classical music reviews, news & interviews
Boyd Tonkin |
It seldom happens that you long to hear choral music not in a modern auditorium but some chilly, echoing cavern of a great Victorian town hall.
Robert Beale |
There are enough historical reasons for differing approaches to Handel’s Messiah to allow every conductor to produce, effectively, their own edition.
David Nice
Would it be possible to get to the end of the year without hearing a single Bruckner symphony live? I’d reckoned without the presence in Dublin of…
Bernard Hughes
Zum Roten Igel – the “Red Hedgehog Tavern” – was a concert venue with pub attached in 19th century Vienna, frequented by the like of Schubert…
graham.rickson
Leopold Godowsky: Java SuiteTobias Borsboom (piano) (TRPTK)
Image
There’s…
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Rachel Halliburton
An enthrallingly authoritative account of the 'Quartet for the End of Time'
Boyd Tonkin
A new eco-concerto joins some well-loved musical landscapes
Robert Beale
Four voices and four strings capture hibernian experience from Lassus to the recent past
Clare Stevens
A splendid if in some ways provisional inauguration
David Nice
True contralto drama alongside coruscating orchestra
David Nice
One great British soprano triumphs as late replacement for another
graham.rickson
Rarely-heard repertoire for two pianos, plus baroque transcriptions and guitar duets
Boyd Tonkin
Drama and drive in Mozart's great unfinished mass
Bernard Hughes
Music by Evelin Seppar highlights interesting intersection with Arvo Pärt’s holy minimalism
David Nice
Superbly sequenced memorials balancing anger and reflection
Robert Beale
A look back to the Covid experience in Dani Howard’s approachable and attractive Trombone Concerto
Robert Beale
A trusted guide and an imaginative soloist charm the crowd
Robert Beale
From 1980 to 2025 with the West Coast’s pied piper and his eager following
David Nice
Perfect ensemble runs the gamut of a supreme masterpiece
Bernard Hughes
A robust and assertive Beethoven concerto suggests a player to follow
Bernard Hughes
Broad and idiosyncratic survey of classical music is insightful but slightly indigestible
graham.rickson
British ballet scores, 19th century cello works and contemporary piano etudes
David Nice
Specialists in French romantic music unveil a treasure trove both live and on disc
Simon Thompson
A pity the SCO didn't pick a better showcase for a shining guest artist
David Nice
British masterpieces for strings plus other-worldly tenor and horn - and a muscular rarity
Rachel Halliburton
From quasi-Mozartian elegance to the gritty humour of a kitchen inspection
Bernard Hughes
Adès’s passion makes persuasive case for the music he loves, both new and old
Sebastian Scotney
The Austrian mezzo shines - at the age of 22
Oliver Pashley
Compositions by members of this unusual quartet feature for the first time
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