Bach
Classical CDs Weekly: Massenet, David Russell, WeinbergSaturday, 26 May 2012
Massenet: Werther Rolando Villazón, Sophie Koch, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/Antonio Pappano (DG)Massenet’s Goethe adaptation needs a lot of love to make it convince as a drama. Fortunately this live Covent Garden performance, taped... Read more... |
Maxim Vengerov, Itamar Golan, Wigmore HallFriday, 06 April 2012
Musicians can go one of two ways after a period of prolonged professional absence. The hiatus can either set them free (Horowitz) or screw them up (Pogorelich). In the case of Maxim Vengerov, we already knew that the latter hadn't happened. A... Read more... |
Bach Cantatas: celeb seeks crowd-fundingTuesday, 20 March 2012
Fancy buying a new recording of Bach’s Cantatas? It’ll cost only slightly more than a regular CD. The only snag is it hasn’t been recorded yet, which is where you come in.Over the last few years Sir John Eliot Gardiner has been steadily releasing a... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Britten, Mariusz KwiecieńSaturday, 17 March 2012
Bach: Keyboard Concertos Nick van Bloss, English Chamber Orchestra/David Parry (Nimbus)Nick Van Bloss’s Goldberg Variations receive deserved acclaim when they appeared last year; the pianist’s fascinating backstory eclipsed by brilliant... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Elizabeth Maconchy, Vaughan WilliamsSaturday, 07 January 2012
Bach: Keyboard Concertos Alexandre Tharaud/Les Violons du Roy/Labadie (Virgin)Another disc of Bach keyboard concertos on a major label, following Ramin Bahrami’s brilliant, zingy set with Chailly on Decca. Alexandre Tharaud is teamed here with... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Beethoven, Simon KeenlysideSaturday, 26 November 2011
Bach: Complete Keyboard Works Ivo Janssen (Void Classics)This 20-disc box set has been entertaining me for several months. Dutch pianist Ivo Janssen set up his own record label to distribute his 1997 Goldberg Variations, recorded on the hoof... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Schwertsik, ShostakovichSaturday, 15 October 2011
Bach: Five Keyboard Concertos Ramin Bahrami, Gewandhausorchester, Riccardo Chailly (Decca)We’re spoilt for choice in these concertos; Perahia, Schiff and Hewitt have given us excellent versions, and another new one by Alexandre Tharaud has just been... Read more... |
Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello, BBC FourSaturday, 08 October 2011
How can even a generously proportioned documentary do justice to one of the musical world’s greatest life forces? John Bridcut knows what to do: make sure all your interviewees have a close personal association with your chosen giant in one of his... Read more... |
Museum Show Part 1, ArnolfiniWednesday, 28 September 2011
A 50th birthday is a landmark occasion. One has plenty to look back on, whilst still having much to look forward to. Plus there’s all that life experience to draw on. What’s not to feel positive about? In the case of a gallery that’s built up a... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Varèse, GiuliniSaturday, 24 September 2011
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2 Roger Woodward - piano (Celestial Harmonies)Possibly the most expansive Well-Tempered Clavier around – this one just tips over onto five discs, but there’s never any suggestion of sluggishness. Roger... Read more... |
St Matthew Passion, National TheatreTuesday, 20 September 2011
It’s not like we’re short of operas. Thousands of works spanning over 400 years make up the western operatic repertoire. Of these maybe 100 get a regular airing in contemporary opera houses, with only about 20 making it into the popular... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Mahler, Rachmaninov, WebernFriday, 26 August 2011
A legendary septuagenarian wind player from Switzerland returns to the repertoire with which he made his name 50 years ago, and there's an exciting live reading of a gloomy fin-de-siècle symphony conducted by a contemporary French giant. The same... Read more... |
