Gramophone Classical Music Podcast

Taking its name from George Gershwin's When do we dance?, the latest album for Naïve from Lise de la Salle finds her taking to the dance floor as she travels from her native France to Eastern Europe, Spain, Latin America and finally the USA. James Jolly caught up with her to talk about the concept behind the album, playing the music of Maurice Ravel whose Valses nobles et sentimentales take centre stage in the programme, and how she tackled playing jazz.

For her third album for Gramophone's current Label of the Year, Alpha Classics, the mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey re-visits the Baroque for 'Tiranno'. She offers five works by four composers – Alessandro Scarlatti, George Frederick Handel, Claudio Monteverdi and Bartolomeo Monari – that put Nero, his mother Agrippina and second wife Poppea centre stage. Lindsey's last stage role before the pandemic was as Nero in Sir David McVicar's acclaimed production of Handel's Agrippina at New York's Metropolitan Opera and her first role before an audience as the Staatsoper in Vienna recently re-opened its doors to the public was as Nero in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. James Jolly spoke to Kate Lindsey the day before L'incoronazione di Poppea opened and they discussed the new album and its themes of power and corruption, her experience of playing Nero and her plans for the future. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall.

Tine Thing Helseth's new album is a beautiful programme of works for trumpet and organ, some familiar, some bound to be new discoveries for many listeners. Recorded with organist Kåre Nordstoga and released on the Lawo label, it's the subject of this week's Podcast, for which the trumpeter joined Editor Martin Cullingford. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall.

Ben Goldscheider's new album, 'Legacy', pays tribute to the great horn player Dennis Brain, whose centenary we mark this year. Featuring music by two composers Brain worked with – Benjamin Britten and Sir Malcolm Arnold – plus works by Francis Poulenc and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies written in his memory, and two new commissions by Huw Watkins and Roxanna Panufnik, the album is available today on Three Worlds Records. Editor Martin Cullingford talks to Ben Goldscheider about the release. Gramophone Podcasts are published in association with Wigmore Hall.

Jennifer Johnston has just appeared, as Waltraute, on the new BR-Klassik recording of Wagner's Die Walküre conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. She talks to James Jolly about her decade-long association with the Bavarian State Opera and its Generalmusikdirektor, Kirill Petrenko; about music in her home city of Liverpool; and memories of Christa Ludwig with whom she studied as a student. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall.

In this week's Gramophone podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director of London's Barbican and author of a new book called The Life of Music: New Adventures in the Western Classical Tradition. As well as exploring the book's list of 100 recommended recordings, they also discuss five key turning points in the history of music. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall

In 2019, Joyce DiDonato and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performed Schubert's great song-cycle in concert at New York's Carnegie Hall, and Erato were on hand to record it. James Jolly caught up with the multi-Gramophone Award-winning mezzo to talk about her unique approach to the work. As one of a handful of women singers who have recorded Winterreise, Joyce needed to find her own way into the cycle, as she explains from her house in Spain. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall.

Sir Antonio Pappano has recently been named as the new Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (succeeding Sir Simon Rattle at the start of the 2024 season). With perfect timing, the orchestra releases a new recording of Vaughan Williams's Symphonies No 4 and 6, the latter recorded live the day before the first lockdown. Next month, finds Pappano in front of his Roman ensemble, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, for a new Warner Classics album of Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben and the Burleske (with the pianist Bertrand Chamayou). James Jolly caught up with the conductor by video call at his house in Rome to talk about the two new releases, but also to discuss how he has been making music in these unusual and troubling times. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall.

This week's podcast sees acclaimed flautist Adam Walker join Gramophone Editor Martin Cullingford to talk about his two new albums of French music, both released on Chandos Records. The first, 'French Works for Flute', sees him joined by pianist James Baillieu in music by Franck, Widor, Saint‑Saëns and Duruflé - that last work also featuring viola player Timothy Ridout. The second album, 'Belle Époque', features Walker's Orsino Ensemble joined by pianist Pavel Kolesnikov in an eclectic programme of French music for wind ensemble. Gramophone podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall.

Anna Lucia Richter's second album for Pentatone, 'Il delirio della passione', is devoted to the music of Claudio Monteverdi, a programme she put together with Luca Pianca, who directs Ensemble Claudiana on the recording. James Jolly caught up with Anna Lucia by video call to talk about the project, but also hear about her decision to switch from singing soprano to mezzo-soprano. Making use of the 'down-time' afforded her by lockdown, she worked with Prof Tamar Rachum in Tel Aviv via Skype and phone to develop her 'new voice'.