Latest News: Classical, Recording of the Week
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Recording of the Week,
François-Xavier Roth conducts Beethoven's Eroica Symphony 23rd April 2021Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth return to the music of Beethoven with a dramatic, illuminating account of the Third Symphony, coupled with an energetic performance of an overture by Méhul.
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Recording of the Week,
Vaughan Williams from Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra 16th April 2021Pappano takes on perhaps Vaughan Williams's two most challenging symphonies, in live recordings given a heightened emotional intensity by the circumstances of their performance.
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Recording of the Week,
Stravinsky & Eötvös from Pablo Heras-Casado and the Orchestre de Paris 9th April 2021The Spanish conductor delivers a very Gallic Rite of Spring, whilst Isabelle Faust is bewitched and bewitching on the world premiere recording of Péter Eötvös's 'Alhambra' Concerto.
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Recording of the Week,
Lise Davidsen in Beethoven, Wagner and Verdi 2nd April 2021The powerhouse Norwegian soprano is in expansive, radiant voice for Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder and arias from Fidelio, Otello, La forza del destino, Medea, and Cavalleria rusticana with Sir Mark Elder and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Recording of the Week,
A Mozart postscript from Rachel Podger 26th March 2021Rachel Podger and Christopher Glynn bring to life a selection of musicologist Timothy Jones’s thoughtful completions of fragmentary Mozart works, offering a variety of plausible perspectives on what might have been.
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Recording of the Week,
Strauss Lieder from Sandrine Piau and Daniel Behle 19th March 2021The French soprano brings an uncommon freshness and flexibility to the Four Last Songs with the Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche-Comté, whilst Behle and his regular recital-partner Oliver Schnyder revel in the composer's coruscating attack on publishers in the rarely-recorded Der Krämerspiegel.
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Recording of the Week,
French Piano Duets from Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne 12th March 2021In a true meeting of musical minds, the two superb pianists team up once again for a delectable programme of miniatures by Fauré, Poulenc, Stravinsky, Debussy and Ravel.
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Recording of the Week,
Osmo Vänskä conducts Mahler's Tenth Symphony 5th March 2021The Minnesota Orchestra and their Music Director give a tumultuous, emotional account of Mahler's final, unfinished symphony, in the performing version by Deryck Cooke.
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Recording of the Week,
Biber's Requiem from Vox Luminis 26th February 2021Lionel Meunier's ensemble explore a time of religious and musical flux in Europe, with an album centred around Heinrich Biber's Requiem and less-heard works by his contemporaries.
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Recording of the Week,
Ludovic Tézier sings Verdi 19th February 2021The French baritone is on spine-tingling form in a high-octane programme of arias from operas including La forza del destino, Otello, Don Carlos, and Falstaff.
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Recording of the Week,
Violins of Hope 12th February 2021Instruments previously owned by Holocaust survivors and restored by the Weinstein family sing with a special power in Schubert, Mendelssohn, and a new work by Jake Heggie which tells their stories.
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Recording of the Week,
Andris Nelsons conducts Bruckner's Second and Eighth Symphonies 5th February 2021The Gewandhausorchester and Andris Nelsons continue their Bruckner cycle with sublime, lyrical performances of the Second and Eighth Symphonies.
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Recording of the Week,
John Wilson conducts English music for strings 29th January 2021Sinfonia of London and conductor John Wilson present their latest stunning album of music for string orchestra by Britten, Bridge, Berkeley, and Bliss.
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Recording of the Week,
Behzod Abduraimov plays Debussy, Chopin and Mussorgsky 22nd January 2021The Uzbek pianist is beguiling in Children's Corner and the 24 Preludes Op. 28, and offers the virtual tour of one's dreams in Pictures at an Exhibition.
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Recording of the Week,
Donizetti's Il Paria from Opera Rara 15th January 2021Sir Mark Elder conducts a scintillating account of Donizetti's 1829 opera about religious persecution in sixteenth-century India, starring Albina Shagimuratova, René Barbera, and Misha Kiria.
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Recording of the Week,
Elmas Piano Concertos from Howard Shelley and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra 8th January 2021David enjoys the latest instalment in Hyperion's inexhaustible series, featuring the earliest-known piano concertos by an Armenian composer.
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Recording of the Week,
Verklärte Nacht from Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra 1st January 2021Schoenberg's masterpiece is framed by works for voice and orchestra (also on the theme of 'transfigured night') by Franz Lehár, Oskar Fried, and Erich Korngold.
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Recording of the Week,
Presto Personal Favourites from 2020 24th December 2020Recordings from the Emerson Quartet, Paavo Järvi and Paul Wee feature among the editorial team's individual picks of the year.
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Recording of the Week,
Vivaldi's Argippo from Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante 18th December 2020Emőke Baráth and Delphine Galou head a small-but-perfectly-formed cast in Vivaldi’s pasticcio from the early 1730s, which also features arias by Galeazzi, Pescetti, Hasse, Porpora, Fiorè and Vinci.
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Recording of the Week,
Saint-Saëns from Renaud Capuçon, Edgar Moreau and Bertrand Chamayou 11th December 2020The French triumvirate pays early tribute to the centenary of the composer's death with lucid, affectionate accounts of the Violin Sonata No. 1, Cello Sonata No. 1, and Piano Trio No. 2.