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 […]
ΚΡΙΤΙΚΕΣ
From oratorio to remarkable dance drama: Handel’s Susanna from Opera North & Phoenix Dance Theatre with Anna Dennis & James Hall
Handel: Susanna – Anna Dennis – Opera North, Phoenix Dance Theatre (Photo: Tristram Kenton) Handel: Susanna; Anna Dennis, James Hall, Matthew Brook, Claire Lees, Colin Judson, Karl Haml, Opera North, Phoenix Dance Theatre, director: Olivia […]
Upstairs at Ronnie’s: I chat to James Pearson & Lizzie Ball about the new regular classical nights at Ronnie Scott’s new venue
James Pearson & Lizzie Ball (Photo: Monika C Jakubowska) In February 2026, the upstairs space at Ronnie Scott‘s will reopen as Upstairs at Ronnie’s, a newly reimagined 140-capacity music venue following a significant refurbishment. The […]
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 […]
Meh #3 – mostly uninteresting British music
Several fantastic, musically inspiring releases have graced my listening room over the past couple of months, and it has been a pleasure hearing and writing about them here on my blog. But among those, there […]
Libby Croad’s Rivers released by The Dionysius Ensemble alongside photos from the project’s Slough-wide Jubilee River photography competition
When I spoke to composer Libby Croad earlier this year [see my interview, ‘Something juicy that you can get your teeth into’] she was just starting work on a new piece for the Dionysius Ensemble. […]
Letter from Florida: Let us take a stand together hand in hand, Hans Krasa’s Brundibar from Sarasota Opera
Hans Krasa: Brundibar – Kayla Farrell (Brundibar) – Sarasota Opera (Sarasota Youth Opera) Raise up your voice: Intolerance through the voices of children: Prologue created by Martha Collins and Jesse Martins, Hans Krasa: Brundibar; director: […]
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 […]
“You can take a girl out of Cuba, but you can’t take Cuba out of a girl” – Odaline de la Martinez finds her voice as a composer
Odaline de la Martinez (Photo: Malcolm Crowther) Born in Cuba, and brought up in the USA, and based in the UK, in this guest posting composer and founder of Lontano Ensemble, Odaline de la Martinez […]
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.jpg?w=160&resize=160,160&ssl=1 "Stripped back drama & strong musical values: Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos from Glyndebourne Opera at the BBC Proms")
