Classical Reviews
-
Rob Cowan on Robert Craft
9th Aug 2023
Our new guest-contributor explores the American conductor's complete recordings for Columbia, including music by Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Schoenberg and Webern...
-
Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák from the Takács Quartet
4th Aug 2023
The 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.
-
Puccini's Il Trittico from Salzburg
28th Jul 2023
Asmik 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.
-
Ysaÿe's six sonatas for solo violin from Hilary Hahn
21st Jul 2023
Hilary Hahn finds magic, morbidity, merrymaking and much more in a brilliant new account of Ysaÿe's six affectionate character-sketches for his violinist friends.
-
John Wilson conducts orchestral works by American composer Kenneth Fuchs
14th Jul 2023
World premiere recordings of a quartet of orchestral works by Grammy Award-winning composer Kenneth Fuchs from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London.
-
Choral works by the late Kaija Saariaho
7th Jul 2023
The Helsinki Chamber Choir under Nils Schweckendiek perform choral music by Saariaho that explores a wide range of subjects – from atmospheric invocations of night and Roman mythology to the seasons of the year and spacefaring science fiction.
-
Selections from Bernard Herrmann's only opera, Wuthering Heights
30th Jun 2023
Soprano Keri Fuge and baritone Roderick Williams join the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Mario Venzago to perform highlights from a neglected work by a composer known mostly for his film scores, based on the novel by Emily Brontë.
-
A new album of orchestral works by Florence Price from Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and Chineke!
23rd Jun 2023
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and Chineke! present benchmark new recordings of two major works by Florence Price – capturing both the sweep and grandeur of her large-scale movements and the lively fun of her dance-like conclusions.
-
L'Heure espagnole from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles
16th Jun 2023
Period instruments lend a delicious piquancy and wit to Ravel's Franco-Spanish farce about a libidinous clock-maker's wife intent on making the most of her husband's absence, with a stylish cast led by French mezzo Isabelle Druet.
-
A Grand Concert of Music by Mr Charles, the Hungarian (lately arriv'd from Paris)
9th Jun 2023
Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra recreate a performance that took place Dublin in 1742 - after the triumphant success of Messiah's premiere, an enterprising rival from overseas boldly puts on concerts featuring Handel's other works, right under his nose...
-
Tchaikovsky from Alpesh Chauhan and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
2nd Jun 2023
Featuring Francesca da Rimini, The Voyevoda and The Tempest, the British conductor's debut recording is the stuff dreams are made on, combining passion and precision to thrilling dramatic effect.
-
A new Haydn symphony series from Paavo Järvi
26th May 2023
Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie launch an exciting new Haydn project, embracing music that's peppered with moments of wry humour.
-
Christophe Rousset conducts Spontini's La vestale
19th May 2023
The first-ever period-instrument recording of Spontini's 1807 opera emphasises the score's debt to the French declamatory tradition, with Marina Rebeka on ravishing form in the title-role and Stanislas de Barbeyrac showing his true heroic colours as the Roman soldier Licinius.
-
Broken Branches from Karim Sulayman and Sean Shibe
12th May 2023
The Lebanese-American tenor and Scottish guitarist join forces for a multifaceted yet deeply personal recital, that ranges across cultural and geographical boundaries and explores the idea of diaspora in music.
Featured product
Broken Branches
Karim Sulayman (tenor), Sean Shibe (guitar)
-
Beethoven & Beyond from María Dueñas
5th May 2023
The 20-year-old Spanish violinist combines a sense of almost childlike wonder with absolute technical mastery on her debut recording of the Beethoven concerto with the Wiener Symphoniker & Manfred Honeck, supplemented with shorter pieces by composers who wrote cadenzas to the work.
-
Fantasie from Alexander Melnikov
28th Apr 2023
The Russian pianist performs seven fantasias by composers from JS Bach to Schnittke on seven historically-appropriate instruments, including an extraordinary tangent piano from 1790 and two fortepianos from his own personal collection.
-
Gustavo Dudamel conducts Dante, a new ballet by Thomas Adès
21st Apr 2023
Based on Dante's La Divina Commedia, Thomas Adès's three-part ballet receives a virtuosic performance from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with music that moves from the grotesque to the sublime, incorporating a touch of Franz Liszt along the way.
-
Anime Immortali from Franco Fagioli
14th Apr 2023
The Argentinian countertenor is at the top of his game in a programme exploring Mozart's writing for castrati, including the motet Exsultate, jubilate and arias from La finta giardiniera, Lucio Silla and La clemenza di Tito.
-
John Wilson conducts Rachmaninoff
7th Apr 2023
The spotlight is squarely on the strings on this clear-eyed, almost Classical account of Rachmaninoff's 1908 symphony, with balance and restraint the order of the day until the final few minutes of the piece...
-
Visages Baroques from new Deutsche Grammophon signing Raphaël Feuillâtre
31st Mar 2023
The 26-year-old guitarist makes his debut for the yellow label with a dance-suite-inspired programme of Bach and French Baroque works.
