Two events on day thirteen of the Festival, in partnership with LIFE Victoria in Barcelona, marked the centenary of the great Spanish soprano Victoria de los Angeles, a celebration that…
Author: David Truslove
MacMillan, Tavener & Vaughan Williams: the Choir of Westminster Abbey
In its century-spanning traversal of sacred music, this recent issue from Hyperion and the Choir of Westminster Abbey – the last recording from the recently retired Director of Music James…
Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at the Royal Opera House
Now in its fifth revival, the popularity of Laurent Pelly’s L’elisir d’amore remains unchanged, his nicely observed 1950s rural Italy still pulling in the punters. It’s not just the arresting…
New College: Commissions & Premieres
A disc of commissions and premieres may seem a bold decision for a record company wishing to maximise on sales potential. But this is the choir of New College, Oxford,…
Strikingly impressive Das Rheingold from the Royal Opera House
One might argue with Covent Garden’s pre-publicity claim that this Rheingold is‘a bold new imagining’, but this first collaboration between director Barrie Kosky and conductor Anthony Pappano brings a wonderfully…
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha brings an iridescent glow to Strauss’s Four Last Songs at the Proms
Copland, Hindemith and Strauss are not obvious bedfellows. However, the focus on the 1940s from either side of the Atlantic made perfect sense for this annual Prom appearance of the…
Thrilling performances of Rachmaninov and Walton at the Proms
There’s a danger that a little-known work not previously performed in the UK may be all too quickly erased from memory when familiar works grab the listener’s attention, especially when…
Uplifting performances of Orchestral Anthems from Merton College, Oxford
Christmas, Easter and specific feast days or celebrations provide opportunities for cathedrals and large parish churches with the necessary resources to perform liturgical works with orchestral accompaniment. All the music…
The choral music of Ivo Antognini is superbly sung by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
On this disc of a cappella choral music by the Swiss-born Ivo Antognini (born 1962), issued earlier this year by Hyperion, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge yet again demonstrate…
Stirring performances at the First Night of the BBC Proms
This season opener brought together something new, rare and familiar – and with it, in the first half, a clear plea for freedom explicit in the choice of music by…