Latest News: Classical, Harmonia Mundi (label)
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Recording of the Week,
Schumann from Matthias Goerne and Leif Ove Andsnes 19th April 2019The German bass-baritone brings near-Wagnerian intensity to Schumann's two great cycles of 1840, yet he and Andsnes are at their most spellbinding in the introspective songs.
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Recording of the Week,
Isabelle Faust plays Bach Concertos 15th March 2019The German violinist joins forces with oboist Xenia Löffler and Bernhard Forck's Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin for a tour of Bach's violin concertos, interspersed with alternate versions of sinfonias and sonatas that have been reconstructed for the first time.
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Recording of the Week,
Paul Lewis plays early Schubert and Weber 15th February 2019The British pianist radiates sympathy and imagination in two piano sonatas from the 1810s by young composers who both died before their fortieth birthdays.
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Recording of the Week,
Berlioz from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles 18th January 2019Tabea Zimmermann and Stéphane Degout are the soloists in period-instrument performances of Harold en Italie & Les nuits d'été.
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Recording of the Week,
François-Xavier Roth conducts orchestral works by Debussy 7th December 2018James listens to a captivating account of three orchestral works by Debussy from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles, performed on authentic instruments.
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Recording of the Week,
Late Debussy sonatas from Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov and friends 16th November 2018Harmonia Mundi's ten-album series commemorating the centenary of Debussy's death continues with the Violin Sonata, Cello Sonata, and Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp.
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Recording of the Week,
String Quartets by Debussy and Ravel from the Jerusalem Quartet 18th May 2018The Jerusalem Quartet offer masterfully controlled and impressively dynamic accounts of the String Quartets by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
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Recording of the Week,
Ravel from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles 27th April 2018The conductor and his period-instrument orchestra conjure a world of enchantments in two scores inspired by fairy-tales: Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) and the early Shéhérazade overture.
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Recording of the Week,
Paul Lewis performs piano sonatas by Haydn 6th April 2018James listens to the first instalment in a survey of Haydn's piano sonatas by Paul Lewis.
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Recording of the Week,
Bach from William Christie and Beethoven from Masaaki Suzuki 30th March 2018Two veteran early music specialists venture into new territory: William Christie conducts Bach's Mass in B minor and Masaaki Suzuki turns to Beethoven's Missa solemnis.
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Recording of the Week,
Alexander Melnikov plays four pieces on four different pianos 26th January 2018James listens to a fascinating new disc from pianist Alexander Melnikov, who performs four pieces of music by Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Stravinsky, on four different pianos.
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Recording of the Week,
Matthias Goerne - The Wagner Project 17th November 2017German baritone Matthias Goerne offers a selection of monologues from Wagner's operas, accompanied by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding.
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Recording of the Week,
Mozart's Requiem from René Jacobs 3rd November 2017The Belgian conductor presents Mozart's late mass in a new version by Pierre-Henri Dutron, which builds on and refines material from the familiar Süssmayr completion.
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Recording of the Week,
Matthias Goerne sings cantatas for bass by JS Bach 1st September 2017Katherine listens to the German baritone's deeply personal account of two solo cantatas, with Gottfried von der Goltz and the Freiburger Barockorchester.
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Recording of the Week,
Isabelle Faust plays Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto 18th August 2017Isabelle Faust shows a wholly new side to one of the most well-known and widely-performed concertos in the violin repertoire.
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Recording of the Week,
Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov perform César Franck's Violin Sonata 19th May 2017James is enthralled by a new recording of music for violin and piano by César Franck and Ernest Chausson.
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Interview,
Giaches de Wert from Stile Antico 28th February 2017Katherine talks to baritone Will Dawes about the group's latest recording, focusing on the music of the Italian-domiciled Flemish composer.
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Interview,
Graham Ross on 'Remembrance' 10th November 2016David talks to the musical director of Clare College choir about his new disc of Remembrance-themed choral works.
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Recording of the Week,
Isabelle Faust plays Mozart's Violin Concertos 28th October 2016David enjoys Isabelle Faust's new complete set of Mozart's Violin Concertos with Il Giardino Armonico.
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Interview,
Craig Hella Johnson on Considering Matthew Shepard 4th October 2016David talks to the composer about his fascinating and complex new choral work.