Including James Lee Burke and Ghost Wave

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1

Saturday Morning with Kim Hill (Radio New Zealand National, 8.10am). Great American novelist and true gentleman James Lee Burke is back in the Hill seat this morning to talk about his new book Feast Day of Fools. It’s another typical volume in the Burke genre, described by one reviewer as “more drug-fuelled mayhem and murder from across the Mexican border”.

Ghost Wave

Ghost Wave and Evil Twins Recorded Live at Roundhead Studios (95bFM, 11.00am and Friday, 2.00pm). Law school dropout Matt Paul fronts Ghost Wave, an Auckland indie guitar four-piece whose greatest claim to fame thus far is losing their computers – with the masters of their debut recording – to burglars who did over their flat. But things are looking up and the second attempt at an EP has been described by Grant Smithies as “seven tracks of prime psychedelic punk-pop goodness”. After that, it’s Evil Twins: Aucklanders Lucy and Charlotte Stewart, who may or may not be twins, or evil. The “description” on their Facebook page reads: “freak in the street and a lady in the bed”. There will be live streaming and podcasts on 95bfm.com; scroll down to see video of the Ghost Wave session. (The first part of this concert will be repeated on Radio New Zealand National, 4.10pm and Friday, 8.06pm.)

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BBC Proms 2011 (Radio New Zealand Concert, 3.00pm). That mighty British tradition the Proms makes its stately way through the schedules again this week, beginning with a recital from the Royal Albert Hall in the Saturday Concert slot. It features the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with music director Manfred Honeck and pianist Hélène Grimaud. They’ll be playing works by Braunfels, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Other BBC Proms concerts this week: Saturday at 8.00pm, Hooray for Hollywood is a celebration of the golden age of the film musical, featuring Annalene Beechey, Charles Castronovo, Matthew Ford, Sarah Fox, Caroline O’Connor, Clare Teal, the Maida Vale Singers and the John Wilson Orchestra; Sunday at 8.00pm, French pianist David Fray plays works by Bruckner and Mozart, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden; Monday at 8.00pm, Beethoven’s magnificent Missa Solemnis is on the programme, featuring soprano Carmen Giannattasio, mezzo Sarah Connelly, tenor Paul Groves and bass Matthew Rose, with the London Philharmonic Choir and the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Colin Davis; Tuesday at 9.00pm, British cellist Natalie Clein, the BBC Singers and the Britten Sinfonia, conducted by David Hill, present works by Tippett, Tavener and Gubaidulina; Wednesday at 8.00pm, Croatian pianist Dejan Lazic and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Iván Fischer, perform works by Liszt and Mahler; Thursday at 8.00pm, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is back to perform works by Wagner and Mahler with German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter; Friday at 8.00pm, A Tribute to Stan Kenton is a salute to the artistry of the jazz legend who was born 100 years ago, and features British singer Claire Martin and the BBC Big Band, conducted by Jiggs Whigham.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2

Composer of the week (Radio New Zealand Concert, 9.00am today and weekdays and 7.00pm Monday). RNZ Concert concentrates on Léo Delibes (1836-91), the French composer of works for the stage – the best-known being the ballets Coppélia and Sylvia and his operas Le Roi l’a Dit and Lakmé, all written between 1870 and 1883. His musical mother spotted his talent early and he began studying composition under Adolphe Adam at the Paris Conservatoire when he was 11. Upon graduating, he held various musical posts in France but found fame in 1870 with Coppélia, a ballet about a mechanical dancing doll. His operas caught the attention of Tchaikovsky, who rated him above Brahms, but this could have been a backhanded compliment, given the Russian had declared Brahms to be “a giftless bastard”. (There was less than 10 years’ age difference between the three and all were of different nationalities, so a certain amount of rivalry is perhaps understandable.) Tchaikovsky continued to be a fan, and wrote of Delibes’s ballet Sylvia: “What charm, what wealth of melody! It brought me to shame, for had I known of this music, I would never have written Swan Lake.”

Spectrum (Radio New Zealand National, 12.15pm). So you’re making a movie that calls for some cockroaches, a few weta, a giant spider or three. Who ya gonna call? In The Bug Boys, David Steemson meets our No 1 suppliers of unloved critters to the stars: Auckland Museum live animal curator Brian Lawton and his stepson Baruch. No crawly is too creepy for these guys, who keep busy breeding flies and mealworms for the museum inmates or getting their little pets ready for the camera. But they like amphibians and reptiles, too: one of their frogs stars in a beer commercial and Lawton has a bearded dragon called Bruce. But no fluffy doggies wearing clothes, I suspect.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 4

Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan (Radio New Zealand National, 10.06am). He looks about 17 in photos, but international security consultant to the US Government Dan Twining is, apparently, a Senior Fellow and he’s so clever you shouldn’t go anywhere near his website unless you were educated at Oxford, as he was. Twining is an expert on Asia’s relationship with the West and knows a lot about the rise of China and India. Which brings me to the subject of tea. What I really want to know is, is he part of the great English tea dynasty?

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5

The Wednesday Drama (Radio New Zealand National, 9.06pm). A radio adaptation of local playwright Dave Armstrong’s award-winning play The Tutor features in the drama slot tonight. When a rich, confident businessman enlists a teacher to help his son with maths, things don’t go according to plan and what seems to be a straightforward proposition takes all concerned out of their comfort zones. The cast features William Walker, Matthew Chamberlain, Paul Harrop and Michele Amas.