Classical Explorer

Not a CD, DVD or concert retire today but deails of a project hat may well be of interest from one of the most increasing musicians out there, from his publicists: Johann Sebastian Bach was […]

Florilegium at Wigmore Hall Florilegium; Ashley Solomon (flute/director); with Helen Charlston (mezzo). Wigmore Hall, 11.03.2025 Telemann  Ouveture-Suite in A,TWV 55:A1. Cantata, Ihr Volker hört  J. S. Bach  Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079: Ricercar a 6  Telemann  Cantata, Ihr Völker […]

Ravel celebrations continue with this lovely disc from Stanisław Skrowaczewski’s Minnesota years, original 1974 analogue Vox recordings. newly remastered from the original tapes. The best compliment I can give the remastering (Andrew Walton) is that […]

As we saw from Sunday’s post (Emmanuel Despax plays Ravel), it’s Ravel’s anniversary; and indeed Bertrand Chamayou played, on the same night, complete Ravel solo piano music in Paris. Nearly a decade ago, Chamayou corded […]

Mozart, Mahler Katia & Marielle Labèque (pianos); Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Semyon Bychkov. Barbican Hall, London, 09.03.2025 Mozart  Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat, K 365 (1779)  Mahler  Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor (1901/2)  […]

Ravel, Fauré/Despax, Despax Emmanul Despax (piano). Bechstein Hall, London, 07.03.2025 Ravel   Miroirs, M. 43 (1904/5)  Despax  The Sound of Music Fantasy (2020)  Fauré   Mélodies, Op. 7: Après un rêve (arr. Despax)  Ravel   Gaspard de la nuit, M 55 (1908)  […]

This is a significant release from Naxos: Rachmaninoc’s Piano Sonatas No. 1 & 2, plus an arrangement of the orchestral tone-poem The Isle of the Dead. The First Sonata, D-Minor, Op. 28, dates from 1907/08. […]

Save our souls, still up to date? VENI ensemble: Save Art, Stay Libertine! VENI ensemble: Save our Souls, Concert Review The Eternal Return of Form: Ruins, Art, & Metaphysics Schubert Schwanengesang from New York: review […]

This is exactly the sort of discovery that first got me “into” Classical music. Perhaps I’d find an obscure composer on a Turnabout LP (Koželuch sings to mind on one occasion), and the search for […]

Haydn, Mahler/Schnittke, Tchaikovsky Alena Baeva (violin); London Philharmonic Orchestra / Omer Meir Wellber. (conductor/harpsichord/piano). Royal Festival Hall, London, 01.03.2025 Haydn   Symphony No. 49 in F minor, ‘La Passione’ (1768) Mahler/Schnittke Piano Quartet (1878/1988, arr. Wellber/Kagarlitsky, 2024)  Tchaikovsky   Violin […]