Gramophone Classical Music Podcast

Jennifer Higdon wrote her Concerto for Orchestra for the Philadelphia Orchestra and its then-Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch who gave the work its premiere in 2002. Since then it's been recorded by the Atlanta Symphony and, on a new Naxos album just out, by the Houston Symphony - both conducted by Robert Spano. The new recording finds the Concerto for Orchestra joined by a much newer work, Higdon's double percussion concerto, Duo Duel (2020), played by the artists who commissioned it, Svet Stoyanov and Matthew Strauss. James Jolly caught up with Jennifer Higdon to talk about the two works' beginnings, and about how the composer manages her amazingly busy schedule. This week's podcast is produced in association with the Lake George Music Festival where you can enjoy classical music among some of America's most spectacular scenery. Visit lakegeorgemusicfestival.com to find out more.

Rachel Barton Pine's new album pairs Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No 1 with a new work by Earl Maneein called Dependent Arising, a heavy metal-influenced concerto written especially for her. In this week's Gramophone Podcast the violinist tells Editor Martin Cullingford about the recording, and explores some of the links between the two genres of music, classical and heavy metal. The album - called Dependent Arising - is available from Cedille. 

In a series of four Decca Icons podcasts, Gramophone's James Jolly explores the artistry of four major recording musicians with Rob Cowan, Jed Distler and Richard Fairman. Focusing on recordings in the Decca catalogue, the series turns the spotlight on Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Georg Solti and Benjamin Britten. Each podcast is accompanied by a special Apple Music playlist.  In this second podcast, James talks to the New York-based critic, composer, broadcaster and piano enthusiast Jed Distler about the Russian-born pianist and conductor, Vladimir Ashkenazy.

In the latest Podcast Gramophone Editor Martin Cullingford caught up with the multi Award-winning composer Tan Dun to explore his new work, Buddha Passion, available on Decca, and to hear his fascinating thoughts on composing, conducting and on music in general.

Hyperion Records, one of the most admired and successful of specialist classical music labels, is from today available on streaming services. The entire catalogue will be uploaded in stages over the next year, but the initial 200 albums released today feature every Hyperion recording to have received a Gramophone Award – and from that illustrious list, Editor-in-Chief James Jolly, Editor Martin Cullingford and Deputy Editor Tim Parry have chosen three of their favourite albums, topped up with a tenth, to discuss and to share on this week's Podcast. Find out what they've chosen, as we celebrate some superb recordings and a splendid label. 

In a series of four Decca Icons podcasts, Gramophone's James Jolly explores the artistry of four major recording musicians with Rob Cowan, Jed Distler and Richard Fairman. Focusing on recordings in the Decca catalogue, the series turns the spotlight on Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Georg Solti and Benjamin Britten. Each podcast is accompanied by a special Apple Music playlist.  In this first podcast, Rob and James talk about the great Dutch conductor who, during a long career, headed up ensembles and opera house in Amsterdam, London, Glyndebourne, Dresden and Chicago, as well as being a much sought-after guest, and left a vast recorded catalogue.

This week’s Podcast is another special long-length edition, for which Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by Rob Cowan, Gramophone’s expert on historic and archive recordings and the author for 30 years now of our monthly feature devoted to the area, Replay. Why should we listen to historic recordings? What can we learn from them, and which artists, many decades on, still offer listeners such extraordinary joy and insight? Across more than 45 fascinating minutes Rob addresses these questions, and we play excerpts from some absolute highlights from the archives. 

Following five acclaimed albums with the LSO and JoAnn Falletta for Naxos, the composer Kenneth Fuchs has released a new collection of his orchestral works with John Wilson's Sinfonia of London. Recorded at St Augustine's, Kilburn, in North London, by Chandos, the collection has just been issued. James Jolly caught up with Kenneth Fuchs just before last Christmas - and the day after recording sessions - to talk about the four works on the new album.

Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year is the only award voted for by our readers and music lovers worldwide. Each year, the magazine's editors produce a short list of 10 ensembles whose music-making, particularly on record, has made a particularly strong impression on our critics. In the second of two podcasts, Gramophone's Editor-in-Chief, James Jolly, talks to the broadcaster and critic Rob Cowan about these five superb ensembles. To vote for your chosen orchestra, head to the Awards page of our website before September 7.

Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year is the only award voted for by our readers and music lovers worldwide. Each year, the magazine's editors produce a short list of 10 ensembles whose music-making, particularly on record, has made a particularly strong impression our critics. In the first of two podcasts, Gramophone's Editor-in-Chief, James Jolly, talks to the Copenhagen-based critic and cultural commentator, Andrew Mellor, about five of the nominated ensembles. To vote for your chosen orchestra, head to the Awards page of our website, but before you do (and voting remains open until September 7), maybe wait until next week's podcast when James will be in conversation with Rob Cowan about the remaining five orchestras. And to help you make up your mind, you can listen to the specially created playlists on Apple Music Classical.