Latest stories

Vivaldi in a new light

13th Oct 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Daniel Hope directs the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in a programme of music by the ‘Red Priest’, including the ‘Tempesta di mare’ concerto, the ‘La Follia’ sonata, and ‘Andromeda Liberata’, with guest soloist Anne Sofie von Otter.

Americans in Pyongyang

6th Oct 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The New York Philharmonic’s visit to North Korea with Lorin Maazel is charted in an insightful and moving documentary, culminating in a concert of music by Wagner, Dvořák and Gershwin.

Paul Lewis and the Gramophone Awards 2008

29th Sep 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Songs her mother taught her

22nd Sep 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The Czech mezzo Magdalena Kožená goes back to her roots with a programme of songs by Janacek, Dvorak, Leopold Kozeluch, Petr Eben and others, accompanied with style and sensitivity by Malcolm Martineau.

Zig Zag and the Atrium Quartet

8th Sep 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The French independent label zig-Zag Territoires go from strength to strength – as do the winners of the London International String Quartet Competition, who display ‘beautiful burnished tone’ in a programme of Beethoven and Shostakovich.

Beautiful Messiah and Exquisite Morales

25th Aug 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen offer a Messiah of ‘formidable achievement’, whilst The Brabant Ensemble present a compelling programme motets and lamentations by the Spanish Renaissance composer Cristóbal de Morales.

Chloë Hanslip and the unfamiliar

4th Aug 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The young British violinist ventures off the beaten track with concertos by John Adams and John Corigliano, and a recital of virtuoso showpieces by Antonio Bazzini, best known for his fiendish ‘Dance of the Goblins’.

Leopold Godowsky and the virtuoso pianist

28th Jul 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Marc-André Hamelin explores original compositions and transcriptions by the Polish-born pianist and composer (1870-1983) in an ‘attractive and strangely compelling’ recital on Hyperion.

Reginald Goodall's revelatory 'Mastersingers'

30th Jun 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Broadcast by the BBC in 1968 and sung in English by a largely British cast, the controversial conductor’s take on Wagner’s only comedy impresses with its ‘immense depths of mood and meaning’.

Bach Fugues from Onyx and the Emersons

16th Jun 2008by Chris O'Reilly

A British brass quintet and American string quartet (who recently recorded an impressive account of The Art of Fugue) tackle fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Time to re-evaluate Miaskovsky

2nd Jun 2008by Chris O'Reilly

A 16-CD of the Russian composer’s complete symphonies and orchestral works gives Chris a chance to explore the remarkable legacy of the ‘father of the Soviet symphony’.

Superb Scholl sings Dowland and his circle

26th May 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The German countertenor captivates in a programme of lute and consort songs by the great Elizabethan ‘poet of melancholy’, John Dowland, with lutenist Julian Behr and Swiss-based viol quartet Concerto di Viole.

Fiesta! - Dudamel and the Venezuelans

19th May 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra scintillate in a programme of Latin American showpieces including music by Revueltas, Romerto, Ginastera and Castellanos.

A La Bohème for all

5th May 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Anna Netrebko is the Parisian seamstress with the cold hands and Rolando Villazón is the poet who finds her door-key on this new recording from Bertrand de Billy and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Beethoven and Period Instruments

28th Apr 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Belgian conductor Jos van Immerseel and his Amsterdam-based group Anima Eterna impress in an historically-informed cycle of the complete Beethoven symphonies, which will be an Editor’s Choice in the next issue of Gramophone…

The Jerusalem Quartet

21st Apr 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The former BBC New Generation Artists display ‘excitement and vitality’ in Schubert’s Death and the Maiden and Quartettsatz.

Nigel Kennedy

14th Apr 2008by Chris O'Reilly

The maverick violinist impresses in ‘rhythmically driven and playful’ Beethoven, but fails to convince in a Mozart concerto which sees him take up an electric violin for the cadenza…

Paul Lewis's Beethoven

7th Apr 2008by Chris O'Reilly

Ahead of the release of the final instalment of his acclaimed cycle on Harmonia Mundi, Chris offers an overview of the Liverpool-born pianist’s ‘utterly compelling’ traversal of the complete sonatas.