CONTENTS
Volume 100 Number 1222
email gramophone@mark allengroup.com
EDITORIAL
Phone 020 7738 5454
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Martin Cullingford
DEPUTY EDITOR Sarah Kirkup
REVIEWS EDITOR Tim Parry
ONLINE CONTENT EDITOR James McCarthy
SUB˜EDITORSDavid Threasher; Marija uric´ Speare EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Hattie Butterworth;
Eleanor Burgess
EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Libby McPhee
ART DIRECTOR Dinah Lone
PICTURE EDITOR Sunita Sharma-Gibson
AUDIO EDITOR Andrew Everard EDITOR˜IN˜CHIEF James Jolly
WITH THANKS TO Jasmine Cullingford and
Charlotte Gardner
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EDITOR’S CHOICE
The 12 most highly recommended recordings reviewed in this issue
RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Hugo Shirley enjoys a colourful exploration
of Donizetti arias from the Mexican tenor Javier Camarena, with an interesting selection that generally avoids over-recorded favourites
FOR THE RECORD
ORCHESTRAL
Mozart concertos from a new generation of instrumentalists; Barenboim revisits Schumann; Sir Andrew Davis conducts Stravinsky
CHAMBER
The latest news, including the BBC Phil’s new Chief Conductor and a forthcoming limited-edition box-set celebrating Abbado’s career with DG – plus, the composer Julian Anderson speaks to us about receiving the 2023 Grawemeyer Music Award, Tim Parry steps inside Wyastone Concert Hall, and James Jolly talks with the Toronto SO’s new CEO, Mark Williams, about what a modern symphony orchestra should be
Flute sonatas by CPE Bach; Fretwork play Locke; the Jubilee Quartet’s impressive Schubert
LETTERS AND OBITUARIES
INSTRUMENTAL
The true venue for Façade’s first private London performance; the many faces of Rozhdestvensky
Vicky Chow plays Glass; an imposing debut from Alim Beisembayev; Rachel Podger’s ‘Tutta sola’
RACHMANINOV AT “
VOCAL
Songs by Milton Babbitt; Blue Heron turn to Machaut; a striking album from Ruby Hughes
ONLINE CONCERTS & EVENTS
In our first feature, Jeremy Nicholas celebrates this ‘most complete’ musician who excelled as composer, conductor and pianist, while, in our second feature, Philip Ross Bullock explores the startlingly original works that emerged from Rachmaninov’s enforced final years in exile
Andrew Mellor reports on online music-making
VOICES AND VIOLS UNITE
OPERA
Cherubini’s Les Abencérages; Rameau’s Zoroastre
The King’s Singers and Fretwork have joined forces to celebrate 400 years since the deaths of both Byrd and Weelkes, finds Edward Breen
JAZZ & WORLD MUSIC “
Reviews from our sister titles Jazzwise and Songlines
COMPETITIONS GUIDE
REISSUES “ Gieseking on Warner and an APR supplement
Our annual guide presents the best competitions across the UK, Europe, the US and further afield
MUSICIAN AND THE SCORE
BOX-SET ROUND-UP “
Christian-Pierre La Marca conveys his passion for Haydn’s Cello Concerto No 1 to Richard Bratby
REPLAY ““
Rob Cowan on recent releases from the archives
ICONS
CLASSICS RECONSIDERED
““
Tully Potter recalls the extensive live and recorded legacy of the American baritone Robert Merrill
Two critics dissect Rachmaninov’s 1930 recording of Chopin’s ‘Funeral March’ Sonata
CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS
BOOKS ““
Guy Rickards surveys the disarmingly broad output of British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad
Vaughan Williams and Boult; the Romantic age
HIGH FIDELITY
“
GRAMOPHONE COLLECTION ““
The latest from the world of audio equipment
Mark Pullinger delves daringly into the vast discography of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
MY MUSIC “
REVIEWS INDEX
“ Film composer Alan Silvestri on his how classical guitar paved the way for a career in composition