The latest edition of the podcast has the usual suspects: resident bookworm, Chris Powling, with three superb books for us to enjoy; alongside the Classic FM doctor, Rob Hicks, who’ll be telling us how our genes influence the types of food we reach for – which means I must have the cream bun gene! As well as that, we’ll meet the best-travelled busker in the world: violinist David Juritz.Find out which are the most generous, as well as the meanest, cities he visited. File Download (9:18 min / 9 M...
Oct 26, 2007•9 min
In this edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast, the tenor, James Gilchrist, talks about his acclaimed recording of “On Wenlock Edge”, by Vaughan Williams; Classic FM’s resident bookworm, Chris Powling, recommends three thrillers for us to enjoy; And the Classic FM doctor, Rob Hicks, tells us why we should all be eating a lot more garlic. File Download (10:55 min / 10 MB)
Oct 19, 2007•11 min
In this week’s podcast, we learn about the so-called “silver surfers”, the over fifties who are becoming increasingly voracious consumers of everything the internet has to offer. Doctor Rob Hicks tells us about World Arthritis Day; Chris Powling choses three children’s books for us to enjoy; and Bob Jones heads to Exmoor, to preview this year’s Two Moors Festival. File Download (12:52 min / 12 MB)
Oct 12, 2007•13 min
Classic FM's resident GP, Rob Hicks, opens this edition of the podcast. Yes, the days are getting shorter and it's turning decidedly autumnal, so any day now, we can expect to be hear commercials for flu jabs. But Dr. Rob tells us researchers in the US have conducted a study which casts doubt on the benefits of immunising older people against the disease. After that, we turn our attention to books with Chris Powling, who's been furiously reading paperbacks in order to choose three unmissable one...
Oct 01, 2007•11 min
In this week’s podcast, we find out how the Conferation of British Industry has picked itself a fight with family doctors – Classic FM’s resident GP, Rob Hicks will explain all; Germaine Greer will tell us about her new biography of Anne Hathaway, entitled “Shakespeare’s Wife”; Classic Nesnight’s roving reporter, Bob Jones, updates us on the work of “Live Music Now”; and Felicity Lott discusses her love of French song. File Download (14:00 min / 13 MB)...
Sep 21, 2007•14 min
This week, John Brunning speaks to the author Conn Iggulden about his latest creation: “The Dangerous Book For Boys Yearbook”. Classic FM’s resident GP, Rob Hicks, gives us his opinion on research linking antiperspirants to breast cancer; and we discover how classical music is helping children undergoing investigation for neurological disorders at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. File Download (14:26 min / 13 MB)...
Sep 07, 2007•14 min
In this edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast, Sir Andrew Davis recounts some of his most treasured moments conducting the music of Elgar; we meet identical singing twins from Canada, RyanDan, who not only look alike, but sound pretty similar too; and Bob Jones reports on some extraordinary musical manoeuvres involving one time pop idol Chesney Hawkes, a dozen posh cars and the London Symphony Orchestra. Hard to resist clicking “download”, isn’t it? File Download (9:29 min / 5 MB)...
Aug 24, 2007•9 min
In this edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast, we meet the American thriller writer, David Baldacci, whose fifteenth novel is doing very brisk. Classic FM’s resident GP, Rob Hicks, tells us why a person’s body mass index is now reckoned to be a less reliable indicator of future health problems than previously thought. And we hear from the tenor, Ian Bostridge, about his critically-acclaimed album of Handel arias. File Download (12:02 min / 11 MB)...
Aug 17, 2007•12 min
Welcome to the latest edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. You might be surprised to learn that it contains an exclusive interview with Mike Oldfield – he of Tubular Bells fame. What’s he got to do with classical music? The answer is just a click away. Less surprising, but equally interesting, is a preview of the Edinburgh International Festival. Classic FM’s resident GP, Rob Hicks, takes a look at the latest thinking on the link between excessive sunbathing and skin cancer. And if you’ve e...
Aug 10, 2007•13 min
Welcome to the new edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. And if you enjoy a tipple, I’m afraid our first item is likely to dampen your spirits – pardon the pun! Doctor Rob Hicks will be explaining how even a small amount of alcohol raises the risk of bowel cancer. Then we meet Francesco Corti – the newly-appointed Music Director of Scottish National Opera. David Suchet tells us about the new play he’s starring in: it’s called “The Last Confession”, and the action takes place in The Vatican. ...
