Music reviews
Road to the Sun by Jason Vieaux, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet & Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny: Road to the Sun is new territory for jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. The winner of 20 Grammy Awards, Metheny has truly embraced a new musical horizon with this classical opus. Spread over 11…
Liszt: Works for Solo Piano by Benjamin Grosvenor
British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor has been a regular in these pages for many years now. Electrifying the classical music community in 2011 with his first foray into Liszt’s repertoire, we now now ha…
Beethoven: Works for Flute by Emmanuel Pahud & Daniel Barenboim
Why is Beethoven so delightfully cute on the flute? Beethoven might be rolling in his grave as I say this, but as I listened to this album, I just kept finding myself smiling at the cheeky phrases ef…
Romance: Music for Violin and Orchestra by Danish Composers, performed by Christina Åstrand, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra & Jukka Iisakkila
A lustrous pearl adorns the cover of this album and it is a perfect representation of this repertoire. Warmth permeates every note of these Danish masterworks thanks to the beauty of violinist Christ…
Telemann: Polonoise by Holland Baroque & Aisslinn Nosky
Holland Baroque is a self-described ‘original and innovative baroque orchestra’ who characterise their latest offering, Telemann: Polonoise, as ‘a programme for curious listeners who want to discover…
I Am Hera by Hera Hyesang Park, Wiener Symphoniker & Bertrand de Billy
Young South Korean soprano Hera Hyesang Park had already enjoyed success at the Met and top-tier European opera houses before being signed to Deutsche Grammophon (DG). And then the pandemic hit. Like…
Fermi’s Paradox by Ronn McFarlane, Carolyn Surrick & Jackie Moran
Acclaimed lutenist Ronn McFarlane and violist da gamba Carolyn Surrick found themselves at loose ends in early 2020. There were no concerts or recordings in sight, and the other band members of their…
Shore by Fleet Foxes
As cynical as we’ve all become, there’s nothing quite like listening to a new release from a band so consistently strong and beautiful that you can’t help but feel hopeful. The new Fleet Foxes album …
Silver Age: Scriabin, Stravinsky & Prokofiev by Daniil Trifonov
From 1890 through to the revolution and the first two decades of the 20th century, Russia was gripped with creative fever. The poets, musicians and artists of the era were all producing great works a…
Crossover by Emma Donovan & The Putbacks
Acclaimed Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Yamatji soul queen Emma Donovan returns after a six-year absence with Crossover, another cracking album made with her long-time collaborators the Putbacks.
A b…
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