11 episodes

Join David Walliams as he goes on a marvellous musical journey of discovery and meets some of the most famous names from the history of music – from Ludwig ‘Grumpy’ van Beethoven to 19th-century rock star Franz Liszt.

David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast Global

    • Kids & Family
    • 4.6 • 228 Ratings

Join David Walliams as he goes on a marvellous musical journey of discovery and meets some of the most famous names from the history of music – from Ludwig ‘Grumpy’ van Beethoven to 19th-century rock star Franz Liszt.

    Episode 1: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Episode 1: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: You might well have heard of Mozart – but did you know he had a really rude sense of humour? Or that he owned a pet starling? In the first episode, David meets one of the most famous composers of all time… and has a bit of a run in with a music professor.

    Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    Music from:

    Mozart: The Magic Flute – Bayerischen Staatsoper/Wolfgang Sawallisch (Warner);

    Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro – Collegium Vocale Gent, Concerto Köln/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi);

    Mozart: Symphony No.41 ‘Jupiter’ – Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Neville Marriner (Warner);

    Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21 – Murray Perahia, English Chamber Orchestra (Sony);

    Mozart: Clarinet Concerto – Martin Fröst, Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Peter Oundjian (BIS);

    Mozart: Eine kleine nachtmusik – Camerata Nordica/Terje Tønnesen (BIS);

    Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 ‘Alla turca’ – Fazil Say (Warner);

    Wagner: Wedding March from Lohengrin – Bayreuth Festival/Andris Nelsons (Opus Arte);

    Mozart: La finta semplice – Jeremy Ovenden, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Jonathan Cohen (Signum Classics);

    Mozart: Don Giovanni – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony);

    Allegri: Miserere – Tenebrae/Nigel Short (Signum);

    Mozart: Requiem – Freiburger Barockorchester, RIAS Kammerchor/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi)

    • 17 min
    Episode 2: The Liszt Factor

    Episode 2: The Liszt Factor

    Franz Liszt was music’s first true rock star, baby. Join David Walliams as he enrols in Liszt’s school of cool, and discovers what it really means to rock, old school.

    Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    Music from:

    Liszt: La Campanella – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

    Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Georges Cziffra (Warner);

    Liszt: Liebesträum – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

    Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 – Leif Ove Andsnes (Warner);

    Liszt: Transcendental Studies – Yevgeny Sudbin (BIS);

    Liszt: Totentanz – Louis Lortie, Residentie Orchestra The Hague/George Pehlivanian (Chandos);

    Liszt: Un sospiro – Leslie Howard (Hyperion)

    • 19 min
    Episode 3: It takes one to (pia)no one

    Episode 3: It takes one to (pia)no one

    This instrument may seem pretty black and white, but there’s more to the piano than meets the eye. Join David Walliams as he travels inside the piano, discovers its most famous players and explores the unlikely ways it changed music forever.

    Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    Music from:

    Beethoven: Für Elise – Ronald Brautigam (BIS);

    Mozart: Piano Sonata No.11 ‘Alla turca’ – Fazil Say (Warner);

    J. S. Bach: Concerto in G major, BWV 973 – Richard Egarr (Harmonia Mundi);

    Chopin: Nocturne in E flat major – Ji Liu (Classic FM);

    Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Emperor’ – Leif Ove Andsnes (Sony);

    Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Georges Cziffra (Warner);

    Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 ‘Appassionata’ – Lang Lang (Sony)

    Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 – Leif Ove Andsnes (Warner);

    Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 – Martha Argerich (Warner);

    Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk (Sony/ATV);

    Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – André Previn, London Symphony Orchestra (Warner)

    Things are Getting Better (Echobass)

    Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 ‘Appassionata’ – Lang Lang (Sony)

    Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    • 16 min
    Episode 4: Staying Alive with Ethel Smyth

    Episode 4: Staying Alive with Ethel Smyth

    We journey back a hundred years to explore the life of Ethel Smyth: composer, suffragette and all-round legend. Also, there are pirates.

    Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    Music from:

    Ethel Smyth: Concerto for Violin – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Odaline de la Martinez (Chandos)

    Ethel Smyth: Mass in D – Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series/Philip Brunelle (EMI)

    Ethel Smyth: The Wreckers – Scottish National Orchestra/Sir Alexander Gibson (Warner)

    Ethel Smyth: March of the Women – Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series/Philip Brunelle (EMI)

    Ethel Smyth: The Boatswain’s Mate, Overture – BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Rumon Gamba (Chandos)

    Ethel Smyth: String Quartet in E minor – Mannheim String Quartet (CPO)

    • 18 min
    Episode 5: Ballet

    Episode 5: Ballet

    Ballet: You may think it’s all tutus and tippy toes, but there’s a world of wild, daring and downright bizarre stories behind this dainty dance. Join David Walliams as he journeys around the globe to give us a peek into the highly competitive, and fantastically strange world of ballet.

    Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    Music from:

    Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

    Saint-Saëns: The Swan from Carnival of the Animals – Ji Liu (Classic FM)

    Lully: Alcidiane, Ritournelle et air de Mademoiselle Hilaire – La Risonanca/Fabio Bonizzoni (Glossa)

    Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (Chandos)

    Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

    Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet – Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton (BIS)

    • 17 min
    Episode 6: Maverick Musicians

    Episode 6: Maverick Musicians

    They broke the mould and changed the face of music. Meet the marvellous mavericks and devilish divas who took the musical world by storm. And don’t be surprised if a number of old friends turn up to join the party… Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/curator/classic-fm/1211395150

    Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.13 – Arcadi Volodos (Sony)

    Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee – Royal Scottish National Orchestra//Neeme Järvi

    excerpts from Mozart: Don Giovanni – MusicAeterna/Teodor Currentzis (Sony)

    Mozart: ‘Voi che sapete’ from Don Giovanni – Adelina Patti (Nimbus)

    Paganini: 24 Caprices – Augustin Hadelich (Warner Classics)

    Paganini: Violin Concerto – Itzhak Perlman/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Lawrence Foster

    Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Arcadi Volodos (Sony)

    Bizet : ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’ from Carmen – Maria Callas, Orchestra de l’Opéra National de Paris

    • 18 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
228 Ratings

228 Ratings

L cool 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌙🌛🌜🌚 ,

A.M.A.Z.I.NG

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!!!!
Also where do I donate for music bones (I’m listening to Clara Schuman)

ElianaLynn ,

From Eliana, age 9

I love this podcast it’s the best in the whole wide world please make more🥰🥰😘😘😘🥰😍💕❤️💕💕😍🥰😘🥰💕❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💕💕😍🥰🥰😘😘💗💞💞💖💓💓💓💖💖💞💞💗😘🥰😍😍💕💕❤️❤️❤️💕💕💕😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰💗💗💞💖💖💓💓💓💓💖💖💖💞💞💞💞💗😘😘🥰🥰😍😍💕💕💕💕❤️❤️❤️💕💕🥰😘💗💗💞💞💖💖💖💖💓💓💖💞💞💗😘🥰🥰😍💕❤️💕🥰🥰😘💗💞💖💖💓💓💖💞💗😘🥰🥰💗🥰🥰💞😍💖💕💕💕💕💓❤️❤️💓😍💖😍🥰🥰😘😘💗😍💖😍😍💕💖💕💓❤️💕💕😍😍🥰💞😘😍💖😘😍💕❤️💗💞💖💓😘🥰😍💕❤️💗

Fyliao ,

THIS SHOW NEEDS A FACT-CHECKER probably

Before Liszt (episode 2), there was violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) and Farinelli- the stage name of castrato singer Carlo Broschi (1705-1782) who both achieved fame through their concert tours. No shortage of extravagant lifestyle and fan-following/ fans fainting over them during their time. In fact, the age of twenty-one, Liszt had decided to become a priest. What averted his inclination was Paganini’s violin playing. From “Etude Magazine, august 1916: “Was Liszt the Paganini of the Piano?” By Henry Finck Paganini arrived in Paris in March, 1831, on a tour which set all Europe aflame with wonder at the amazing brilliancy of his playing. He performed tricks with harmonics, double stopping and treble stopping, arpeggios, springing bow, together with “guitar effects,” pizzicato and arco simultaneously, and other things that astonished not only “the natives” but rival violinists, who could not understand how he did them. Liszt heard him, and like a flash the thought came to him: “What wonderful things might be done with the piano if its technical possibilities were developed as those of the violin have been by Paganini.” This was my first episode. Hopefully there is no need to check each episode.

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