Classical

Hannah Nepil writes:  Taking part in Musicircus at Aldeburgh was a bewildering musical experience. They never told me that music journalism could be like this: that one day I’d be playing the violin at the Aldeburgh festival, at the mercy of the elements and the judgement of professional, bona-fide musicians who, on another occasion, I […]

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https://www.allmusic.com/album/martinu-violin-concertos-1-2-bart%C3%B3k-solo-sonata-mw0003431667

Martin Cullingford (Gramophone’s editor) writes ……… Shortly after the death of Claudio Abbado, the Sunday Express asked me to write its main arts feature on the great maestros of the past, and how they differ from today’s. The newspaper ran it over two pages: it’s clearly a subject which fascinates people beyond the pages of […]

Gramophone write: Patricia Kopatchinskaja performs these three concertos by composers born in Hungary with her trademark panache and the recorded balance gives her all due prominence. The importance of the orchestral contribution can’t be denied, however, and there’s an impressive sense of common purpose and collaborative zeal throughout. Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto has long since […]

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Hi Howard, So pleased to hear that a piece of classical music had such a profound effect on you. The problem is these days is that the recordings just aren’t being made like they used to be. In schools many youngsters are not exposed to the breadth and depth of music that’s available, past and […]

Andrew Achenbach writes: Here’s another fascinating haul of historic Elgar recordings from Somm expertly compiled and restored by Lani Spahr. The 77-minute programme is launched in delectable fashion with the first-ever appearance of the composer conducting his own Op 58 Elegy with the strings of Adrian Boult’s magnificent BBC Symphony Orchestra. The April 1933 Abbey […]

Nike Wagner’s family tree includes both Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. The author and festival director talked with DW about the intriguing and at times paradoxical legacy of Franz Liszt. MORE

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Fiona Maddocks writes: Elgar’s only string quartet, a masterpiece of the chamber music repertoire premiered in 1918, is well established. That of his contemporary Delius, dating from a year earlier, is more of a rarity. The composer was discontented with his first (three-movement) attempt and reworked the opening movement and the wistful “Late Swallows” slow […]

Poignant dignity suffuses the prayers of German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis in 1945. In settings by Philip Moore they become powerful testaments of faith in the darkest of times, sung brilliantly here by the Choir of Westminster Abbey, alongside Howells’s Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing and Tavener’s The Peace That Surpasseth Understanding. […]

Just before his death the great maverick composer John Tavener, who played at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, told Ivan Hewett how he had previously cheated death many times. “You know, my consultant keeps telling me sudden death could come at any moment,” says John Tavener with a sudden, mischievous laugh. It’s a […]

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