Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London, this season's Shostakovich focus continues with his symphony composed as "a Soviet artist's reply to just criticism". No less personally felt are Mahler's songs on the death of children, while Bernstein reaffirms the lighter side of life.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone), Bournemouth SO/Yakov Kreizberg

Bernstein Suite: On the Waterfront

Mahler Kindertotenlieder

7.55 Twenty Minutes: Performing Art
The second in a series of eight postcards from the Victoria and Albert Museum exploring the shared worlds of art and music. Today Christopher Cook talks to Michael Snodin about a page from the 18th-century Franco-Italian album of drawings by Sir William Chambers.

8.15 Shostakovich Symphony No 5
(Repeated Tuesday 1 August 2pm)

Choice
In today's Crossing Continents (11.00am R4) Tim Whewett visits Mongolia (above) where members of the Liberal Women's Brain Pool are the driving force behind the introduction of democracy. Did Whewett suddenly feel like a man in crisis, perhaps? He shouldn't: he's an excellent reporter, as this fascinating documentary reveals.
In this afternoon's extremely funny play, two girls set up The Writers' Block Workshop (2.15pm R4) with the ulterior motive of attracting sensitive, creative, heterosexual men. Their cunning plan goes awry, however, when a glamorous siren joins the course.
Later, Tim Marlow travels through California to encounter the Internet Dreamers (8.00pm R4) who first conjured up the www.
But you might prefer to listen to tonight's Prom (7.00pm R3), culminating in Shostakovich's massive Fifth Symphony. SG