Brian Thompson introduces a letter written by LORD BYRON to Lady Melbourne in 1814. Reader Brian Southwood Producer KAY JAMIESON BBC Manchester

The Opening Concert direct from the Usher Hall Bach St Matthew Passion. Part 1 Margaret Price (soprano) Jessye Norman (soprano) Peter Schreier (tenor) Philip Langridge (tenor) Hermann Prey (baritone) Gwynne Howell (bass) Edinburgh Festival Chorus Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus chorus-master JOHN CURRIE London Symphony Orchestra leader MICHAEL DAVIS conductor Claudio Abbado
(For further details of Festival coverage on tv and radio see page 34)

(piano)
Sixth of eight programmes Mozart Sonata in c (K 330) Schumann Bunte Blatter. Nos 1-8
Beethoven Sonata in E flat, Op 31 No 3: records

attrib Lalande Cantata: Concert d'Esculape
ROGER BLANCHARD VOCAL ENSEMBLE
PARIS CONSERVATOIRE
ORCHESTRA, conducted by ROGER BLANCHARD
Barber Symphony No 1
LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by DAVID MEASHAM : records

direct from the Grosses Festspielhaus Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin)
Part 1 Brahms
Violin Concerto in D
10.45* Interval Reading
11.0* Salzburg Festival Part 2 Dvorak
Symphony No 8, in G
(By arrangement with ORF Vienna)

A magazine about some of the music and personalities in this year's Promenade Concerts. Thai classical music: an introduction by DONALD MITCHELL ; RICHARD HICKOX on Mozart's Lucio Silla; A profile of the BBC SINGERS. Presented by Jeremy Siepmann Producers PETER TANNER and GRAHAM SHEFFIELD

Marilyn Richardson (soprano) James Christiansen (baritone) Brenton Langbein (violin) Raffaele Altwegg (cello) Janka Wyttenbach (piano) Schoenberg Four Brettl-Lieder Villa-Lobos Suite for soprano and violin Beethoven Folk Song arrangements (South West German Radio recording)

with Frank Kermode

Suite in E minor ROBERT WOOLLEY (harpsichord)

(1929-81) The oboist JANET CRAXTON died last month at the age of 52. A tribute to her as performer, teacher and friend by Sir Lennox Berkeley precedes a programme of music from two of her last BBC recordings. Mozart Oboe Quartet in F (K 370) LONDON OBOE QUARTET Alan Richardson French Suite Lutoslawski Epitaph (Alan Richardson in memoriam) IAN BROWN (piano) Neil Saunders Quartet for oboe d'amore and strings LONDON OBOE QUARTET (Repeats)

in c major. Op 17 EDITH VOGEL (piano)

A sermon by JOHN DONNE with John Shrapnel as John Donne.
On 25 March 1631, when Donne appeared in the pulpit of St Paul's before Charles 1, it was clear that one of England's most celebrated preachers was dying. The text was prophetically chosen - ' Unto God the Lord belong the issues of death and with the words of his greatest sermon, Donne took leave of his congregation. Six days later he was dead. Producer
MARGARET WINDHAM followed by an interlude

Bach St Matthew Passion, Part 2. BBC Scotland

Jeffrey Richards , Senior Lecturer in History at Lancaster University, reflects on the life and death of railway stations. and their role in politics, society and the arts. His point of departure is the exhibition All Stations, originally devised for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and now at the Science Museum, London.

Amériques
BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, conducted by MICHEL TABACHNIK
(Bavarian Radio recording)

Fantasias for flute: No 1, in A; No 2. in A minor B.tRTIIOLD KUIJKEN
(baroque flute): record

Berlioz Overture: Beatrice and Benedict THE PARIS ORCHESTRA conducted by DANIEL BARENBOIM Liszt Rigoletto Paraphrase DANIEL BARENBOtM (piano) Verdi Grand Trio (Ernani); Recit and Aria: Tu del mio Carlo (I masnadieri) JOAN SUTHERLAND (SOp) MARILYN HORNE (mezzo-soprano) LUCIANO PAVAROTTI (tenor) NEW YORK CITY OPERA ORCHESTRA, conducted by RICHARD BONYNGE Verdi Ballet: The Four Seasons (The Sicilian Vespers): PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA, conducted by RICCARDO MUTt.