Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
Sarah Connolly gets Purcell year off to a flier 2nd February 2009The British mezzo ushers in the 350th anniversary of Purcell’s birth by masterminding a new recording of Dido and Aeneas, on which her assumption of the title-role ranks with the very best on disc.
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Recording of the Week,
Monteverdi as you've never heard it before! 26th January 2009Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata make their debut on Virgin Classics with a fascinating exploration of Monteverdi’s ‘Theatre of Love’, aided by superb contributions from Philippe Jaroussky and Nuria Rial.
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Recording of the Week,
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin put Platti firmly on the map 19th January 2009The Italian oboist and baroque composer (1697-1763) emerges as a worthy heir to Corelli in this world premiere recording of three of the concerti grossi which he based upon Corelli’s chamber works.
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Recording of the Week,
Hamelin proves his real class with Chopin 12th January 2009The French-Canadian virtuoso ‘demonstrates that he really is a great musician as well as a phenomenal pianist’ in an all-Chopin programme centring on the Second and Third Piano Sonatas.
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Recording of the Week,
Jerusalem - in search of peace 29th December 2008Jordi Savall creates an homage to the city of Jerusalem through an evocation of its rich history of more than 3000 years, bringing together Jewish and Palestinian musicians as well as performers from Iraq, Armenia, Turkey, Morocco and Syria.
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Recording of the Week,
Top new Christmas recommendations 8th December 2008Honegger’s Cantate de Noël, A Christmas Festival from John Rutter, and a superb anthology of twentieth-century carols from The Choir of Westminster Abbey.
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Recording of the Week,
Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony 3rd November 2008The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and their principal conductor Vasily Petrenko give a ‘bright and characterful’ account of Tchaikovsky’s Byron-inspired symphony, coupled with the symphonic ballad The Voyevoda.
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Recording of the Week,
Vivaldi in a new light 13th October 2008Daniel Hope directs the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in a programme of music by the ‘Red Priest’, including the ‘Tempesta di mare’ concerto, the ‘La Follia’ sonata, and ‘Andromeda Liberata’, with guest soloist Anne Sofie von Otter.
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Recording of the Week,
Americans in Pyongyang 6th October 2008The New York Philharmonic’s visit to North Korea with Lorin Maazel is charted in an insightful and moving documentary, culminating in a concert of music by Wagner, Dvořák and Gershwin.
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Recording of the Week,
Songs her mother taught her 22nd September 2008The Czech mezzo Magdalena Kožená goes back to her roots with a programme of songs by Janacek, Dvorak, Leopold Kozeluch, Petr Eben and others, accompanied with style and sensitivity by Malcolm Martineau.
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Recording of the Week,
Zig Zag and the Atrium Quartet 8th September 2008The French independent label zig-Zag Territoires go from strength to strength – as do the winners of the London International String Quartet Competition, who display ‘beautiful burnished tone’ in a programme of Beethoven and Shostakovich.
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Recording of the Week,
Beautiful Messiah and Exquisite Morales 25th August 2008Harry Christophers and The Sixteen offer a Messiah of ‘formidable achievement’, whilst The Brabant Ensemble present a compelling programme motets and lamentations by the Spanish Renaissance composer Cristóbal de Morales.
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Recording of the Week,
Chloë Hanslip and the unfamiliar 4th August 2008The young British violinist ventures off the beaten track with concertos by John Adams and John Corigliano, and a recital of virtuoso showpieces by Antonio Bazzini, best known for his fiendish ‘Dance of the Goblins’.
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Recording of the Week,
Leopold Godowsky and the virtuoso pianist 28th July 2008Marc-André Hamelin explores original compositions and transcriptions by the Polish-born pianist and composer (1870-1983) in an ‘attractive and strangely compelling’ recital on Hyperion.
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Recording of the Week,
Reginald Goodall's revelatory 'Mastersingers' 30th June 2008Broadcast by the BBC in 1968 and sung in English by a largely British cast, the controversial conductor’s take on Wagner’s only comedy impresses with its ‘immense depths of mood and meaning’.
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Recording of the Week,
Bach Fugues from Onyx and the Emersons 16th June 2008A British brass quintet and American string quartet (who recently recorded an impressive account of The Art of Fugue) tackle fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier.
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Recording of the Week,
Time to re-evaluate Miaskovsky 2nd June 2008A 16-CD of the Russian composer’s complete symphonies and orchestral works gives Chris a chance to explore the remarkable legacy of the ‘father of the Soviet symphony’.
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Recording of the Week,
Superb Scholl sings Dowland and his circle 26th May 2008The German countertenor captivates in a programme of lute and consort songs by the great Elizabethan ‘poet of melancholy’, John Dowland, with lutenist Julian Behr and Swiss-based viol quartet Concerto di Viole.
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Recording of the Week,
Fiesta! - Dudamel and the Venezuelans 19th May 2008The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra scintillate in a programme of Latin American showpieces including music by Revueltas, Romerto, Ginastera and Castellanos.
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Recording of the Week,
A La Bohème for all 5th May 2008Anna Netrebko is the Parisian seamstress with the cold hands and Rolando Villazón is the poet who finds her door-key on this new recording from Bertrand de Billy and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.