Record Review Podcast

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Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings Mar 07, 2022

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The Serenade's status as a darkly dazzling 20th-century classic is founded on Britten's unerring ear for finding and setting English poetry, coupled with his instinctive sense of instrumental and vocal virtuosity. Its six texts, from Ben Johnson to Tennyson, deal with night and the corruption of innocence, themes which preoccupied Britten throughout his career. Both the solo writing and the interplay between voice and horn are based on the strengths of the two musicians for which it was written, Britten's long-time partner, Peter Pears and the horn player Dennis Brain. They made the first recording in 1944, a year after the premiere, and since then many subsequent recordings, most often featuring British tenors, have followed.

Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043 Mar 01, 2022

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Bach's Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV1043, affectionately known as the 'Double Concerto', is one of the most popular works of the Baroque repertoire. The two solo parts of this concerto have survived in Bach’s own handwriting, in an autograph that dates from around 1730, when Bach was living in Köthen.

The outer movements illustrate the influence of the Italian Baroque style on Bach in their brisk rhythms, fugal imitations and much of the intricate passage work, while the central movement is deeply expressive as the melodic lines weave between the two violins.

Scriabin's Piano Music Feb 21, 2022

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Born in Moscow 150 years ago this year, Alexander Scriabin's music for solo piano has been recorded by many of the great pianists over the last century. But where to start if you're not familiar with this late-Romantic, sometimes elusive repertoire? David Owen Norris is on hand to navigate through some key pieces and makes some recommendations.

Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Feb 13, 2022

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Building a Library: Jeremy Sams recommends his favourite recording of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe (complete ballet).

Maurice Ravel described his ballet, Daphnis and Chloe as a choreographic symphony. The story concerns the love between the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé. Ravel began work in 1909 after a commission from Sergei Diaghilev and it was premiered in Paris by his Ballets Russes in 1912. The orchestra was conducted by Pierre Monteux, the choreography was by Michel Fokine, and Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the parts of Daphnis and Chloé. With rich harmonies and lush orchestrations it is one of Ravel's most popular works.

Haydn's Symphony No 49, 'La Passione' Feb 05, 2022

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Simon Heighes recommends his favourite recording of Haydn's Symphony No 49 in F minor, 'La Passione'.

This sombre and darkly dramatic Haydn symphony is one of a series of visceral minor key symphonies reflecting Haydn's reaction to the German proto-Romantic literary movement, 'Sturm und Drang' – Storm and Stress – where passionate subjectivity and turbulent self-expression were the order of the day. The symphony was one of the most popular during Haydn's lifetime and its ominous, almost continuous F minor intensity and arresting dynamism still make an impact today.

Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Sonata Jan 30, 2022

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Pianist Lucy Parham picks through the greatest recordings of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Sonata.

Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36, in B-flat minor was composed in 1913 and revised it in 1931. Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, he moved with his family to Rome and started working on his second piano sonata. It is a mighty but technically challenging piece. Rachmaninov himself was not satisfied with the work and revised it in 1931. In 1940, the pianist Vladimir Horowitz created his own edition which combined elements of both previous versions.

Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra Jan 22, 2022

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Building a Library: Emily MacGregor recommends a her favourite recording of Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra.

For Bartók, the circumstances surrounding the composition of his Concerto for Orchestra could hardly have been more miserable. In 1940 he fled his native Hungary to escape the Nazis and spent the remaining five years of his life in the United States, those years blighted by despair, painful illness and abject poverty. But unknown to Bartók, two fellow Hungarians, violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor Fritz Reiner, conspired to persuade Serge Koussevitzky to offer a generous commission. In 1943, the glamorous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra visited Bartók in his New York hospital, and flamboyantly presented the composer, not only with a commission for an orchestral work but also a $500 down payment. Bartók began work in August and finished the Concerto for Orchestra just under three moths later. It spotlights, often with brilliance and playfulness, all the sections of the orchestra and perhaps only its central Elegy, which Bartók called a 'lugubrious death-song', reflects the circumstances of its composition. The work's recorded history begins at the beginning in 1944 with Koussevitzky and the Boston SO and has been much recorded ever since, a 20th-century classic by one of the century's greatest composers.

Amy Beach Jan 16, 2022

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Katy Hamilton surveys the key works and recordings of American composer Amy Beach and chooses her favourite.

Born in 1867 in New Hampshire, Amy Beach became the first successful American female composer, and her 'Gaelic' Symphony was the first symphony to be composed by an American woman. Despite great success during her lifetime, Amy Beach's music was neglected after her death in 1944, but enjoyed a renaissance in the late 20th century.

Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony Jan 08, 2022

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Marina Frolova-Walker recommends a version of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony in Building a Library.

Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No 5 in B-flat major in just a month in the summer of 1944 during World War II. He intended it as "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit." The 1945 premiere was conducted by Prokofiev himself and the symphony has remained one of the composer's most popular works.

Mozart's Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, K466 Jan 01, 2022

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Perhaps the first of Mozart's extraordinary sequence of 'late' piano concertos, the D minor, K466, has attracted pianists as varied as Edwin Fischer and Mitsuko Uchida, many directing the orchestra from the keyboard. Tom Service guides us through a selection of the finest of these, with a recommendation for the essential recording to buy, download or stream.

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