Reviews
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Puccini: Suor Angelica; Preludio sinfonico
Concert performances of operas can fail to make an impact, lacking the dramatic intensity a successful stage performance brings. Here though,
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Wolf: Italian Liederbook
Captured at the peak of their prime in a warm, clear BBC recording, Baker and Shirley-Quirk manage both to capture the essence of every...
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Per Nørgård: Will-o'-the-Wisps in Town; Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking
One of the most consistently inventive and individual voices today, Nørgård responded to a Hans Cristian Anderson bicentennial commission with this delightful,
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Suk: A Summer's Tale; Prague
Two intensely lyrical, beautifully orchestrated symphonic poems brought vividly to life by Bělohlávek and the orchestra whose reins he relinquishes this year.
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Joseph Horowitz: Moral Fire
Today they are all but forgotten, yet Henry Higginson, Henry Krehbiel and Laura Langford were three American figures of astounding accomplishment.
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Raymond Head: Gustav Holst and India
One thing Donald Rumsfeld didn’t refer to in his infamous circumlocutions was ‘unknown knowns’ (I had to check, though). Gustav Holst’s fascination with Indian...
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Stephen Sondheim: Look, I Made a Hat
If nothing else, the second volume of Stephen Sondheim’s collected lyrics – collating material from the three decades to 2011 –
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Tchaikovsky: Concerto no 1 & solo works by Tchaikovsky, Chopin and Liszt
Last year’s Tchaikovsky Competition prize winner brings a satisfying mix of panache and sensitivity to this much-recorded concerto, with exhilarating and searching accompaniment from...
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Britten: On This Island; The Holy Sonnets of John Donne; Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo; Canticle I
Having committed a fine Winter Words to disc, Gilchrist and Tilbrook turn their attention to earlier Britten with equal success.
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Schoenberg: Complete Songs
A truly enlightening survey of Schoenberg’s entire Lieder output. Better-known cycles (especially Konrad Jarnot’s classy take on The Book of the Hanging Gardens) come off...
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Clifford Curzon Edition: complete recordings
Clifford Curzon (piano); conductors inc Szell, Solti, Kertesz, Britten Decca 4784389 (23 CDs plus DVD)An essential tribute to one of the finest artists of the...
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Festival: Misiones de Chiquitos Festival, Bolivia
There is an extensive network of early music groups around South America. The continent’s ensembles specialise in work from the Spanish and Portuguese colonial...
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Festival: London Handel Festival
In a momentous year of international sport and culture for its host city, the 35th London...
