Angela Hewitt’s spectrum of touch, her fluency and sense of colour are deployed with enchantment in this Debussy: Suite bergamasque CD, writes Geoffrey Norris. MORE
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C is for Cosima Wagner; AKA Francesca Gaetana Cosima Liszt, illegitimate daughter of Franz Liszt; AKA Cosima von Bülow, wife of the conductor Hans von Bülow, who proved remarkably understanding when Cosima fell in love with the sexually rampant Wagner in 1863. Cosima was tall, aloof, beak-nosed, antisemitic and altogether a bit weird. According to […]
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Andrew Clements writes: No one would dispute that the first operatic masterpiece was Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, which was first performed in Mantua in 1607. But establishing what should be regarded as the very first opera of all, who composed it, and what that work consisted of, is much less straightforward. It is hard to pinpoint precisely […]
by Aaron Green Updated November 13, 2017 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) is one of the world’s most famous and influential composers of classical music. His music has been played all over the world for two centuries. Even if you’ve never been in a concert hall, if you’ve seen a movie—any movie—in your life, chances are […]
Fiona Maddocks writes ….. The Trio Wanderer, now 30 years old, sounds as sparkling and zestful as ever in Dvorák’s infectious “Dumky” trio, Op 90, truly a work to lift spirits, though not without melancholy. The last of the composer’s works for the medium, it bursts with Slavonic dance rhythms and lyrical folk melody, wonderfully […]
From scatalogical Mozart to possibly the worst music Wagner ever wrote, Tom Service unearths five pieces that rarely appear on concert programmes – perhaps for good reasons. Please click HERE to continue
An enthusiast writes: At the moment I can’t think of anything more sublime in the field of chamber music than Mozart’s output; the string quintets is surely the summit (K593!!!), closely followed by the Piano Trios, the String Quartets, and the 2 Piano Quartets. However, I am preparing to delve into Haydn’s output. I […]
Radio 3 has announced a new, large-scale recording project that will allow listeners to hear the music of five “forgotten” women composers for the first time in decades. All five women enjoyed some recognition for music-making during their lives, but their achievements were often downplayed during their lifetimes, and in some cases forgotten after their […]
Vasily Petrenko ensures the proportions and sometimes wild discourse of this symphony are held in perspective, syas Geoffrey Norris Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, cond Vasily Petrenko / Naxos 8.573188 /£6.99 The chequered performance history of Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony has lent it a mystique over and above all the interpretations of what his message – whether […]
Harriet Smith writes: For the virtuoso Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, championing the lesser-known composers will always be at the heart of what he does, albeit with a little Rachmaninov and Schubert thrown in ….. Continues HERE
Andrew Clements writes: In 1910, Ravel was commissioned by Paris’s Théâtre de l’Odéon to provide the incidental music for a new play by the Lebanese writer Chekri Ganem. It was based on The Romance of Antar, a 12th-century Arabic epic about the exploits of the pre-Islamic poet and knight Antarah ibn Shaddad, and the […]
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A specially selected playlist including music by Haydn and Mozart, moments from Stockhausen’s electronic work ‘Hymnen’, and a track by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Details HERE
Tim Ashley writes: Glyndebourne, Lewes Alice Coote and Anna Stéphany give exceptional performances in Claus Guth’s intense new production of Mozart’s curious Roman tragedy Continues HERE
“With this recording we wish to present a fresh version of the most elegant violin concertos in the history of music. While respecting the origin and tradition of this music, we have sought a new and dynamic musical experience rooted in our present time. To us, Mozart is as solid as rock, as soft as […]
Lindsay Kemp explores the link between the two great composers… Composers of the past did not always know their predecessors’ work as we do. Mozart’s musical upbringing being utterly of its time, the music he heard in his formative years was principally that of his older contemporaries rather than of the previous generation. Travelling around Europe […]
Kate Molleson writes … Debussy looked east for inspiration, enthralled by Javanese gamelans and Japanese woodcuts. Toshio Hosokawa, born in Hiroshima in 1955, writes wispy music rooted in the western tradition. Pianist Momo Kodama grew up in Osaka and studied in Paris; her first ECM album paired Takemitsu with Ravel and Messiaen. You can […]
‘ Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testiment, written when he was in an anguished state whilst comming to terms with deafness. He moved forward to an explorative and innovative period in his life. Written in 1802, the same year he wrote his 8th Violin Sonata in G major, opus 30/3. The Heiligenstadt Testament is a letter written by Ludwig […]
The pianist Charles Owen has recently released a two-CD set of Brahms’s late piano music (the Opp 76 and 79, as well as Opp 116-9 pieces) on Avie, also available to stream and download. James Jolly caught up with Charles recently for the latest Gramophone Podcast to talk about ……. Continues HERE