Classical Reviews
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Janine Jansen plays twelve Stradivari
10th Sep 2021
Janine Jansen, accompanied by Antonio Pappano, explores the unique sounds of twelve different Stradivari violins in a unusual and fascinating recording project.
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12 Stradivari
Janine Jansen (violin), Antonio Pappano (piano)
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Víkingur Ólafsson performs piano music by Mozart and contemporaries
3rd Sep 2021
For his fourth album on Deutsche Grammophon, the Icelandic pianist presents a sublime, intelligent programme of works by Mozart alongside pieces by Haydn, Galuppi, Cimarosa, and CPE Bach.
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Stravinsky's L'histoire du soldat from Isabelle Faust and Dominique Horwitz
27th Aug 2021
David enjoys Isabelle Faust and friends' historically-informed account of Stravinsky's sardonic tale, with lively narration from Dominique Horwitz.
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Sean Shibe's Camino
20th Aug 2021
The guitarist brings hypnotic, introspective beauty to a programme which explores connections between France and Spain via works by de Falla, Mompou, Ravel, Poulenc and Satie.
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Camino
Sean Shibe (guitar)
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Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla: The British Project
13th Aug 2021
The Lithuanian conductor and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra present evocative and dramatic accounts of four works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Britten, and Walton.
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Peter Donohoe plays Busoni
6th Aug 2021
The British pianist is a clear-eyed but infectiously enthusiastic guide through the Italian composer-pianist's weird and wonderful world, taking in the 7 Elegien, Sonatina super Carmen, and two Toccatas.
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Busoni: Piano Works
Peter Donohoe (piano)
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A double-bill of very different Baroque violin albums
30th Jul 2021
Nicola Benedetti makes a successful first venture into early music with a programme of Geminiani and Vivaldi, and Théotime Langlois de Swarte teams up with William Christie to bring some French Baroque gems to light.
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Korngold's Die tote Stadt from Munich
23rd Jul 2021
Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen both thrive under the camera's close scrutiny in Korngold's early opera about a volatile widower who attempts to refashion a new love-interest in his late wife's image.
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Korngold: Die tote Stadt (DVD)
Jonas Kaufmann (Paul), Marlis Petersen (Marietta), Andrej Filonczyk (Frank/Fritz), Jennifer Johnston (Brigitta), Mirjam Mesak (Juliette), Corinna Scheurle (Lucienne), Manuel Günther (Gaston/Victorin), Dean Power (Graf Albert), Bayerische Staatsoper, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Stone (director)
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Beethoven Piano Concertos from Krystian Zimerman and Simon Rattle
16th Jul 2021
Zimerman, Rattle, and the London Symphony Orchestra present expressively exuberant performances of Beethoven's five piano concertos that are full of joy, wit, and drama.
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Farrenc from the Insula Orchestra and Laurence Equilbey
9th Jul 2021
The French orchestra begins its planned cycle of the symphonic works of Louise Farrenc with her Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3.
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Farrenc: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3
Insula Orchestra, Laurence Equilbey
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Sibelius from Edward Gardner, the Bergen Philharmonic, and Lise Davidsen
2nd Jul 2021
The Norwegian soprano combines drama and delicacy in the tone-poem Luonnotar, whilst the Bergen string sound in Tapiola, Rakastava and Pelléas & Mélisande is a thing to marvel at.
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Andris Nelsons conducts symphonies by Shostakovich
25th Jun 2021
The latest instalment in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's cycle of Shostakovich symphonies juxtaposes the First and Fifteenth Symphonies, alongside expressive performances of the Fourteenth Symphony and the Chamber Symphony in C minor.
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Kodály and Dvořák from Barnabás Kelemen, Nicolas Altstaedt, and Alexander Lonquich
18th Jun 2021
The violinist and cellist display a truly remarkable synergy in Kodály's Duo from 1914, whilst all three musicians capture the 'Dumky' Trio's rapid shifts between melancholy and boisterousness to perfection.
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Debussy from Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich and friends
11th Jun 2021
Daniel and Michael Barenboim, Martha Argerich and Kian Soltani join forces for an all-Debussy programme, including the rarely-performed early Fantaisie for piano and orchestra.
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András Schiff performs piano concertos by Brahms
4th Jun 2021
The Hungarian-born pianist is joined by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for a recording of Brahms's two piano concertos that strips away performance traditions to present refreshingly original accounts of both works, full of detail and character.
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American Quintets from the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
28th May 2021
An arresting debut album from the shape-shifting ensemble features piano quintets by Amy Beach and Florence Price, plus Samuel Barber's Dover Beach with bass Matthew Rose in superb voice.
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Vasily Petrenko conducts Russian and Austrian symphonies and orchestral works
21st May 2021
A double bill from the Russian-British conductor, with the Oslo Philharmonic performing symphonies by Prokofiev and Myaskovsky, and tone poems by Zemlinsky and Schreker with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Handel's Rodelinda from Harry Bicket and The English Concert
14th May 2021
Social distancing is no barrier to superb ensemble-playing on this terrific new recording of Handel's 1725 opera, with Lucy Crowe in the title-role and Iestyn Davies as her estranged husband Bertarido.
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Ombra Compagna from Lisette Oropesa
7th May 2021
The Cuban-American soprano delivers drama and delicacy in equal measure on this collection of Mozart concert arias, with Il Pomo d'Oro on scintillating form under Antonello Manacorda.
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Alina Ibragimova performs Paganini's Caprices
30th Apr 2021
The violinist releases the results of a uniquely ambitious "lockdown project" – a barnstorming new account of Paganini's fiendish Caprices, recorded in the late spring of 2020.
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Paganini: 24 Caprices
Alina Ibragimova (violin)
