Vilde Frang returns – in Elgar
We have met violinist Vilde Frang on evil occasions, most memorably in her coupling of Beethoven and Stravinsky, in Berg at the Barbican, and in Bartók in Berlin. We have also considered Albert Sammons’ recording […]
Classical Explorer
The under-appreciated genius of Bruno Maderna
Hearing Boulez’ Rituel: In Memoriam Brumo Maderna the other day as part of LSO Futures; reminded me that Maderna (1920-73) remains an under-appreciated genius. Here’s the promo video for the present disc: The Serenata No. […]
Handel’s “Partenope” at ENO
Handel Partenope , HWV 27 (translated Amanda Holden, ed. Clifford Bartlett) Cast; Orchestra of English National Opera / William Cole (conductor). London Coliseum, 22.11.2025 Production: Director – Christopher Alden Set designer – Andrew Leibeman Costume designer – […]
Bernstein conducts Beethoven
This live recording form the Deutsches Museum in Munich on October 17, 1976 is core Bernstein, whose association with Munich dates from the early 1980s (from 1983, he conducted annually there). At the time, Joachim […]
LSO Futures: London’s Bright Light of Hope
LSO Futures; Seong-Jin Cho Artist Portrait. Seong-Jin Cho (piano); London Symphony Orchestra / Maxime Pascal (conducto). Barbican Hall, London, 20.11.2025 Omri Kochavi gilufim (2024/25, LSO Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Commission, World Premiere Sasha Scott Sly (2024/25, LSO Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Commission, […]
The Wise Men and the Star: The Sixteen’s Christmas disc
Released on The Sixteen’s award-winning own label CORO, The Wise Men an the Star includes three World Premiere recoding (by Eric Whitacre, Cecilia McDowall, and the Sixteen’s own Kim Porter). The music, obviously pays homage […]
Shostakovich meets Saariaho … Terra Memoria
Previously, Classical Explorer has featured the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam: we saw them at Wigmore Hall in Mozart and Tchaikovsky, then looked at the first volume of Tchaikovsky Quartets here. This new disc, Terra Memoria, certainly […]
An Archduke, and a slender Grecian maiden
A coupling here of Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio with Shai Wosner’s aangement of the Fourth Symphony. We have seen previous volumes in this series here and here, and the combinations have worked well. Here’s the promo video; […]
Zoë Martlew’s debut album: Album Z
Last seen (by me, at least) as composer at a Wigmore Hall concert featuring Héloïse Werner (The Plot: review). Zoë Martlew now steps forward into the limelight of the recorded arena with her first complete […]
Exile: Koptachinskaja and Kaufmann
“Exile” is certainly a topic du jour, even more so Han wan Paicia Kpopatchinskaja and Thomas Kaufmann recorded this Alpha disc in March 2024 in Bern, Switzerland. So it is that most composers on this […]
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