A Classic Arts production for BBC Radio 3
Monday-Friday 09.00 – 12.00

On 12 September 2011 Classic Arts and Radio 3 launched Essential Classics, the successor to Classical Collection.  Essential Classics is presented by Rob Cowan and Sarah Walker, both well-known to Radio 3 listeners.

Essential Classics focuses on great music, largely drawn from the core repertoire, in fine recordings, primarily from the stereo era onwards. The emphasis is on sharing and recommendation, and encourages dialogue between presenters and listeners.

The programme has a clear structure. The first half-hour (9.00-9.30) is made up of shorter pieces, including selections from Rob or Sarah’s Essential CD of the Week.

At 9.30 listeners are invited to test their wits with a daily Brainteaser. These range from Only Connect  (spotting the connection between three short musical extracts) and The Year in Question (identifying three pieces connected with a particular year) to Spot the Artist? (identifying a named performer/performing group from three different interpretations of the same extract); Births, Deaths and Marriages (identifying a birth(day), wedding or death featured in a single extract); and Who/What/Where am I?  (identifying a person, object or place from a series of cryptic clues).

From 9.30 to 10.30 Essential Classics focuses on recordings by Rob or Sarah’s Artist of the Week, a major performer from past or present.

At 10.30 Rob or Sarah introduces the week’s guest, a household name, who discusses his/her personal musical favourites. The guests mostly have a topical connection with external cultural/sporting events or anniversaries. Their choices are spread across the week’s programmes between 10.30 and 11.00. The final choice on Friday is chosen for the guest by Rob or Sarah, acting as their Personal Shopper.