Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
Delius's A Mass of Life from Sir Mark Elder and the Bergen Philharmonic 24th November 2023Elder's beautifully-judged approach to pacing and balance makes the strongest case possible for a score which he describes as 'Delius's magnum opus', aided by Roderick Williams on typically eloquent form in the huge central role of Zarathustra.
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Recording of the Week,
Saint-Saëns symphonic poems from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles 17th November 2023A selection of Saint-Saëns's luscious orchestral pieces - familiar and less-known, and including a real treasure from the very dawn of the cinematic era - get the Les Siècles treatment, leaping off the page thanks to intelligent and sensitive performances on period instruments.
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Recording of the Week,
Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mutter's Virtuosi 10th November 2023The violinist and her ensemble of virtuoso string players present a dazzingly eclectic programme of works by Vivaldi, Bach, Bologne, and André Previn.
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Recording of the Week,
Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson 3rd November 2023The conductor's new edition of the score incorporates hundreds of tiny amendments which Ravel made to the orchestral parts in rehearsal - and the resulting recording reveals a wealth of fine detail as well as a keen sense of the bigger picture.
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Recording of the Week,
Verismo from Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 27th October 2023The orchestra and their Chief Conductor perform a selection of orchestral highlights from verismo operas, from familiar favourites to rarer gems.
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Recording of the Week,
Isabelle Faust - Solo 20th October 2023The German violinist is at her intelligent, expressive best in a programme of works for unaccompanied violin by Matteis père et fils, Pisendel, Guillemain, Vilsmayr and Biber.
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Recording of the Week,
Folk Songs from Magdalena Kožená 13th October 2023The Czech mezzo teams up with her husband Simon Rattle and the Czech Philharmonic for superbly characterful performances of folk-inspired song-cycles by Bartók, Berio, Ravel and Montsalvatge.
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Recording of the Week,
A slow-brewed Goldberg Variations from Víkingur Ólafsson 6th October 2023The Icelandic pianist presents the results of twenty-five years of thoughtful preparation, in a recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations that combines control and spontaneity, limpid gentleness and furious virtuosic energy.
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Recording of the Week,
Igor Levit's Fantasia 29th September 2023The pianist brings clear-eyed precision and cantabile beauty to a programme of works by JS Bach, Liszt, Berg and Busoni, released today on Sony Classical.
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Recording of the Week,
Dvořák from Veronika Jarůšková, Peter Jarůšek and Boris Giltburg 22nd September 2023Six years on from their award-winning recording of Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2, the first violinist and cellist of the Pavel Haas Quartet reunite with Giltburg for the complete piano trios in interpretations bursting with colour and vitality.
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Recording of the Week,
John Wilson conducts Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! 15th September 2023A true labour of love for the conductor, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London's latest project presents the premiere complete recording of the first collaboration between the legendary partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.
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Recording of the Week,
A fin-de-siècle voyage with Barbara Hannigan and the Emerson String Quartet 8th September 2023The quartet - joined by Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou - go out on a high after nearly fifty years of music-making, with a programme of early twentieth-century works themed around journeying and longing.
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Recording of the Week,
Monteverdi's Vespers from Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion 1st September 2023Raphaël Pichon and his Pygmalion ensemble offer a vivid, contrast-filled account of Monteverdi's sacred masterwork. A new benchmark recording of the Vespers? Quite possibly.
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Recording of the Week,
Russian Romances from Piotr Beczała and Helmut Deutsch 25th August 2023The Polish tenor and German pianist are both at the top of their considerable games in an eloquent and imaginative recital of songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, released today on Pentatone.
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Recording of the Week,
Sanctissima from the ORA Singers 18th August 2023The London-based vocal ensemble's 'Vespers and Benediction for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary' features striking commissions by Giles Swayne, Julian Anderson, Matthew Martin and the late Sven-David Sandström.
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Recording of the Week,
Rumon Gamba conducts overtures from Finland 11th August 2023The Oulu Symphony Orchestra and their chief conductor offer a treasure trove of rarely-recorded orchestral gems by Finnish composers contemporary with Sibelius.
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Recording of the Week,
Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák from the Takács Quartet 4th August 2023The Takács Quartet present a double-bill of works from the year 1895: a youthful Coleridge-Taylor, barely into his twenties but already carving out a distinctive style, and a mature Dvořák, recently returned to his beloved Bohemia from the New World.
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Recording of the Week,
Puccini's Il Trittico from Salzburg 28th July 2023Asmik Grigorian stakes her claim as one of the finest singing actresses of today in Christof Loy’s coherent, uncluttered staging of Puccini’s trilogy of one-act operas - culminating in a devastating interpretation of Suor Angelica.
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Recording of the Week,
Ysaÿe's six sonatas for solo violin from Hilary Hahn 21st July 2023Hilary Hahn finds magic, morbidity, merrymaking and much more in a brilliant new account of Ysaÿe's six affectionate character-sketches for his violinist friends.
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Recording of the Week,
John Wilson conducts orchestral works by American composer Kenneth Fuchs 14th July 2023World premiere recordings of a quartet of orchestral works by Grammy Award-winning composer Kenneth Fuchs from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London.