Michael Vronsky writes: Who’s leg? Hmm. Even as I write this I sense a few of you out there might feel I’m pulling your leg re this. I assure you – I’m not.This first tuning tip is without doubt the most cost-effective I have ever encountered. I used a few drops (exactly as directed) of […]
Classical
Found 68 results
Geoffrey Norris is left wondering what motivated Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky to make this recording Please click HERE to continue
In addition to the interesting and sometimes surprising recommendations (Gramophone December 2012) of Peter Dickinson, who is assuredly an expert on American music , I wish to add a few. Randall Thompson’s Second Symphony (1931), quintessentially American in its rhythms, is best represented by Leonard Bernstein’s Sony recording 60594. On the same recording, with the New York Philharmonic, in the Bernstein […]
An unmistakeable voice, thrilling for its purity and power – here are just a few of Luciano Pavarotti’s finest recordings This article includes links to reviews in the Gramophone Reviews Database, which contains more than 45,000 reviews. To find out more about subscribing to the database, please visit: gramophone.co.uk/subscribe Continues HERE
Stephen Plaistow recalls the illustrious recorded history of Chopin’s oeuvre and offers a personal view of great Chopin interpreters Please click HERE to access the whole article. Thanks. Neil
Originally published November 2013 The arts interview: In the week of Benjamin Britten’s centenary Oliver Knussen, in a rare interview, tells Fiona Maddocks about their meeting in Aldeburgh, and the ongoing friendship that inspired his career as a composer. Continues HERE
From 2013 – but still very good reading! https://www.theguardian.com/music/series/a-guide-to-contemporary-classical-music
It is crucial, with Callas, to allow the strengths ascendancy over the technical frailties. It was her genius, for example, that restored Bellini to us and rescued Lucia from ridicule. By Andrew Porter Continues HERE
The tenor talks to Gramophone’s Editor Martin Cullingford ahead of a landmark recital at the Royal Albert Hall Continues HERE
Among the hundreds of recordings of late Mozart piano concertos on the market, including many of this particular pairing, this one of Poland’s Piotr Anderszewski at the keyboard and conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe is a major standout. Though played on a modern piano, it brings together several trends that have lately been explored […]
A brief history of the symphony The symphony first appeared on programmes – inevitably in aristocratic settings – during the early years of the 18th century, often a natural development from the Italian overture (which usually comprised three movements). By the 1770s, the four-movement form we usually think of was established and one of its […]
Gustavo Guardiola, Composer, bass player and professor of music composition for more than 22 years. He was certainly angry. On October 6th of 1802 Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers Carl and Johann. This letter has been known as the Heiligenstadt Testament -or you can call it the testament of Beethoven. In this letter […]
PHILIP RICE answers: Not “supposedly deaf”. DEAF! Here’s the thing. When you know enough music theory and have been around the block, and are one of the most talented musicians in history…. You look, or write notes on a page and know EXACTLY what it “sounds like”. This is called hearing a score in silence […]
Gramophone Magazine write: Schoenberg may fairly be said to have been one of the most influential musicians in history with his advocacy of the 12-note technique. The events in the life of this brave giant can be briefly sketched; his music and his ideas need a book to themselves. His father Samuel, who ran a […]
Bryce Morrison recalls the flawless combination of Slavic passion and Gallic precision in this charismatic ‘singer’ pianist, who conducted a lifelong love affair with his audiences Please click HERE to access the whole article. Thanks. Neil
Coming in at number one is Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), one of the best-known of all composers in classical music. Bach was born into one of the great musical families of the day. A natural genius at the keyboard, he mastered the organ and harpsichord and was simply a brilliant composer. Bach brought baroque music […]
Rodney Chin, former Student of Musicology I’d like to think that Mozart would have enjoyed Chopin’s music; after all, it’s no secret that the latter held the former in the highest esteem, and Chopin was not in the habit of issuing compliments to others (and if he did, only grudgingly). However, he did genuinely enjoy […]
Her mother blackmailed her, her husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini stole from her, and shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis was violent and abandoned her for Jackie Kennedy. Soprano Maria Callas was adored by audiences worldwide but she never knew real love offstage, and her life was even more tragic than previously realised, according to research. In writing […]
Outstanding new recordings, including Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder from Lise Davidsen, Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier by Phantasm, Mozart’s violin sonatas from Rachel Podger and Christopher Glynn, and more… MORE
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood joins the Gramophone Podcast to discuss Baroque music’s greatest composer This week’s podcast is devoted to exploring the music, life and legacy of the greatest genius of Baroque music – and arguably of all music – JS Bach. Editor Martin Cullingford invited Bach specialist and Gramophone reviewer, the Royal Academy of Music’s Principal […]
Written by Jay Jay French First off, I hope many of you are listening to my new Podcast called The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond the Music (available on Spotify, Apple Music and Podcastone.com) Great topics, great guests, and my new book, Twisted Business: Lessons From my Life in Rock n Roll is coming out […]
Interview ‘I feel admonished for being myself’: Yseult, the chanson singer riling the French establishment Marta Represa The Parisian singer’s take on traditional variété française includes confrontations with mental health, body image and bondage – and her challenge has struck a nerve MORE
“Born in 1659, Henry Purcell was the finest and most original composer of his day. Though he was to live a very short life (he died in 1695) he was able to enjoy and make full use of the renewed flowering of music after the Restoration of the Monarchy. As the son of a musician […]
There was a bit of a fracas during Lang Lang’s Proms appearance. As he bounced back on stage for an encore, a heckler in the arena hooted derisively. An embarrassed murmur ran through the audience. There was some nervous laughter. But the pianist took it in his stride and began a Chopin Etude, seemingly unruffled. […]