BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Britten to America – video interview with Sir Mark Elder

Gramophone Magazine: As his centenary year draws to a close, we can look back at some wonderful new recordings of Britten’s music: Philip Hingham’s disc of the Cello Suites (Delphi an), Oliver Knudsen conducting The Rape of Lucretius at Aldeburgh (Virgin Classics), Ian Bostridge recording Britten’s songs with Antonio Pappano and Xuefei Yang (EMI Classics), […]

Read More

BEETHOVEN: How his symphonies changed the world

Phillip Clark writes: Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer who, more than any other, changed music, the sound of music and what it is that composers do, wrote nine symphonies that jolted music out of itself. Life could never – would never – be the same again. The “classical” rationality of structure, harmony, form, melodic development […]

Read More

KOMITAS: News

Simon Broughton talks to pianist Lusine Grigoryan about her new Komitas recording on ECM Ask someone to name an Armenian composer and the first name on the list is likely to be Aram Khachaturian, famous for his Gayane and Spartacus ballet scores. But for Armenians, their most treasured composer is Komitas (1869-1935), often described as […]

Read More

MAHLER: Symphony of a Thousand

………… we ask: which recording of his vast Eighth Symphony is best? Mahler’s Eighth Symphony is the calling-card for all orchestras with ambition: but which ones should you welcome in, asks Ken Smith.(Originally published in Gramophone, December 2008.) As soon as I got the invitation I immediately called my wife to tell her why I’d […]

Read More

MOZART: New Podcast: Richard Tognetti on Mozart and Jonny Greenwood

The latest release from Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra features Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Water, a new work by composer and member of Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood. For the lastest Gramophone podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford spoke to the conductor and violinist about the album, which is released by ABC Classics on vinyl in Australia, and […]

Read More

BEETHOVEN: Riccardo Chailly – all is revealed

    “Riccardo Chailly’s view of the Beethoven symphonies has been a well-kept secret, but now in a single well-coordinated gesture all is revealed. At concerts in Vienna’s Musikverein, Paris’s Salle Pleyel and London’s Barbican, Chailly and his Leipzig Gewandhausorchester will present all nine symphonies alongside five specially commissioned works that reflect their individual composer’s […]

Read More
Quill

BRITTEN: Top 10 Sinfonia Recordings as chosen by Gramophone magazine

A diverse range of excellent recordings spanning a breadth of repertoire, reminding us just why the Britten Sinfonia is such a fine, not to mention versatile, ensemble, and sought after for the studio. Donizetti Il Paria Opera Rara / Britten Sinfonia / Sir Mark Elder cond (Opera Rara) ‘The music is splendid, well worth discovering…Shagimuratova […]

Read More
Quill

BENJAMIN BRITTEN: News

From the archives “This month sees the issue of several records of Britten’s music from Decca including one in the ‘World of…’ series. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the night that transformed the face of British opera – the premiere of Peter Grimes on June 7, 1945, at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Britten himself […]

Read More

FRANZ LISZT: News

isa’s Piazza dei Miracoli, also known as the Piazza del Duomo, contains the Cathedral, the Baptistry, the Campanile (aka the Leaning Tower) – and the Camposanto Monumentale. Among its murals is an impressive fresco entitled Il trionfo della Morte: ‘The Triumph of Death’. Once attributed to Orcagna, nowadays to Buonamico Buffalmacco or, by some scholars, […]

Read More

HANDEL: He conquers London

Richard Wigmore marks the 300th anniversary of Handel’s era-defining move to London in 1712 Never short of confidence or savoir faire, the young Handel seems to have set out to become the supreme musical cosmopolitan. After a thorough grounding in the contrapuntal tradition of his native Saxony, he honed his command of form and fluid, […]

Read More

Top 15 Liszt recordings

A beginner’s guide to the music of one of the great composer-pianists Selecting a list of just 15 outstanding recordings of Franz Liszt’s music that everyone will agree with is impossible, but for those who are just embarking on a journey through Liszt’s sound world, these 15 selections represent 15 perfect starting points. And for […]

Read More

BEETHOVEN: How did symphonies changed the world

Riccardo Chailly talks to Philip Clark about how Beethoven’s symphonies have influenced generations of composers https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/how-beethoven%E2%80%99s-symphonies-changed-the-world?utm_content=How%20Beethoven%27s%20symphonies%20changed%20the%20world&utm_campaign=Gramophone%20Newsletter%20-%2014MAR17%20%28Subs%29&utm_source=Gramophone&utm_medium=adestra_email&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gramophone.co.uk%2Ffeature%2Fhow-beethoven%25E2%2580%2599s-symphonies-changed-the-world

Read More

KARAJAN: News

A classic Gramophone article, by HC Robbins Landon, March 1964 Herbert von Karajan in 1969 (Reinhard Friedrich / Archiv Berliner Philharmoniker) SCENE I. A warm summer’s day in Salzburg. The square in front of the Festspielhaus is the scene of subdued activity; from within come sounds of rehearsing. Chorus members are lounging about, waiting for […]

Read More

MAHLER: Podcast

Edward Seckerson discusses the greatest performers and recordings of the composer’s works This week’s Gramophone Podcast is a special longer edition focusing on the music of Mahler. It coincides with the publication of the latest in our series of our souvenir publications drawing together our century-long coverage of major composers, ‘Gramophone Presents Mahler’. For this […]

Read More

GRAMOPHONE: The best new classical albums this week (January 20, 2023)

GRAMOPHONE: New recordings of Bruckner’s Symphony No 7, Mozart’s Violin Concertos Nos 3-5 and more Paavo Järvi has already recorded Bruckner’s Symphony No 7 with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra for Sony/RCA, an album reviewed by Rob Cowan in September 2009, who wrote: ‘Järvi offers an extremely beautiful performance, responsively played and, most crucially, sensitive […]

Read More