Joanna Lumley & The Maestro

Joanna Lumley & The Maestro

Joanna Lumley and her husband Stephen Barlow invite you into their home for a fascinating, funny journey into their shared love of music. You probably know Joanna Lumley, but you may not be aware that her husband Stephen Barlow is a famed conductor, composer and musician - and the pair of them are passionate about classical music. On this, their new podcast, the pair welcome you into their home for a personal, fascinating and funny journey through a musical world. Joanna is the enthusiastic amateur - asking the questions she’s always wanted to ask - and Stephen is The Maestro, providing the answers. Who was better: Mozart or Beethoven? Why do certain pieces of music make us feel a certain way? What do conductors actually do? They also discuss the great composers and symphonies, and the often-remarkable stories behind them, all delivered in Joanna and Stephen’s unique, engaging and affectionate way. Maybe you think classical music isn’t for you? Or you know a little and want to know more? Or perhaps it's been a lifetime love? Regardless, you definitely need to meet Joanna & The Maestro.

Episodes

Trailer

January 5, 2023 • 1 min
Joanna Lumley and her husband Stephen Barlow invite you into their home for a fascinating, funny journey into their shared love of music.
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The Music Room

January 17, 2023 • 34 mins
Why does music make us feel such emotion? Joanna Lumley and her husband Stephen Barlow invite you into their music room to discuss the big questions of life, music and marriage. In this first episode we take a tour through the music which shaped their childhoods in England and South-East Asia. For Stephen, this meant falling in love with Wagner’s ‘Das Rheingold’ and rocking out to Led Zep. For Joanna, it meant pastoral symphonies o...
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Mozart or Beethoven?

January 24, 2023 • 37 mins
It’s the battle of the heavyweights! Stephen couldn’t live without Mozart, while Joanna thinks Beethoven is the most sublime composer who ever lived. In this episode we get to the bottom of an age-old debate, who’s better: Mozart or Beethoven? From ‘Figaro’ to ‘Fidelio’, Joanna and Stephen get to grips with the operas, masses, serenades and symphonies of these two classical behemoths.
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What Does A Conductor Do?

January 31, 2023 • 35 mins
Joanna Lumley has a few questions about her husband’s profession. As well as being a composer and pianist, Stephen Barlow is a conductor - but what does that actually mean? What is it that a conductor actually does? Do they set the speed of the music? How long have they been around for? Are they really needed at all? In this episode Stephen answers these questions and takes us behind the velvet curtain into the backstage life of th...
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Puccini Unbound

February 7, 2023 • 30 mins
Sex, death, betrayal: all the good stuff. Puccini has it all. If you’re a total beginner or an opera aficionado, this episode is about the amazing operas of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, the glorious melodies and how they capture his characters perfectly. This week Joanna and Stephen peel back the layers of Puccini’s most celebrated operas ‘Madame Butterfly’, ‘La Bohème’, ‘Tosca’ and ‘Turandot’.
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The Birth of the Symphony

February 14, 2023 • 40 mins
In this episode Joanna Lumley and her husband Stephen Barlow tackle a biggie - the Symphony. We’ve probably all heard these types of composition - usually involving full orchestras and four distinct movements - but where did they originate from? Who wrote the best ones? What are the building blocks of a symphony? And what’s harder to conduct, a symphony or an opera?
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The British Greats (Part 1)

February 21, 2023 • 31 mins
The 18th century saw Great Britain referred to as “Das Land ohne Musik” - the land without music by continental Europeans. Quite the damning reviews. But why? And more importantly, is it true? Joanna and Stephen launch into the archives of great British composers like Tallis, Elgar, Byrd, Gibbons and Vaughan Williams in search of our national melodies and some home grown ‘kultur’.
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The Good, The Bad And The Film Music…

February 28, 2023 • 35 mins
From 'Jaws' to 'Genevieve', 'Gone with the Wind' and 'Bond', every brilliant movie has to have a great theme tune. But who were the composers who wrote these iconic pieces of music? In this episode, Joanna and Stephen dive into the greatest film scores ever written.
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The Voice: Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Doris Day

March 7, 2023 • 36 mins
Who is the finest singer of all time? And what makes a legendary voice? Is it technique, style, phrasing or simply magic? This week Joanna and Stephen discuss their favourite singers, find out why do we fall in love with certain voices, and (the burning question) what does Joanna think of Stephen’s voice?
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What’s Wrong With Opera?

