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A collection of 75 posts

Concert Review: Mark Padmore and Jonathan Biss triumph in Schumann

Concert Review: Mark Padmore and Jonathan Biss triumph in Schumann

SchumannLiederkreis, Op. 24 Sechs Gedichte und Requiem, Op. 90 (1850) Dichterliebe, Op. 48 (full 20-song version of 1840) Milton Court, London 29.11.2021 Mark Padmore and Jonathan Biss make for a powerful pairing, and clearly bring out the best ion each other. There was none of the inconsistency of

Strange Wonders: The Wexford Carols, Volume 2

Strange Wonders: The Wexford Carols, Volume 2

A supremely beautiful Christmas disc; warming and different

Songs of Travel and Home

Songs of Travel and Home

A heartfelt, glorious disc of song, the programme imaginative, the performances radiant

Repost: I Am Hera: The delights of soprano Hera Hyesang Park

This singer, more than most, achieves a level of purity of utterance that is to be cherished

Brahms Liebeslieder-Walzer, and more

Brahms Liebeslieder-Walzer, and more

While the Liebeslieder functioned as a considerable financial success for Brahms, today they shine as jewels in Brahms' crown

Bach's Pergolesi Stabat Mater (!)

Bach's Pergolesi Stabat Mater (!)

This is a remarkable disc, thought-provoking, educational and brilliantly, flawlessly performed

Virtù e Amore: Music of Il secondo Barocco

Virtù e Amore: Music of Il secondo Barocco

Virtue and love: two vital aspects of Baroque thought and emotion

Élégie: Anita Rachvelishvili on ravishing form on Sony

Élégie: Anita Rachvelishvili on ravishing form on Sony

I was pretty much knocked out the one and only time I believe I have heard Anita Rachvelishvili: as the gypsy Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Royal Opera Hosue, Covent Garden in 2016 [https://seenandheard-international.com/2016/12/farness-conducting-and-rachvelishvilis-azucena-make-this-revival-worthwhile/] . Here on Classical Explorer we also encountered

Byrd 1588: Psaumes, Sonets & Songs of sadness and pietie

Byrd 1588: Psaumes, Sonets & Songs of sadness and pietie

As the first complete recording of the 1588 collection, these discs obviously have huge musicological value; they hold immense treasures, too

Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri

Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri

One of the most purely beautiful recordings to come my way in some time, this acts as a salutary reminder of the genius of Dietrich Buxtehude (c 1637-1707). This is Passion music par excelllence, supplemented by offerings by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and Lüdert Dijkman (c 1645-1717). Buxtehude, organist at the

Schubert: Three Song Cycles

Schubert: Three Song Cycles

A fine set of performances here from Christoph Prégardien, a singer who has impressed in Schubert at the Wigmore on more than occasion (with James Bailieu here [https://seenandheard-international.com/2016/04/a-stimulating-schubert-recital-by-julian-pregardien-and-james-baillieu/] and with Christoph Schnackertz here [https://seenandheard-international.com/2015/11/christoph-pregardien-champions-lesser-known-schubert-lieder/] ). It is tremendous to have the

Mahler's Song of Lamentation: Das Klagende Lied

Mahler's Song of Lamentation: Das Klagende Lied

A valuable addition to Gielen's Mahler, and a valuable addiiton to to Das Klagende Lied's discography

Tiranno: Kate Lindsey at her majestic best

Tiranno: Kate Lindsey at her majestic best

Just. Don't. Miss. This. One.

Heart & Hereafter: The Songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Heart & Hereafter: The Songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

I enjoyed soprano Elizabeth Llewelyn's contributions to Chelsea Opera Group's Boito Mefitofele [https://seenandheard-international.com/2019/03/chelsea-opera-group-give-a-glorious-performance-of-boitos-mefistofele/] in 2019, in Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony [https://seenandheard-international.com/2017/10/brabbins-and-the-bbc-symphony-in-an-inspired-pairing-of-earth-and-sea/] at the Barbican in 2017 and - heart-stoppingly - as Magda in Puccini&

More Graupner! Cantatas (and an opera)

More Graupner! Cantatas (and an opera)

Two beautifully complementary releases then, revealing different sides of this fascinating composer.

Isolation Songbook

Isolation Songbook

This is a remarkable project fronted by one of the foremost singers in front of the public at the moment, Helen Charlston. The isolation felt by many because of the CoVID lockdowns has been felt particularly keenly by musicians, that itinerant segment of the population who depend on audience contact

Rebirth: Sonya Yoncheva sings Stradella, Monteverdi, Strozzi and ... Abba!

Rebirth: Sonya Yoncheva sings Stradella, Monteverdi, Strozzi and ... Abba!

Born from the "global cataclysm" of CoVID, this disc offers both hope and joy

Il delirio della passione: Anna Lucia Richter sings Monteverdi

Il delirio della passione: Anna Lucia Richter sings Monteverdi

This disc would be the ideal for an introduction to the music of Monteverdi. No fusty history lesson of a disc, it is a vibrant, muscologically-informed celebration of the Master

Im Abendrot: Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho (at sunset)

Im Abendrot: Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho (at sunset)

An absolutely unmissable disc for lovers of the late-Romantic Lied

Chère Nuit: French Songs from Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton

Chère Nuit: French Songs from Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton

Louise Alder herself describes this programme as "wildly varied"; she has also said that she hopes that the album paints "pictures of a French evening, of mystery, intrigue, discovery, seduction, love, and blissful night"

Bach from Philippe Herreweghe

Bach from Philippe Herreweghe

Magnificently recorded in Waalse Church, Amsterdam, this is unmissable ...

Lise Davidsen stuns on Decca

Lise Davidsen stuns on Decca

A major soprano returns:

The Miller's Daughter: Andrè Schuen in Schubert

The Miller's Daughter: Andrè Schuen in Schubert

Previously on Classical Explorer, we looked at a fabulous Schubert recital by Klaudia Tandl and Niall Kinsella, who were joined by Gabriele Jacoby in Schubert's Women [https://www.classicalexplorer.com/schuberts-women/]. Here, though, we begin our exploration of the song-cycles: Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise and Schwanengesang, occasioned by

The World Was Once All Miracle: The Defiantly Eclectic World of Raymond Yiu

The World Was Once All Miracle: The Defiantly Eclectic World of Raymond Yiu

If you like music that is intriguing, entertaining, challenging, sophisticated and sometimes outrageous, you'll like this

Where All Roses Go: Apollo5 in Romantic mood

Where All Roses Go: Apollo5 in Romantic mood

A wonderful, generously filled disc that will surely bring great joy and solace