Latest stories
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Rattle conducts Brahms
31st Aug 2009
The ‘incredible warmth and beauty of sound’ which Rattle coaxes from the Berliner Philharmoniker in the four symphonies echoes the achievement of their Gramophone award-winning recording of Ein deutsches Requiem in 2007.
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Bruckner from the Concertgebouw
24th Aug 2009
Mariss Jansons conducts the Third and Fourth symphonies with the Amsterdam orchestra in performances which showcase their lustrous string sound and richly glowing brass section.
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Gramophone Awards 2009 - Finalists
17th Aug 2009
Nominations includes Sir Mark Elder’s Dream of Gerontius with the Hallé, the late Richard Hickox’s recording of Britten’s Owen Wingrave, and Stephen Kovacevich’s Dabelli Variations.
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Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle
10th Aug 2009
Sir Willard White is the bridegroom with skeletons in his closet, and Russian mezzo Elena Zhidkova his inquisitive new wife on this new live recording from Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra.
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Diaghilev and The Ballets Russes
27th Jul 2009
The Mariinsky Orchestra and Ballet and Valery Gergiev commemorate the centenary of the Russian ballet company with a DVD which reconstructs Nijinsky’s original choreography for The Rite of Spring and The Firebird.
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Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes - DVD version
Ekaterina Kondaurova (Firebird), Ilya Kuznetsov (Ivan Tsarevich), Marianna Pavlova (The Princess) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Kachtcheï the Immortal), Alexandra Iosifidi (The Chosen One), Elena Bazhenova (300-Year-Old Woman) & Vladimir Ponomarev (Shaman) Mariinsky Orchestra & Ballet, Valery Gergiev
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Sir Edward Downes
20th Jul 2009
The British conductor and his wife Joan ended their lives together at an assisted suicide clinic in Zurich at the weekend; Chris pays tribute to ‘a thoroughly nice man’ who was particularly renowned in Verdi and Russian repertoire.
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Tomás Luis de Victoria
6th Jul 2009
The Lay Clerks of Westminster Cathedral and Matthew Martin present the Spanish master’s Missa Gaudeamus, interspersed with passages of chant and organ music by Frescobaldi, in an account which impressed with its focus and purity.
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Britten's homage to Purcell
29th Jun 2009
Mark Padmore and Roger Vignoles join forces for gripping accounts of Winter Words, The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, and a handful of Britten’s Purcell realisations, including An Evening Hymn and Job’s Curse.
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Gergiev at the Mariinsky
1st Jun 2009
The Russian conductor presides over a ‘thoroughly worthwhile’ recording of Shostakovich’s surreal first opera The Nose, composed between 1927 and 1928 and based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol.
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Two recent re-discoveries light up Martinu year
25th May 2009
The fiftieth anniversary of the Czech composer’s death is marked by a superb programme of excerpts from his opera Juliette (conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, with Magdalena Kožená in the title-role) and a collection of his chamber music from Ensemble Calliopée.
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Idomeneo from René Jacobs
18th May 2009
Following his landmark accounts of the three Da Ponte opera, Jacobs tackles Mozart’s early opera seria, with Richard Croft as the Cretan king, Bernarda Fink as his estranged son, and Alexandrina Pendatchanska spitting fire as Elettra.
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Telemann: Brockes Passion
Birgitte Christensen, soprano (Tochter Zion I, Gläubige Seele I, Maria, 3. Magd), Lydia Teuscher, soprano (Tochter Zion II, Gläubige Seele II, 2. Magd), Marie-Claude Chappuis, mezzosoprano (Judas, Gläubige Seele III, 1. Magd), Donát Havár, tenor (Petrus, Pilatus, Gläubige Seele IV, Hauptmann), Daniel Behle, tenor (Evangelist, Gläubige Seele VI) & Johannes Weisser, baritone (Jesus, Gläubige Seele V) RIAS Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
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A&R and Kate Royal's Midsummer Night
11th May 2009
The British soprano and Kathleen Ferrier Award winner’s second recording for EMI Classics includes opera arias by Walton, Stravinsky, Britten, Korngold and Dvořák, all on a nocturnal theme.
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Rachmaninov Preludes
27th Apr 2009
In ‘one of his finest recordings to date’, Scottish pianist Steven Osborne showcases the infinite variety of Rachmaninov’s 24 Preludes in performances which combine musical intelligence with fire and tenderness.
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Rachmaninov - 24 Preludes
Steven Osborne (piano)
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20 Years of NMC
20th Apr 2009
Founded by composer Colin Matthews in 1989, the British contemporary music label celebrates its twentieth birthday with a songbook featuring music by composers including Thea Musgrave, Tarik O’Regan and Mark-Anthony Turnage.
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BBC Music Magazine Awards
13th Apr 2009
Sir Charles Mackerras’s vibrant accounts of the late Mozart symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra take the palm as Disc of the Year, with honourable mentions for Christian Gerhaher, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and others.
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Shostakovich 11 from the RLPO
6th Apr 2009
The latest instalment of Vasily Petrenko’s Shostakovich cycle with his Liverpool orchestra prompts Chris to draw comparisons with Rattle’s landmark work with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra…
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Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
9th Mar 2009
Richard Egarr and The Academy of Ancient Music record Bach’s six concerti grossi at French baroque pitch (A = 392Hz), which has ‘a remarkable effect on the richness of the sound’.
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Angela Gheorghiu in Puccini's Madama Butterfly
2nd Mar 2009
The Romanian soprano assumes the role of the tragic teenage geisha for the first time, with Jonas Kaufmann as the American naval officer who abandons her, and Antonio Pappano conducting.
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The world's most celebrated violins
23rd Feb 2009
James Ehnes explores one of the world’s finest private collections of violins, including instruments by Stradivari and Guarneri, and showcases their unique qualities in a programme including music by Elgar, Ravel, Falla and Sibelius.
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Sarah Connolly gets Purcell year off to a flier
2nd Feb 2009
The British mezzo ushers in the 350th anniversary of Purcell’s birth by masterminding a new recording of Dido and Aeneas, on which her assumption of the title-role ranks with the very best on disc.
