Bruno Walter, a Conductor of Life: a conversation with Rémy Louis
To mark the 150th anniversary of Bruno Walter’s birth on September 15, 1876, Warner Classics is reissuing all of the conductor’s recordings for HMV and Graphophone between 1924 and 1939, beautifully…
Herbert Blomstedt and the smile of Haydn Variations
BR Klassik, the Bavarian Radio label, has just released a recording of Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn, performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. The…
Heroic, the genius Volodos has struck again!
After an early career which, through no fault of his own, had confined him to a virtuoso repertoire – limiting his public image to that of a technical prodigy – Arcadi…
With the same creativity as her ’Piano Heroines’, Claire Hungci delivers a magnificent album!
Following her splendid recordings of Bach’s Toccatas, released in 2021, Claire Huangci presents a complex programme, bringing together the voices of German composers Fanny Hensel (Mendelssohn) and Clara Wieck (Schumann) —…
Furtwangler conducts Wagner
The original podcast (narration in French, English and German subtitles) When people talk about Furtwängler, a certain cliché springs to mind for far too many music lovers. Furtwängler is supposedly a…
Severin von Eckardstein and Konstantin Emelyanov live recordings at the Salle Cortot
French version following the English one The Les Nuits du Piano de Paris Festival, which regularly stages concerts at the Salle Cortot, adjacent to the École Normale de Musique de Paris…
The Goldbergs make me sad
Quite recently, harpsichordist Julien Wolfs brought out a fabulous version of the Goldberg Variations. It was totally refined, beautifully expressive, full of arpeggios, so essential that ornamentation would have seemed superfluous.…
Fantastic Schumann’s Fantasy by Nikolai Lugansky
Recently, Nikolai Lugansky has had a knack for getting people talking about him. Musically speaking, in a good way. A very good way, in fact. A compelling album devoted to Beethoven’s…
My favorite 2025 recordings
What records will you remember from 2025? 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Arrau speaks
Claudio Arrau, photography by Allan Warren Between May 1980 and July 1981, Arrau gave a series of interviews to Joseph Horowitz, who published the collection in 1982. In them, Claudio Arrau…
Deutsche Grammophon releases two « lost tapes » of Rudolf Serkin playing Beethoven’s « Waldstein » and « Appassionata » Sonatas
On this Friday 17th November, Deutsche Grammophon released two « lost tapes » by Rudolf Serkin, dated 1986 and 1989. The album contains two previously unreleased versions of the ‘Waldstein’ and ‘Appassionata’ sonatas,…