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Mäkelä's Berlioz
In terms of career trajectory, thee is no equalling Klaus Mäkelä. He collects principal positions with the World's major orchestras like others collect stamps. And yet, should we believe the hype? This release suggest not; and there have been warning signs for previous concerts, too ... There is such a thing
Yunchan Lim's epoch-making performance of Rach 3
Yuncham Lim cerainly made waves wt this performance: live at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He was 18.. Lim's debut studio album Chopin Étude was the subject of a post on Classical Explorer here. Dominic Fyfe, Label Director, Decca Classics, says: The creation of a recorded legacy on
Donizetti Songs, #1: Lawrence Brownlee & Carlo Rizzi
We began our coverage of Opera Rara's Donizetti Songs #4 because of the inclusion of a setting of some of the libretto for La Straniera, and we covered Bellini's opera of that name recently. now back to the beginning - Genesis, as it were - with Volume 1. Incidentally, I
Nicolas Namoradze stuns at Wigmore Hall
Scriabin, Bach, Beethoven Nicolas Namoradze (piano). Wigmore Hall, 23.06.2025 Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70 (1912/13) Bach Prelude & Fugue in E, BWV 878 (WTC II) Scriabin Fugue in E minor, WoO 20 (1892) Bach Prelude & Fugue in G sharp minor, BWV 863 (WTC I) Scriabin Piano
Love and Loss in Thaxted: Alexander Chance and Toby Carr
Love and Loss: Music for Countertenor & Lute Songs by Dowland, Danyel, Rosseter, Campion, Purcell, Blow and Cynthia Harper. Alexander Chance (countertenor); Toby Carr (lute). Thaxted Parish Church, 22.06.2025 (9pm) A stroll through Elizabethan lute song as the sun sets is just the ticket, Especially after Nicky Spence and
A Mafia Widow: Lehár's ever-popular score undergoes a transplant
It’s been a while: well, over 40 years, since I heard Lehár's Die lustige Witwe, in an amdram production just outside of Manchester in which I was playing French horn. Has absence made the heart grow fonder? Well, there is no doubting that having the orchestra of Scottish Opera
#MOZART250: The Mozartists at Wigmore Hall
#MOZART250: Rachel Podger plays Mozart. Rachel Podger (violin); The Mozartists / Ian Page (conductor). Wigmore Hall, Londo, 18.06.2024 (CC) Haydn Symphony No. 66 in B flat (1775/6) Mozart Violin Concertos: No. 2 in D, K 211 (1775); No. 5 in A, K 219. Symphony in D, K 196,
Donizetti: Songs on Opera Rara, #4
Opera Rara's Donizetti Song Project is the latest in their alchemical mix of musicology and performance. But why say with Volume Four first? Because recently we heard Bellini's La straniella (see this post), and Donizetti sets part of the source text by Charles Vivto Prévost, Viscose d'Arlincourt, here. The lovely
Dresden Festspiele II: Britten and Shostakovich in Dresden
Britten, Shostakovich Augustin Hadelich (violin); Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra / Michael Sanderling (conductor). Kulturpalast, Dresden, 13.06.2025 Britten Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 15 (1939) Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (1943) Great programming here: a celebration of the famous meeting of Benjamin Britten with Dmitrii Shostakovich
Heinrich Heine. Paris. Musik: Dresden Festspiele 2025 (I)
Heinrich Heine. Paris. Musik Benjamin Appl (baritone); James Baillieu (piano); Barbara Auer (narrator); Jens Harzer (narrator); Helmut Butzmann (concept). Palais im Großen Garten, Dresden, Germany, 12.06.2025 Lieder with readings might be an Appl preference, when one considers his Alpha Classics disc, again with pianist James Baillieu, Forbidden Fruit.
