Interpretations

No piece of music, either in live performance or on disc, remains the same when performed by different artists.  Karajan's take on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony couldn't be more different from Kleiber's.  Although contemporaries, Nina Simone's Summertime contrasts greatly with Ella Fitzgerald's. And did Radiohead ever imagine their songs would reappear as improvised jazz, courtesy of the Brad Mehldau Trio? In each programme, a guest takes a piece of music or a song and explores different interpretations of that work, asking: Is this what the composer intended? Is it right to take liberties with music? What's the difference between an artistic interpretation and a 'cover version'? And does repeated re-interpretation fundamentally alter the nature of the music? 

Listen to the series.

Information on, and audio links to, all the programmes in the series.