Aug 03, 2007•12 min
This week, Doctor Rob Hicks will be telling us about a new initiative designed to make fixing an appointment with our GP easier: easier, that is, so long as you have access to the internet and aren’t suffering from technophobia! Chloe Hanslip will be singing Bryn Terfel’s praises – no, it’s not a role reversal, it’s just that the baritone has leant the yound fiddler’s career a helping hand recently. What’s more, Chloe has a potential investment to tempt you – but be warned, it’s for the very wel...
Jul 27, 2007•11 min
Welcome to another scintillating edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. All right then, let’s cut the hyperbole and tell you what’s in it. The fifth Mostly Mozart Festival has just got underway at the Barbican in London, and Bob Jones has been investigating a project in which Mozart’s music is used as the starting point for improvisation. We have our regular weekly check-up with the Classic FM doctor, Rob Hicks; and we meet the Welsh soprano, Elin Manahan Thomas, whose debut CD has just hit t...
Jul 13, 2007•17 min
This week, we investigate whether family doctors are guilty of wasting their patients' time by indulging in idle chit chat – according to researchers in the US, it's a real problem. As England becomes the latest country to ban smoking in public places, Classic FM's roving reporter, Tracey Spurrier, travels to Ireland, to see how the three-year-old ban on smoking there is working out. Bob Jones tells us about a unique musical composition based on the sound of sampled church bells, and last, but n...
Jun 29, 2007•14 min
Welcome to the latest edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. If you missed something on the programme earlier in the week, this is your chance to catch up. Bob Jones takes a look at an interactive project called “Voicelab”; we learn how coffee can help sufferers of a rare eye condition, from our resident doctor, Rob Hicks; the Music Director of Crouch End Festival Chorus explains why they're doing choral arrangements of songs by the Beach Boys; and we get some good advice on recent reading ma...
Jun 22, 2007•13 min
Welcome to the Classic Newsnight podcast. This time, we’re investigating how the classical music industry is responding to the opportunities and challenges presented by the computer. Our resident doctor, Chris Powling, explains how, for teeneagers, the fear of going blind could be a more powerful deterrent to smoking than all the other dangers put together. We find out about a new competition with a prize that’s truly out of this world: a trip into space, and we learn about the latest attempt to...
Feb 09, 2007•14 min
Welcome to the new edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. This week – and I kid you not – we meet the tenor who's twice been voted Iceland's sexiest man; we also find out why China is tipped to be the driving force in classical music in the twenty first century; Doctor Rob Hicks warns us once again about the dangers of using sunbeds; and our resident bookworm, Chris Powling, recommends three titles for our delectation. File Download (10:43 min / 10 MB)...
Feb 02, 2007•11 min
Welcome to the Classic Newsnight podcast; and amazingly, it’s our last one of January! This week, Doctor Rob Hicks explains how owning a dog can improve your health; we hear from the German pianist who’s just made a recording on the very piano Franz Liszt owned and played at his home in Bayreuth; and we meet the author, Conn Iggulden, who’s recently achieved a first in the history of UK book selling – topping both the fiction and non-fiction hardback bestsellers chart simultaneously. Listen now!...
Jan 25, 2007•18 min
In this week’s podcast, our resident bookworm, Chris Powling, waxes lyrical about a recipe book for opera lovers; the FT’s Economics Reporter, Jamie Chisholm, explains why reports on the death of inflation appear to have been premature; Doctor Rob Hicks discusses yet another fortuitously discovered benefit for taking aspirin; and Classic Newsnight’s roving reporter, Bob Jones, meets the Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, to talk about the Government’s ten million pound boost for singing. I hope ...
Jan 19, 2007•13 min
This week, our podcast answers the searing questions: should you stop having milk in your tea? Believe it or not, that’s one for the Classic FM doctor, Rob Hicks. We also ask the FT’s Economics Correspondent why all bar one of the so-called experts in the City failed to predict the latest rise in interest rates. Add to that a bunch of paperbacks, as recommended by our resident bookworm, Chris Powling, and a chat with the distinguished accompanist, Julius Drake, and you have an online listen not ...
Jan 12, 2007•18 min
We've lined up something extra special for the first podcast of 2007. For starters, there's a chance to win a copy of pianist Stephen Hough's critically acclaimed CD, “The Spanish Album”. But if that doesn't thrill you, our resident bookworm, Chris Powling, has something that will: Chris has chosen four thrillers to get the new year off to a flying start. There's some good news from Classic FM's resident doctor, Rob Hicks, especially if you suffer from high blood pressure and feel you have to de...
