GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. 8 – Soloists, Choirs, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra/Fischer
Rather as he did for his controversial (and somewhat disappointing) account of Das Lied von Der Erde Adam Fischer offers a kind of apologia in the liner note as to the particular challenges of the Eighth Symphony…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. 4 – London Symphony Orchestra/Noseda
It’s the symphony that might or might not have recalibrated Shostakovich’s future and it’s still one of the trickiest to pull off in performance. Noseda meets it halfway – which makes for plusses and minuses. His LSO…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 ‘Leningrad’- Bavarian RSO/Jansons
One of these days a Mariss Jansons recording will arrive that will confound my expectations. This, alas, is not it. You can tell at once from the cultured, well-rounded, Bavarian sound that the very notion of something…
GRAMOPHONE Review: ‘Wien’ – Jonas Kaufmann, Rachel Willis-Sørenson, Vienna Philharmonic/Fischer
If you’re watching the calories, stop reading now. This evocative collection of Viennese sweetmeats, of wine, women, song and Sachertorte, does not countenance the notion of abstinence. Kaufmann’s love affair with Vienna – City of Dreams –…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – December 2019
What’s in a name? Plenty. The revival of the Sinfonia of London in such spectacular style with John Wilson’s glorious account of the Korngold Symphony is probably even more of a nostalgic occasion for me than it…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – November 2019
I need to say a few things about Jessye Norman – gone but never forgotten, her majestic voice for the ages forever enshrined for posterity in countless recordings, her aura somehow immortal. I saw her perform many…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – Awards Issue 2019
Reflecting once again on yet another season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts my thoughts turn to the venue itself – the Royal Albert Hall – loved and loathed in equal measure, the grandest of grand edifices, a…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Heggie ‘Woman: the making of…’ – Lillian Farahani/Maurice Lammerts van Bueren
“Woman the making of…’ Intriguing title. And it takes its cue from Jake Heggie’s very first commission – written in 1995 to original texts by Philip Littell – which was, to borrow a more iconic title, ‘all…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Duruflé Requiem / Debussy Nocturnes – Kožená, Berlin Radio Choir, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Ticciati
For two works so diametrically opposed in feeling, philosophy and belief, these marvellous pieces sit well together. They also appear to chime with Robin Ticciati’s very particular sensibilities as a conductor. And he plainly adores them. So…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Beethoven Symphony No. 3 / Strauss Metamorphosen – Sinfonia Grange au Lac/Salonen
The intriguingly named Sinfonia Grange Au Lac (literally The Barn on the Lake) bows in here under its first mentor and incumbent Esa-Pekka Salonen. A unique custom made orchestra for a custom made venue and festival –…
