Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
Mozart and Strauss Lieder from Sabine Devieilhe & Mathieu Pordoy 29th March 2024The French coloratura soprano and her new recital-partner draw all manner of illuminating parallels between the two composers in a recital which includes Mozart's Das Kinderspiel and Abendempfindung & Strauss's Mädchenblumen, Morgen! and Amor.
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Recording of the Week,
Paavo Järvi conducts Mendelssohn symphonies 22nd March 2024The Estonian conductor and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich present stylish, propulsive accounts of Mendelssohn's five symphonies, plus the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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Recording of the Week,
Chopin and Beethoven from Beatrice Rana 15th March 2024The Italian pianist presents an unusual pairing of sonatas - a sensitive, light performance of Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 complemented by a masterful and fearless Hammerklavier.
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Recording of the Week,
Orchestral Works by Dorothy Howell 8th March 2024Rebecca Miller conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra in world premiere recordings of the Humoresque, The Rock, the Three Divertissements and Koong Shee plus a terrific account of Lamia - the Keats-inspired tone-poem which made the 21-year-old composer an overnight success after its Proms premiere in 1919.
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Recording of the Week,
In The Shadows with Michael Spyres 1st March 2024The American singer teams up with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset to explore some of the operas which influenced Wagner - including works by Méhul, Beethoven, Meyerbeer and Spontini.
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Recording of the Week,
Janáček's Katya Kabanova from Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra 23rd February 2024Amanda Majeski is riveting as the doomed heroine grasping for happiness in the face of a loveless marriage (and a monstrous mother-in-law) in provincial Russia, with Rattle expertly balancing the score's elemental power and claustrophobic intensity.
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Recording of the Week,
A Lifetime of Vivaldi from Théotime Langlois de Swarte 16th February 2024A lively re-telling of Vivaldi's life through a selection of his violin concertos, from perhaps the most exciting young Baroque violinist around - including a number of world premiere recordings, and a gorgeous recent rediscovery.
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Recording of the Week,
Handel's Alcina from Marc Minkowski 9th February 2024Magdalena Kožená is at the height of her powers as a vocal actress in the title-role, with peerless performances from Anna Bonitatibus, Erin Morley and Elizabeth DeShong as Ruggiero, Morgana and Bradamante respectively.
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Recording of the Week,
Marc-André Hamelin performs his own compositions plus Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie 2nd February 2024The virtuoso pianist presents a dazzling album of his own works, alongside taking the solo role in Messiaen's Turangalîla with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gustavo Gimeno.
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Recording of the Week,
A Lionel Tertis Celebration from Timothy Ridout 26th January 2024This beautifully-performed and curated recital paints a vivid picture of the great violist in his capacities as commissioner, composer and arranger - featuring works by composers including York Bowen, Rebecca Clarke, Eric Coates, Frank Bridge and William Henry Reed.
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Recording of the Week,
Lalo orchestral works from Neeme Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra 19th January 2024The veteran conductor and his musicians present a selection of sweeping and vivid orchestral works by the late-nineteenth-century French Romantic composer Édouard Lalo.
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Recording of the Week,
Shadows of My Ancestors from Behzod Abduraimov 12th January 2024The Uzbek pianist presents a dazzlingly evocative album of virtuosic piano works by Prokofieff, Ravel, and his compatriot Dilorom Saidaminova.
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Recording of the Week,
Puccini Songs from Charles Castronovo 5th January 2024Johannes X. Schachtner's idiomatic new orchestrations of the composer's sixteen published songs inspire some ardent, full-throated singing from the American tenor - with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester on incendiary form under Ivan Repušić.
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Recording of the Week,
Presto Personal Favourites from 2023 29th December 2023Recordings of works by Franz Schreker, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Andrew Poppy and the late Einojuhani Rautavaara feature among the editorial team's individual picks of the year.
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Recording of the Week,
Handel's Messiah from John Nelson 22nd December 2023Devotion and drama work hand-in-glove on the American conductor's live recording from Coventry Cathedral with The English Concert and soloists Lucy Crowe, Alex Potter, Michael Spyres & Matthew Brook.
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Recording of the Week,
Operette from Diana Damrau 15th December 2023The German coloratura soprano is on sparkling form on a whistle-stop tour of seven decades of operetta history - taking in Berlin, Paris and Vienna along the way, and including classy cameos from Jonas Kaufmann and Emily Sierra.
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Recording of the Week,
Christmas from Norway 8th December 2023The powerhouse Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen is on radiant, affecting form in a programme of Scandinavian carols, seasonal Lieder and a couple of Baroque chestnuts, with luxury support from the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Christian Eggen.
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Recording of the Week,
Bob Chilcott's Christmas Oratorio 1st December 2023Benjamin Nicholas and the choir of Merton College, Oxford perform Bob Chilcott's new Christmas Oratorio - filled with lyrical solo writing, beautiful choral numbers and sweeping congregational tunes.
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Recording of the Week,
Delius's A Mass of Life from Sir Mark Elder and the Bergen Philharmonic 24th November 2023Elder's beautifully-judged approach to pacing and balance makes the strongest case possible for a score which he describes as 'Delius's magnum opus', aided by Roderick Williams on typically eloquent form in the huge central role of Zarathustra.
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Recording of the Week,
Saint-Saëns symphonic poems from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles 17th November 2023A selection of Saint-Saëns's luscious orchestral pieces - familiar and less-known, and including a real treasure from the very dawn of the cinematic era - get the Les Siècles treatment, leaping off the page thanks to intelligent and sensitive performances on period instruments.