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September 2018: Contents

Features

Mullova performs Pärt

Viktoria Mullova has had to reach deep inside herself to record this music, finds Andrew Mellor, even if, on the outside, her trademark virtuosity and Pärt’s quiet spirituality seem odd bedfellows

Van Zweden braves NY Philharmonic 

The Dutch conductor is ready to take up the reins at Bernstein’s old stomping ground, finds Neil Fisher when he meets him in Hong Kong for the final instalment of his Ring cycle for Naxos

Revealing our musical past 

As the partnership between Delphian and the European Music Archaeology Project draws to a close, Hannah Nepil speaks to those involved about the unique instruments unearthed in the process

Awards shortlist revealed 

Discover the top three recordings in each category

Season preview 2018-19

Our indispensable guide to the musical year ahead

The musician and score 

Urbański on his ‘insane’ view of Shostakovich 5

Icons 

Jed Distler on the brilliant pianist William Kapell

Contemporary composers 

Celebrating ‘quiet revolutionary’ Roxanna Panufnik

What next? 

A diverse aural journey prompted by Sheherazade

My music 

British poet and writer Fiona Sampson on the infinite connections between music and poetry

Reviews

Recording of the month

Antonio Pappano, with a superb array of musicians including pianist Beatrice Rana, presents Bernstein’s three symphonies

Orchestral

Bruckner’s mighty Eighth Symphony from Rattle and Jansons; Tilson Thomas’s Tchaikovsky; the Golden Age with Ray Chen

Chamber 

The Casals Quartet’s Beethoven; Robin Holloway Trios; a debut from trombonist Peter Moore

Instrumental

Carlo Grante plays Busoni; Paganini’s Caprices from Roman Simovic; a Debussy round-up

Vocal

Choral music by Julian Anderson; a celebration of the Virgin Mary with the Binchois Consort

Opera

Mason Bates’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs; La clemenza di Tito from Glyndebourne

Reissues

Karl Richter’s pioneering Bach legacy; a trio of classic Gilbert & Sullivan recordings

Replay

Gems from Gielen, Stokowski and Monteux

Classics Reconsidered

Two critics revisit Karajan’s 1968 DG recording of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony with fresh ears

Books

Vaughan Williams remembered by those who met him; wise reflections from Susan Tomes

Gramophone Collection

Rob Cowan guides us through the extensive recorded history of Debussy’s La mer – from 1932 to 2018 – and makes his top choice

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