Latest News: Classical
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Recording of the Week,
Handel Organ Concertos 25th February 2008 -
Recording of the Week,
Late Mozart Symphonies 18th February 2008 -
Recording of the Week,
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project 11th February 2008The latest product of the Chinese-American cellist’s East-meets-West project includes music by Bloch, Lou Harrison, Prokofiev and Mongolian composer Byambasuren Sharav.
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Recording of the Week,
Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel 4th February 2008In response to its frequent use in television and film, Chris ponders the Estonian composer’s 1978 composition ‘mirror/s in the mirror’ and alights upon a favourite recording.
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Recording of the Week,
Undeservedly neglected music - John Marsh and Juan de Araujo 28th January 2008Ex Cathedra explore the rich legacy of a sixteenth-century Spanish composer who spent much of his career in South America, whilst the London Mozart Players focus on the music of an English lawyer who was also one of the most prolific English composers of the eighteenth century.
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Recording of the Week,
Francis Xavier and Jordi Savall 7th January 2008The viol player, conductor and musicologist pays homage to the sixteenth-century saint and Catholic missionary, who was a co-founder of the Jesuit Order.
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Awards,
Discs of the Year 17th December 2007 -
Obituary,
Stockhausen 10th December 2007 -
Coming Soon,
Christmas music worth hearing 19th November 2007 -
Recording of the Week,
The forgotten Maria 12th November 2007Cecilia Bartoli explores the legacy of the nineteenth-century Spanish mezzo Maria Malibran, who created the title-role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda and was particularly associated with the heroines of Rossini.
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Recording of the Week,
Bach B minor Mass from Suzuki 29th October 2007Part-way through his cycle of the complete sacred cantatas, the Japanese conductor and Bach Collegium Japan pause to tackle one of the composer’s large-scale choral masterpieces.
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Recording of the Week,
New Mahler 8 from Pierre Boulez 22nd October 2007A ‘challenging and enlightening’ account of the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’. with the Staatskapelle Berlin and soloists including Erin Wall, Johan Botha and Robert Holl.
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Awards,
Julia Fischer and the Gramophone Awards 8th October 2007 -
Recording of the Week,
Mozart - Don Giovanni from René Jacobs 1st October 2007The final instalment of the Belgian conductor’s ‘refreshing and intelligent’ Mozart-Da Ponte cycle has Chris questioning his preconceptions about the eponymous libertine, sung here by 27-year-old Johannes Weisser.
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Recording of the Week,
Natalie Clein and the Elgar Cello Concerto 24th September 2007The 1994 BBC Young Musician of the Year records the concerto which propelled her to victory with Vernon Handley and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Recording of the Week,
Joshua Bell 17th September 2007Following his recent performance at the Last night of the Proms, the American violinist gives the world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s ‘Red Violin’ Concerto, composed for the 1998 film of the same name.
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Obituary,
Luciano Pavarotti 10th September 2007 -
Recording of the Week,
Kate Royal 3rd September 2007The English soprano’s debut album on EMI includes songs by Strauss, Rodrigo, Granados and Canteloube, plus extracts from works by Ravel, Stravinsky and Debussy.
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Awards,
Gramophone Awards - finalists revealed 27th August 2007 -
Recording of the Week,
Exciting new baroque rediscovery - Conti's David 20th August 2007Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco record the Italian baroque composer’s ‘azione sacra’ (which predates Handel’s Saul by 15 years), with contralto Marjana Mijanovic as the eponymous hero and Furio Zanasi as Goliath.