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Wispelwey and Schiff re-visit Bach
17th Dec 2012by Chris O'Reilly
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. -
Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty from Neeme Järvi
10th Dec 2012by Chris O'Reilly
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. -
Christmas roundup
3rd Dec 2012by Chris O'Reilly
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. -
Alexandre Tharaud: Le Boeuf sur le toit
26th Nov 2012by Katherine Cooper
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. -
Belcea Quartet launch their Beethoven cycle
19th Nov 2012by Chris O'Reilly
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. -
Rare baroque vocal delights
12th Nov 2012by Katherine Cooper
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*.Featured product
Vinci, Leonardo: Artaserse
Philippe Jaroussky (Artaserse), Max Emanuel Cencic (Mandane), Franco Fagioli (Arbace), Valer Barna-Sabadus (Semira), Yuriy Mynenko (Megabise), Daniel Behle (Artabano) Concerto Köln & Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera, Lugano, Diego Fasolis
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Elgar and the First World War
5th Nov 2012by James Longstaffe
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. -
Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies
29th Oct 2012by Katherine Cooper
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. -
Mission: Cecilia Bartoli
15th Oct 2012by Katherine Cooper
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. -
Alison Balsom: Sound The Trumpet
8th Oct 2012by Katherine Cooper
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*. -
Vox Luminis’s Schütz disc wins Gramophone Record of the Year
1st Oct 2012by Chris O'Reilly
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Glenn Gould
24th Sep 2012by Chris O'Reilly
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. -
Tchaikovsky’s Early Symphonies
17th Sep 2012by James Longstaffe
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. -
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
10th Sep 2012by Katherine Cooper
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.Featured product
Mozart: Don Giovanni, K527
Ildebrando D'Arcangelo (Don Giovanni), Luca Pisaroni (Leporello), Diana Damrau (Donna Anna), Joyce DiDonato (Donna Elvira), Rolando Villazón (Don Ottavio), Mojca Erdmann (Zerlina), Konstantin Wolff (Masetto), Vitalij Kowaljow (Commendatore) Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
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Stephen Hough's French Album
3rd Sep 2012by Katherine Cooper
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. -
Max Emanuel Cencic on Handel's Alessandro
1st Sep 2012by Katherine Cooper
The Viennese countertenor talks to Katherine about recording the title-role in Handel's 1726 opera. -
Mendelssohn's Elijah from McCreesh
27th Aug 2012by Chris O'Reilly
A super-sized, historically-aware account of Mendelssohn’s Old Testament oratorio (with Simon Keenlyside offering a nuanced portrayal of the irascible prophet) sets a new benchmark for this oft-recorded work, with an orchestra of almost 100 and a choir of over 300! -
Carmen from Berlin with Kaufmann and Kožená
20th Aug 2012by Katherine Cooper
The light-voiced Czech mezzo and heavyweight German tenor are an appropriately chalk-and-cheese pairing as the free-spirited gypsy and her obsessive soldier lover, with Kožená’s husband Simon Rattle conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker in a performance which emphasises the score’s opéra comique pedigree.Featured product
Bizet: Carmen
Magdalena Kožená (Carmen), Jonas Kaufmann (Don José), Genia Kühmeier (Micaëla), Kostas Smoriginas (Escamillo), Christian van Horn (Zuniga), Andrè Schuen (Moralès), Christina Landshammer (Frasquita), Rachel Frenkel (Mercédès), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Remendado) & Simone del Savio (Dancairo) Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin & Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
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Mahler Symphony No. 1 from Iván Fischer
13th Aug 2012by James Longstaffe
The Hungarian conductor and his Budapest orchestra bring a wonderfully rustic, unrefined flavour to Mahler’s *völkisch* central movements, in an interpretation which benefits from Fischer’s ear for balance and attention to the smallest details of orchestration.