Classical Reviews
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Jonas Kaufmann in Vienna
11th Oct 2019by Katherine Cooper
The German tenor sings the praises of the Austrian capital in a sumptuously-performed collection of operetta favourites and popular songs with a sting in its tail.
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Handel's Brockes-Passion from Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music
4th Oct 2019by Katherine Cooper
Using a new performing edition by oboist Leo Duarte, the Academy of Ancient Music and some exceptional young soloists make a compelling case for Handel's visceral 'Passion-Oratorio' on the 300th anniversary of its premiere.
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Ethel Smyth's Mass in D from Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
27th Sep 2019by David Smith
Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a magnificent performance of Dame Ethel Smyth's Mass in D and overture to The Wreckers.
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Schumann from John Eliot Gardiner and the LSO
20th Sep 2019by James Longstaffe
The London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Eliot Gardiner begin their Schumann cycle with exhilarating, agile performances of the Second and Fourth symphonies.
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Soirée from Magdalena Kožená and friends
13th Sep 2019by Katherine Cooper
The Czech mezzo is joined by her husband and assorted colleagues for a programme of songs for voice and chamber ensemble by Ravel, Brahms, Stravinsky, Chausson, Strauss, Dvořák and Janáček.
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Works by Richard Strauss from Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
6th Sep 2019by James Longstaffe
Riccardo Chailly conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in thrillingly-detailed and impassioned performances of four orchestral works by Richard Strauss.
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John Wilson conducts Korngold's Symphony in F sharp
30th Aug 2019by James Longstaffe
John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London show their impressive credentials when it comes to the music of Korngold, with a thrillingly-performed account of the Symphony in F sharp.
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Winterreise from Ian Bostridge and Thomas Adès
23rd Aug 2019by Katherine Cooper
Fifteen years on from his first audio recording of the work, the British tenor retraces Schubert’s 'Winter Journey' with a new companion in an unsettling, unsentimentalised interpretation that’s underpinned by years of scholarship on both sides.
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Stanford Ceremonial Works from Howard Shelley and the Ulster Orchestra
16th Aug 2019by Katherine Cooper
Pomp and circumstance aplenty in A Song of Agincourt and the 'Solemn March and Heroic Epilogue' Verdun, and ethereal magic from the ladies of Codetta chamber choir in Fairy Day.
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Cecilia Bartoli sparkles as Rossini's 'Italiana in Algeri'
9th Aug 2019by Katherine Cooper
The Roman mezzo makes her role-debut as the feisty feminist Isabella in Rossini's culture-clash comedy, filmed last year at the Salzburg Festival and directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier.
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Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri (DVD)
Cecilia Bartoli (Isabella), Edgardo Rocha (Lindoro), Ildar Abdrazakov (Mustafà), Alessandro Corbelli (Taddeo), Rebeca Olvera (Elvira), Rosa Bove (Zulma), José Coca Loza (Haly) Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier
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Mahan Esfahani plays Bach Toccatas
2nd Aug 2019by David Smith
David enjoys Mahan Esfahani's exhilarating recording of Bach's seven keyboard toccatas, BWV910-916.
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Handel's Concerti Grossi Op. 6 from the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
26th Jul 2019by David Smith
David enjoys sparkling accounts of Handel's sunny, Italianate concerti grossi Op. 6 from Bernhard Forck and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
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Beethoven Symphonies from Ádám Fischer and the Danish Chamber Orchestra
19th Jul 2019by James Longstaffe
Ádám Fischer conducts the Danish Chamber Orchestra in frequently thrilling, occasionally controversial, but always fascinating performances of Beethoven's symphonies.
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Karel Kovařovic's complete string quartets from the Stamic Quartet
12th Jul 2019by Katherine Cooper
The Prague-based quartet give the world premiere recordings of three works by the Czech composer and conductor, best known for his work as music director of the National Theatre Prague.
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Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Clara Schumann
5th Jul 2019by Katherine Cooper
The 24-year-old pianist makes her debut on Decca with a bicentenary tribute to one of the nineteenth century’s most remarkable women, including the Piano Concerto which she completed at sixteen and premiered with Mendelssohn and the Gewandhausorchester.
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Offenbach's La Périchole from Marc Minkowski
28th Jun 2019by Katherine Cooper
One of the composer’s great champions celebrates last week’s bicentenary in style with the first period-instrument recording of this 1868 opéra bouffe about a couple of down-at-heel street-performers who are coerced into a drunken sham marriage.
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Offenbach: La Périchole
Aude Extrémo (La Périchole), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Piquillo), Alexandre Duhamel (Don Andrès de Ribeira), Eric Huchet (Le comte de Panatellas), Marc Mauillon (Don Pedro de Hinoyosa) Les Musiciens du Louvre, Chœur de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux, Marc Minkowski
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The Fellini Album - The Film Music of Nino Rota
21st Jun 2019by James Longstaffe
Filarmonica della Scala and Riccardo Chailly enchant and delight in an album celebrating the legendary and prolific collaboration between director Federico Fellini and composer Nino Rota.
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Vox Luminis explore cantatas by the Bach family
14th Jun 2019by David Smith
David listens to the Belgian ensemble's latest album, tracing the evolution of the cantata through the older branches of the Bach family tree.
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Samuel Barber's Vanessa from Glyndebourne
7th Jun 2019by Katherine Cooper
The Pulitzer-winning 1958 opera receives a vividly cinematic staging from Keith Warner in its first outing on DVD and Blu-ray, filmed at the Sussex festival last summer.
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Lise Davidsen sings Wagner and Strauss
31st May 2019by Katherine Cooper
The robust young Norwegian soprano thrills in scenes from Tannhäuser and Ariadne auf Naxos, and Strauss's Four Last Songs.