Classical Explorer

It’s always intrigued me why, if Schubert was such a fine composer of songs (and he was), why don’t we hear his operas? There are quite a few, after all, so why not start with […]

Opening in a blaze of raw Handelian energy, this is a disc for the ages. Three psalms: Dixit Dominus, Laudate pueri, Nisi Dominus, all magnificently shaped by Justin Doyle with a simply superb line-up of […]

Thaxted Festival: Liszt, George Hall, Verdi, Puccini Nadine Benjamin (soprano); Jan Karl Rautio (piano). Thaxed Parish Church, 22.06.2024 Liszt  Enfant, j’étais roi, S 283. Oh, quand je dors.S 282.  Hall  Settings of d’Annunzio: L’ora e tarda; O […]

Pianist Frank Dupree’s latest escapades Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020) is gaining in popularity: in the UK, Dupree has performed his music with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Rouvali, and we met his Op. 47 Contemplation, Op. 47 […]

Three violin sonatas, all from their respective composers’ late periods, form the focus of this fascinating disc. 1919 is of course just post-World War I, and it is true that, rather like the extrapolation of […]

Better remembered for his organ music, Louis Vierne (1870-1937) nevertheless penned a substantial amount of piano music. Sergio Monteiro’s survey was launched by a disc that included the Suite Bourguignonne and the Poème des cloches […]

Gershwin, Kapustin, Bonds, Norton, Wave, Arlen/Jarrett Yuki Negishi (piano). Holy Trinity Church,  South Woodford, 2pm, 16.06.2024 Gershwin  Three Preludes (1926)  Kapustin  Contemplation, Op. 47 (1987) Margaret Bonds Troubled Water  Christopher Norton Bulgarian Sketches (2023)  Sally Wave  Sunshine Droplets Falling in the […]

Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano, Op. 39 Nos. 8-10. Paul Wee (piano). Wigmore Hall, 1 pm, 15.06.2024 With his recordings for BIS, Paul Wee has gathered quite a following. He goes against current trends by […]

Giovanni Sgambati (1841-1914), a favourite student of Liszt, was admired by Wagner: that’s quite a CV. Here we have two works: the large-scale Piano Concerto in G minoring the Sinfonia festiva. Sgambati is probably best […]

We met Mishka Rushdie Momen at the Sheffield Chamber Music Festival via her recital Romantic Piano. Here on her recording of variation sets on SOMM, she confirms her clear talent. The booklet notes are some […]