Category Archives: CD

Vivaldi Peaches

Following my lockdown listening to all of Vivaldi’s concertos, I was delighted to turn my attention to his operas for a piece in the February 2021 issue of Opera magazine. To complement that feature, here is a brief playlist of … Continue reading

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Top ten Beethoven releases of 2020

After a February symphony cycle at the Barbican, most of my Beethoven this year – understandably – has been either streamed or on disc, so I thought I’d mark the great man’s 250th with a round-up of my favourite recordings … Continue reading

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Wolfgang finds his groove in Havana: Mozart y Mambo

“Mozart would have been a good Cuban,” Sarah Willis was told on her first visit to Havana, when she spotted a bust of the composer in the historic part of the city. The comment inspired the Berlin Philharmonic horn player … Continue reading

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Lockdown walks: On reaching a Vivaldi century

“Vivaldi didn’t write 500 concertos. He wrote the same concerto 500 times.” It’s unlikely that Igor Stravinsky ever actually said this – it was probably coined by Luigi Dallapiccola – but it’s an amusing line anyway, intended to poke fun … Continue reading

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Vivaldi Top Ten Concertos

Working – and walking – my way through nearly 500 Vivaldi concertos during lockdown, I’ve whittled them down to a “top ten” playlist of my favourites. My only criteria were “no nicknames”, to encourage people to listen beyond the ubiquitous … Continue reading

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