A great disc, but perhaps the dervishes should dervish more

Ariadne auf Lewes: Strauss’ opera returns to Glyndebourne, transformed. Soloists; London Philharmonic Orchestra / Robin Ticciati (conductor). Glyndebourne Opera House, 19.07.2026 Production: Director, Costume Designer - Laurent Pelly Set Designer - Massimo Tronacanetti Lighting Designer - Marco Giusti Cast (Prologue): Music Master - Michael kraus Major-Domo - William Relton Lackey - Oliver Williams Officer

In a week which included Richard Strauss' Ariadne from Glyndebourne, it feels only right to reach for this from the pile: excerpts from Richard Strauss’s comic opera Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), pre-produced as studio recordings for a television programme in November 1960. The cast was

The booklet fo his Scala Music release is French only, but there's an important opening paragraph by Michail Maiasky: The name "Hermitage" may seem paradoxical for a duo: Doesn't the hermit want to go away into a desert (eremos [the Greek ford for solitary]

We've met Philip Moore (born 1943) a couple of times on Classical Explorer previously: A Fugal Flourish on "Personent Hodie" on Christmas Bells, and one of his 21 settings of the Evening Service on Andrew Nethsingha's and St John's Cambridge's

Here's a symphony that lives up to its name: the outburst that opens Respighi's Sinfonia drammatico (1913-15, P. 102) is a late-Romantic explosion, and al the music seems to want to do thenceforth is get back to that extreme of emotion. Think Richard Strauss/

To my count, this is the eighth post on Classical Explorer featuring playing by Emanuel Despax: he is worth the focus, for sure, a rare meeting of musical sensitivity and high technique. ThePiano Quintet in C-Minor, Op. 40 by Louise Farrenc receives its first recording here. Farrenc's

After an all-Czech Wimbledon Ladies' Final, a very much all-Czech symphonic release: Ondřej, Jiří, Jakub and Tomáš conspire to give is a very special disc of live performances. Ondřej Kukal (born 1964) is a graduate of the Prague Conservatoire and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

MANCHESTER CAMERATA, LED BY MUSIC DIRECTOR GÁBOR TAKÁCS-NAGY, UNVEILS 2026-27 SEASON OF CONCERTS ACROSS GREATER MANCHESTER AND LONDON ALONGSIDE   GROUNDBREAKING COMMUNITY AND HEALTHCARE WORK * AMC Gospel Choir, pianist Ethan Loch, Kantos Chamber Choir, composer Rushil Ranjan and soprano Ying Fang announced as Artistic Partners for 2026-2029 * Second

“Fine old days”: Boerio (probably)'s 1673 comic intermezzo We are in the world of the commedia dell'arte here. In the early 1670s, soon after Venetian opera became established in Naples, a series of comic figures began to inhabit opera. Here, a Neapolitan, a Calabrian, and a

Music by François Couperin today, a perfect complement to a previous post on the harpsichord music of Louis Couperin at Wigmore Hall by Jean Rondeau (linked in to his monumental box of Louis' keyboard works on Erato). Here we are on the Dynamic label, for a disc of music

Jury honours the finalists with one Second Prize and two Third Prizes, reaffirming the exceptionally high artistic standards of the international conducting competition Press Release: July 2026  ● The jury of The Mahler Competition 2026 has decided not to award a First Prize. Instead, the Second Prize was awarded to Jakub

This is surely Sir Antonio Pappano’s “Wagner period”: his recent Siegfried, the latest instrument of an ongoing Ring at RBO revealed, to my ears at least, his finest Wanger to date. He has, of course, recorded Tristan und Isolde with Domingo and Stemme (and a cast that includes Ian

This is not he first specifically Haitink Bruckner 7 on Classical Explorer: we did a short post on a DVD of a Vienna performance here. There is something about the gorgeous warmth of found of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) that suits Bruckner, though, and again

Loops, patterns, Minimalism, post-Minimalism. ...

After Glyndebourne's thought-provoking L'Orfeo, it struck me it was a good idea to cover Jordi Savall's 2000 Barcelona performance, staged by Pauline Bayle, first of all because the staging is a masterpiece of Minimalism (sets Emmanuel Clolus): especially compared with William Kentridge'

Elisabeth Leonskaja In Recital Barbican Hall, London, 24.06.2026 Mozart Piano Sonata No. 18 in D, K 576 (1789) Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 (1821/22) Schubert Piano Sonata No. 15 in B flat, D 960 (1828) In September 2024, Elisabeth Leonskaja performed the

I'd love to hear Andreeva in recital, she clearly has such alignment with this repertoire. An important disc