Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
Rumon Gamba conducts overtures from Finland 11th August 2023The Oulu Symphony Orchestra and their chief conductor offer a treasure trove of rarely-recorded orchestral gems by Finnish composers contemporary with Sibelius.
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Recording of the Week,
Coleridge-Taylor and Dvořák from the Takács Quartet 4th August 2023The Takács Quartet present a double-bill of works from the year 1895: a youthful Coleridge-Taylor, barely into his twenties but already carving out a distinctive style, and a mature Dvořák, recently returned to his beloved Bohemia from the New World.
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Recording of the Week,
Puccini's Il Trittico from Salzburg 28th July 2023Asmik Grigorian stakes her claim as one of the finest singing actresses of today in Christof Loy’s coherent, uncluttered staging of Puccini’s trilogy of one-act operas - culminating in a devastating interpretation of Suor Angelica.
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Recording of the Week,
Ysaÿe's six sonatas for solo violin from Hilary Hahn 21st July 2023Hilary Hahn finds magic, morbidity, merrymaking and much more in a brilliant new account of Ysaÿe's six affectionate character-sketches for his violinist friends.
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Recording of the Week,
John Wilson conducts orchestral works by American composer Kenneth Fuchs 14th July 2023World premiere recordings of a quartet of orchestral works by Grammy Award-winning composer Kenneth Fuchs from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London.
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Recording of the Week,
Choral works by the late Kaija Saariaho 7th July 2023The Helsinki Chamber Choir under Nils Schweckendiek perform choral music by Saariaho that explores a wide range of subjects – from atmospheric invocations of night and Roman mythology to the seasons of the year and spacefaring science fiction.
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Recording of the Week,
Selections from Bernard Herrmann's only opera, Wuthering Heights 30th June 2023Soprano Keri Fuge and baritone Roderick Williams join the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Mario Venzago to perform highlights from a neglected work by a composer known mostly for his film scores, based on the novel by Emily Brontë.
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Recording of the Week,
A new album of orchestral works by Florence Price from Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and Chineke! 23rd June 2023Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and Chineke! present benchmark new recordings of two major works by Florence Price – capturing both the sweep and grandeur of her large-scale movements and the lively fun of her dance-like conclusions.
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Recording of the Week,
L'Heure espagnole from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles 16th June 2023Period instruments lend a delicious piquancy and wit to Ravel's Franco-Spanish farce about a libidinous clock-maker's wife intent on making the most of her husband's absence, with a stylish cast led by French mezzo Isabelle Druet.
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Recording of the Week,
A Grand Concert of Music by Mr Charles, the Hungarian (lately arriv'd from Paris) 9th June 2023Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra recreate a performance that took place Dublin in 1742 - after the triumphant success of Messiah's premiere, an enterprising rival from overseas boldly puts on concerts featuring Handel's other works, right under his nose...
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Recording of the Week,
Tchaikovsky from Alpesh Chauhan and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 2nd June 2023Featuring Francesca da Rimini, The Voyevoda and The Tempest, the British conductor's debut recording is the stuff dreams are made on, combining passion and precision to thrilling dramatic effect.
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Recording of the Week,
A new Haydn symphony series from Paavo Järvi 26th May 2023Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie launch an exciting new Haydn project, embracing music that's peppered with moments of wry humour.
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Recording of the Week,
Christophe Rousset conducts Spontini's La vestale 19th May 2023The first-ever period-instrument recording of Spontini's 1807 opera emphasises the score's debt to the French declamatory tradition, with Marina Rebeka on ravishing form in the title-role and Stanislas de Barbeyrac showing his true heroic colours as the Roman soldier Licinius.
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Recording of the Week,
Broken Branches from Karim Sulayman and Sean Shibe 12th May 2023The Lebanese-American tenor and Scottish guitarist join forces for a multifaceted yet deeply personal recital, that ranges across cultural and geographical boundaries and explores the idea of diaspora in music.
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Recording of the Week,
Beethoven & Beyond from María Dueñas 5th May 2023The 20-year-old Spanish violinist combines a sense of almost childlike wonder with absolute technical mastery on her debut recording of the Beethoven concerto with the Wiener Symphoniker & Manfred Honeck, supplemented with shorter pieces by composers who wrote cadenzas to the work.
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Recording of the Week,
Fantasie from Alexander Melnikov 28th April 2023The Russian pianist performs seven fantasias by composers from JS Bach to Schnittke on seven historically-appropriate instruments, including an extraordinary tangent piano from 1790 and two fortepianos from his own personal collection.
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Recording of the Week,
Gustavo Dudamel conducts Dante, a new ballet by Thomas Adès 21st April 2023Based on Dante's La Divina Commedia, Thomas Adès's three-part ballet receives a virtuosic performance from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with music that moves from the grotesque to the sublime, incorporating a touch of Franz Liszt along the way.
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Recording of the Week,
Anime Immortali from Franco Fagioli 14th April 2023The Argentinian countertenor is at the top of his game in a programme exploring Mozart's writing for castrati, including the motet Exsultate, jubilate and arias from La finta giardiniera, Lucio Silla and La clemenza di Tito.
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Recording of the Week,
John Wilson conducts Rachmaninoff 7th April 2023The spotlight is squarely on the strings on this clear-eyed, almost Classical account of Rachmaninoff's 1908 symphony, with balance and restraint the order of the day until the final few minutes of the piece...
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Recording of the Week,
Visages Baroques from new Deutsche Grammophon signing Raphaël Feuillâtre 31st March 2023The 26-year-old guitarist makes his debut for the yellow label with a dance-suite-inspired programme of Bach and French Baroque works.