Classical Reviews
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Beethoven & Beyond from María Dueñas
5th May 2023
The 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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Fantasie from Alexander Melnikov
28th Apr 2023
The 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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Gustavo Dudamel conducts Dante, a new ballet by Thomas Adès
21st Apr 2023
Based 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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Anime Immortali from Franco Fagioli
14th Apr 2023
The 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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John Wilson conducts Rachmaninoff
7th Apr 2023
The 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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Visages Baroques from new Deutsche Grammophon signing Raphaël Feuillâtre
31st Mar 2023
The 26-year-old guitarist makes his debut for the yellow label with a dance-suite-inspired programme of Bach and French Baroque works.
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Strauss and Debussy from François-Xavier Roth and the London Symphony Orchestra
24th Mar 2023
The LSO and their Principal Guest Conductor present sumptuous, radiant performances of two virtuosic orchestral showpieces: Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra and Debussy's Jeux.
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Benjamin Grosvenor plays music by the Schumanns and Brahms
17th Mar 2023
The British pianist is on typically eloquent, empathetic form in a programme which includes Robert's Kreisleriana and Blumenstück, Clara's variations on a theme from his Bunte Blätter, and their friend Brahms's autumnal Intermezzi Op. 117.
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Schumann & Brahms
Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)
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Antonio Pappano conducts Puccini's Turandot
10th Mar 2023
Sondra Radvanovsky and Jonas Kaufmann lead a stellar cast in a sumptuous account from Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of Puccini's final opera.
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Stravinsky from Isabelle Faust, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles
3rd Mar 2023
Violinist Isabelle Faust's relationship with the music of Stravinsky continues, with François-Xavier Roth and his period-instruments orchestra Les Siècles joining her in an album built around the chamber-inspired Violin Concerto.
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Nadia & Lili Boulanger - Les heures claires
24th Feb 2023
French pianist Anne de Fornel is joined by Lucile Richardot, Stéphane Degout and Raquel Camarinha for this spellbinding anthology of the two sisters' complete songs, including a number of world premiere recordings.
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Biber's Rosary Sonatas from Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti
17th Feb 2023
Inspired by a dance project for the stage, Beyer and her fellow musicians rediscover the vitality of Biber's cycle of devotional sonatas.
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Voyage intime from Sandrine Piau and David Kadouch
10th Feb 2023
The French soprano and pianist are beguiling companions on this 'intimate journey' via songs by Schubert, Liszt, Wolf, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger, Duparc and Debussy.
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Voyage intime
Sandrine Piau (soprano) David Kadouch (piano)
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John Wilson and Sinfonia of London perform music for strings by English composers
3rd Feb 2023
Following on from their 2021 album of English music for strings, John Wilson and his orchestra offer a spectacular selection of works by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Herbert Howells, and Delius.
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Well-tempered Bach on the clavichord from András Schiff
27th Jan 2023
An oft-neglected early keyboard instrument finally gets its moment in the sun in an intimate programme of Bach that plays to its strengths, built around the two-part and three-part inventions.
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J.S. Bach: Clavichord
András Schiff (clavichord)
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Elgar's 'Viola Concerto' from Timothy Ridout
20th Jan 2023
The young British viola-player's account of the Cello Concerto as transcribed by Lionel Tertis is a compelling addition to the piece's distinguished discography on its own terms, with sensitive support from the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins.
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Véronique Gens in Poulenc's La Voix Humaine
13th Jan 2023
The great French tragedienne tackles a role that’s surely been beckoning for years, and the results are every bit as compelling as you'd expect - with the Orchestre National de Lille providing some telling insights into the other side of this fraught phone-conversation...
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The Takács Quartet perform string quartets by Ravel, Dutilleux, and Stephen Hough
6th Jan 2023
Stylish and refined performances of two pillars of the twentieth-century French quartet repertoire sit alongside a newly-composed gem by Stephen Hough.
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Hough, Dutilleux & Ravel: String Quartets
Takács Quartet
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Schubert Revisited from Matthias Goerne
30th Dec 2022
The German baritone is on top form in this recital of nineteen Lieder in bespoke orchestrations by one of his regular recital-partners Alexander Schmalcz, with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen responding to his simple eloquence in kind.
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Presto Personal Favourites from 2022
23rd Dec 2022
Recordings of works by Coleridge-Taylor, Meyerbeer, John Williams and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson feature among the editorial team's individual picks of the year.
