Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
2019 Christmas Selections 29th November 2019David picks out three of this year's Christmas releases, featuring Septura (with guest appearance from Derek Jacobi), Stile Antico, and the late Stephen Cleobury in his valedictory service at the helm of Carols from King's.
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Recording of the Week,
La damnation de Faust from John Nelson 22nd November 2019Starring Michael Spyres and Joyce DiDonato, this live recording of Berlioz's légende dramatique from Strasbourg is a worthy successor to the American conductor's hugely acclaimed Les Troyens from 2017.
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Recording of the Week,
La Serenissima's The Godfather 15th November 2019La Serenissima explore the network of friendships and collaborations that helped bring together German and Italian styles during the Baroque, with concertos by Telemann, Pisendel, Brescianello and others.
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Recording of the Week,
Bliss from Sarah Connolly, Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra 8th November 2019Davis continues his advocacy for the English composer with three relatively late works - the dramatic scena The Enchantress (written for Kathleen Ferrier), the Meditations on a Theme by John Blow, and the 1963 cantata Mary of Magdala.
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Recording of the Week,
Shostakovich from the Pavel Haas Quartet 1st November 2019The serial award-winners surpass even their own high standards with searing accounts of the Second, Seventh and Eighth String Quartets on Supraphon.
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Recording of the Week,
Purcell's King Arthur from Gabrieli and Paul McCreesh 25th October 2019Paul McCreesh and Gabrieli give a sparkling performance of Purcell's patriotic extravaganza, from a new edition prepared by Christopher Suckling.
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Recording of the Week,
Chamber music by Mieczysław Weinberg 18th October 2019Gidon Kremer and friends perform three pieces of chamber music by the Polish-born Soviet composer, including an outstanding account of the Piano Trio.
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Recording of the Week,
Jonas Kaufmann in Vienna 11th October 2019The German tenor sings the praises of the Austrian capital in a sumptuously-performed collection of operetta favourites and popular songs with a sting in its tail.
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Recording of the Week,
Handel's Brockes-Passion from Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music 4th October 2019Using a new performing edition by oboist Leo Duarte, the Academy of Ancient Music and some exceptional young soloists make a compelling case for Handel's visceral 'Passion-Oratorio' on the 300th anniversary of its premiere.
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Recording of the Week,
Ethel Smyth's Mass in D from Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra 27th September 2019Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a magnificent performance of Dame Ethel Smyth's Mass in D and overture to The Wreckers.
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Recording of the Week,
Schumann from John Eliot Gardiner and the LSO 20th September 2019The London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Eliot Gardiner begin their Schumann cycle with exhilarating, agile performances of the Second and Fourth symphonies.
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Recording of the Week,
Soirée from Magdalena Kožená and friends 13th September 2019The Czech mezzo is joined by her husband and assorted colleagues for a programme of songs for voice and chamber ensemble by Ravel, Brahms, Stravinsky, Chausson, Strauss, Dvořák and Janáček.
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Recording of the Week,
Works by Richard Strauss from Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra 6th September 2019Riccardo Chailly conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in thrillingly-detailed and impassioned performances of four orchestral works by Richard Strauss.
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Recording of the Week,
John Wilson conducts Korngold's Symphony in F sharp 30th August 2019John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London show their impressive credentials when it comes to the music of Korngold, with a thrillingly-performed account of the Symphony in F sharp.
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Recording of the Week,
Winterreise from Ian Bostridge and Thomas Adès 23rd August 2019Fifteen years on from his first audio recording of the work, the British tenor retraces Schubert’s 'Winter Journey' with a new companion in an unsettling, unsentimentalised interpretation that’s underpinned by years of scholarship on both sides.
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Recording of the Week,
Stanford Ceremonial Works from Howard Shelley and the Ulster Orchestra 16th August 2019Pomp and circumstance aplenty in A Song of Agincourt and the 'Solemn March and Heroic Epilogue' Verdun, and ethereal magic from the ladies of Codetta chamber choir in Fairy Day.
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Recording of the Week,
Cecilia Bartoli sparkles as Rossini's 'Italiana in Algeri' 9th August 2019The Roman mezzo makes her role-debut as the feisty feminist Isabella in Rossini's culture-clash comedy, filmed last year at the Salzburg Festival and directed by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier.
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Recording of the Week,
Mahan Esfahani plays Bach Toccatas 2nd August 2019David enjoys Mahan Esfahani's exhilarating recording of Bach's seven keyboard toccatas, BWV910-916.
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Recording of the Week,
Handel's Concerti Grossi Op. 6 from the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin 26th July 2019David enjoys sparkling accounts of Handel's sunny, Italianate concerti grossi Op. 6 from Bernhard Forck and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
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Recording of the Week,
Beethoven Symphonies from Ádám Fischer and the Danish Chamber Orchestra 19th July 2019Ádám Fischer conducts the Danish Chamber Orchestra in frequently thrilling, occasionally controversial, but always fascinating performances of Beethoven's symphonies.