Classical CDs
Classical CDs: Bells, whistles and bowing techniquesSaturday, 21 June 2025
Michel Béroff: Complete Erato Recordings (Erato)My associating French pianist Michel Béroff with ‘modern’ music says more about my age than it does about Béroff’s actual specialities. If you were looking for Messiaen in an early 1980s record... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Cannons, culverts and mooching cattleSaturday, 07 June 2025
Antal Doráti in London: The Mercury Masters Vol. 1 (Decca Eloquence)A couple of recent YouTube videos show DG engineers hard at work remastering Karajan’s 1970s Bruckner and Mahler recordings for new vinyl LP pressings. The process looks... Read more... |
Album: Anna Lapwood - FiredoveMonday, 26 May 2025
This album Firedove (Sony Classical), surely, has to be seen as part of a bigger story: that of organist, choir director and broadcaster Anna Lapwood, who, still in her twenties – just – has become an essential part of the (often cautious and... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Jelly Babies, porridge and kazoosFriday, 16 May 2025
Brahms: Lieder Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano) (Sony)The concert I attended of Brahms Lieder in the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford in October 2024, with Christian Gerhaher in fabulous voice and Gerold Huber at the peak of his... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Chinese poetry, rollercoasters and old bookshopsSaturday, 03 May 2025
Jürg Frey: Voices EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble/James Weeks (Neu Records)A new CD from EXAUDI is a guaranteed treat for all the senses: the sound quality is always impeccable, the CD presentation a tactile pleasure. Heck, it even smells good (a... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: All We Imagine as LightTuesday, 29 April 2025
All We Imagine as Light focuses on the lives of three women in contemporary Mumbai; as shown by director Payal Kapadia, the city is arguably the film’s fourth major character. Kapadia eschews convention, her metropolis painted in muted colours with... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Romance, reforestation and a RolleiflexSaturday, 19 April 2025
Thomas Adès: Orchestral Suites London Philharmonic Orchestra/Thomas Adès (LPO)Here are three orchestral suites taken from stage works by Thomas Adès, from different stages of his career, captured at live performances at London’s Royal Festival... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Big bands, beasts and birdcallsSaturday, 05 April 2025
Vox Feminae: music by Barbara Strozzi, Antonia Bemba, Hieryonymus Kapsberger... Les Kapsber’girls/Albane Imbs (Alpha)What a complete transformation from one album to the next. The last one, Vous-avez dit brunettes? – "did you say... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Shipping lines, sabre dances and sea liceSaturday, 22 March 2025
Donizetti: Songs Vols. 3 & 4 Michael Spyres (tenor), Carlo Rizzi (piano) – Vol. 3, Marie-Nicole Lemieux (mezzo-soprano), Giulio Zappa (piano) – Vol. 4. (Opera Rara)“The songs Donizetti poured forth during his composing career have [..]... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Funeral marches, festivals and film noirSaturday, 08 March 2025
Quartets Through a Time of Change: music by Ravel, Durey, Tailleferre and Milhaud Brother Tree Sound (First Hand Records)There are plenty – and I mean plenty – of recordings of the Ravel String Quartet, the majority, I would guess, paired with... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Snow, shards and swinging oarsSaturday, 22 February 2025
Snow Dance for the Dead: Choral Music by Seán Doherty New Dublin Voices/Bernie Sherlock (Voces8 Recordings)I have come across the choral music of Seán Doherty more and more recently and always liked what I have heard. His music is imaginative... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Elephants, bells and warm blanketsSaturday, 08 February 2025
Michael Tilson Thomas: The Complete Columbia, Sony and RCA Recordings (Sony)Big box sets continue to arrive. This one’s a whopper: 80 discs celebrating Michael Tilson Thomas’s 80th birthday. Artistic qualities aside, the production values here... Read more... |
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