A formidable new Mahler Fourth from Jakub Hrůša and Anna Lucia Richter

Jakub Hrůša has some impeccable credentials as a Mahler conductor. I described a gripping Resurrection in February 2020 with the Philharmonia Orchestra as one from the Golden Age; one that…

Live@Lakeside: Manchester Collective with soprano Ruby Hughes

“This music builds so much adrenaline that you feel you have to let that out at the end!”  With a smile and a giggle, violinist Rakhi Singh, co-founder of the…

Pygmalion: Bach Motets

Issued last September but only recently brushing my radar, Pygmalion’s alpha-plus Bach disc is a revelation. Raphaël Pichon, founder of the specialist Baroque ensemble in 2006, has had a rewarding…

VOCES8 open their Live from London, Spring festival

Spring may be almost upon us, its rituals heralding re-awakenings and promising new beginnings.  But, this year, when we are all stuck in an eternal present, the cycles of the…

Anna Netrebko: Met Stars Live in Concert

The latest, and tenth, concert in the Met Stars Live series took us to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace complex.  The concert was once again genially hosted…

A thrilling new Missa Solemnis from René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester

Harmonia mundi has now reached another significant milestone in its on-going Beethoven series. This new release once again sees René Jacobs directing the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, here joined by the…

Cimarosa’s The Impresario in Distress Gets Its First Modern Recording

The Italian phrase in angustie means something like “in distress,” “in a tight bind,” or “under pressure from all sides.” Angustie derives from the Latin “angustus”—narrow—and is related to the…

Auber’s Siren Enchants Anew, in a Long-Needed First Recording

Auber’s comic operas – once a mainstay of theaters throughout Europe, the Americas, and perhaps beyond – are slowly making their way back into the lives of music lovers through…

Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczała: Met Stars Live in Concert

January can be a dull and depressing month, and this year it is particularly difficult to keep faith that a light will eventually shine through the darkness.  But, a soul-lifting…

The Twilight of Dreams in Palermo

Il crepuscolo dei sogni burst out of Palermo’s Teatro Massimo last Tuesday thanks to YouTube streaming. The link to the resulting video is below.