PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS:
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
SPONSORED: An Outstanding Evening - Bill Newman listens to American pianist Rorianne Schrade.
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Spotlight. A Real Find - Geoff Pearce urges you to listen to this recording of Tippett's 'A Child of Our Time'. '... something very special indeed.'
Spotlight. Neither Romantic nor Modern - Gerald Fenech recommends Francesca Dego's new recording of violin concertos by Brahms and Busoni. '... splendidly recorded and annotated ...'
Spotlight. A Window into the Glories of the Past - Geoff Pearce listens to Adrian Boult conducting Berg, Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams. '... truly inspired performance.'
CD Spotlight. An Important Historical Document - Patrick Maxwell listens to Vaughan Williams conducting Vaughan Williams. '... a typically ebullient and undogmatic interpretation of two central works of Britain's most popular composer.'
CD Spotlight. Fascinating Listening - Music by Alban Berg, recommended by Geoff Pearce. '... the BBC Symphony Orchestra is on top form ...'
Classical music news. Upgrading to the Visual - Classical Music Daily's January 2021 Newsletter has just been published in a new video podcast format
Ensemble. Something Really Special - Bliss, Elgar and Vaughan Williams from Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Elizabeth Watts, Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, heard by Mike Wheeler
CD Spotlight. Technical Mastery - Yevgeny Sudbin plays Rachmaninov, heard by Lucas Ball. '... most of the time, what Sudbin does with these fiendishly difficult works is hard to criticise.'
CD Spotlight. Winds of Change - Edward Gardner conducts Elgar, heard by Gerald Fenech. 'Edward Gardner gives revelatory accounts of both works, always keeping in check the emotional element, but when the occasion warrants, he lets the music sweep us off our feet.'
CD Spotlight. Mostly Excellent - Smetana's 'The Bartered Bride', heard by Stephen Francis Vasta. '... a fine performance ...'
CD Spotlight. Enduring Legacy - Sibelius symphonies, recommended by Howard Smith. '... an important enterprise ...'
CD Spotlight. Muscular and Energetic - Orchestral music by Witold Lutoslawski, heard by Howard Smith. '... played with conspicuous élan ...'
Ensemble. Two Worlds - Malcolm Miller looks forward to the Wagner bicentenary and back to a semi-staged performance of Jonathan Harvey's 'Wagner Dream'
An Ever-Active Hive - Robert Anderson examines the latest score from Acuta Music
Ask Alice - On listening or playing, musicians' creativity and Sue Frankel's Caractacus Pots, with classical music agony aunt Alice McVeigh
CD Spotlight. A Vigorous Spirit - Music by Matthew Taylor, heard by Patric Standford. '... skill and personality in equal measures ...'
Ensemble. Tonal Luxuriance - Lawrence Budmen reports from Tanglewood 2009
Ensemble. A Bright Future - Malcolm Miller was at the final night of the 2008 BBC Proms in London
Ensemble. Rebuilt City - Malcolm Miller enjoys the first performance of Judith Weir's choral-orchestral work, 'Concrete'
Ensemble. Story Telling - Robert Hugill was at London's recent Judith Weir weekend
Ensemble. A Sonorous Feast - Music-making by Cédric Tiberghien, Jirí Belohlávek and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, reviewed by Malcolm Miller
Ensemble. Boundaries of the Possible - Malcolm Miller admires Simon Bainbridge's new BBC commission, 'Diptych'
Ensemble. Heart-rending beauty - Concertos by Elgar and Kopytman, reviewed by Malcolm Miller
Ensemble. Warmth and spontaneity - David Thompson reviews a performance of 'L'Enfance du Christ' by Berlioz
Ensemble. They're off! - David Thompson was at the First Night of the Proms in London, 19 July 2002
Ensemble - Naïve and Sentimental Music. Malcolm Miller attends the London première of John Adams' most recent and largest orchestral work
CD Spotlight - Continuously fascinating. The music of Gordon Crosse, with Peter Dickinson