Colin Clarke - Classical Explorer

Early Music

La Voce Sola: the music of Barbara Strozzi

Superb performances throughout of music of infinite depth and emotion by a truly great composer

Baroque Opera

Rameau Platée on Bluray/DVD

Hilarious, and just what we need in these interesting times

Bruckner

Bruckner Symphony No 2, Thielemann / Vienna PO

Bruckner Second Symphony could hardly ask for a finer advocate than Thielemann

George Walker: Piano Sonatas

The music of American composer George Theophilus Walker (1922-2008) has been gaining some tracktion in recent years, and for good reason, as this superbly recorded and played disc shows

Music in the Round: Sheffield Chamber Music Festival, 2022

Music in the Round: Sheffield Chamber Music Festival, May 14-15.05.2022 (CC) Saturday, May 24, 430-6 pm: Art & Music Roundtable with Helen Grime, Tom McKinney, Tim Horton, David Ainley and Kirstie Hamilton Saturday, May 24, 715 pm Ensemble 360 (Tom Horton, piano; Lucy Gould. Claudia Aumone-Marsan, Sara Wolstenholme,

Vocal

Freddie di Tommaso: Passione

That de Tommaso can present an album which on the surface looks like pure entertainment but in reality offers an enriching musical experience is no mean feat

Vocal

Battle Cry: She Speaks ... Helen Charlston and Toby Carr

This is Classical Exporer's first “advance” review: this disc is actually released on May 27, 2022 (at which point this may be reposted if YouTube links becone available at that point). The point is though that the musicians here, Helen Charlston and Toby Carr, will give a concert performance related

Mozart

A new Mozart Piano cycle from Federico Colli on Chandos

This is some of the finest Mozart on the piano I have heard in many a moon

Beethoven

Beethoven's “Fidelio” at the Barbican

Laurence Equilbey left us in no doubt as to the power of this piece

Song

Barber Complete Songs

A truly special release

Live Performance

World Premiere of SEEN by Joanna Marsh

A new BBC Radio 3 vocal commission SEEN by composer Joanna Marsh for the BBC Singers will receive its world premiere performance at the Barbican Centre’s Milton Court on 20th May 2022. Scored for eighteen voices with live electronic manipulation by producer Glen Scott, the piece with a text

Romantic

Schubert: Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe. Lieder from Samuel Hasselhorn and Joseph Middleton

An immensely satisfying disc

Shostakovich

Weill Symphony 2 / Shostakovich 5 (Shani)

After Sir Simon Rattle's recent fine concerts of Weill at the Barbican, this disc, which includes a rare recording of Weill's Second Symphony, comes as a fine complement. As to the brilliant conductor, here at Classical Explorer, we previously met Lahav Shani at last year's Verbier Festival. So in this

Contemporary

Psappha Commissions

A remarkable disc that demands - and rewards - active listening. Every piece is a gem in its own right

18th century

La Captive du Sérail: Turqueries Galantes à l'Opéra Comique

This disc is a showcase for Florie Valiquette, but also a. reminder of the richness of this repertoire

OK! ... Knussen celebration day at the South Bank

OK!: A Celebration of Oliver Knussen Southbank Centre, 31.4.2022 What You Need To Know: hosted by Gillian Moore, CBE with Sonya Knussen, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Colin Matthews, Julian Anderson, Freya Waley-Cohen, Zoë Martlew, with George Fu (piano), including a performance of Knussen’s Ophelia’s Last Dance. Level 5,

20th Century

Songs of Elizabeth Maconchy and Ralph Vaughan Williams

A superb disc, beautifully sung and recorded. Maconchy's Faustus is simply unforgettable

Contemporary

Edmund Finnis and the Manchester Collective: Shades

Music with a fragile, utterly unique atmosphere

Donizetti

Donizetti's Three Queens: Sondra Radvanovsky triumphs

The "Three Queens" in relation to the operas of Donizetti refers to three operas: Anna Bolena (ill-fated wife of King Henry VIII of England), Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux (Queen Elizabeth I). There is a fourth queen, incidentally, but the opera is seen as "second-drawer" Donizetti (which sounds like an

Piano

Lucas Debargue at the Wigmore Hall

Franck/Debargue, Ravel, Scriabin, Liszt Lucas Debargue (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 1130am, 24.4.2022 (CC) Franck/Debargue Trois Pièces pour grand orgue: Fantaisie Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit Scriabin Fantaisie in B minor, Op. 28 Liszt Années de pèlerinage, Italie: Après une lecture de Dante Lucas Debargue has always

Piano

Béla Bartók et la Virtuosité: Piano Works

A fabulous disc, one entirely worthy of exploration

C. P. E. Bach

C. P. E. Bach: Der Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu

The music is truly revelatory. Don't miss this one!

Violin

David Oistrakh Melodiya Rarities

A fabulous disc: I should emphasise this is not for historical recording specialists: the power of the performances coupled with Biddulph's trimphant transfers makes this an essential listen

News

News Item: Freddie De Tommaso's forthcoming album announced

Decca Classics announces the eagerly anticipated second album of British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso, entitled Il Tenore, released on 24th June,2022. Featuring some of the most iconic arias and duetsever written for the operatic voice, it follows his chart-topping 2021 debut Passione and a year in which the singer

Chopin Piano Concertos (Chamber Versions) from Emanuel Despax and Chineke!

Despax's pianism is all we know to expect form him by now: considered, eminently musical, deeply committed