Pentatone – ‘Purcell: Dido & Aeneas’

“The only perfect English opera”, says Lindsay Kemp in the foreword to this issue, and artistic director David Bates elaborates this statement further: “…its strongest suit is its sense of theatre. By that I essentially mean contrast, the juxtaposition of differing moods, colours, orchestrations, songs. It constantly shifts from one thing to another in the […]

‘DUO’ from Cobra Records

Are female Cellists better than male? Of late an array of young and talented female cello players have drawn our attention, like the promising Dutch, Ellen van Poucke, the Swiss revelation, Nadège Rochat, and, of course, the slightly more mature American, Alisa Weilerstein, and Argentinian, Sol Gabetta, both already playing at the highest international level.  […]

Review of Peter Takács ‘Complete Beethoven Sonatas’

The year 2011 saw the release by the Cambria label of Peter Takács’ complete Beethoven Piano Sonata cycle. The project had been set down between 2001 and 2007. The original release of eleven SACDs in Surround Sound was issued in a very lavish box, however, these 2000 sets had unfortunately sold out by 2016. A […]

Notes from Recent Finds, No. 13 – Gems from Cobra, Eudora, Just Listen, and Lawo

This is a reposted article originally written for Positive Feedback by our friend Rush Paul. The great team at Positive Feedback, as well as Rush himself, have kindly given us permission to repost this and you can find the original article at this link. Thanks to Rush the PF team! September arrived and so has […]

Review of Reference Recordings ‘Tchaikovsky & Schulhoff’

Performance: 5 This is Manfred Honeck’s second Pittsburgh recording of this great Symphony. His first, which derived from a May 2006 concert, appeared on the Exton label and at first glance, because the timings – discounting applause – are virtually identical, you might wonder who needs this new one. Well, the new one is even […]

Songlines Recordings | Group Review #1

Music that transports the listener on a cross-genre jazz journey  On “Train Song”, Aros, a multinational ensemble of Netherlands-based Austrian Marion von Tilzer (composer, piano), Canadians Rob Armus (composer, tenor sax) and John Korsrud (trumpet), Scots Anne Wood (violin) and Alan Purves (percussion), and German Sven Schuster (bass) performs a set of original compositions by […]

Captivating the listener at all times

Schumann’s piano music is popular among pianists and audiences alike. Putting one’s stamp on any of the scores demands more than just playing all the notes as required by the composer. Easier said than done. What is meant by ‘Belebt, nicht zu rasch’ (animated, not too fast) in Gesänge der Frühe, Op. 133? It leaves […]

‘Solitude’ from Niek Baar and Ben Kim

A definite proof of his exceptional musicianship. In an earlier blog devoted to Niek Baar, I said: “It may still be early days, but it would seem to me that there is a new star in the Dutch musical firmament”. These ‘early days’ are now over. Further proof of his exceptional musicianship is here and […]