Absolute Ensemble - Absolute Mix

Absolute Ensemble | Kristjan Järvi

'Absolute' is the word. Kristjan Jarvi's programming formula is right on target for humbling a young audience. To take just...

Reviewed by Rob Cowan in issue: 6/2000

Mozart Symphonies Nos 29, 33, 35 'Haffner', 38 'Prague', 41 'Jupiter'

Claudio Abbado | Mozart Orchestra

Claudio Abbado’s name has not been much associated with Mozart’s over the years – he himself says that he has...

Reviewed by Lindsay Kemp in issue: 13/2008

Robert Alagna - Verdi Arias

Andrew Busher | Angela Gheorghiu | Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | Claudio Abbado | James Bobby | London Voices | Noel Mann | Richard Fallas | Roberto Alagna

In answer to all those nay-sayers concerning Alagna’s talents, the tenor here shows, in the most demanding programme imaginable, that...

Reviewed by Alan Blyth in issue: 4/1998

Brahms Violin Concerto

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | Claudio Abbado | Viktoria Mullova

A CD offering less than 40 minutes of music these days is very short measure, but Mullova's is a commanding...

Reviewed by Edward Greenfield in issue: 11/1994

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1; The Nutcracker-Suite

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | Claudio Abbado | Martha Argerich | Nicholas Economou

Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto has already appeared twice on disc from Martha Argerich in complementary performances: live and helter-skelter on Philips...

Reviewed by Bryce Morrison in issue: 9/1996

Mozart Piano Concertos 15 & 22

Claudio Abbado | London Symphony Orchestra | Rudolf Serkin

The first thing that struck me in this performance of K450 is the deliberate tempo of the first movement; and...

Reviewed by Christopher Headington in issue: 11/1987

Smetana Ma Vlast

The Prague Philharmonia was the brainchild of Jiří Bělohlávek, who founded the orchestra in 1994 and has recorded with it...

Reviewed by Rob Cowan in issue: 1/2011

Wagner (Die) Walküre

Albert Dohmen | Bayreuth Festival Chorus | Bayreuth Festival Orchestra | Christian Thielemann | Edith Haller | Johan Botha | Linda Watson

The current Bayreuth Ring was originally meant to be produced by Lars von Trier, who might have been expected to...

Reviewed by Arnold Whittall in issue: 6/2011

SCARLATTI Opera Arias

Concerto de' Cavalieri | Daniela Barcellona | Marcello Di Lisa

The 350th anniversary of Alessandro Scarlatti’s birth fell in 2010 but did not receive the fuss that one of the...

Reviewed by David Vickers in issue: 04/2012

CHOPIN Piano Sonata No 3

Ingolf Wunder

In wishing Martha Argerich a happy 70th birthday on a recent blog, Stephen Hough, referring to a film clip of...

Reviewed by Jeremy Nicholas in issue: 10/2011