The virtues of the English Concert in Vivaldi (indeed in more or less anything) are well known: stylish but urbane, technically and stylistically well-founded, and
This is a curious reading of The Bells. Mikhail Pletnev seems more attuned to the mystical and profound aspects of Edgar Allen Poe’s tome than
Herbert von Karajan has some very interesting ideas about tempo in Scheherazade. He begins with a broadly paced introduction, but after Michel Schwalbé’s languorous violin
This release has been eagerly awaited–not least, perhaps, by the participants, who recorded it four and a half years ago! Claudio Abbado’s Bruckner cycle so
Ever wanted to hear Beethoven’s Violin Concerto on the clarinet? Here’s your chance to find out. Does it work? In theory, you’d think so. After
This two-disc release in Universal’s Panorama series offers a musical survey of the church year sung in traditional Benedictine style. The male singers of the
Double CD packages involving Bruckner’s “Romantic” symphony usually pair it with No. 7. Panorama has reissued Herbert von Karajan’s 1975 Berlin Fourth along with his
Recorded in 1958, this Don Giovanni’s prime attraction is Ferenc Fricsay’s crisp, forward-moving conducting. The tempos are swift, almost as though Fricsay can’t wait to
There’s much to be said for performing Schumann’s cello concerto with a chamber orchestra rather than the full symphonic complement of massed strings. First, it
The evolving musical climate of the 1950s occasioned a profound shift of culture and attitude in the performance of Bach’s great choral works. By the