Three Britten cycles – manicured performances from Andrew Staples

Poets from W.H. Auden to Shakespeare and Goethe to Racine fired Benjamin Britten’s musical imagination and kindled an artistic response that had little equal among 20th-century British composers. Nowhere do…

Bath Camerata on excellent form at Leominster Priory

Now in its fortieth year, the Presteigne Festival once again brought an eclectic mix of cultural events (music, film, art and poetry) to this unassuming Welsh border town.  Under the…

Prom 49: An overwhelming ‘Resurrection’ Symphony from Sir Simon Rattle

There can be no better venue in London for a performance of Mahler’s ’Resurrection’ Symphony than the Royal Albert Hall.  Those fortunate enough to acquire tickets for this sell-out concert…

Alice Coote & Julius Drake present a collection of popular Schubert lieder

Alice Coote’s recent disc, Schubert 21 Songs, joins an already well-filled and distinguished discography. She and her long-term collaborator Julius Drake curate a wide-ranging selection bookended by two versions each…

Michel-Richard de Lalande: Grands Motets

During the 17th century, daily religious observance was a regular feature at the French court.  In the royal chapel Louis XIV was a habitual presence for Low Mass where custom…

Prom 24: Mendelssohnian playfulness and Mahlerian darkness

A premiere, an outstanding debut and a distinctive symphonic account formed a programme given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under its principal conductor Ryan Bancroft in the third…

L’elisir d’amore delights at West Green House Opera

The grounds of West Green House in leafy Hampshire drew from director Victoria Newlyn an inspired staging of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.  Situating this 1832 comic opera on a Mediterranean cruise…

René Jacobs revisits Bach’s Mass in B minor

Having enjoyed René Jacobs’ superb recording of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis which was issued by harmonia mundi in 2021, I was looking forward to this new account of Bach’s Mass in B…

Resurrexi! The Choir of Keble College, Oxford

There have been some fine recordings in recent years from the Choir of Keble College, Oxford, and this is the first disc directed by Paul Brough who succeeded Matthew Martin…

Heinrich Schütz: David & Salomon – selections from the Psalms of David and Song of Solomon

This first foray into the music of Heinrich Schütz from Les Cris de Paris is an absolute winner, a superb addition to the composer’s discography of more than 100 recordings.…