Classical Interviews
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Gil Rose on the Boston Modern Orchestra Project
24th Sep 2026
Recently hailed as 'the saint of American opera' by Gramophone, the intrepid conductor discusses the 'fascination with music of the recent past' which prompted him to found his own orchestra (and eventually record-label) three decades ago.
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Nick Pritchard and Ian Tindale on Gerald Finzi
23rd Sep 2026
Ahead of the seventieth anniversary of Finzi's death this weekend, the tenor and pianist discuss their new album including world premiere recordings of five unpublished early songs discovered in the Bodleian Library.
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Yulianna Avdeeva on Metanoia
22nd Sep 2026
Yulianna Avdeeva's new album explores the depths of Liszt's transformation in engaging performances which have earned her the Recording of the Month accolade in BBC Music Magazine. Here, she shares her lifelong passion for the composer and his music.
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María Dueñas on Homage to Heifetz
16th Sep 2026
The Spanish violinist discusses paying tribute to one of her musical idols on her new album of Korngold, Lalo and Debussy (released last month on Deutsche Grammophon), and the uncanny experience of playing a Stradivarius which was once owned by Heifetz himself.
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Jacques Forestier on Song and Dance
8th Sep 2026
in the wake of his debut album on Warner Classics (featuring music by Brahms, Ysaÿe, Bartók and Gershwin via Heifetz), the young Canadian violinist discusses the impact of his victory at the 2024 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition and why he believes that variety is indeed the spice of life.
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Song & Dance
Jacques Forestier (violin), Boris Kusnezow (piano)
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Patrick Yim on Bamboo Grove
7th Sep 2026
The violinist talks about his recent album of violin works by Chen Yi and Zhou Long, combining Chinese and Western musical styles in innovative ways.
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Missy Mazzoli on Breaking the Waves
3rd Sep 2026
Fresh from the premiere of The Galloping Cure at the Edinburgh Festival, the American composer looks back on her 2016 opera inspired by Lars von Trier's 1996 film, which was recently recorded by Houston Grand Opera and released on their own label last month.
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Bruce Liu on Lunaris
20th Aug 2026
The Canadian pianist discusses his new album Lunaris, a recent Presto Recording of the Week, and the unique path he has been carving since winning the Chopin competition in 2021.
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Joby Talbot on Sunstone
17th Aug 2026
The British composer talks to Ben about his new choral work based on Mexican poet Octavio Paz's Surrealist epic Piedra de Sol, written for Conspirare and the BBC Singers, and released on Divine Art last week.
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George Xiaoyuan Fu on Solitude With Schubert
13th Aug 2026
The ever-creative American pianist discusses his musical passions and his new album with Australian mezzo Lotte Betts-Dean (released last month on Platoon).
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Jader Bignamini in Detroit
11th Aug 2026
The Italian conductor discusses his recent live recording of Carmina Burana with the Detroit Symphony, how the city has become a second home, and what he learned about conducting from the years which he spent as an clarinettist in the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano.
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Jessica Walker on Barbara
6th Aug 2026
The mezzo-soprano and writer discusses her new album La Solitude (out now on Resonus Classics) which celebrates the legacy of the iconic French singer-songwriter (1930-97) and seeks to bring her songs to new audiences through deft English translations.
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Nathalie Stutzmann on Bruckner
4th Aug 2026
The French-born Swiss conductor discusses her new live recording of Symphony No. 4 from Atlanta, why institutional misogyny kept her off the podium until middle age, and the thrill of bringing Wagner's Rienzi to Bayreuth at long last.
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Sally Beamish's House of Wonder
28th Jul 2026
The British composer and viola-player talks to Ben about her new album on Delphian, which sees her marking her seventieth birthday in the company of family and friends.
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David Webb and John Andrews on Arthur Sullivan
23rd Jul 2026
The tenor and conductor discuss their new album of Sullivan's sacred and secular music for tenor (including extracts from the Savoy Operas), recorded with the Academy of Ancient Music and released last month on Resonus Classics.
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John Holiday on Over My Head
13th Jul 2026
The American countertenor discusses his debut solo album (out this Friday on Pentatone), the relationship between his faith and his music, and two trailblazing Black singers who inspired him in his youth.
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Over My Head
John Holiday (countertenor), Kevin Miller (piano)
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Marc Sabbah on Bach for the viola
7th Jul 2026
The violist talks about his new album, featuring his own transcriptions of JS Bach's iconic six suites for solo cello, BWV 1007-1012.
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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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(Half of) Quatuor Zaïde on Reich and Dessner
25th Jun 2026
The quartet's two violinists discuss their new EP of contemporary compositions for string quartet, by Minimalist titan Steve Reich and his sometime pupil Bryce Dessner (perhaps better-known for his work with rock band the National).
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Reich · Dessner
Quatuor Zaïde
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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.
