Colin Davis’ LSO Mozart Requiem

Jeremy Lee writes

Colin Davis was, of course, no mean Mozartian.  Apart from his universally acclaimed series of the operas, he was an intelligent accompanist to the concerti (Grumiaux and Larrocha to name two), and produced a glorious set of late symphonies with the Staatskapelle Dresden on Philips.  Of the Requiem, he recorded

A Box Of Karl Böhm’s Late Recordings

Jeremy Lee writes

The circumstances for the reissue of these “late recordings” in a box set is rather curious.  Usually when a box set documenting the artistry of a legendary artist (in whole or in part) surfaces, its release date coincides with the anniversary year of that artist’s birth or death or other meaningful anniversaries.  Released in 2015, the present set seems

DG’s Big Bernstein Box, Vol. 1

Jeremy Lee writes

I will start this review with a bold statement:  of all the oft-recorded conductors that have ever lived, no-one has had such a high proportion of great musicianship, great playing and great sonics in their discography than Leonard Bernstein on Deutsche Grammophon.  This is particularly remarkable given

Comprehensive Review: Orff’s Carmina Burana

Jeremy Lee writes

Orff’s You-Know-What:  to many, all you have to do is mention the composer Orff to a casual classical music lover and immediately you will get one of two responses:  Carmina Burana, or O Fortuna.  In fact Carmina Burana (which is, to those of you who don’t know better,

Annie Fischer: Icon

Leonard Ip writes (translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Lee)

Annie Fischer (1914-1995) is one of the greatest pianists in the 20^th century, but despite this she’s generally not what you’d call famous. I don’t understand why, because one just needs to have a short listen to her recordings to realize that her performances are as great as any of the more famous pianists. Some say

Gergiev’s Brahms Requiem: So Bad It Cured My Writer’s Block

Jeremy Lee writes

Every now and then, I run into a writer’s block, which renders me completely unable to draw on new inspiration and write a good review.  This has been happening for a bit more than two weeks now, and now that all my spare articles (written in a blaze of inspiration just in case such a writer’s block occurs) have run dry,

Gergiev to become new Munich director

Breaking news:  It has been announced yesterday that Valery Gergiev will succeed the incumbent Lorin Maazel in 2015 as the new music director of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.  Gergiev’s initial contract with the MPhil will extend to 2020.  Further details can be viewed here.

We thought that this was

Mad Mahler 3 from Solti/LSO

Jeremy Lee writes

Do you have an insatiable urge for raw power?  Do you adore violence and carnage?  Are you unfazed by extreme vulgarity?  Are Bernstein’s performances too frail and weak for you?  If you answered any of the above with “yes”, you’ve come to the right place:  Solti’s first Mahler 3^rd with the London Symphony Orchestra.  If

Solti’s Electrifying Mahler 2

Jeremy Lee writes

Mahler’s 2nd symphony isn’t the scariest piece of music ever, but under Solti it might well be.  It all becomes obvious when the cellos come in at the very start:  it’s aggressive, rough and granite-like–terrifying, really, though not unaided by the microphone.  Turn up the volume at the end of the second movement to