Statue of 8th-century Japanese Master Kūkai The 8th-century Japanese Master Kūkai journeyed across the sea to Tang-China to study Esoteric Buddhism under the revered monk, Master Huiguo. Returning to Japan in the year 806, he […]
Built as The New Grand Theatre of Varieties in 1900 by a consortium of music-hall artistes, the Grand in Clapham has been through various vicissitudes including periods as a cinema and bingo hall, going dark for […]
The Hradec Králové Philharmonic takes on Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s Second Symphony here: quite the challenge, and one taken with aplomb. We explored Foerster’s First Symphony on Naxos here. Wagner and Debussy are two oft-mentiooed composer […]
We have enjoyed the Modernist music of Enno Poppe (born 1969, Hemer, Germany) before – The Music of Enno Poppe (Fett, Ich kann mich an nichts errinern), Prozession, and as conductor in Berlin (music by […]
For his debut disc, saxophonist Luis González Garrido has chosen a succession of works that are fashioned from a single cell, or gesture. This process is even explicit in the title of the second piece, […]
There is a world primmer of “Schubert” here – the completion by Schubert scholar Brian Newbould of the String Trio, D 472. This is also the recording debut of the excellent Sakuntala Trio (Rebecca Chan, […]
Abbey Simon’s recording of Chopin’s complete works for piano and orchestra has been respected since its first release in 1973 (then as part of the first quadraphonic Vox Box 3LP release, SXVBX 5126). What we […]
Recorded in Antwerp, this new disc of two of Handel’s Chandos Anthems and an Oboe Concerto from Musica Gloria, Tears are my daily food, acts as a reminder of this ensemble’s importance. Here are intimate […]
Bach: Mass in B Minor – Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin The unusual, the rare and the undeservedly neglected often feature strongly in my own personal interests. 2025 featured […]
After a rather ho-hum start to the year, there ended up being many, many wonderful new releases – many fully deserving a “Best of the Year” accolade. And even though there were lots of fair-to-middlin’ […]
