Gramophone Classical Music Podcast

The pianist Joseph Middleton has been busy in the studio and the past months have seen a number of albums released that find him alongside some great voices. It seemed a perfect opportunity for a chat, so James Jolly caught up with Joseph to talk about his role playing for singers, how he builds programmes, the changing landscape for song recitals and how the English have focused on the art of of the accompanist (a word they also discuss). The podcast contains excerpts from recent recordings featuring Carolyn Sampson, James Newby, Samuel Hasselhorn and Ashley Riches.

Nathalie Stutzmann releases a new Erato recording of Baroque arias written for her voice-type: 'Contralto'. Conducting her orchestra, Orfeo 55, she explores arias written for some of the star contraltos of the day by Handel, Vivaldi, Porpora, Gasparini and Caldara (including five world-premiere recordings). James Jolly spoke to Nathalie Stutzmann during rehearsals with Norway's Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra of which she is Chief Conductor; she's also recently been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of Gramophone's 2020 Orchestra of the Year, the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Dame Evelyn Glennie talks to Editor Martin Cullingford about her latest recordings of new works for percussion, by composers Alexis Alrich, Sir Karl Jenkins, Ned Rorem and Christian Linberg. The first three are released next week on a new album from Naxos called Concertos for Mallet Instruments, while Lindberg's new work - called Liverpool Lullabies, a concertante work for percussion and trombone - appears on a new album out today from BIS.

January 5 sees Alfred Brendel turn 90 and he graciously agreed to speak to us for a Gramophone podcast and answer a few questions ... Alfred Brendel had a long performing career – he gave his first recital in Graz, Austria when he was 17, in 1948, and his last concert 60 years later, in Vienna in December 2008. Early in his career he recorded for Vox, for whom he made many records of Beethoven's music including the sonatas and concertos, as well as much other solo piano music. Since 1970 he recorded for Philips with whom he remained until the label was merged with Decca. His repertoire for Philips focused on the Austro-German repertoire and his recordings embraced the complete Mozart piano concertos, the Beethoven piano sonatas and concertos twice, as well as concertos and solos works by Schumann, Brahms and Liszt, and many of Schubert's piano sonatas.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) has carved out a considerable reputation for its championing of modern American music, and its latest release is one of its most ambitious, a recording of Charles Wuorinen's 2004 opera, based on Salman Rushdie's novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories, to a libretto by Jame Fenton. James Jolly spoke to Gil Rose, BMOP's Artistic Director about the orchestra and its label, but also about this latest project. And Gil also reveals some of the recording projects awaiting us in 2021.

As Gramophone publishes its annual digital magazine round up of Editor's Choice releases – 130 recordings in all – the magazine's Editor, Reviews Editor and Editor-in-Chief each select three albums that have made a big impact on them over the past 12 months. From solo guitar to two major 20th-century operas, the selection is broad, and celebrates some of the finest music-making of today from the likes of Víkingur Ólafsson, Sean Shibe, Marc-André Hamelin, Paavo Järvi, Edward Gardner, Natalya Romaniw and many more ...

On this week's Gramophone podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by the founder and Music Director of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, David Temple, to explore the music of Benjamin Britten. His new album, released on the Signum Classics label, features Saint Nicolas and A Ceremony of Carols, both early works from the composer. What made Britten such an extraordinary composer for voices, and what role did his belief in community music play in his work?

Christian-Pierre La Marca releases the first of five albums for Naïve, and it focuses on the solo cello. 'Cello 360' brings together music by Marin Marais, Dowland and Purcell alongside modern masters like Thierry Escaich, György Ligeti and Henri Dutilleux, as well as lighter fare by Charlie Chaplin and The Beatles. Gramophone's James Jolly caught up with Christian-Pierre by video call at his house in Paris to talk about the project and how he assembled such an eclectic programme for this imaginative concept album.

To mark the release of his new album on Orchid Classics, composer and clarinettist Mark Simpson joins the Gramophone podcast to explore its captivating - and interlinked - mixture of old and new repertoire. Opening with a wonderfully textured work by Simpson himself, Geysir, it then continues with Mozart's Gran Partita.

The Eloquence label issued its first 25 titles exactly 21 years ago, a project conceived, and looked after ever since, by Cyrus Meher-Homji. James Jolly spoke to him about the label, how it came about and how it has changed over its first two decades. And Cyrus also reveals some of the releases scheduled for the coming months, including box sets devoted to the pianist Ruth Slenczynska and the organist Gillian Weir.