NEW! CELLIST JOHANNES MOSER IN CONVERSATION WITH GEOFFREY NEWMAN
15/07/2019
Johannes Moser talks to Geoffrey Newman
Johannes Moser
It is increasingly rare for today’s young artists to come from a long musical lineage. For German/Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, however, music has been in his bones from birth – and indeed much before that. Read more
NEW! CHORUS MASTER STEPHEN DOUGHTY IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBERT BEATTIE
01/06/2019
Stephen Doughty Tells Robert Beattie About the Work of the Belfast Philharmonic Choir
Stephen Doughty conducts the Belfast Philharmonic Choir (c) Linda Salem
The Belfast Philharmonic Choir is Northern Ireland’s only symphonic choir. I went to listen to them perform in St Anne’s Cathedral a few months ago and was impressed with the quality of the singing and the range of their repertoire. The repertoire of the choir is exceptionally varied and includes key works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner. The Phil also champion new works and in 2015 they performed the world premiere of James Whitbourn’s The Seven Heavens which was written especially to commemorate the choir’s 140th anniversary.
They will be performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Ulster Orchestra on 7 June. I spoke to their Chorus Master Stephen Doughty about preparations for the performance and about the work of the choir more generally. Read more
NEW! MULTI-FACETED MUSICIAN JOY LISNEY IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBERT BEATTIE
30/05/2019
Joy Lisney talks to Robert Beattie
Joy Lisney (c) Krisztian Siphos
I first came across Joy Lisney at a concert in London’s Purcell Room where she performed all five Beethoven Cello Sonatas with her father, James (review click here). I was struck by the extraordinarily high level of her technical accomplishment and musicianship, and her willingness to take on such demanding repertoire at a relatively young age. Read more
NEW! Karabits Shares with Ian Lace his Impressions of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius
28/05/2019
Kirill Karabits, Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, delivered a profoundly moving performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius on May 15th 2019 to conclude the BSO’s 2018/19 season. Following this (click here), I asked Kirill Karabits about his impressions of Elgar’s masterpiece.
Kirill Karabits
‘MUSICAL MAGIC’: AN INTERVIEW WITH VIOLINIST HENNING KRAGGERUD
21/05/2019
Geoffrey Newman in Conversation with Henning Kraggerud
Henning Kraggerud © Robert Romic
There are few artists who convey a greater sense of communication and discovery in the concert hall than Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud. There is a life-enhancing glow in his appearances, and one surmises that his bountiful inspiration must come from somewhere – perhaps from a tradition that stresses experimentation and an almost Renaissance diversity in musical reach. Kraggerud is not only a beautifully fine-toned and sensitive violin soloist and chamber musician, but a devoted educator, a play/direct specialist, a (sometimes) violist and a composer. Read more
NEW! CONDUCTOR THOMAS SANDERLING IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE
04/05/2019
Thomas Sanderling talks to Gregor Tassie
Thomas Sanderling
YOUNG RUSSIAN PIANIST ALEXANDRA DOVGAN TALKS TO GREGOR TASSIE
25/04/2019
Alexandra Dovgan in conversation with Gregor Tassie
Gregor Tassie with Alexandra Dovgan (c) Sergei Dovgan
The eleven-year-old Alexandra Dovgan was honoured by opening the Ninth Rakhlin International Music Festival in Kazan playing Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto together with Alexander Sladkovsky’s outstanding Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra, an event (review click here) which I attended together with journalists from Israel, St Petersburg, and Moscow. Read more
CONDUCTOR PIETARI INKINEN IN CONVERSATION WITH GREGOR TASSIE
13/04/2019
Pietari Inkinen talks to Gregor Tassie
Pietari Inkinen (c) Nguyen Phuong Thao
The Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen started playing the violin and piano at four years and entered the Sibelius Music Academy graduating in violin studies (2003) and in conducting (2005) after which he studied with Zakhar Bron in Germany. He formed his own Piano Trio – the Inkinen Trio, and also performed in a rock band in Helsinki. He decided to devote his career to conducting and his first position was as chief conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2008-2015). Inkinen recorded all the Sibelius symphonies for Naxos with the NZSO. In April 2019 the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under Pietari Inkinen are touring Europe in programmes reflecting both the central repertoire and music from the Far East and from Inkinen’s homeland. Read more
Latest Classical Music News and Reviews
- NPR
- NY Times
- BBC
- Independent News
Watch a young cellist on the rise, offering music of virtuosity, sweet lyricism and a little fire fr [...]
The women — eight singers and a dancer — told The Associated Press that the opera titan tried to pre [...]
University of Michigan memos obtained by NPR detail multiple, serious allegations, including an accu [...]
The Metropolitan Opera suspended, and then fired, Levine after several men came forward with accusat [...]
Isata Kanneh-Mason, one of seven siblings in a British family bursting with promising music careers, [...]
Reports of sexual harassment against one of opera’s most revered stars have brought opposing reactio [...]
Anna Paquin joins the Showtime show’s time-skipping final season, and the Scary Movies festival desc [...]
A new recording captures this 2015 work, which doesn’t depend on the presence of him or his jazz col [...]
The 9-year-old’s lawsuit had said that rejecting girls denied them access to a high-quality educatio [...]
Our guide to the city’s best classical music and opera happening this weekend and in the week ahead. [...]
This joyous set of Beethoven's sonatas takes its place among the very best. [...]
In its own way, the Seven Words of Christ is just as sublime as the Stabat Mater. [...]
This sensitive, dynamic recording is a joy, and may even constitute a revelation. [...]
The pair exhibits a refined style on these illuminating performances. [...]
A deeply affecting experience that ought to win the opera many new admirers. [...]No items.
