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James Longstaffe
James is a conductor, répétiteur, arranger, and tuba player. His musical interests include opera, film music, late-Romantic orchestral works (especially Mahler and Richard Strauss), and twentieth-century American composers such as Copland, John Adams, and John Williams. He read Music at Christ Church, Oxford, writing his postgraduate dissertation on the music of Star Wars.
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Author Focus: Melanie Spanswick - Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano
4th Nov 2026
In part seven of our Author Focus series, Melanie Spanswick discusses "Women Composers - A Graded Anthology for Piano", a three-volume series featuring a broad selection of repertoire from the seventeenth century to the present day.
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Jakub Hrůša on Smetana's Libuše
28th Oct 2026
To mark a new recording of his compatriot's patriotic opera, released last month on Supraphon and starring Kateřina Kněžíková in the title-role, the Czech conductor discusses how the piece fits into Smetana’s overall operatic output, why it isn’t performed more abroad, and how its nationalistic spirit fed into the composer’s best-known orchestral work, Má vlast.
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Smetana: Libuše
Kateřina Kněžíková (Libuše), Adam Plachetka (Přemysl), Alžběta Poláčková (Krasava), Martin Bárta (Chrudoš), Jan Šťáva (Lutobor), Richard Samek (Šťáhlav), Jiří Brückler (Radovan), Václava Krejčí Housková (Radmila), Czech Philharmonic, Jakub Hrůša
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Mozart String Quintets from the Takács Quartet and Timothy Ridout
23rd Oct 2026
Captured from live performances at the Wigmore Hall, this new album from the Takács Quartet alongside guest viola player Timothy Ridout offers exquisite accounts of the K515 and K516 string quintets that are full of class, refinement, and poise.
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New Music Book Publications - October 2026
14th Oct 2026
The first full-length study of John Williams's music for the Star Wars saga, the latest novel from acclaimed American author Barbara Kingsolver, a new translation by Richard Stokes of Camille Selden's book about the poet Heinrich Heine's relationship with a young German woman known as "Mouche", a history of the Mendelssohn family across five generations, guides to the piano music of Rachmaninoff and the songs of Sibelius, and a biography of Polish pianist and composer Maria Szymanowska.
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Guys and Dolls from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London
18th Sep 2026
John Wilson and Sinfonia of London continue their series of recordings of classic musicals with an incredibly stylish, joyous performance of Frank Loesser’s Broadway hit, featuring a cracking cast led by Louise Dearman, Sierra Boggess, and Nathaniel Hackmann.
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Frank Loesser: Guys and Dolls
Sierra Boggess (Sarah Brown), Nathaniel Hackmann (Sky Masterson), Louise Dearman (Miss Adelaide), David Seadon Young (Nathan Detroit), Sir Thomas Allen (Arvide Abernathy), Damian Humbley (Nicely-Nicely Johnson) Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
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Mark Kermode's Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music
15th Sep 2026
Celebrated movie critic Mark Kermode joins forces with his former Scala Radio producer Jenny Nelson to offer an extraordinarily wide-ranging, deeply personal tour through the world of film music in all its forms. Kermode’s deep knowledge of and limitless passion for movies and their soundtracks leaps off the page in this extremely informative and highly entertaining account.
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New Music Book Publications - September 2026
14th Sep 2026
A guide to the tradition of Christmas carols through the centuries, a collection of essays examining the music of Mozart, the Boosey & Hawkes 2027 Music Diary, a paperback edition of Elizabeth Alker's award-winning book on how twentieth-century classical music shaped pop, an appreciation of vinyl records, a companion to the songs of Carl Loewe, an exploration of the music of Miles Davis, and a selection of reviews essays by the former critic of The Boston Globe, Michael Steinberg.
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Homage to Heifetz from María Dueñas and Gustavo Dudamel
28th Aug 2026
The Spanish violinist presents a dazzling album of pieces honouring the legacy of her musical inspiration and role model, Jascha Heifetz.
