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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816)

Composer of the Week: Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816): Episode 2

Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816)

Episode 2

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816), Episode 2

Donald Macleod discovers how Paisiello fared at the court of Catherine the Great.

Donald Macleod discovers how Paisiello and his comic operas were received after the composer was appointed music director at the court of Catherine the Great.

When Catherine the Great invited Paisiello to become musical director of her court in St Petersburg he must have jumped at the chance. It was his first official appointment and with it came both security and prestige. Paisiello quickly became a favourite of the court, thanks to the steady stream of comic operas he produced there. Donald Macleod introduces two of them: 'I filosofi immaginari' - a great favourite of Catherine's, and 'La serva padrona', which recycled the libretto famously set by Pergolesi 50 years earlier.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Giovanni Paisiello

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Giovanni Paisiello, the Italian composer whose comic operas were the toast of some of the greatest world leaders in their time

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