Jan 05, 2007•17 min
Welcome to the final Classic Newsnight podcast of 2006. And please forgive me for mentioning exercise at this time of year, but whether we like it or not, researchers keep finding new reasons why we should al become more active, and our resident doctor, Rob Hicks, is about to add his ten penneth. If you have a book token burning a hole in your pocket, you'll need some advice on what to buy with it, and who better to ask than Classic FM's resident literary aficionado, Chris Powling? And if opera ...
Dec 22, 2006•13 min
Welcome to the latest edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. We have our regular contributors lined up and ready to share their wisdom, in the case of the Classic FM doctor, Rob Hicks, and enthusiasm, as personified by our resident bookworm, Chris Powling – sorry Chris, you're wise too, of course! We also talk recorded music with one of the founding editors of the Penguin Guide to CDs and DVDs, Ivan March. And perhaps most remarkably, Classic FM's Nick Bailey is given a tutorial in downloadin...
Dec 15, 2006•15 min
Welcome to the latest edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. This week, as well as hearing from our regular contributors – Classic FM's resident bookworm, Chris Powling, and Dr Rob Hicks – we'll also feature the artist who, for my money at least, is the greatest guitarist England has ever produced. Before he retired from live performance at the age of seventy, Julian Bream enjoyed a career spanning fifty-five years on the concert platform. On the news front, it's been a particularly good week...
Dec 08, 2006•16 min
Surely the weeks are going by twice as fast as normal aren't they? I can't believe we're into December, with all that entails. It'll be – you know what – before we know it! The only sensible course of action, I feel, is to immerse ourselves in some interesting and thought-provoking material. To be honest, I don't know where one would begin to look for that, so I hope you'll accept the latest edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast, by way of a humble substitution. To save my wrists from Repetit...
Dec 01, 2006•15 min
Welcome to the silver anniversary edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. Now you might be labouring under the misapprehension that we just throw this together at the end of a busy week, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, an editorial decision was taken at an early stage to present the podcast in the manner of an old-fashioned Christmas annual – a sort of stick in your thumb and pull out a plumb affair. So with that in mind, take the plunge and go aural fishing. File Downloa...
Nov 24, 2006•13 min
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Classic FM Newsnight podcast, this time presented by Anne-Marie Minhall. On this podcast you will hear from Classic FM’s composer in residence Patrick Hawes, our resident bookworm Chris Powling has his recommendations for the best books around for 5 to 8 year olds and Restaurateur, cook and food writer Prue Leith speaks about her involvement in the charity ‘Training for Life'. First though, we have a special report on the battle against DVD piracy. ...
Nov 16, 2006•15 min
Welcome to the new bumper edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast – our biggest and best yet. Firstly, we meet the celebrated oboist, Nicholas Daniel, who tells us about a new piece written especially for him by John Tavener. We continue the Tavener connection thereafter, when we meet the composer's vocal muse, Patricia Rosario, who tells us about her involvement with this year's Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Classic FM's resident bookworm, Chris Powling, is here to recommend three ...
Nov 10, 2006•24 min
Welcome to another edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. This week, we find out why the Philharmonia Orchestra is casting its net across the globe in an initiative called “Groove Search”. Find out how you could win the opportunity to hear a ditty you've written recorded by one of this country's top bands! We also feature our resident bookworm, Chris Powling, who's chosen three excellent books for us to enjoy, now the nights are drawing in. Then we consult the Classic FM doctor, Rob Hicks. Th...
Nov 03, 2006•14 min
Welcome to the coming of age edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast – yes, we're twenty-one this week! We send our roving reporter, Bob Jones, to Newcastle to check out the latest production by Streetwise Opera – the company that gives homeless people the chance to stage a production at a professional level. We have our regular consultation with Classic FM's resident GP, Rob Hicks; and the early music soprano, Emma Kirkby, drops in for a chat. Three very good reasons why you should listen on…....
Oct 27, 2006•18 min
Welcome to the latest edition of the Classic Newsnight podcast. And here's an early warning for you: the clocks go back next weekend, which is bad news if you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. So we've asked Classic FM's resident GP, Rob Hicks, to explain the condition, and give us some tips on how to deal with it. Darkness is also the theme of John Rutter's latest CD with the Cambridge Singers: “Lighten our Darkness”. John tells me the repertoire is so relaxing that many people fall asle...
Oct 20, 2006•14 min
