Shostakovich Symphony No 8 album review – composer’s cry of despair in a remarkable and resonant new recording
Frankfurt Radio Symphony/Altinoglu(Alpha)Conductor Alain Altinoglu brings weight and purpose while the instrumental solos are piquant and precise. If the Leningrad was Shostakovich’s official response to the second world war, the Eighth Symphony was his…
Women and the Piano album review – Tomes brings her poetic instincts to a rewarding compilation
Susan Tomes(Hyperion)From Marianne Martines – taught by the family lodger, Haydn, to Teresa Carreño who played for Lincoln, there’s names new and old in this fascinating and appealing collection This attractive compilation came out of Susan Tomes’…
Choral evensong has been on our airwaves for 100 years today. Long may this vibrant, thriving art form continue | Jonathan Davies
One hundred years since the BBC first broadcast choral evensong, MP and former chorister Jonathan Davies hymns a beautiful and empowering collective experience that we should praise – and protectSome sounds seem to belong to Britain. The peal of church…
Only connect: two composers who put humans at the heart of their music, and the conductor who didn’t
This week, from Reich to Kendall and Celibidache, three musicians who prove there is no such thing as “pure music”, whether we’re talking about a technique, a mode of musical expression or a musician’s legacy.Steve Reich turned 90 on Saturday, and I’ve…
Celibidache was a musical visionary, an uncompromising perfectionist – and my father
The legendary conductor was acclaimed for his dazzling music-making, and infamous for his hatred of recordings. His son, writer of a new film about him, remembers a loving yet intransigent and demanding fatherMy father, Sergiu Celibidache, loved children…
Parsifal review – bunkers, CCTV and fembots in elusive vision of Wagner’s mystical masterpiece
Royal Opera House, LondonEvgeny Titov’s brutal and powerful new staging of Wagner’s final opera explains as little as possible. Christian Gerhaher is a compelling and wild-eyed Amfortas and Jakub Hrůša and the Royal Opera’s orchestra are superbGrail,…
Beth Taylor: The Deeps Have Music album review – seamless legato and a gift for storytelling
Taylor/Brown(Linn)The Scottish mezzo-soprano makes this programme of sea-themed songs gleam and shimmer. Her account of Elgar’s Sea Pictures holds its own against classic accounts by Janet Baker and Sarah ConnollyScottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor was a…
LPO/Edward Gardner review – Britten’s pacifist War Requiem lands with a bitterness and snarling irony
Royal Festival Hall, LondonThree fine soloists were joined by the excellent Tiffin Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs alongside the London Philharmonic Choir and the London Symphony Chorus whose pianissimo singing left us with a much-needed glimpse of hope‘All a…
Arts Council England doesn’t need ‘swagger’, it needs reform | Letter
Reader Chris Hodgkins proposes a dual‑pillar system that safeguards national institutions while establishing a dedicated body for grassroots arts and musicThe interview with the new chair of Arts Council England (ACE), who says she wants the organisation…
Hallé/Wong review – MacMillan’s new symphony centres a great concert hall’s birthday celebrations
Bridgewater Hall, ManchesterJames MacMillan’s sixth symphony proved an intricate, intriguing and forward-looking work. It was well paired with Stephen Hough’s exuberant ‘Emperor’ piano concerto and a Liszt rarity We complain a lot about concert halls in…