classical cds

This is a vital Elgar Violin Sonata performance – it rethinks that composer’s late masterpiece, presenting it with a clear undercurrent of disquiet in the shadow of war and loss. The Songs of Night and […]

Projection 2 (1951) Three Voices (1982) Triadic Memories (1981) This was a celebration of the centenary of maverick composer Morton Feldman (1926-87). The title, Unsettled Memory, refers to the composer’s way of subtly altering repetitions […]

The third volume in the series Elgar from the Archives from SOMM Recordings includes two historic recordings conducted by Sir Adrian Boult: the oratorio The Kingdom, Op. 51 and the ever-popular Variations on an Original Theme ‘Enigma,’ Op. 36. These variations form an […]

This is not the first recording of music of Ming Tsao (born 1966) for Kairos (it’s actually his third), but it’s the first one for Classical Explorer. Tsao’s instrumental background is playing violin, viola, and […]

This should have been a great disc, I loved Dylan Perez’s playing when he appeared with Nicky Spence at Thaxted, My Father’s Son, Baritone Julien Van Mellaerts and Perez appeared in Opera Holland Parks series […]

A symphony should be like the world, it should encompass everything. So said Mahler himself, and his ambitious First Symphony sets out to do exactly that. We have previously looked at Bychkov’s Fourth and Fifth […]

Valentin Silvestrov was forced to leave his native Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022, seeking refuge in Berlin. There is hope in this music but its eems rooted in a full realisation of teh […]

The term “Metanoia” makes sense as applied to Franz Liszt: it refers to a change of life direction in response to a spiritual event or conversion. And here we have the move from Liszt the […]

My final prom of the 2026 season is officially labelled “Strauss’ s Four Last Songs” – that piece the clear intended draw – but held so, so much more, not least my introduction to conductor […]

A few years ago, BEIJING, CHINA (Sept. 8, 2026) — The Beijing Music Festival (BMF) today announced programming for its 29th edition, taking place October 9–20, 2026, at venues across Beijing. Under the theme Beijing Cappella, the Festival […]