Review: Shostakovich: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6 (Oslo Philharmonic, Klaus Mäkelä)
Mäkelä’s Oslo forces bring freshness and vitality to early Shostakovich.
Michael Quinn is a former theatre director and BBC Radio Drama producer who writes about classical music, opera and theatre. A former Deputy Editor of Gramophone, he is obituaries editor for The Stage, booklet editor for SOMM Recordings, and programming consultant to Northern Ireland’s newest arts centre, The Portico of Ards.
Mäkelä’s Oslo forces bring freshness and vitality to early Shostakovich.
Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic revel in tilling Bohemian soil and soul.
Ravishing singing and playing from the VOCES8 stable.
Vänskä’s Minnesota Mahler Symphony cycle concludes with a lush, poetic Third.
Adams’ problem opera at last gets the reading it deserves.
Orli Shaham’s attractively fresh, singing approach to Mozart merits attention.
Dance and dream in a superbly themed and played recital.
Glass and Cocteau find thrillingly eloquent champions in the Labèque sisters.
Muscular and mesmerising playing makes for a rewardingly satisfying listen.
Schumann sings on superbly employed period instruments.
Revealing interviews with classical music’s great and good.
Sonatas for our uncertain times superbly played and recorded.
Bartók but not as you know him: Aimard re-boots the Piano Concertos.