Romantic

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony & Urbs Roma

Definitely worth it for the "Urbs Roma" Symphony; and one can't have enough "Organ" Symphonies, after all!

Mozart

A Magic Flute returns to Covent Garden ...

Terrific filming of a great production with a fine cast

Pyrotechnia: Fire & Fury from 18th-Century Italy

Vivaldi, Tartini and Locatelli join forces in this programme, Fire & Fury from 18th-Century Italy. Two Vivalid violin concertos remind us of the strides in virtuoso writing that composer brought about, leading to  concertos by  Tartini and Locatelli. We begin with the Violin Concerto in D, RV 205 by

Labyrinths: The Orchestra of the Swan returns

Labyrinths is a perfectly judged playlist: thoroughly enjoyable, superbly performed

Chamber

Of All Joys: from the Renaissance to Minimalism

Every inch an album for our times yet full of timelss music, this is a toucing and thought-provoking release

Vocal

Songs of Travel and Home

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

String Quartets by Felix Draeseke

Late Romantic string quartets on offer here from Felix Draeseke (1835-1913), Anyone who likes Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht will find an affinity to Draeseke's output. Before we get into the composer himself, just listen to this, the third movement (of five) of Draeseke's Third

Chopin

Jan Lisiecki records Chopin Nocturnes for DG

A beautiful, brilliant set of Chopin performances of the very highest order

Chamber

Dmitri Klebanov's Chamber music on Chandos

Chandos continues to introduce us to composers whose music is more than worthwhile, all in performances and recordings of the very highest qualit

Christmas

A Belfast Christmas

A beautiful Christmas programme; a splendid mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar

Chamber

Ignaz Pleyel's Haydnesque Prussian Quartets Nos. 10-12

Delightful music, superbly performed and rrecorded. What's not to like?

Schubert from London's premiere chamber music venue

Chamber music is what the Wigmroe Hall has done since its inception: as a venue it is close to London concert goers' hearts, its acoustic legendary its beauty unsurpassed. Lovely to see an ensemble that carries its name, the Wigmore Soloists; and to hear Schubert's wonderful Octet

Beethoven

Beethoven Violin Sonatas from BIS

Fine, intelligent performances, well worth seeking out

Vocal

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

Organ

Christmas Bells: Organ Music from Belfast Cathedral

It's (almost) that time of year again, and why not start early with a disc of organ music? The mince pies are in ths shops, after all ...

Romantic

Romantic Fantasies on Sir Walter Scott's Novels (Czerny)

That Wang and Gingher are so convincing is testament to their devotion to this wonderful music

Celebrating the Quincentenary of Robert Fayrfax

There are many things to celebrate around thsi disc, not least the first recordings of Ave Lumen Gracie (from the Eton Choirbook, c 1505) and Sponsus amat sponsam credo (composed c. 1509 for the wedding of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon). Robert Fayrfax (1484-1521) was, we know a

Wölfl Piano Concertos

The music of the short-lived Joseph Wölfl (1773-1812) sits somewhere between Mozart and Beethoven: fomally closer to the former, in spirit sometimes approaching the latter. By all accounts, Wölfl died in a "village near London"; allegedly in high debt. He was born on Christmas Eve, 1773

Renaissance

Pesciolini: Il Terzo Libro di Madrigali (1581)

A real discovery: musicology at its freshest, music ofthe highest standard in superb performances

Contemporary

Repost: Interview with composer Xiaogang Ye

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

Symphony

Furtwängler's First Symphony: a reappraisal

Wilhelm Furtwängler is, of course, known first and foremost as a conductor in the Austro-Germanic repertoire. By many (myself included) he is worshipped for those performances (at Classical Explorer, there's an "Eroica> up our sleev that we'll be talking about soon). But, like

News

News item: London Oriana Choir Scholarship

The London Oriana Choir are announcing a new Scholarship programme offering a limited number of places for young singers in their 2021/ 2022 season and to be part of the groundbreaking Five 15 Programme [https://www.five15.org/] celebrating women composers which will have a gala concert in summer 2022

The Four Quarters: The Solem Quartet plays Adès

A brilliantly programmed disc which sheds much light on Adès' piece while providing a satisfying hour's listening

Harpsichord

Johann Ludwig Krebs: Keyboard Works

Superb performances and a superb recording: theideal introduction to Johann Ludwig Krebs. Roll on Volume Two!

Piano

Echoes of Life: Alice Sara Ott

A very, very intelligent take on the concept of the playlist, here converted into something intensely personal and revealing via the juxtapositionof the familiar with the rare, of tonal-based language and freer imaginings, this is an incredibly rewarding album.