Joanna Lumley & The Maestro – Details, episodes & analysis

This week Joanna and Stephen are joined by a very special guest, Stephen's personal piano tuner, David Widdicombe. From concert grands, upright 'domestics' and honkytonks, David has tuned them all. Having worked with the world's most prestigious piano maker, Steinway, for 3 decades David tells us about his life working alongside the world's most gifted players, how fractions of millimetres make all the difference and how to find the perfect 'temperament' from your own “Joanna”.

This week we’re diving into two bohemian heroes of classical music, Bohuslav Martinů and Leoš Janáček. Stephen remembers encountering the music of Martinů at Cambridge, and being confronted by the "pure simple joy" of it. From the lyricism of Martinů, we work back towards Janáček – another gifted Czech composer – and get to grips with the fairy-tale essence of The Cunning Little Vixen, Sinfonietta and the exultant Glagolitic Mass. Strap in. The Bohemians have arrived.

In this bonus mini episode with the actor, writer and broadcaster Stephen Fry, we discuss why audiences matter, the transcendent force of pianist Ervin Nyiregyházi and what artificial intelligence really means for classical music.

The celebrated organist, choir director and presenter Anna Lapwood joins Stephen and Joanna to discuss a case of mistaken identity at a book launch several years ago. We also get in to the wonderful organ music of Lutosławski, Bach, Duruflé and rock out to Faithless when the Ministry of Sound took over the Royal Albert Hall in 2023.

When can one acceptably pour a bucks fizz during the Christmas holidays? Did the Holy Trinity (Beethoven, Mozart and Bach) care much for the festive period? Which carol is best for crooning? And which book does Joanna read every year at Christmas? Joanna and Stephen have opened the email inbox and answer your yuletide queries and concerns.

Christmas has landed and The Music Room is in full reverberation. From carols to ditties, oratorios and Wham! the Maestro and Joanna leave no stone unturned in this Christmas special.

Did you think we'd forgotten to get you a Christmas present? Far from it! Joanna was Ken Bruce's special guest on Greatest Hits Radio, so we thought we'd slip a little extra episode under your tree in the shape of their brilliant interview. If you want to hear the whole show - and listen to the music Joanna chose - go to https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/shows/ken-bruce/id-216166043/

Joanna and Stephen fire up the email inbox in the week's mini episode, diving into listeners' questions on everything from how conductors convey depth and complex emotions; how to coax a child prodigy and how not behave in the opera halls of 1870.

This week, Joanna and the Stephen are joined by Hollywood royalty. On the eve Netflix's worldwide release of 'Maestro' - a new biopic about the world renown conductor Leonard Bernstein - Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan drop into the Music Room to discuss the making of a Hollywood love story like no other. Furthermore, Bradley tells us how he meticulously practiced the art of conducting for the role; we dive into early musical influences ranging from Vivaldi to Mozart, and hear how the gift of a conductor's baton set the whole thing off.

Maestro is on Netflix from 20th December

How do great conductors like Furtwängler and Haitink command an orchestra? Do some conductors have a signature sound? And how did meeting the driver of The Flying Scotsman in Woolworths almost derail Stephen's musical destiny? In this mini episode, Joanna and Stephen reveal all.