Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
Chamber music from the Mendelssohns 29th July 2022The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective performs early works by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, complemented by one of Fanny's last-ever compositions.
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Recording of the Week,
Adapted and reconstructed Bach concertos from Francesco Corti and Il Pomo d'Oro 22nd July 2022Francesco Corti continues his series of Bach harpsichord concerto recordings with an album of double concertos - including his own collaborative reconstruction with Francesco Zimei of a tantalising fragment.
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Recording of the Week,
Berg, Webern and Schoenberg from the Heath Quartet 15th July 2022The UK-based string quartet bring luminous clarity and beauty to three transitional works by the Second Viennese School, with soprano Carolyn Sampson joining them for Schoenberg's String Quartet No. 2.
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Recording of the Week,
Francesco Piemontesi performs works for piano and orchestra by Ravel, Messiaen, and Schoenberg 8th July 2022The Swiss pianist is joined by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and conductor Jonathan Nott for a dazzlingly characterful trio of performances.
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Recording of the Week,
Ronald Brautigam performs piano concertos by Johann Wilhelm Wilms 1st July 2022Fortepianist Ronald Brautigam is joined by the Kölner Akademie and conductor Michael Alexander Willens for the first of two volumes of concertos by the composer once described as "the Dutch Beethoven".
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Recording of the Week,
Freddie De Tommaso - Il Tenore 24th June 2022The young British-Italian tenor is on barnstorming form in a programme of scenes and arias from Tosca, Turandot, Madama Butterfly and Carmen, with equally impressive guest appearances from Lise Davidsen, Natalya Romaniw and Aigul Akhmetshina.
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Recording of the Week,
Wranitzky Symphonies from Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin 17th June 2022Bernhard Forck leads Akamus in a spirited showcase of the Moravian-born composer’s gifts as an orchestrator, featuring the overture to Oberon, the ‘Grande Symphonie caractéristique pour la Paix avec la République francaise’, and the ‘Tempest’ Symphony.
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Recording of the Week,
Marc-André Hamelin performs William Bolcom's complete piano rags 10th June 2022The Canadian pianist brings the 1960s' great ragtime revival into the present with a new recording of the complete rags of one of its leading lights.
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Recording of the Week,
John Williams conducts Anne-Sophie Mutter in his new Violin Concerto 3rd June 2022John Williams continues his collaboration with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, joining forces with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere recording of his Violin Concerto No. 2.
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Recording of the Week,
Sopranista from Samuel Mariño 27th May 2022The young Venezuelan's silvery timbre and stratospheric high notes provide thrills aplenty in arias by Mozart, Saint-Georges, Cimarosa and Gluck - most of them composed for soprano castratos.
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Recording of the Week,
Ravel Piano Concertos from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles 20th May 2022Les Siècles continue their successful series of Ravel recordings on period instruments under François-Xavier Roth, with Cédric Tiberghien at the piano and baritone Stéphane Degout.
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Recording of the Week,
Brahms Quintets from the Pavel Haas Quartet and friends 13th May 2022Three years on from their previous album, the Pavel Haas Quartet make a triumphant recorded return with two quintets by Brahms, for which they are joined by pianist Boris Giltburg and violist Pavel Nikl.
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Recording of the Week,
Farewells from Jakub Józef Orliński & Michał Biel 6th May 2022The Polish countertenor and pianist fly the flag for their native country in a beguiling recital of songs by Karel Szymanowski, Henryk Czyż, Stanisław Moniuszko, Mieczysław Karłowicz, and Tadeusz Baird.
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Recording of the Week,
Weber's Der Freischütz from René Jacobs 29th April 2022The Belgian conductor's restoration of the original libretto's prologue lends a wonderful symmetry and coherence to Weber's supernatural Singspiel, whilst German actor Max Urlacher is properly spine-chilling in the expanded role of the demon Samiel.
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Recording of the Week,
Olga Neuwirth's Orlando 22nd April 2022The Austrian composer's Virginia Woolf-inspired opera delights in blurring boundaries of all kinds, with an astonishing central performance from mezzo Kate Lindsey in the shape-shifting title-role.
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Recording of the Week,
Bach's St Matthew Passion from Raphaël Pichon 15th April 2022Raphaël Pichon and his Pygmalion ensemble present a vision of Bach's masterwork that aims for clarity and immediacy over exhaustingly intense theatrics.
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Recording of the Week,
Franco-Italian recitals from Benjamin Bernheim and Pene Pati 8th April 2022Bernheim traces the history of Italian composers in Paris with his customary elegance and eloquence, whilst Pati's equally impressive debut on Warner reveals a voice of immense character and versatility.
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Recording of the Week,
Johan Dalene performs violin concertos by Nielsen & Sibelius 1st April 2022The Swedish violinist offers a characterful performance of Sibelius's concerto alongside a virtuosic account of the piece that swept him to victory at the 2019 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition.
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Recording of the Week,
Beethoven violin sonatas from Rachel Podger and Christopher Glynn 25th March 2022Three snapshots from the beginning, middle and end of Beethoven's career trace his development of the violin sonata form from its Classical roots into new directions.
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Recording of the Week,
Ruth Slenczynska and a Life in Music 18th March 2022The pianist's return to the recording studio at the age of 97 offers us a bridge to the bygone era of composers and virtuosos who shaped her career.