Colin Clarke - Classical Explorer

Opera

Soprano Hila Fahima in Donizetti and Verdi

An excellent debut disc, and I for one look forward to the next

Contemporary

Magnus Lindberg's gritty orchestral music

... this set of live performances is a fine document of one of our most significant contemporary composers

French

Dutilleux's Wolf

A superb addition to the Dutilleux discography

Orchestral

A Summer Night Concert 2021

A lovely disc, worth its weight in gold for that superb Levit Rachmaninov

Villa-Lobos

Villa-Lobos Violin Sonatas

... in a sense a South American Schubert, music just flowed out of Villa-Lobos

Beethoven

Boundless: Beethoven for piano four hands

Beethoven discs don't often include World Premiere recordings ...

Contemporary

Interview with composer Xiaogang Ye

Ye's voice is brilliant, individual, his works perfectly crafted ...

Choral

Magnificat 2: The Choir of St John's, Cambridge triumphs again

A beautiful continuation of what one hopes will be a many-volumed series

Beethoven

Beethoven's "Eroica": arranged Scharwenka!

Beethoven's Third Symphony, the "Eroica," is embedded in any musician's consciousness. It has been played regularly since the date of its composition and in the recorded era has unsurprisingly generated a cornucopia of recordings. Small surprise the market is flooded. And yet here is an arrangement of the mighty "Eroica"

Beethoven

Beethoven 251: Violin Sonatas on Challenge Classics

These new recordings of Beethoven's Violin Sonatas were recorded in Mechelen, in the heart of Flanders, home of Beethoven's grandfather, a bass singer who inspired the great composer. These are performances of great spirit and expertise from Martin Foyle and Maksim Štšura. Volume One contains the first two sonatas from

Piano

Khachaturian Piano Music

Farrugia is a fine advocate for Khachaturian

Baroque

Nicola Benedetti: Baroque

Benedetti is on radiant form in performances that are impeccably in style yet contain a real zest for life; a gift indeed

The Vibrant Music of Vítězslava Kaprálová

There is little doubt that Vítězslava Kaprálová's early death at the age of 25 robbed the musical world of a potent force. Her work list only constitutes around 50 pieces, but the more I hear the more I want to hear ... and the present disc, recorded at the Kaprálová Festival

Contemporary

The Magic of the Manchester Collective

From the first time I heard the Manchester Collective in 2018, I was enraptured. That was at Stoller Hall in Manchester, a concert memorably entitled 1001 Demons containing music by Xenakis, Harvey, Vessel, Reich, Gordon, Finnis and Elms. Here on Classical Explorer, we covered their EP Recreation, an article which

Mozart

Mozart "Prussian" Quartets, Volume 1

A superb new release from one of the finest string quartets around

Vocal

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

Vocal

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. Here on Classical Explorer we also encountered her previously as part of Dutch National Opera's

Farrenc

The Symphonies of Louise Farrenc

Rarely can Farrenc's music have spoken with so much power and so much eloquence; rarely can her genius have shone through so brightly

News Item: Decca Bursary

The Decca Bursary supports young artists overcoming barriers when entering the classical world, be it music lessons, access to instruments, equipment or courses spanning niches within the genre. An auction took place on Tuesday. July 6; all items up for grabs were donated by friends of Decca. The mission of

Rachmaninov

Sonya Bach plays Rachmaninov

This is Sonya Bach's finest record to date

chamber orchestra

Divertissement!

A collective of some 30 young musicians from a dozen different, Europe-wide countries, the c/o chamber orchestra is a vibrant ensemble. Performing without conductor, the group presents four examples of a form which, while broadly characterised as "light," offers a wide diversity of expression: the Divertissement, or Divertimento. The

Early Music

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

Chamber

Ravel and Saint-Saëns Piano Trios from the Sitkovetsky Trio

A glorious coupling here from the Sitkovetsky Trio: plus an animated cartoon!

Brahms First Piano Concerto from Emmanuel Despax - plus some Waltzes

We've met Emmanuel Depax before on Classical Explorer (both Spira, Spera and his own The Sound of Music Fantasy), but here he presents a piece that is particularly dear to his heart - Brahms' First Piano Concerto, in a powerful recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Litton. Here

Piano

Alexander Koryakin, winner of the International Competition Prize Jaén

The competition itself might be a bit of a mouthful ("International Competition Prize Jaén"), but it seems to have found a worthy winner in Russian pianist Alexander Koryakin. Founded in 1958, it is Spain's oldest running annual piano competition. But the real reason for this post was the inclusion in