Music reviews
Maddalena and the Prince by Maddalena del Gobbo
Maddalena and the Prince is the second of Maddalena del Gobbo’s concept albums for Deutsche Gramophon, following on from Henriette: the Princess of the Viol – a disc of viola da gamba music originall…
Rooted by Martin Simpson
Martin Simpson has been a key player in the UK folk scene since his 1976 debut album, Golden Vanity. Since then, he has become a top-flight acoustic guitarist. He made a number of very fine albums wi…
Lieder: Brahms, Schumann, Mahler by Renee Fleming
Schumann’s Frauenliebe und –leben was groundbreaking: it was the first song cycle composed to be sung by a woman and from her perspective. As the title indicates, the cycle follows the life and love …
Run Home Slow by The Teskey Brothers
The Teskey Brothers debut album was one of the standout releases of 2017, ending up on many people’s best of the year lists. The album introduced a band of four who love playing together and who have…
Breakdown on 20th Ave. South by Buddy & Julie Miller
Husband-and-wife team Buddy and Julie Miller have released their first album in ten years – their third as a couple in nearly twenty years of recording together. Even they find it a little strange th…
Rise by Jess Gillam
Last year was a historic year for the BBC Young Musician awards. They had their first ever saxophonist in the finals. Now to those who don’t know, this is a bigger deal than you might think. It’s his…
Sir John Tavener: The Protecting Veil by Matthew Barley and Sinfonietta Riga
When the first thing you see, as a performer, is the phrase ‘Transcendent With Awesome Majesty’, you know you’re going to be in for something epic. John Tavener wrote those words over the top of the …
Mozart: Le Testament Symphonique by Le Concert Des Nations
During the summer of 1788, aged only thirty-two, Mozart achieved a monumental feat of compositional greatness: in just one and a half months, he completed symphonies 39, 40 and 41, to which he referr…
Liszt’s Italian Pilgrimage by Tristan Lee
Melbourne’s own Tristan Lee recently emerged from a PhD, for which he was researching the music of Beethoven and Liszt. His recording of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage: Deuxième année: Italie (Years of…
Gounod: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 Iceland Symphony Orchestra & Yan Pascal Tortelier
Being so opera-centric as I am, it was not until this CD fell into my hands that I discovered Gounod was in fact a great symphonist. Under the baton of Yan Pascal Tortelier, the Iceland Symphony Orch…
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