Vasily Petrenko conducts violinist Baiba Skride in an unmissable release, says Geoffrey Norris For the past five years or so, Vasily Petrenko’s name in the context of CDs has been associated primarily, but by no means exclusively, with the revelatory series of Shostakovich symphonies he has been conducting with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on […]
Classical
Found 738 results
Do orchestras really need someone flapping their arms on a podium? Yes, actually. Ivan Hewett explains why Continues HERE
Originally published March 2014 Paavo Järvi is one of the busiest contemporary conductors, working here with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra on a programme combining three pieces by Jorg Widmann with complementary works by Mauricio Kagel, Beat Furrer and Peter Ruzicka. The latter’s “Clouds” is an accumulation of sonic droplets and mist into a torrential […]
Leif Ove Andsnes champions the composer’s keyboard music. I am fascinated by famous composers who have areas of music that are unknown, not only to the general audience but even to musicians and people in our field. This is especially the case with piano music, and no wonder! After all, there is so much piano […]
Originally published November 2014 It can be over in 15 minutes. It can last several hours. It can be done with a Wurlitzer – or 20 guitars. Now In C, the defining work of minimalist music has been tackled by Damon Albarn and Africa Express. Its composer Terry Riley reveals how it all began Continues […]
‘The composers who break new choral ground are often those who are not so familiar with the medium’ Everyone in our business can identify the composers who ‘write well for voices’ – those who understand the singers’ need for breath, for movement between registers, and for periods of rest. Conventional wisdom maintains that the human […]
One of the most loved and frequently recorded composers of all, here is our guide to the ten best ways to expand your Chopin collection Please click HERE to continue reading.
A pillar of Baroque sacred repertoire, Monteverdi’s Vespers is open to countless interpretations on record, as Lindsay Kemp discovers. Monteverdi’s Vespers is an iconic work in more ways than one. For the composer, who published it 400 years ago in 1610, it was a calculated summation of his skill as a writer of sacred music […]
“Following the overwhelming popularity of our lists of the 50 greatest Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Handel recordings, we have now gathered 50 of the finest recordings of Beethoven’s music – Gramophone Award-winning albums, Recordings of the Month and Editor’s Choice discs, from legendary performers like Artur Schnabel and Otto Klemperer to modern masters like Isabelle […]
Gramophone magazine: The Italian conductor believes that, in his final symphony, Beethoven reached beyond humanity. My connection with this symphony goes back to my time at the Milan Conservatory, but I never dared to conduct such a masterpiece until 1990, when I was the Music Director at the Musicale Communale in Bologna. I started conducting […]
Complete with the original Gramophone reviews of 50 of the finest Mozart recordings available Continues HERE
The Guardian writes: Antonio Stradivari’s violins are so famous they make the news when they get stolen. But are they really worth the steep price tag? It’s the joke that no violinist can avoid. You’ll be just opening your case as some wag slides past with a grin and the inevitable question: “Is that a […]
Christopher Breunig This collection of songs about dreams and fantasies has been sitting in the equivalent of my ‘in tray’ for far too long, I discover! The Delft-born mezzo has been coached by Jard van Nes and Dame Janet Baker, and was chosen by Haitink for his Mahler ‘Resurrection’ performance at this year’s Proms and […]
By Ivan Hewett 17 Jul 2015 How to begin the world’s greatest music festival? With a brand-new curtain-raiser, is one obvious answer. We have one this year, in the shape of Gary Carpenter’s Dadaville, and there have been quite a few new pieces commissioned for the Opening Night, in recent years. Writing a piece for […]
Dip in and out HERE
Harrison Boyle (composer) replies …… In terms of music as music – apart from some of the social/political afflatus mentioned in the answers so far – the major candidates for controversial in terms of the actual notes (or absence thereof) are probably, from oldest to most recent: Stravinsky Rite of Spring Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire George […]
Understanding classical can be difficult and takes patience. While you may become familiar with a popular track the 2nd or 3rd time you listen to it, most WCM works take dozens of repeated listening sessions to acquire basic familiarity. The length of many WCM works is another issue. You can’t just spend 5 minutes listening, […]
These works take on an impressive dimension when performed by pianist Steven Osborne, says Geoffrey Norris Continues HERE
Gramophone magazine write: I don’t know about you, but I love losing myself in unfamiliar urban terrain, the plan being to have no plan, walking aimlessly with a purpose, discovering new perspectives on skyscraper vistas, stumbling into a hitherto unseen street or square. Maurice Ravel’s Boléro scratches that same mesmerising itch. In our October 2010 […]
Anne-Sophie Mutter, one of the world’s most celebrated violinists, is more than a virtuoso in a satin gown. She has used her prominence in the music world to champion unusual repertoire and support young string players. MORE
Kate Molleson writes … Cédric Tiberghien’s Bartók series has been an ear-opener – expressive and sharp-witted performances that clinch the music’s essence in original terms. The French pianist has saved some of Bartók’s most straight-up tuneful material for last, and this instalment includes the Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csík District (melodies Bartók learned […]
Nicholas Kenyon writes as follows: “There are zillions of violin concertos by Vivaldi, but it’s a surprise to find so many for the bassoon, at that time a relatively undeveloped instrument. Possibly written for a court player, or for an undiscovered virtuoso girl at the Pietà, the reason for them remains a mystery. The five […]
A complete performance, filmed in HD, by Stephen Hough, the New York Philharmonic and conductor Alan Gilbert Continues HERE