Every once in a while a disc comes along which is so pleasant – and such a pleasant surprise – it brings smile after smile. This disc of orchestral music from the unjustly neglected British […]
I wouldn’t have even bothered with this CD – Decca is far from the esteemed label it once was 20 years ago. But since the Chicago Symphony has just announced this conductor will replace Riccardo […]
George, the title character of Zemlinsky’s third opera (composed between 1903 and 1907, but not premiered until long after his death in 1980) is usually taken, in his eponymous dreaming and obsession with fairy tales, […]
The Italian Girl in London (1778) is one of the earlier operas by the prolific older contemporary of Mozart, Cimarosa. Although termed an intermezzo, as a comedy essentially it follows the same conventions of an opera buffa, and […]
Maurizio Pollini The magnificent Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini passed away on March 24 at age 82. Pollini was an aristocratic, refined pianist who excelled in playing Chopin, Brahms and of course, Beethoven. Yet he also […]
Many remember the name, in English, of Mozart and Da Ponte’s third operatic collaboration as ‘Women are like that’, with more than a whiff of apparent misogyny in it (the ending of the Italian tutte definitely denotes […]
There is a lot of wonderful music on this well-filled 2-CD set. (Each disc lasts more than 73 minutes.) It is all played with refinement and finesse by the Orchestre National de Lyon, led by […]
This, the second part of Simon Rattle’s traversal of Janacek’s operas, follows on from his highly successful The Cunning Little Vixen. Mackerras’ classic Decca account was used for comparison. In terms of the conducting, Rattle […]
A Room of Her Own is a new collection of music for Violin, Cello and Piano, played by Neave Trio, which continues their exploration of Trios by female composers. I greatly enjoyed their previous Chandos […]
This is Paavo Jarvi’s 4th album with the Estonian Festival Orchestra for Alpha Classics, and the highlight is certainly Tubin’s ballet suite, Kratt (Goblin) – which receives headliner status on the front cover. The ballet is based on […]
