FROM ROME: From December 2009 until March 2023, the late Giuseppe Pennisi sent us regular reports from the Italian opera and classical music scene.
DISCUSSION: Defining Our Field - what is 'classical music' to us, why are we involved and what can we learn from our differences? Read John Dante Prevedini's essay, watch the panel discussion and make your own comments.
Resounding Echoes by Robert McCarney - The Journey Begins
Spotlight. In the Shadow of War - Geoff Pearce listens to piano concertos by British composer George Lloyd. '... there is much to be gained from this set ...'
Classical music news - September 2023 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month
Ensemble. Energising Freshness and Exuberance - Malcolm Miller listens to string quartets by three émigré Austrian-born composers
An Act of Love - Malcolm Miller discusses the play 'Dedication'
Classical music news - June 2023 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month
CD Spotlight. Quite Eclectic - Geoff Pearce is entertained by three absurdist works from the 1930s. '... a snapshot of a different age, captured brilliantly.'
CD Spotlight. Freshness and Vitality - Geoff Pearce explores the music of Paul von Klenau. '... a most welcome recording of music by what is today a relatively little-known composer.'
CD Spotlight. Consistently Vibrant - Gerald Fenech listens to orchestral music by German composer Paul Lincke. '... full of striking melodies, rapturous harmonic beauty and often exuberantly dance-like gestures ...'
Echoes of Oblivion by Robert McCarney - A short night at the opera
Classical music news - Music, Migration and Mobility - Malcolm Miller previews a new exhibition in London about émigré composers
Ensemble. A Worthy Venture - Adam J Sacks reports on two Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra concerts
CD Spotlight. Sensitively Passionate - Furtwängler's First Symphony, heard by Gerald Fenech. '... minutely detailed and highly expressive ...'
Ensemble. 1917 - A Different Revolutionary Music - Giuseppe Pennisi listens to Yuri Bashmet and his Moscow Soloists ensemble
Book review. Hugely Atmospheric - Jessica Duchen's new novel 'Ghost Variations', highly recommended by Alice McVeigh
Ensemble. The Downfall - Richard Strauss' 'Elektra' in Bologna, reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi
Appallingly Complex - George Colerick claims that the Nazis approved of Bizet
CD Spotlight. Musical Rebellion - Composers displaced by the Third Reich, heard by Howard Smith. '... piano music of singular merit.'
Ensemble. Political Tragedy - Giuseppe Pennisi attended a performance of Wagner's 'Rienzi' in Rome
Ensemble. More Fantasy? - Robert Hugill has reservations about Terry Gilliam's production of Berlioz's 'The Damnation of Faust'
Ensemble. Rapturous Beauty - Richard Strauss's 'Capriccio', reviewed by Maria Nockin
CD Spotlight. Positively Spellbinding - Music for clarinet, piano and cello, enjoyed by Howard Smith. '... a fine recording ...'
Ensemble. Hope for the Future? - Roderic Dunnett experiences Peter Maxwell Davies' new opera 'Kommilitonen!'
CD Spotlight. Delicate Mastery - Orchestral music by Glazunov, reviewed by Robert Anderson. '... dashingly done ...'
Ensemble. Superb Pianism - A London recital by Julian Jacobson, heard by Robert Anderson
Masks - Jennifer Paull continues her investigation of musical and theatrical masks
Masks - Jennifer Paull investigates a layering of musical and theatrical masks, with the omnipresent eerie reminder of the gas mask
Ensemble. Seething with Evil - Franz Schreker's 'Die Gezeichneten', reviewed by Giuseppe Pennisi
DVD Spotlight. Tragic Power - Handel's 'Tamerlano', reviewed by Robert Anderson. 'The simplicity of the production is welcome ...'
Ensemble. A Sparkling Concert - Sabbath music from the Zemel Choir, enjoyed by Malcolm Miller
Ensemble. Recovered Voices - Two operas in Los Angeles over the Easter weekend, enjoyed by Maria Nockin
Pure Fashion? - Several Composers in Search of an Identity, by Béla Hartmann
CD Spotlight. A Special Joy - The Sibelius tone poems, recommended by Robert Anderson. '... so sparely wrought and of such integrity ...'
CD Spotlight. Essential Lyricism - The violin concertos of Ernö von Dohnányi, reviewed by Robert Anderson. '... a very impressive performance.'
Ensemble. Telling Power - Malcolm Miller attends the final concert in a series devoted to music by banned composers
Record Box. Fine Recordings - Orchestral music by Julius Burger, reviewed by Patric Standford
CD Spotlight. Tumbling - David Leisner's 'Acrobats', reviewed by Malcolm Tattersall. '... as authoritative as one could wish.'
CD Spotlight. A Heady Mix - Havergal Brian's Symphonies 4 and 12, reviewed by Paul Sarcich. '... Adrian Leaper marshals his enormous forces well ...'
Ensemble. Distant Sound - LA Opera's 'Recovered Voices', reviewed by Maria Nockin
Ensemble. Lustrous Sounds - Kurt Weill's 'The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny', reviewed by Maria Nockin
Ensemble. 'I wandered through Theresienstadt' - Malcolm Miller was at a Terezin concert on the eve of Holocaust Day 2006
Profile. The Hungarian Nightingale - A meeting with Gisela Doráti, better known as 'Gizi', by Bill Newman
Ensemble. An acquired taste - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Munich, by Tess Crebbin and Sissy von Kotzebue
Provocations - Alistair Hinton and Chad Wozniak discuss Patric Standford's recent 'Provocative Thoughts'
CD Spotlight. Hope and fear - Berg and Britten violin concertos, reviewed by Robert Anderson. '... a violinist of superb accomplishment ...'
Originality and urbanity - Ilona von Dohnányi's 'Ernst von Dohnányi - A Song of Life', reviewed by Robert Anderson
East and West - Malcolm Miller applauds Natasa Sarcevic's performance of music by Paul Ben-Haim