Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
Shostakovich from Kirill Karabits, Oleg Tsibulko and the Russian National Orchestra 17th July 2020A new recording of Shostakovich's complex 'Babi Yar' symphony with bass Oleg Tsibulko gets to the heart of a work that's often seen as all politics and no emotion.
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Recording of the Week,
Paul Lewis plays Beethoven's Bagatelles 10th July 2020The British pianist's survey of Beethoven's complete output in the genre (plus the Fantasia Op. 77 and three opus-less Klavierstücke) radiates wit, warmth and wisdom.
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Recording of the Week,
William Alwyn's Miss Julie from Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra 3rd July 2020Real-life husband-and-wife Anna Patalong and Benedict Nelson star in the English composer's 1977 opera, based on Strindberg's great naturalistic drama from 1888.
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Recording of the Week,
Byrd and more from the Magdalena Consort and friends 26th June 2020The Magdalena Consort, Fretwork and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts join forces for a second volume of English verse-anthems presented in glorious instrumental Technicolor.
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Recording of the Week,
Massenet's Cendrillon from Glyndebourne 19th June 2020Danielle de Niese and Kate Lindsey bring real psychological depth to Cinderella and Prince Charming's relationship in Fiona Shaw's astute and sparkling production, with John Wilson supplying fairy-dust aplenty from the pit.
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Recording of the Week,
Rimsky-Korsakov from Vasily Petrenko and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra 12th June 2020As on their recent series of Strauss tone poems, the Russian conductor and his Norwegian orchestra prove themselves master story-tellers on this trio of showpieces from the late 1880s.
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Recording of the Week,
Barricades from Jean Rondeau and Thomas Dunford 5th June 2020David enjoys the début recording of Jean Rondeau and Thomas Dunford's harpsichord-lute duo, featuring a selection of French Baroque treasures with vocal cameos from Marc Mauillon and Lea Desandre.
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Recording of the Week,
Shostakovich from Alina Ibragimova 29th May 2020The Russian-born violinist brings searing intensity and muscular tone to the two concertos, backed to the hilt by Vladimir Jurowski and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov'.
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Recording of the Week,
Sean Shibe plays Bach Lute Suites 22nd May 2020The award-winning young Scottish guitarist's third solo album on Delphian sees him turn to the music of JS Bach, with a highly varied triple-bill of suites for solo lute.
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Recording of the Week,
Vincerò! Piotr Beczała sings Verismo 15th May 2020The Polish tenor is at the top of his considerable game in arias by Puccini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Cilea and Giordano.
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Recording of the Week,
Grigory Sokolov performs music by Beethoven, Brahms, & Mozart 8th May 2020The Russian pianist presents a collection of sublime performances of music by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart, recorded live at recitals across Europe in 2019.
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Recording of the Week,
Howells from David Hill and the Bach Choir 1st May 2020David Hill leads the Bach Choir and BBC Concert Orchestra in a masterful new recording of Howells's monumental Missa Sabrinensis - a rarely-heard masterpiece ripe for revival.
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Recording of the Week,
Nuits from Véronique Gens and I Giardini 24th April 2020The French soprano explores the themes of night and dreams on this beguiling programme of mélodies from the Belle Époque, given here in atmospheric new arrangements for voice and piano quintet by Alexandre Dratwicki.
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Recording of the Week,
François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles perform Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition 17th April 2020The French conductor and ensemble return to the music of Ravel, with his orchestration of Mussorgsky's piano suite alongside a dazzling performance of La Valse.
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Recording of the Week,
Purcell's Fairy Queen from Paul McCreesh and Gabrieli 10th April 2020A glorious return to the Restoration stage, with a semi-opera if anything even more vivid than King Arthur - featuring a cast of gods, fairies, peasants, poets and... monkeys?
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Recording of the Week,
Korngold's Violin Concerto from John Wilson, Andrew Haveron and the RTE Concert Orchestra 3rd April 2020A bracing, unsentimentalised take on the composer's most popular work, plus an exuberant account of the youthful String Sextet from the Sinfonia of London Chamber Ensemble.
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Recording of the Week,
Víkingur Ólafsson performs piano music by Debussy and Rameau 27th March 2020The Icelandic pianist releases his third album on Deutsche Grammophon: an exquisitely-performed programme of music by Debussy and Rameau.
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Recording of the Week,
Beethoven from Chen Reiss and Matthias Goerne 20th March 2020The Israeli soprano is sparkling and technically fearless in a programme of arias with the Academy of Ancient Music, whilst Goerne's song-recital with Jan Lisiecki is an altogether darker affair.
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Recording of the Week,
Three world premiere recordings of works by Erkki-Sven Tüür 13th March 2020Paavo Järvi conducts the Estonian Festival Orchestra in three works by his long-time friend and musical collaborator Erkki-Sven Tüür - the 'Mythos' symphony, 'Incantation of Tempest' and 'Sow the Wind...'
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Recording of the Week,
Two world premiere recordings of music by Thomas Adès 6th March 2020Thomas Adès conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in performances of two of his own works: the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, and Totentanz.