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New Music Book Publications - August 2026
10th Aug 2026
An exploration of opera as a profound form of political thought from philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum, a revelatory look at the complex inner world of Stephen Sondheim, a new edition of David Matthews's biography of Benjamin Britten, paperback editions of books by Mark Kermode and Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, an investigation of operatic relations between Italy and the Americas in the decades after Italian unification, and a history of the symphony in Britain and Ireland since 1900.
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New Music Book Publications - July 2026
14th Jul 2026
The story of brass bands, a second volume of collected covers from the World Countdown newspaper, a guide to performing and understanding Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin, a new edition of a handbook on music research, a history of music in Spain, a discussion of European composers who undertook tours of the USA in the early twentieth century, and an investigation into how Mozart's music was used as propaganda by the Nazis in 1941 Vienna.
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Manfred Honeck conducts music by Dvořák and Carlos Simon
3rd Jul 2026
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and their Music Director present an illuminating, energetic account of Dvořák's "New World" Symphony alongside the world premiere recording of Carlos Simon's Four Black American Dances.
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Robert Trevino on Respighi's Sinfonia drammatica
2nd Jul 2026
With the release of his recording of Respighi's rarely-performed Sinfonia drammatica, the conductor talks about his previous album of the composer's Roman Trilogy, his thoughts on the reasons behind the Sinfonia's relative lack of performances, and why he feels that it is one of the greatest pieces that Respighi ever wrote.
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Fabio Luisi on Wagner's Ring Cycle
23rd Jun 2026
The Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra speaks about his association with the music of Wagner, and his decision to undertake performances and a recording of the composer's monumental cycle of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen.
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New Music Book Publications - June 2026
15th Jun 2026
Biographies of Brahms and Chopin, a history of Wigmore Hall, an anthology of reflections on the importance of Elgar, a biography of clarinettist Gervase de Peyer, an examination of environmental imagery in the operas of Wagner, a handbook for teachers and parents on neurodiversity in music, an exploration of tradition in classical music, and an updated guide to music written for film and visual media.
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Robert Trevino conducts Respighi's Sinfonia drammatica
5th Jun 2026
Robert Trevino and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI make a thrilling, highly persuasive case for a work that has received relatively few recordings to date, with a performance full of rich strings, portentous brass, and beautiful woodwind solos.
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Jakub Hrůša conducts symphonies by Bohuslav Martinů
15th May 2026
The Czech conductor leads the Bamberger Symphoniker in performances of all six of the symphonies by his compatriot that are full of rhythmic vitality, magical textures, and characterful playing from every section of the orchestra.
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Martinů: The Symphonies
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša
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Sir Donald Runnicles on Mahler and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra
13th May 2026
The conductor and music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival speaks about his latest recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 5, his early experiences of hearing the composer's music, and how his association with the festival came about.
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New Music Book Publications - May 2026
12th May 2026
A biography of Bellini, a guide to the 2026 BBC Proms season, a toolkit for composers to help with Classical techniques and style, paperback editions of Michael Downes's book on Wagner's Ring cycle and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason's reflections on the power of music, discussions of minimalist music and the history of the microphone, and a handbook for teachers offering support for students with special educational needs.
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French orchestral favourites from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London
1st May 2026
A beautifully chosen and vividly performed collection of popular French pieces including Dukas's L'Apprenti sorcier, Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre, suites from Bizet's Carmen, and Wilson's own orchestral transcription of Debussy's Clair de lune.
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New Music Book Publications - April 2026
13th Apr 2026
The autobiography of noted cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, the second printing of a limited edition book covering British Jazz on Record, handbooks, biographies, and compendiums on composers including Shostakovich, Janáček, Barbara Strozzi, Telemann, Florence Price, and Smetana, a paperback reissue of Sir Antonio Pappano's memoir, and an exploration of When You Wish Upon a Star, the much-loved song featured in Disney's 1940 animated film, Pinocchio.
