Carlos Gardel – The Legend of a Birth

That a bullet was found lodged in one of his lungs during his autopsy was proof to many that Carlos Gardel had bravely struggled with a gunman on the plane shortly before it careered into another aircraft during take-off at Mendellín in Colombia on 24 June 1935. It was one of many fanciful stories which…

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Review: Gleb Ivanov – piano

The Russian pianist Gleb Ivanov opens his programme with a tremendous swagger in Soirée de Vienne, the intoxicating paraphrase on Strauss waltzes by Adolf Grünfeld. It’s one of many glittering and virtuosic arrangements made of his waltzes (others include  those by Dohnányi, Schulhof, Schulz-Evler and Tausig) and it blazes with exuberance and joie de vivre…

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Czerny: Grand Concerto in A minor

The early part of the nineteenth century was a fascinating period in the development of the piano concerto. With the public’s appetite for virtuoso performers, and with composers only too happy to oblige, much of the music was exuberant and high spirited, by turns lyrical and wistful but always written to delight and to show…

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Visiting Bayreuth

Tchaikovsky was distinctly unimpressed with the new Festspielhaus (Festival Theatre) in the small Bavarian town of Bayreuth when he visited there in 1876 for the opening season. With its innovative design of a 1,925 seat auditorium resembling a classical amphitheatre (including a covered orchestra pit), the acoustics were tailor made for Wagner’s ambitious operas.

Wagner – from minor to major

While Richard Wagner’s lasting fame rests on his groundbreaking operas, he was evidently quite fond of his youthful Symphony in C major from 1832. Near the end of his life, he conducted a performance in Venice on 24 December 1882 for the birthday of his wife, Cosima Wagner; her father Franz Liszt also performed in…

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Review: Tchaikovsky Selections

Pletnev’s masterly survey of Tchaikovsky’s orchestral works with the Russian National Orchestra continues with this stunning recording of some of his most famous works in performances which will delight fans and win over sceptics.

The Composer and the Hollywood Starlet

The strange and largely true story of the composer George Antheil and the actress Hedy Lamarr, told in the style of fan fiction. Apologies to Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and everyone else. 

Review: Bruckner Motets

Stunning performances in Bruckner’s timeless masterpieces from the Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh whose voices soar magically into the vast cathedral’s acoustic.