Catégorie : Reviews
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Furtwangler conducts Beethoven
The original podcast (narration in French, English and German subtitles) After trying to show what made Furtwangler’s Brahms so special, I’d like to talk to you about the conductor’s vision of Beethoven’s symphonies, and why this vision, even if it’s a purely personal opinion, is as brilliant as it is problematic. Not in the sense…
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Kristiina Poska continues her reference recording of Beethoven’s symphonies with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra
Kristiina Poska, conducting the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, seems to have embarked on the greatest recording of Beethoven’s symphonies since Frans Brüggen, confirming this once again with a new opus featuring Symphonies Nos. 5 and 8. The first volume was devoted to Symphonies Nos. 1 and 7. It offered a brilliant interpretation of the ‘Apotheosis of…
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A refined Berlioz under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä, albeit still a little forced
It’s no secret that if there’s one name that’s been on the rise for several years now, it’s that of Klaus Mäkelä. An absolute prodigy, a pupil of Jorma Panula, an orchestral sound of total fullness, a joy no doubt linked to something intuitive, but do we really need to go over all that again?…
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Masaaki Suzuki conducts the greatest German Requiem since the Golden Age
Masaaki Suzuki conducting the German Requiem. Miku Yasukawa, Jochen Kupfer, the Bach Collegium Japan. And a masterpiece. Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan have already produced a Mass in B Minor of sublime lightness, a Johannes Passion of total commitment – recorded live in Köln -, without doubt the most beautiful Christmas Oratorio ever recorded,…
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Brillant Classics gives a vibrant tribute to the art of Sergio Fiorentino
‘He is the only other pianist’, said Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. This April 2025, Brillant Classics is devoting an extremely exhaustive edition – 26 CDs – to the legacy of one of the greatest Italian pianists of the twentieth century. Having devoted most of his career to teaching, Sergio Fiorentino (1927-1998) was recorded mainly at the…
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Yunchan Lim at the Philharmonie de Paris, the committed ascent of the Goldberg Variations
When Yunchan Lim walks through the backstage door, he strides towards the piano, surrounded by a bluish halo. Waiting for the audience to fall completely silent, the young prodigy enters into the intimacy of …round and velvety-smooth blend… composed by his compatriot Hanurij Lee. The balance is perfect, the bass extremely powerful, everything resonates in…
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Celibidache conducts Bruckner in Munich: two previously unreleased live recordings
The Münchner Philharmoniker label recently released two Brucknerian recordings by maestro Sergiu Celibidache. As is well known, the osmosis born in 1979 from the Romanian conductor’s encounter with what was to become ‘his’ orchestra, the one through which he would finally be able to implement his precepts and aesthetic conceptions, saw the emergence of an…
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Furtwängler conducts Brahms, on December 12th, 1943
A few months ago, in November, I realised a video study for the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society on Furtwangler’s relationship with the music of Brahms. The Society then asked me to write the booklet (originally in French, translated into English by Susannah Howe) for an extraordinary product: the concert of 12 December 1943, magnificently restored by…
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My favorite 2024 recordings
What records will you remember from 2024? Which ones made a particular impression on me, and which ones will go down in history? Here’s a brief overview of the recording year that’s just gone by, backed up by reviews and personal opinions – all subjective, of course! Let’s start with the new pianistic releases. Maurizio…
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Furtwangler conducts Brahms
The original podcast (narration in French, English and German subtitles) A little over a year ago, in June 2023, I took part in a series of short programmes on the Wilhelm Furtwangler Society’s YouTube channel called ‘The recording that made an impression on me’. I chose to present the legendary recording of Brahms’s 3rd Symphony,…
Sofronichrist 