Latest News: Classical
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Recording of the Week,
Byrd and more from the Magdalena Consort and friends 26th June 2020The Magdalena Consort, Fretwork and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts join forces for a second volume of English verse-anthems presented in glorious instrumental Technicolor.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 26th June 2020 26th June 2020Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony from Pablo Heras-Casado, Zemlinsky from Marc Albrecht, William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony in its 1952 revision, and the world premiere recording of Vinci’s Gismondo Re di Polonia from Parnassus Arts.
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Interview,
Roderick Williams on the songs of Arthur Somervell 25th June 2020The English baritone talks to David about his new recording of two song-cycles by this rarely-heard Victorian composer, including a setting of Housman's 'A Shropshire Lad'.
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Coming Soon,
Das Lied von der Erde from Iván Fischer and other forthcoming highlights 23rd June 2020A valedictory coda to the Budapest Festival Orchestra's superb Mahler series, plus Elgar from Daniel Barenboim and Elīna Garanča, Liszt & Thalberg from Marc-André Hamelin, and Barrie Kosky's Salzburg staging of Orphée aux Enfers on DVD and Blu-ray.
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Interview,
Kent Nagano on Penderecki's St Luke Passion 22nd June 2020The American conductor talks to David about his recent recording of the late Krzysztof Penderecki's searing setting of the St Luke Passion with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.
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Recording of the Week,
Massenet's Cendrillon from Glyndebourne 19th June 2020Danielle de Niese and Kate Lindsey bring real psychological depth to Cinderella and Prince Charming's relationship in Fiona Shaw's astute and sparkling production, with John Wilson supplying fairy-dust aplenty from the pit.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 19th June 2020 19th June 2020Vivaldi and Piazzolla from Arabella Steinbacher, Thomas Adès from Kirill Gerstein (and the composer himself), two concertos from Christopher Gunning, and an early Korngold opera's world premiere video recording from Turin.
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Interview,
Sean Shibe on Bach 18th June 2020The eloquent young Scottish guitarist talks to Katherine about his third solo album on Delphian, Pour La Luth Ò Cembal, which was recently described by The Times as 'masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way'.
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Obituary,
Dame Vera Lynn (1917-2020) 18th June 2020The 'Forces' Sweetheart', whose wartime hits We'll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover proved an enduring source of comfort for several generations, has died aged 103.
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Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - June 2020 17th June 2020Pick of this month’s heavyweights is Warner Classics’s monumental tribute to Sir John Barbirolli, released to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
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Favourites,
Shelf Discovery: Karajan in Vienna 16th June 2020In the second instalment of our new series, Paul revisits the Austrian conductor's discography with the Wiener Philharmoniker, with a particular focus on Bruckner and various Strausses.
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Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - July 2020 15th June 2020Chris introduces this month’s Choices, headed by a centenary celebration of the Cleveland Orchestra under their Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, which features two new commissions as well as music by Beethoven, Strauss, Prokofiev and Varèse.
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Recording of the Week,
Rimsky-Korsakov from Vasily Petrenko and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra 12th June 2020As on their recent series of Strauss tone poems, the Russian conductor and his Norwegian orchestra prove themselves master story-tellers on this trio of showpieces from the late 1880s.
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Interview,
Vasily Petrenko on Rimsky-Korsakov 12th June 2020The Russian conductor talks to Katherine about today's Recording of the Week and reflects on his time with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 12th June 2020 12th June 2020Beethoven's Fifth Symphony from Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna, Verdi's Otello (starring Jonas Kaufmann in the title-role) from Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell'Academia Nationale di Santa Cecilia, Massenet's first full-length opera, and an eclectic urban-themed album from Lisa Batiashvili.
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BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - July 2020 Choices 11th June 2020Chris introduces this month's selection, with Alina Ibragimova's 'supernaturally fine-tuned' accounts of Shostakovich's Violin Concertos with Vladimir Jurowski and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov' on Hyperion in pride of place.
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Interview,
Edward Gardner on Schoenberg 9th June 2020The British conductor talks to Katherine about his recording of Erwartung & Pelleas und Melisande, released on Chandos last month, and socially-distanced music-making in Bergen.
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Interview,
Duo Pleyel on Schubert 8th June 2020David talks to husband-and-wife piano duo Richard Egarr and Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya about their latest album Lebensstürme, out now on Linn.
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Recording of the Week,
Barricades from Jean Rondeau and Thomas Dunford 5th June 2020David enjoys the début recording of Jean Rondeau and Thomas Dunford's harpsichord-lute duo, featuring a selection of French Baroque treasures with vocal cameos from Marc Mauillon and Lea Desandre.
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New Release Round-up,
New Release Round-Up - 5th June 2020 5th June 2020Haydn from the Chiaroscuro Quartet, the world premiere recording of Fazil Say's Cello Concerto from its dedicatee Camille Thomas, archive Mahler from Ádám Fischer, and Beethoven from Robert Trevino.