Archive
The complete Open Letters Monthly Archive.
John Blow has forever lived in the shadow of Henry Purcell, his former student. His musical response to the Purcell's death was partly competitive – others were also producing Purcell laments – but also discernably personal.
Read MoreThe present album brings together the super-mezzo Cecilia Bartoli and cellist Sol Gabetta. It is as good as it gets, until you realize that you can get too much of a good thing.
Read MoreSome records grab you by the ears, others take longer to impress. It is in no sense to Krystian Zimerman’s discredit that his first attempt at late Schubert took three spins on my deck before I grasped the originality of his interpretation.
Read MoreThe need for a new-gen recording of Berlioz’s epic opera Les Troyens is pressing. A new release aims for the crown and hits its mark.
Read MoreThis first album of George Martin's orchestral music and film scores, elegantly played by Craig Leon’s Berlin’s Music Ensemble, gives us an opportunity to see what might have been going on behind George’s determinedly bland musical façade.
Read MoreThe five Divertimentos that make up the bulk of this release date from the 1930s to 1950s and, rooted in folk dances, are determinedly upbeat. You’d never know that Hitler and Stalin were banging at the door.
Read MoreDaniil Trifonov thinks nothing of coming on stage with one wrist in a bandage, no explanation offered, or of asking the audience not to applaud at any time through a 90-minute recital, so it would be absurd to expect him to release a conventional Chopin album.
Read MoreNoa Wildschut first appeared on Dutch television at six years old and at the Concertgebouw a year later. She's 16 now, old enough to take a bit of criticism and interesting enough to warrant adult consideration.
Read MoreScriabin, as he so often does, takes us to the brink only to skitter away on some frivolity. But there is much to enjoy here, so long as you don’t expect too much.
Read MoreNadia Boulanger deferred to the music of her short-lived sister Lily and barely spoke of herself as a composer. Two releases, newly landed, may help to adjust that misperception.
Read MoreThe unique selling point of this release is what appears to be the first recording of Bartok’s piano quartet in C minor. Unfortunately, it's not very good.
Read MoreJust months before his death, Nikolaus Harnoncourt made his final attempt to faithfully render Beethoven's scores into music. Norman Lebrecht assesses his valediction.
Read MoreMahler's Third is a challenge of both organization and interpretation. Does Jaap van Zweeden's new live recording deserve a place among the greats?
Read MoreOut of Russia's close-knit musical world, Ludmila Berlinskaya brings us Scriabin--and works from his son and the son of a man who painted him.
Read MoreConfiscated by US Customs during World War II, a reconstructed Britten concerto caps a disc of rare British music.
Read MoreYannick Nézet-Séguin's Mahler 1st is unlike any other - but does this young man's Mahler miss the point? Norman Lebrecht investigates.
Read More"Something clicks in the opening track of this album in a way this listener seldom experiences, in concert or on record." Yevgeny Sudbin plays Medtner and Rachmaninov. Norman Lebrecht reviews.
Read MoreThis week's CD features concertos by Neil Sedaka and Duke Ellington keyboardist Keith Emerson, and the only weak point is Rhapsody in Blue. Norman Lebrecht explains.
Read MoreJacqueline du Pré’s performance of Elgar's cello concerto is so legendary that few artists have dared to challenge it. Now Alisa Weilerstein does so, in an astonishing new recording. Norman Lebrecht reviews
Read MorePhilip Glass's ninth symphony has some of the minimalist traits listeners will expect--but also a number of surprises
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