Rare Bellini: La straniera
Bellini La strraniera (concert performance) Cast; Chorus and Orchestra of Chelsea Opera Group /. Stephen Barlow (conductor) Cadogan Hall, London, 01.06.2025 Cast: Alaide (La straniera) - Heena Dix Valdeburgo – Dan D’Souza Isoletta – Geogia Mae Bishop The Lord of Montolno – Kevin Hollnds Osbirgo – Will Diggle Arturo – Thomas Elswin Prior
Dudok Quartet Amsterdam at Wigmore Hall
Mozart, Tchaikovsky Dudok Quartet Amsterdam. Wigmore Hall, 1pm, 01.06.2025 Mozart String Quartet No. 14 in G, K 387 (1782) Tchaikovsky String Quartet No. 2 in F, Op. 22 (1874) The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam comprises Judith van Dreel and Marleen Wester, violins, Marie-Louise de Jong, viola, and Davd Faber,
Ravel ‘Daphnis’ from Strasbourg
Aziz Shokhakimov's continuing success with the Strasbourg orchestra is exemplified in this recording. Good timing, too, given the Ravel celebrations this year. Recently, we covered a live performance in Strasbourg of Stravinsky's Rite could with are Debussy (Printemps) and a Mozart Piano Concerto. And here we have a faultless performance
Sheffield Chamber Music Festival III: Battleship Potemkin, & something more relaxed
Edmund Meisel (arr. Morton) Battleship Potemkin Last year, Music in the Round celebrated 40 years, and included a performance of the film L'assassinat du duc de Guise with live music. This year upped the ante, with a realisation of Austrian-born Edmund Meisel's music (in an arrangement by conductor George Morton)
Sheffield Chamber Music Festival II: Ravel, Farrenc, Duruflé, Schumann
Sheffield Chamber Music Festival (II) Mother Goose Ensemble 360. Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield, 18.05.2025 Ravel Mother Goose Suite (1908/11,arr. Farrington) Farrenc Sextet in C minor, Op. 40 (1851/2) Duruflé Prélude récitaif et variations Op. 3 (1928) Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat, Op. 44 (1842) From
Bank Holiday Bonus: A Parisian Peri at La Seine Musicale
Schumann Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50 (1843) Mandy Friedrich (The Péri); Sebastian Kohlhepp (tenor); Agata Schmidt (alto); Samuel Hasselhorn (baritone); Clara Guilon (the young girl); Victoire Bunel (the angel); Julien Clément (Gazna); Lancelot Lamotte (the young man); Rosana Ribeio (choreography); , accentuis; Insula / Laurence Equilbey. La Seine Musicale, Paris,
The Watchman #4: Us is Them
Editorial by Hana Gubenko Not rarely one hears Those above; the government, the media, the educated, the rich, the refugees, the powerful and powerless, the doctors, teachers, bankers, the unvaccinated, criminals, transgender and transphobes, gays, homophobes, godly, atheists… That list might be infinite. It is a certain Them who threatens
Angel of Peace: The Sixteen
Each year, the vocal group The Sixteen releases a new album on the CORO label to accompany the choir’s nationwide Choral Pilgrimage tour, which sees them visit over 20 locations across the span of 7 months, which began on Monday 17 March at Croydon Minster. Here's the promo video:
The RCM Benjamin Britten Felllowship Recital: Thomas Kelly at Wigmore Hall
RCM Benjamin Britten Piano Fellowship recital: Brahms/Busoni, Schumann, Liszt/Busoni Thomas Kelly (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 1pm, 13.05.2025 Brahms/Busoni Chorale Prélude, Herzlich tut mich verlangen, Op. 122/10 Schumann Piano Sonata No. 1in F sharp minor, Op. 11 Liszt/Busoni Fantasy and Fugue on ‘Ad nos,
Seohyun Go wins the Guildhall Gold Medal
I was lucky enough to attend the Guildhall Godlier Medal last Thursday May 8). The announcement of the winner from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a follows: Guildhall School of Music & Drama is thrilled to announce soprano Seohyun Go as the winner of this year’s Gold
Handel's Jephtha at the Barbican
Handel’s last oratorio presents, amongst the composer’s catalogue of undeniable masterpieces, a masterwork of stunning stature. Not a note is misplaced in Jephtha: long though it is (more of that later), everything is perfectly proportioned, drama and music hand-in-hand. Thomas Morell’s text has a huge part to
Mr Brouček's Barbican adventures
Janáček The Excursions of Mr Brouček (‘Výlety páně Broučkovy’; concert performance). Cast; Tenebrae; London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle (conductor). Barbican Hall, 04.05.2025 Cast: Broućek - Peter Hoare Mazal/Blankytný/Petřík - Aleš Briscein Malinka/Etherea/Kunka - Lucy Crowe Sacristan/Svatopluk/Lunobor/Domšīk - Gyula Orendt Wüfl/