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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 5

Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816)

Episode 5

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816), Episode 5

Donald Macleod explores Paisiello's final years, when Naples was under French rule.

Donald Macleod discusses Paisiello's warm friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte and presents music from the composer's final years, when Naples was under French rule.

Paisiello's final years took place against a backdrop of political turmoil. Around the turn of the century, his home town of Naples was twice invaded by the French. Paisiello opted to remain behind and work for the new republican state. When the King of Naples was restored to the throne the second time, he turned his back on Paisiello, leaving him in a state of poverty and disgrace for the remaining months of his life. Donald introduces music from Paisiello's final years, including the overture to 'Proserpina', dedicated to his friend and supporter, Napoleon Bonaparte, an excerpt from his penultimate stage work 'Il passaggio de Monte San Bernardo' composed to honour Napoleon's brother Joseph, and part of the Mass for the Dead dedicated to members of the Neapolitan royal family.

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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