Works written for performance in Hanover, Rome and London featured in this all-Handel programme given by the English Concert. The evening’s second half was taken up by Dixit Dominus, dating…
Author: David Truslove
Delius: A Mass of Life
‘The status attained by Frederick Delius as a composer ensures for every new work from his pen the respectful attention of all classes of musicians. In the case of a…
Lawrence Foster conducts Kodály and Bartók on Pentatone
In a tribute essay to Kodály in the 1965 Aldeburgh Festival programme Benjamin Britten suggested, ‘There can be no composer of our century who has done more for the musical…
An imaginative disc of French sacred song from Ad Fontes
This recent compilation for solo voice, harp and organ is a delightful tour d’horizon of songs referencing the Virgin Mary, with works written by those associated with the French organist-composer…
Inspirational Christmas Oratorio from Masaaki Suzuki and the Choir and Orchestra of the OAE
Whether or not J.S. Bach’s seasonal work is an oratorio in the strict sense of the word is questionable, and for the purposes of a review, it is perhaps immaterial.…
Welsh National Opera: Ainadamar at the Mayflower, Southampton
Spain is ‘a country of death, a country open to death’ once declared the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. It’s an assertion that provides a foretaste of Ainadamar, Osvaldo…
Musically powerful Don Giovanni from Glyndebourne
First unveiled at Glyndebourne in May (review), Paul Higgins’s revival of Don Giovanni leaves Mariame Clément’s interpretation largely untouched, yet questions about her staging and its ambiguities remain unexplained. Most…
Francisco Guerrero from The Brabant Ensemble
Known by his contemporaries as ‘El cantor de Maria’, Francisco Guererro (1528-99) was a much-travelled musician and composer whose career bridged the gap between Cristóbal de Morales and Tomás Luis…
Glorious performances from Ensemble Aedes and Les Siècles
This recent Marian-themed disc from the French record label Aparté brings together a trio of works by two composers four centuries apart: a single offering by the Renaissance Clément Janequin…
New Millennium: Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
Signum’s latest release of 21st-century choral music is a hugely rewarding survey of anthems and organ music from living composers, many of whom are graduates of Cambridge University. With eight…