Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
-
Recording of the Week,
Elgar & Carter from Alisa Weilerstein 4th February 2013
The American cellist worked closely with Carter (who died last year) whilst preparing his 2001 Cello Concerto, and brings a touching elegiac lyricism to the Japanese-influenced slow movement; her introverted and tender account of the Elgar is no less engaging.
-
Recording of the Week,
I was glad: Sacred Music by Stanford & Parry 28th January 2013
Robert King and his Consort present lavish orchestrations (on period instruments) of Parry’s Te Deum, I was glad, Blest Pair of Sirens and Jerusalem, and four of Stanford’s canticle settings, with Carolyn Sampson and David Wilson-Johnson as soloists.
-
Recording of the Week,
Steven Osborne plays Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition 21st January 2013
Osborne’s journey through Mussorgsky’s gallery proves a highly intelligent, thoughtful interpretation that aims to be more than just a showy series of programmatic events.
-
Recording of the Week,
Little Britten 14th January 2013
Cellist Matthew Barley marks the centenary of the composer’s birth with a recital centring on the Third Cello Suite, whilst Edward Higginbottom and The Choir of New College Oxford bring a vital, pleasingly rough-round-the-edges approach that recalls Britten’s own children’s choirs to the scared choral music.
-
Recording of the Week,
Mendelssohn from the Quatuor Ebène 7th January 2013
The award-winning young French quartet bring their trademark commitment and passion to chamber-music by the Mendelssohn siblings, including Felix’s ‘quartet-Requiem’ for his beloved sister.
-
Recording of the Week,
Looking ahead to 2013 - Verdi, Britten and Wagner 24th December 2012
Previews of boxed sets and new recordings marking next year’s three significant anniversaries, including The Rape of Lucretia from Oliver Knussen (starring Ian Bostridge and Angelika Kirchschlager), Wagner scenes from Jonas Kaufmann, and a comprehensive Verdi collection from EMI Classics.
-
Recording of the Week,
Wispelwey and Schiff re-visit Bach 17th December 2012
For his third recording of the Suites, the Dutch cellist tunes his instrument down by a whole tone to the pitch which was commonly used in Cöthen where Bach composed the works, whilst Schiff’s second take on The Well-Tempered Clavier is more direct and less sentimental than its predecessor.
-
Recording of the Week,
Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty from Neeme Järvi 10th December 2012
A new trilogy of complete Tchaikovsky ballet scores from the veteran Estonian conductor and the Bergen Philharmonic gets off to a glittering start, with outstanding solo contributions from violinist James Ehnes and cellist Robert deMaine.
-
Recording of the Week,
Christmas roundup 3rd December 2012
The Choir of King’s College Cambridge launch their own record-label with a collection of music commissioned for their Nine Lessons and Carols services over the decades, plus Zelenka’s Missa Nativitatis Domini from Musica Florea and Britten’s St Nicolas from Trinity College Cambridge.
-
Recording of the Week,
Alexandre Tharaud: Le Boeuf sur le toit 26th November 2012
The French pianist and friends (including Natalie Dessay, Madeleine Peyroux, Juliette and Bénabar) get together for a joyous compendium of music by regular visitors to the eponymous Parisian nightclub during the 1920s, including Ravel, Milhaud, and Clément Doucet.
-
Recording of the Week,
Belcea Quartet launch their Beethoven cycle 19th November 2012
Excellent ensemble and complete sympathy and understanding between the players are the hallmarks of this projected complete cycle by the former BBC New Generation Artists, who have been winning plaudits galore for their live performances of these works over the past few years.
-
Recording of the Week,
Rare baroque vocal delights 12th November 2012
Philippe Jaroussky and Max Cencic lead an all-male cast (featuring no fewer than five countertenors!) in the world premiere recording of Leonardo Vinci’s Artaserse, and Christophe Rousset & Company make a splendid case for Antoine Dauvergen’s Hercule mourant.
-
Recording of the Week,
Elgar and the First World War 5th November 2012
Sir Andrew Davis presides over a touching account of the incidental music for The Starlight Express, whilst John Wilson champions wartime rarities including Polonia, Carillon, and Le drapeau belge*; Simon Callow narrates with gusto on both recordings.
-
Recording of the Week,
Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies 29th October 2012
John Wilson and his orchestra are joined by a stellar line-up of soloists including Maria Ewing, Joyce DiDonato and Anna Jane Casey for a programme of hits from South pacific, Carousel, The Sound of Music and others, given in their glorious technicolour film orchestrations.
-
Recording of the Week,
Mission: Cecilia Bartoli 15th October 2012
The intrepid Roman mezzo explores the music of Agostino Steffani - Italian composer, cleric, diplomat and spy – in a programme of blazing martial show-stoppers, coloratura pyrotechnics, long-breathed laments, and four delectable duets with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.
-
Recording of the Week,
Alison Balsom: Sound The Trumpet 8th October 2012
In her first solo album to be performed exclusively on the natural trumpet, Balsom joins The English Concert and Trevor Pinnock for a programme of music celebrating real or mythic monarchs by Handel and Purcell, including excerpts from The Fairy Queen, King Arthur and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne.
-
Recording of the Week,
Glenn Gould 24th September 2012
To mark the eightieth anniversary of the birth of the extraordinary Canadian pianist, Sony Classical present two sets celebrating his legacy: The Schwarzkopf Tapes from 1966 (previously unreleased), and a handsomely-documented 38-CD box of his legendary Bach recordings.
-
Recording of the Week,
Tchaikovsky’s Early Symphonies 17th September 2012
Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra makes hugely persuasive cases for Tchaikovsky’s neglected first three symphonies, Winter Daydreams, the ‘Little Russian’ and the ‘Polish’, in live performances given in London and Zurich last spring.
-
Recording of the Week,
Mozart’s Don Giovanni 10th September 2012
Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s project cycle of Mozart’s major operas on Deutsche Grammophon gets off to a scintillating start with a starrily-cast take on ’Il dissoluto punito’, with Ildebrando d’Arcangelo as the eponymous libertine, and Diana Damrau and Joyce DiDonato as Anna and Elvira.
-
Recording of the Week,
Stephen Hough's French Album 3rd September 2012
The British pianist’s ‘musical dessert-trolley’ includes popular favourites by Ravel, Debussy and Bach-via-Cortot, curiosities by Chabrier, Alkan and Chaminade, and his own transcriptions of bonbons by Massenet and Delibes.
