Latest stories
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Arias for countertenor/male soprano from Fagioli, Hansen, and Jaroussky
9th Sep 2013by Katherine Cooper
Argentine sopranist Fagioli scales the high Cs in a jaw-dropping recital of arias penned for the notorious star castrato Caffarelli, whilst Jaroussky explores music written by for his rival Farinelli by their mutual singing-teacher Nicola Porpora. -
Piers Lane Goes To Town: Piano encores and lollipops
2nd Sep 2013by James Longstaffe
The Australian pianist’s ‘pot pourri of pianistic palate-cleansers and party pieces’ includes music by figures as diverse as Dudley Moore, Percy Grainger, Billy Mayerl and Arthur Benjamin, as well as several pieces written especially for Lane. -
Rachmaninov from Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
26th Aug 2013by James Longstaffe
The Berliners afford luxurious treatment to the choral symphony *The Bells* (with soloists Luba Orgonášová and Mikhail Petrenko), whilst Rattle’s spacious approach to the *Symphonic Dances* pays huge dividends. -
Dame Janet Baker celebrates her eightieth birthday
19th Aug 2013by Katherine Cooper
Curated to mark the great English mezzo's birthday, this 20-disc set from EMI includes classic recordings of music by Berlioz, Elgar, Mahler and Schubert as well as previously-unreleased material including Monteverdi and Scarlatti with Raymond Leppard.Featured product
Janet Baker: The Great EMI Recordings
Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Kenneth Heath (cello), George Malcolm (organ), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Robert Spencer (lute), Martin Isepp (harpsichord), Ambrose Gauntlett (viola da gamba), Douglas Whittaker (flute), George Malcolm (harpsichord), Daniel Barenboim (piano), Yehudi Menuhin (violin), Ross Pople (cello), George Malcolm (piano), Gerald Moore (piano), Geoffrey Parsons (piano), Cecil Aronowitz (viola), Andre Previn (piano), Sir Philip Ledger (organ) English Chamber Orchestra, Bath Festival Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Danish State Radio Symphony & Concerto Orchestras, City of London Sinfonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Men of the John Alldis Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Halle, Halle Choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Ambrosian Singers, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchesta of the Royal Opera House, London Symphony Chorus, Men of the London Symphony Chorus, Raymond Leppard, Sir David Willcocks, Sir Neville Marriner, Otto Klemperer, Sir Charles Mackerras, Janos Ferencik, Richard Hickox, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Alexander Gibson, Georges Pretre, Lawrence Foster, Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos
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Verdi arias from Anna Netrebko
12th Aug 2013by Katherine Cooper
The Russian soprano marks the composer’s bicentenary with arias and scenes from *Don Carlo*, *Macbeth*, *Il trovatore*, *Giovanna d’Arco* and *I vespri siciliani* in a recital which reveals a voice reaching glorious full bloom. -
Schubert works for violin and piano from Ibragimova and Tiberghien
5th Aug 2013by Chris O'Reilly
The duo’s intimate and restrained approach scores highly for pure beauty of tone and natural rapport, but doesn’t preclude plenty of playfulness and bite in the faster movements - fantastically vibrant playing, technically brilliant and always stylish. -
Tudor Church Music from Stile Antico
29th Jul 2013by David Smith
The conductorless British vocal ensemble’s rich lower voices and effortless, ethereal sopranos bring an almost regal broadness to music by Gibbons, Tallis, Byrd, Morley, Taverner and White. -
Dame Janet Baker at 80
25th Jul 2013by Katherine Cooper
In the lead-up to her eightieth birthday, the great English mezzo reflects on her career.Featured product
Dame Janet Baker: The Great EMI Recordings
Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Kenneth Heath (cello), George Malcolm (organ), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Robert Spencer (lute), Martin Isepp (harpsichord), Ambrose Gauntlett (viola da gamba), Douglas Whittaker (flute), George Malcolm (harpsichord), Daniel Barenboim (piano), Yehudi Menuhin (violin), Ross Pople (cello), George Malcolm (piano), Gerald Moore (piano), Geoffrey Parsons (piano), Cecil Aronowitz (viola), Andre Previn (piano), Sir Philip Ledger (organ) English Chamber Orchestra, Bath Festival Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Danish State Radio Symphony & Concerto Orchestras, City of London Sinfonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Men of the John Alldis Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Halle, Halle Choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Ambrosian Singers, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchesta of the Royal Opera House, London Symphony Chorus, Men of the London Symphony Chorus, Raymond Leppard, Sir David Willcocks, Sir Neville Marriner, Otto Klemperer, Sir Charles Mackerras, Janos Ferencik, Richard Hickox, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Alexander Gibson, Georges Pretre, Lawrence Foster, Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos
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Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration Concert
22nd Jul 2013by Katherine Cooper
The American summer festival celebrates its three-quarter century in eclectic fashion, with Haydn from Emanuel Ax, Bernstein from the Boston Pops Orchestra, Ravel from Andris Nelsons, and excerpts from The Great American Songbook from James Taylor.Featured product
Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration (DVD)
Peter Serkin (piano), Yo-Yo Ma (cello & director), Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Emanuel Ax (piano), James Taylor (vocals & guitar) Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Pops Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, David Zinman, Keith Lockhart, Andris Nelsons, Stefan Astbury, John Williams
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Isabelle Faust performs Bartók Violin Concertos
