bbc Radio 3 podcasts

David Nice with a personal recommendation from among the available recordings of Rachmaninov's Op.39 set of Etudes-tableaux.

The release of a new Cassandra Wilson album is always something of an event in the Jazz world, and this month's issue of her latest album ‘Loverly’ is the catalyst for Alyn Shipton to examine her recorded work, with the benefit of input from Cassandra herself, who met him on one of her recent visits to the UK. This podcast goes back to her earliest work with saxophonists Steve Coleman and Henry Threadgill, and charts her involvement with the revolutionary M-Base movement. She talks about her move from the minor JMT label to the point at which she signed with Blue Note and began her creative partnership with label boss Bruce Lundvall, a relationship that has seen her burgeon into one of the world's best-selling jazz vocalists. She picks key albums from her Blue Note output, as well as discussing her involvement with other musicians, notably including UK-born bassist Dave Holland.

Jeremy Summerly joins Donald Macleod to explore the life of Tomàs Luis de Victoria – singer, organist, composer and priest - whose music is the crown of the Spanish Renaissance School. He was, however, a truly international composer, and spent twenty years in Rome where he held jobs in several of the city’s prestigious churches and colleges. In his latter years, Victoria returned to his homeland and resided at the Convent de Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid as personal Chaplain to the Dowager Empress Maria. Victoria has been described as the most lucrative composer of his age, and throughout the week, Donald and Jeremy will examine his many Royal and Religious benefices, and his predilection for printing publications so lavish, they made Palestrina jealous!

Philip Dodd talks Ma Jian, author of Beijing Coma; Chelsia Lau, Hong Kong-born chief designer for Ford Motor Company; Zhou Yi, founder of China's leading industrial design consultancy and Jian Jun, editor of the magazine Urban China about the changing face of Chinese culture.