GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 ’The Year 1905’ – BBC SO/BBC Philharmonic/Rozhdestvensky
I don’t think anybody would deny that there were times when Gennady Rozhdestvensky wore his craft so lightly, so casually, that the impression he was ‘coasting’ on his laurels did neither himself nor his orchestras any favours.…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 6 & 9 – BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Lloyd-Gonzales
Shostakovich’s Sixth and Ninth symphonies clearly belong together – flip sides of the same coin, the composer wrong-footing the Soviet establishment with an irony bordering on insanity. The opening Largo of the Sixth is one of his…
GRAMOPHONE Review: QUIET CITY – Balsom, Britten Sinfonia/Stroman
There’s something intensely evocative about the solo trumpet – a plaintive, plangent, melancholic sound which speaks just as eloquently of the great outdoors as it does of the inner city. Of course, the jazz connotations are inescapable…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Jurowski Conducts Stravinsky Vol 1 – Angharad Lyddon, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Jurowski
The early evolution of Stravinsky from fledgling to Firebird feels like the most natural thing in the world as one listens to this the first in a three-volume series from Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic tracing…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Weill Violin Concerto / Symphony No. 2 – Tamás Kocsis, Ulster Orchestra/Van Steen
No one ever needs to convince me of Kurt Weill’s importance in the great scheme of music. Not just in the world of musical theatre where I have long been an advocate of his American work –…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Ravel Cantates pour le Prix de Rome – Choeur & Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire/Rophé
What a delicious surprise this has turned out to be. I’ll wager only a tiny minority of true Ravel aficionados will know only one or two if any of these early opuses – all of them written…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 – San Diego Symphony Orchestra/Payare
Sonically speaking, this streamed offering from San Diego is right up there with the best we have – yes, even the much-lauded Chandos/Storgards account which was my Critics Choice a couple of years back. The young Venezuelan…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 – Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse/Sokhiev
There’s a great deal to admire here. Some individual new thinking, too. In some ways the Tenth is the most classically cast of all Shostakovich’s symphonies – and to honour that it must feel organic. Sokhiev’s opening…
GRAMOPHONE Review: John Williams Violin Concerto No 2 & Various – Mutter, Boston Symphony Orchestra/Williams
‘The Guv’nor’ of movie music is quick to acknowledge those who have inspired him – composers and performers alike – and these two new releases are as much a tribute to the creative impulses of his two…
GRAMOPHONE Review: John Williams ‘A Gathering of Friends’ Cello Concerto & Various – Yo-Yo Ma, New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Williams
‘A Gathering of Friends’ celebrates three decades of friendship between Williams and Yo-Yo Ma and features a radical revision of the Cello Concerto first conceived after their initial meeting through the Boston Pops Orchestra. For this new…