15th Jul 2013by Chris O'Reilly
Faust combines technical brilliance with a performance full of bite and character, and demonstrates a natural affinity with Daniel Harding and his orchestra, who offer vivid accompaniment throughout and no shortage of incisive rawness of their own where required. -
Handel Chandos Anthems from Stephen Layton and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
8th Jul 2013by Katherine Cooper
Transparent textures and stylish but unfussy phrasing are the order of the day in these buoyant accounts of the anthems which Handel composed during his year-long musical residency at the home of James Brydges, the Paymaster General during the War of Spanish Succession. -
Claudio Abbado conducts Schumann's Second Symphony
1st Jul 2013by James Longstaffe
On the cusp of his eightieth birthday, Abbado brings the chamber-like qualities of his Mozart recordings to the music of Schumann in performances which are shot through with vivacious sparkle and evident love for the music. -
Wagner from Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra
24th Jun 2013by Chris O'Reilly
Wonderfully balanced and beautifully characterised accounts of the Overture to *Die Meistersinger*, the *Siegfried Idyll* and three excerpts from *Götterdämmerung*, including an Immolation Scene of laser-sharp accuracy and thrilling power from Petra Lang. -
The Complete Works of Pierre Boulez on Deutsche Grammophon
17th Jun 2013by James Longstaffe
Assembled under the composer’s personal supervision (and featuring many of his own recordings with Ensemble InterContemporain), this 13-CD collection includes several works which have not previously appeared on CD and features fearless pianism from Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Maurizio Pollini.Featured product
Pierre Boulez: The Complete Works
Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Sophie Cherrier (flute), Phyllis Bryn-Julson (soprano), Elizabeth Laurence (contralto), Maurizio Pollini (piano), Alfons et Aloys Kontarsky (pianos), Hilary Summers (mezzo), Christine Schäfer (soprano), Paavali Jumppanen (piano), Florent Boffard (pianos), Alain Damiens (clarinet), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Jeanne-Marie Conquer (violin), Hae-Sun Kang (violin), Dimitri Vassilakis (piano), Hideki Nagano (piano), Jeanne Deroubaix (contralto), Severino Gazzelloni (flute), Georges van Gucht (xyrimba), Claude Ricou (vibraphone), Jean Batigne (percussion), Anton Stingly (guitar), Serge Collot (viola), Irène Joachim (soprano), Joseph Peyron (tenor), Pierre Mollet (baritone), David Tudor (piano) BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Quatuor Parisii, Ensemble intercontemporain, Musique vivante, Wiener Philharmoniker, Solistes de l'Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern Orchestra, Ircam, Orchestre National de al RTF, Pierre Boulez, Diego Masson, Roger Désormière
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Neeme Järvi conducts Richard Strauss’s ballet, Josephslegende
10th Jun 2013by Chris O'Reilly
Strauss himself may have spoke slightingly of this work (commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1914), but Chris is won over by the range and combinations of orchestral colours, and Järvi’s carefully calculated tempos and tempo relationships. -
Valery Gergiev and the LSO begin a cycle of Szymanowski symphonies
3rd Jun 2013by James Longstaffe
The richness of the London Symphony Orchestra’s string section is showcased to great effect in the tender, lyrical slow movements of both symphonies, whilst Gergiev responds to the music’s more volatile moments extremely well. -
100th anniversary of the première of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring
27th May 2013by James Longstaffe
The centenary of one of the most controversial premieres in musical history is marked by a new recording from Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, and a mammoth Collector’s Edition comprising 38 recordings dating from 1946 to 2010. -
Cecilia Bartoli sings Bellini’s Norma
20th May 2013by Katherine Cooper
Giovanni Antonini recreates Bellini’s masterpiece as it would have been heard at its 1831 premiere, with period instruments, a light soprano Adalgisa, and a high mezzo in the formidable title-role – Bartoli, radiating neurotic intensity and raw pathos as the infanticidal Druid priestess. -
Martha Argerich and Friends Live from Lugano
13th May 2013by Chris O'Reilly
Highlights from the pianist’s month-long annual festival in southern Switzerland include Mozart with Maria João Pires, Schumann with Gautier Capuçon, Brahms with Nicholas Angelich, and piano quartets by Mahler and Dvořák.Featured product
Martha Argerich & Friends: Live from Lugano 2012
Maria João Pires (piano), Martha Argerich (piano), Gautier Capuçon (cello), Lily Maisky (piano), Sascha Maisky (violin), Lyda Chen (viola), Mischa Maisky (cello), Nicholas Angelich (piano), Polina Leschenko (piano), Ilya Gringolts (violin), Nathan Braude (viola), Torleif Thedéen (cello), Nelson Goerner (piano), Rusudan Alavidze (piano), Lilya Zilberstein (piano), Anton Gerzenberg (piano), Daniel Gerzenberg (piano), Renaud Capuçon (violin), Giorgia Tomassi (piano), Carlo Maria Griguoli (piano), Alessandro Stella (piano), Ale Petrasso (piano), Dora Schwarzberg (violin), Lucia Hall (violin), Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg (viola), Jing Zhao (cello) Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Jacek Kaspszyk
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Weber's Der Freischütz from Sir Colin Davis and the LSO
6th May 2013by James Longstaffe
Fresh, full-bodied and raucous when required, the conductor’s final opera recording is a fitting valedictory tribute to a great man, with Christine Brewer on sublime form as Agathe and Simon O’Neill a steely and secure Max.Featured product
Weber: Der Freischütz
Christine Brewer (Agathe), Sally Matthews (Ännchen), Lars Woldt (Kaspar), Simon O’Neill (Max), Stephan Loges (Ottokar/Zamiel), Martin Snell (Kuno), Gidon Saks (A Hermit), Marcus Farnsworth (Kilian), Lucy Hall (Bridesmaids) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis