Classical CDs: Voice flutes, flugelhorns and froth

CLASSICAL CDS Baroque sonatas, English orchestral music & an emotionally-charged vocal recital

Baroque sonatas, English orchestral music and an emotionally-charged vocal recital

 

Michaela KoudelkováCorelli/Handel: Sonatas Michaela Koudelková (recorders), Monika Knoblochová (harpsichord), Libor Mašek (cello), Jan Krejča (theorbo) (Supraphon)

Classical CDs: Shrouds, silhouettes and superstition

CLASSICAL CDS Cello concertos, choral collections & a stunning tribute to a contemporary giant

Cello concertos, choral collections and a stunning tribute to a contemporary giant

 

Kabalevsky celloKabalevsky: Cello Concerto No. 2, Schumann: Cello Concerto Theodor Lyngstad (cello), Copenhagen Phil/Eva Ollikainen (OUR Recordings)

Classical CDs: Elephants, bells and warm blankets

CLASSICAL CDS Two great conductors celebrated, medieval choral music and an eclectic vocal recital

Two great conductors celebrated, plus medieval choral music and an eclectic vocal recital

 

Tilson Thomas boxMichael Tilson Thomas: The Complete Columbia, Sony and RCA Recordings (Sony)

Best of 2024: Classical music concerts

BEST OF 2024: CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS Young and old in excelsis

Young and old in excelsis, and competition finales turned into winning programmes

As always, great concerts have outnumbered great opera productions over a year, and all of our national orchestras can be proud of their record. I’ve sometimes started by celebrating youth, and it’s good to be able to do that in the shape of two competition finales totally satisfying as programmes. The palm, though, goes to two veterans who made me wonder at their ease and natural communication.

Best of 2024: Classical CDs

BEST OF 2024: CLASSICAL CDS Our pick of the year's best classical releases

Our pick of the year's best classical releases

 

Kavakos, Philharmonia, Blomstedt, RFH review - a supreme valediction forbidding mourning

★★★★ KAVAKOS, PHILHARMONIA, BLOMSTEDT, RFH Nonagenarian's Mahler 9 astounds

Nonagenarian conductor provides the flow, his players the passion, in Mahler's Ninth

From a privileged position in the Festival Hall stalls, I could see 97-year old Herbert Blomstedt’s near-immobile back as he sat on a piano stool with the score in front of him, but also his supremely expressive right arm and hand, every finger brought into play, the left hand occasionally visible to me as he raised it at moments of high emotion. The Philharmonia simply burned for him, every phrase and dynamic brought into focus to heighten an already assured vision.

Andrej Power, LSO, Mäkelä, Barbican review - singing, shrieking rites of darkness and light

★★★★ANDREJ POWER, LSO, MAKELA, BARBICAN Singing, shrieking rites of darkness & light

Radical masterpieces by Sibelius and Stravinsky have never sounded more extraordinary

Out of innumerable Rite of Springs in half a century of concert-going, I’ll stick my neck out and say this was the most ferocious in execution, the richest in sound. Others may have wanted a faster, lighter Rite. But the two things that make every concert conducted by Klaus Mäkelä so extraordinary are that he inhabits the music to a visibly high level, and that he gets the fullest tone and urgent phrasing from every instrument.

LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - singular adventures for a new era

★★★★ LSO, PAPPANO, BARBICAN Singular adventures for a new era

A quick-change MacMillan premiere finds correspondences in singular Sibelius

Somehow those of us required to translate the musical experience into words look for the moments which defeat us. One such was the extraordinary sound of muted first violins and cellos at the start of the second movement in Sibelius’s First Symphony last night. Pinpointing its essence feels impossible, but it could only have come from the London Symphony Orchestra’s special relationship with its new Chief Conductor Antonio Pappano.

theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2024 - youth, experience and old mastery on the highest level

The three conductor Järvis - Neeme and sons Paavo and Kristjan - run the gamut

"The world meets in Pärnu", slogan for the 14th festival in Estonia's summer seaside capital, has held good ever since Paavo Järvi gathered native musicians and key players from the international teams he inspires to form what's now the Estonian Festival Orchestra. Buzz about the youngsters formerly serving just the conductors’ course is new; 2024's Järvi Academy Youth Symphony Orchestra embraces 30 countries.

Best of 2023: Classical CDs

BEST OF 2023: CLASSICAL MUSIC CDS A hand-picked selection of the year's finest releases

A hand-picked selection of the year's finest releases