget-me-not (Lives of Flowers)
Nataša Veljković.
From the album PEJAČEVIĆ: COMPLETE PIANO WORKS (CPO)

Lithuania
Leopold Godowsky

Old Vienna
Jascha Heifetz / Milton Kaye
From the album HEIFETZ ENCORES (RCA RED SEAL)

Switzerland
Ernest Bloch

Jewish Song (Jewish Life)
Edgar Moreau (cello) / Luzerner Sinfonieorchester / Michael Sanderling
From the album TRANSMISSION (WARNER CLASSICS)

Finland
Jean Sibelius

Karelia Suite
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Leif Segerstam
From the album CLASSICAL IMAGES FROM FINLAND (ONDINE)

Austria
Franz Schubert

String Quintet in C (4th mvt)
Heinrich Schiff / Hagen Quartett (Deutsche Grammophon)

Italy
Antonio Vivaldi

Concerto in E minor, RV.133
Adrian Chandler / La Serenissima
From the album VIVALDI: THE FRENCH CONNECTION 2 (AVIE)

Ukraine
Valentin Silvestrov

Prayer for Ukraine (Maidan)
Kyiv Chamber Choir / Mykola Hobdych
From the album VALENTIN SILVESTROV: MAIDAN (ECM NEW SERIES)

Eurovision Signature Tune

Marc‐Antoine Charpentier
Te Deum H.146 (Prelude)
Les Arts Florissants / William Christie.
From the album CHARPENTIER: TE DEUM: LES ARTS FLORISSANTS, WILLIAM CHRISTIE (HARMONIA MUNDI)

Spain
Isaac Albéniz

Castilla (Suite espagnola)
Alicia de Larrocha (DECCA)

Slovenia
Fran Gerbič

In the Night
Bernarda Fink (soprano) / Marcos Fink (bass baritone) / Anthony Spiri (piano)
From the album SLOVENIJA! (HARMONIA MUNDI)

Moldova
Patricia Kopatchinskaja (pictured top), Emilia Kopatchinskaja & Viktor Kopatchinsky

Calusari
From the album RAPSODIA (NAIVE)

UK (sequence)

Wales
William Mathias
Fanfare
Richard Lea

England
John Foulds
Puppet Ballet Suite: I. Prelude
BBC Concert Orchestra / Ronald Corp.
From the album JOHN FOULDS, VOL. 4 (DUTTON EPOCH)

Scotland and Northern Ireland
Phil Coulter (composer, Scotland) / Bill Martin (lyricist, Northern Ireland)

Puppet On A String
Sandie Shaw

Belgium
Henri Vieuxtemps

Viola Sonata in B flat major Op.36 (2nd mvt)
Antoine Tamestit (viola) / Cédric Tiberghien (piano)
From the album BEL CANTO: THE VOICE OF THE VIOLA (HARMONIA MUNDI)

Armenia
Aram Khachaturian

Sabre Dance from Gayane
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestrea / Aram Khachaturian.
Fron the album LEGENDS - KHACHATURIAN: SPARTACUS (DECCA)

Australia
Nardi Simpson

Of Stars and Birds
Ensemble Offspring.
From the album WOMEN OF NOTE VOL. 3 (ABC CLASSICS)

Estonia
Arvo Pärt

Source: https://www.classical-music.com/