If you haven’t yet come across Michael Haydn (1727-1805), then now is the chance to meet his most civilised of composers. Think J. C. Bach, the “London” Bach. Michael Haydn was trained musically at St […]

What a great coupling! Two Mozart Concertos for multiple keyboards, plus the Poulenc. A match made in heaven. The same could be said fo the performers, a true family team (Kent Nagano, his wife, and […]

Acis and Galatea (Bärenreiter Edition)  Composed by George Frederick Handel  Libretto by John Gay after Ovid’s Metamorphoses  Cast and Production staff:  Acis: Anthony Gregory; Galatea: Elizabeth Karani; Polyphemus: Chuma Sijeqa; Ruairi Bowen; Director: Louise Bakker; […]

Bavarian Radio’s series Musica Viva always seems to exude a sense of discovery, of freshness, of hope that contemporary music that matters is alive and well: we can look back, for example, to the music […]

Wolf-Ferrari and Leoncavallo: Soloists; Children from Pimlico Musical Foundation; Chorus of Opera Holland Park; City of London Sinfonia / John Andrews (conductor, Wolf-Ferrari), Francesco Ciliuffo (conductor, Leoncavallo)    Wolf-Ferrari – Il segreto di Susanna  Production: Director – […]

In commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and dedicated to the people with lofty ideals who pursue democracy and freedom all over the world Xilin Wang (born 1936) has a high profile […]

What joy this disc brings! We previously met Neeme Järvi and his Estonian orchestra here; when it comes to Lalo, they are on top form, and supported by one of Chandos’ best recordings. I vaguely […]

In a joint enterprise between writer and musician Hana Gubenko and myself, Samuel Taylor-Coleridge’s short-lived political journal The Watchman returns in a new guise, as an internet magazine designed to stimulate and inform. Here, in […]

Welcome to the first podcast by The Watchman, available on Spotify. A full internet magazine will follow shortly, but until then here’s a brief explanation of what The Watchman is, taken from the first issue: […]

The recent Göttedämmung at the Royal Festival Hall was due to feature Brindley Sherratt as Hagen. It was not to be (although there was a luxury stand-in); in compensation, we have this remarkable disc for […]