GRAMOPHONE: Richard Rodney Bennett Orchestral Works Vol. 4 – Michael McHale, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Wilson
I love the analogy Richard Rodney Bennett made when describing his multi-faceted career as ‘Different rooms, albeit in the same house’ – adding almost as a throw-away that he might have (unceremoniously) knocked down some of the…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – July 2020
Written from lockdown (I never thought I’d write those words) where I am putting the finishing touches to a survey of Decca’s bumper box of Karajan remasterings for BBC Radio 3’s ‘Record Review’. It will be a…
COMPARING NOTES: Edward Gardner in Conversation
Edward Gardner, Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra discusses Britten’s Peter Grimes, his appointment as Prinicpal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and his rich recording relationship with Chandos Records wth Edward Seckerson.… [Read More]
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 ‘The Year 1905’ – BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Storgårds
Each time I hear the opening of this symphony – in filmic terms a long slow pan across the frozen forecourt of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg – I immediately think of countless grainy black and…
COMPARING NOTES: John Owen-Jones in Conversation
West End and Broadway star John Owen-Jones chats with Edward Seckerson about his two best-known roles, Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, his vocal process, and his love of…
COMPARING NOTES: Michael Xavier in Conversation
West End and Broadway leading man Michael Xavier discusses starring opposite Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard in London and New York, his working processes for theatre and film, and his MX Masterclasses for aspiring young performers.… [Read…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. 6 – Essen Philharmonic Orchestra/Netopil
Here’s a Mahler 6 that comes with its own historical context. Unlikely as it may now seem, Essen was where Mahler first performed the harrowing Sixth in 1906 and the Essener Philharmoniker is the orchestra that can…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Bernstein Symphonies No. 1 ‘Jeremiah’ & No. 2 ‘The Age of Anxiety’ – Anna Larsson, Roland Pöntinen, Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra/Lindberg
Whenever I listen to the First Symphony I am mindful of how dramatically Bernstein started as he meant to go on – a symphony, a ballet (Fancy Free) and a Broadway musical (On the Town) all feverishly…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Bernstein Mass – Vojtěch Dik, etc., ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra/Russell Davies
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I think this to be a masterpiece – perhaps Bernstein’s most significant, and certainly his most creatively virtuosic, work. But it is also his most challenging stylistically and for a…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – June 2020
I want to reopen the debate on Beethoven and the voice. And particularly with regard to Fidelio which I caught at the Royal Opera House in the wake of a lively public encounter with Antonio Pappano at…
