★★★★☆ Crisp and refreshing – and the music is pretty good, too. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Martin Fröst explains his exploration of the layers of music history on his latest Sony Classical album. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

At the centre of this engaging disc is a fresh and vibrant account of Janáček’s famous Glagolitic Mass, so named because the old church Slavonic text is written in Glagolitic characters, a precursor of Cyrillic script. This new recording enhances all the reasons why this work has remained a firm favourite with audiences since its premiere in 1927. The broad and colourful orchestral canvas (including a major part for organ) is vividly conveyed by the super audio engineering. Edward Gardner and his Bergen forces convincingly project the red-blooded and often emotional response to the text with well drilled orchestral playing and evocative singing by the chorus. Another major contribution is made by Australian Heldentenor Stuart Skelton who delivers the challenging tenor solos with unflinching confidence and surety. Skelton is well complemented by the attractive voice of American soprano, Sara Jakubiak. Mezzo Susan Bickley and bass Gábor Bretz acquit themselves in the smaller roles with distinction. Thomas Trotter deploys the Rieger organ of Bergen cathedral with finesse, especially in his quasi-Bacchanalian seventh-movement solo. Filling out the programme are the orchestral Adagio (c.1890), the Zdrávas Maria (Ave Maria) from 1904 and Otče náš (Our Father) from 1901, revised five… Continue reading Get…

Bohuslav Martinů is surely one of the most underrated composers of the 20th century. His unique brand of neoclassicism is addictive: a vivid celebration of folk dance and classical tradition, spiced with pungent harmonies and rhythmic verve. It’s a wonder his music is not performed more. Kudos then to the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, whose recent release of the composer’s two suites from his ballet Špalíček bursts onto the scene with breathtaking élan. A testament to Martinů’s innovative approach to genre, Špalíček was conceived as a hybrid work: a ballet with operatic elements. Translated as ‘Chapbook’, a collection of literary subjects in pamphlet form, Špalíček is a charming conglomeration of fairytales. Familiar characters like Puss in Boots cavort with lions, mice and sparrow hawks, while a princess is rescued (with the aid of a butterfly) by a cobbler from the grips of a terrible giant. There are magicians and mysterious shadows, enchanted castles and even a catchy waltz at Cinderella’s palace ball. And the music is just as imaginative as the stories. The vibrant orchestration shows an early 20th-century predilection for woodwind and brass, with plenty of percussion and piano punctuating the bubbly score. Martinů’s musical subjects are mostly of Bohemian…

Composer Barry Conyngham prepares to launch his emotional stories of rejection and reconnection into a brave new world. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (affectionately portmanteaued to ‘Akamus’) gives a blistering re-enactement here of George I’s 1717 noisy barge journey down the Thames. Dance tunes in the French outdoor tradition and a processional, military colour dominate. The three suites each use different instrumentation, a fact that points to their separate origins, and poaching from earlier output. Grammy-winning Baroque specialists Akamus began in East Berlin in 1982. For this recording they are 27 players (to Handel’s 50; probably a good thing) and are operating sans conductor, under concertmaster Georg Kallweit. They bring a perfect blend of ensemble unity and soloistic flair. Oboist Xenia Löffler embellishes the Adagio e Staccato (Suite 1) with supreme artistry. Supersonic tempi transform the horn-centric movements into Olympic feats. Water Music is the first time a pair of horns was heard in an English orchestra; imagine the virtuosic trills of the Allegro (Suite 1) blasting peasant ears near and far. Typical for excellent period ensembles, the rhythmic vigour required of baroque music is really apparent here. In the Bourrée (Suite 3), timpanist Friedhelm May is a standout soloist. The central suite is more intimate than the outer two. Flautist Christoph Huntgeburth and Lutenist… Continue reading Get…

★★★★½ First-rate performance of symphonic repertoire’s central pillar leaves an overwhelming impression. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Rite of Spring may have caused a riot, but this oratorio needed the police to keep the audience in order. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The further removed we are from the era of the American iconoclast Charles Ives (1874-1954), the stranger his music sounds.

The Russian maestro conducted the Mariinsky Orchestra at the Palmyra Ruins, recently recaptured from Islamic State. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★★☆ Caetani’s no-nonsense authenticity rehabilitates Soviet musical propaganda. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Both orchestras registered profits in 2014 but still made a loss in 2015 despite increased Government subsidy. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in