Competitions

Invocations: Maroussia Gentet and the Concours d'Orléans

Gentet's disc is a beautifully realised, well-balanced recital of great interest

Choral

An invitation to the dark side: And the Sun Darkened (BIS)

The perfect disc for this time of year, New York Polkphony's faultless renditions bring this music to life

Beethoven Symphonies - for Piano Trio (and what a trio!)

This is more than a curio, although it is fascinating on many grounds. But let's first of all say that the performances here are as fresh as a daisy. It's as if performing Beethoven symphonies inthese reductions offered a completely fresh perspective for the players and

French Baroque

Lully Grands Motets from Versailles

Fuget and his group bring out the beauty of Lully's writing; recorded in perfect sound, this disc is a rare treat

Beethoven

Beethoven's Ninth, Philarmonia (concert review)

Even by the Philharmonia Orchestra’s exalted standards, this was an exceptional concert

News

News: Guitarist Miloš signs for Sony

World-renowned, highly acclaimed star classical guitarist, Miloš is joining Sony Classical’s distinguished roster of artists.

Puccini's La bohème from Irish National Opera on Signum

On August 11, 2021 Signum announced a partnership with Irish National Opera to rlease the company's first official recordings. Following their World Premiere recording of Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, released last year, La bohème is Irish National Opera’s second recording in their new

Contemporary

Visions and Utterances: Concert Review

An invaluable experience for Rebecca Saunders’ blistering new piece and George Walker’s fine Sinfonia No. 5

Don Giovanni from Covent Garden

Kasper Holten's fabulously inventive staging of Mozart's Don Giovanni arrives on DVD and Bluray - and should be welcomed with open arms. Using Escher-like designs with state of the art technologies (the writing of the Don's lovers in cursice "over" the stage

Handel

Handel Organ Concertos & Vocal Works: Château de Versailles Spectacles

It is certainly to be hoped that these bejewelled performances make this music many friends

News

News: Composer Dani Howard Composer-in-Residence of the LCO

London Chamber Orchestra has appointed Dani Howard as Composer in Residence from the 22/23 season, following Freya Waley-Cohen’s successful tenure in the post. This is great news: the World Premiere of Dani Howard's Trombone Concerto was a highlight of this concert given by the Royal Liverpool

News: Deutsche Grammophon celebrates World Piano Day

Deutsche Grammophon marks World Piano Day (29 March) with six fabulous concerts on DG Stage and a film of rediscovered performances from legendary artists released digitally for the first time by the label. The Yellow Label’s third annual international virtual festival offers easy access to performances by some of

Pene Pati: Opera Arias

If there's one thing that attracts me to a disc of opera arias, it is the inclusion of  lesser-known arias alongside the familiar. And so it is here, in Samoan tenor Pene Pati's debut album: arias from Verdi's La battaglia di Legnano , Rossini'

Schubert

Schubert Late String Quartets from the Fitzwilliam Quartet

Superbly immediate Schubert, fresh, full of contrasts and raw power

Italian Baroque

Vivaldi's Stabat Mater on Erato: performance and film

I like the format - instead of a full 80-minute compact disc, the focus is on one piece of short duration but which, such is its power, needs no sonic bedfellows

Festival

The Felicja Blumental International Music Festival 2022

An encounter between the contemporary and the timeless: 21 – 26 March 2022 / The Tel Aviv Museum of Art The Felicja Blumental International Music Festival celebrates 24 successful years in 2022 with a varied programme of events: acclaimed harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani (Iran/England) performs an eclectic recital alongside Myrna Herzog (viola

Concert Review

Concert Review: Insula Orchestra in Mendelssohn and Schumann

A remarkable evening

Choral

Bach Inspired: The Bach Choir's fabulous project

Released to tie in with The Bach Choir's Easter performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday April 16 (11 am), Bach Inspired is a "passion project" that takes six chorales from the St Matthew (sung in English, hence

Chamber

Moeran Chamber Music

Moeran's voice is brilliantly individual. It's a fair but though, that those readers who enjoy the English Pastoralist tradition will enjoy this!

Mozart Violin Sonatas from Francesca Dego and Francesca Leonardi

Francesca Dego's preview Mozart release on Chandos included just one Violin Sonata (K 304); the balance of the disc was taken up by two violin concertos [https://www.classicalexplorer.com/francesca-dego-plays-mozart/]. It is a treat to have "the Francescas" (Francesca Dego, violin, and Francesca Leonardi on

Opera

Zemlinsky's Der König Kandaules

A veritable feast of Zemlinsky!

20th Century

Korngold: Complete Incidental Music

A celebration of Korngold, then; a demonstration of the miraculous varity his music holds, brillianlty conceived as a programme and performed with real devotion. A fabulous disc

Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn The Three String Quintets on Chandos

I really cannot recommend the Doric/Ridout performances highly enough

Piano

Black Renaissance Woman

A fascinating exploration of the Black Chicago Renaissance

Choral

An Old Belief: The Sixteen and Harry Christophers

A superb, radiant disc, beautifully recorded and produced