''Front Row'' is a radio programme on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

that has been broadcast regularly since 1998. The BBC describes the programme as a "live magazine programme on the world of arts, literature, film, media and music". It is broadcast each weekday between 7:15 pm and 8 pm, and has a podcast available for download. Podcasts consisted of weekly highlights until September 2011, but have been full daily episodes since. Shows usually include a mix of interviews, reviews, previews, discussions, reports and columns. Some episodes however, particularly on bank holidays, include a single interview with prominent figures in the arts or a half-hour-long feature on a single subject.

Details

''Front Row'' has been broadcast since 1998. It developed out of

's previous daily arts programme '' Kaleidoscope'', which ran from 1973 to 1998. The programme's presenters include Tom Sutcliffe, Samira Ahmed, John Wilson, and Kirsty Lang. Former presenters include Stig Abell, Francine Stock (1998–?) and Mark Lawson (1998–2014). In 2013,

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

presented, for a brief while, a series on the programme where people discussed their favourite piece of art work. A total of 75 creative minds appeared on the programme and talked about their favourite piece of art work, which they all felt had particularly inspired them. This feature was called "Cultural Exchange" and for the first night of the feature (22 April 2013) Emin herself appeared on the programme and said that her favourite piece of art work would be a painting by Vermeer."Tracey Emin: Chooses Vermeer's Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid for Front Row's Cultural Exchange"

. Accessed 20 October 2016. Other people on the Cultural Exchange have included Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, who selected '' The War Requiem'' by Benjamin Britten; Nicholas Hytner, Director General of the National Theatre, who chose

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's opera '' The Magic Flute''; historian

Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and prior to h ...

, who selected the painting '' The Fighting Temeraire'' by J. M. W. Turner; novelist Sarah Hall, who selected the film '' Blade Runner''; the author Mark Haddon, who chose The Uffington White Horse; and pianist Stephen Hough, who selected a piece of music by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

called "The Hurdy Gurdy Man". The first writer to be interviewed on the programme was Beryl Bainbridge. ''Front Row'' has also covered popular media topics, among them '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' covered by

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

and Joss Whedon in December 2013. Since 23 September 2017, a television version – entitled ''Front Row Late'' and billed as a "live arts and cultural debate programme" – has been broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

, in two series per year of about eight editions each. The first series of 30-minute programmes was scheduled for transmission on Saturday evenings (normally at 19:30); subsequent series have gone out on Friday nights at 23:05 (after '' Newsnight''). In 2019 the number of editions in each series was cut back to six but the programme's running-time was extended to 40 minutes per edition.

References

External links

* {{BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 programmes British music radio programmes 1998 radio programme debuts