March 14, 2023 • 34 mins
Why does Opera make some people (maybe you?) run for the hills? In this episode Joanna and Stephen dig down into the big questions… Like, when did Opera become posh? How did it evolve from musical drama? And can it be reduced to 6 emotions: Admiration, Hatred, Love, Desire, Joy, Sadness and Sorrow - according to René Descart?
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Songbirds

March 21, 2023 • 33 mins
Some extraordinary songs transport us to another time or dimension. This week our classical duo explore compositions which move us to our very core by taking a tour through the evolution of the song itself. Diving into folk melodies, arias, Victorian parlour music and beyond.
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The British Greats (Part 2): From Hendrix to Handel

March 28, 2023 • 37 mins
Having previously fallen down a wormhole in Part 1, Joanna and Stephen start with Jimi Hendrix’s illustrious Mayfair neighbour, George Friedrich Handel (albeit 200 years apart) exploring the legacy of this German-born genius; they also wonder what happened to Joanna’s little red Ferrari and finally get back to business with Britten and Butterworth.
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So, You Think You Can Sing?

April 4, 2023 • 32 mins
Opera is to ordinary singing what Olympians are to dog walkers. It takes years of dedication, practice and coaching to develop a fully rounded and mature operatic voice. So, how well do you know your mezzo soprano from your contralto? In this episode, Stephen and Joanna shed light into the rarefied world of the opera voice, exploring what it takes to become one of the true ‘greats’.
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Ade Edmondson: Learning Lines, The A303 and Being Forced to Listen to Classical Music

April 25, 2023 • 31 mins
Ade Edmondson joins Joanna and Stephen to kick off season two! The actor, comedian and musician discusses his own complicated relationship with classical music, his jack-of-all-trades mentality to learning instruments and why his Dad never approved of Led Zeppelin. We also hear about Ade’s own experience making music and reveal Jennifer Saunders’ top driving anthems.
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Your Questions: Patsy, Broken Batons & The Future Of Conductors

April 27, 2023 • 10 mins
We’ve turned the tables! Welcome to a mini episode where you get to ask Joanna & The Maestro your absolutely fabulous musical questions.
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Anthems

May 2, 2023 • 24 mins
Love them or hate them, everyone has one. In this episode, we’re discussing National Anthems. In Japan they sing of generations reigning eight thousand years. The French sing of slaughtering enemies until their ‘blood should water our fields’ and in New Zealand they celebrate ‘the hairy man who summons the sun and makes it shine’. Joanna and Stephen reveal the stories behind these bombastic pieces of music.
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Sex, Death & Pythagoras?

May 4, 2023 • 10 mins
What did Joanna and Stephen play at their wedding? Why does everyone die in opera? And what the heck does Pythagoras have to do with music?
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Stripping The Score

May 9, 2023 • 32 mins
Have you ever wondered how a conductor deciphers the individual musical parts and melodies from a whole opera score? In this episode, Stephen and Joanna deconstruct Richard Strauss’ monumental opera, Salome - a score which contains the so-called “most sickening chord in all opera”.
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Stick Or No Stick, Deadly Composers & Interpreting The Score

May 11, 2023 • 11 mins
What drove 16th century composer, Carlo Gesualdo, to commit homicide? To baton or not to baton? And how do composers really interpret a score?
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Turning the Tables: Joanna’s Life as a ‘Moving Target’

May 16, 2023 • 32 mins
In this episode the Maestro turns the tables on Joanna and asks her questions about her life, her career as an actress and how she became a diarist for the Times. Joanna talks about why she wanted to become an actress, how being a model held her back and why she’ll keep wearing make up till the day she dies. We also hear why her favourite ever part was playing Hedda Gabler at the Dundee Repertory Theatre and why Stephen and Joanna ...
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