Gramophone Classical Music Podcast

For her new album on Chandos Records, Francesca Dego has recorded a fascinating programme which pays homage to Niccolò Paganini – recorded on Paganini's own (and rarely played) violin, 'Il Cannone'. She tells Editor Martin Cullingford about her experience of playing this historic instrument. Gramophone Podcasts are published in Association with Wigmore Hall.

Following her highly acclaimed debut album, a programme of Offenbach coloratura arias, for Alpha Classics – Gramophone's current Label of the Year – Jodie Devos turns to the English language for 'And Love Said …'. James Jolly caught up with her by video call at her home in Paris to hear the story behind the album – an album which was selected as an Editor's Choice in Gramophone's March issue and described by our critic Hugo Shirley as 'a recital that bristles with life and love, at once engaging, beguiling and moving. Highly recommended.' Conversation ranged from her studies at London's Royal Academy of Music to her passion – handed on by her parents – for the music of Queen which resulted in the inclusion of Freddie Mercury's 'You take my breath away' on the new album. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall, where the music continues despite lockdown with 40 streamed concerts every weekday from Monday, February 22 until April 3.

This year is the centenary of the birth of the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, an anniversary celebrated by the accordionist Ksenija Sidorova on her new Alpha Classics, 'Piazzolla Reflections'. Now based in Madrid, Ksenija talked by video call with Gramophone's Editor in Chief, James Jolly about the album, her instrument and the other composers who appear on the programme. Running through the album are many Piazzolla gems including the Bandoneon Concerto, Aconcagua, the ever-popular Libertango and shorter pieces, but Ksenija has added new works, many written for her, to show off her instrument's range and communicative power. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall, where the music continues despite lockdown with 40 streamed concerts every weekday from Monday, February 22 until April 3, 2021.

Benjamin Grosvenor's new Decca album focuses on one composer, Franz Liszt. The album includes the B minor Sonata as well as the Petrarch Sonnets, the Réminiscences de Norma and some shorter works. Gramophone's Reviews Editor, Tim Parry, caught up with Benjamin for this new Gramophone Podcast. Grosvenor, a former Gramophone Young Artist of the Year and Instrumental Award winner, was introduced to the music of Liszt at an early age, and he talks about his experience of performing the composer's music and the different works on this new album. Gramophone Podcasts are presented in association with Wigmore Hall, where the music continues despite lockdown with 40 streamed concerts every weekday from Monday, February 22 until April 3, 2021.

Raymond Yiu's music is featured on a new Delphian album featuring performances by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under David Robertson, Sir Andrew Davis and Edward Gardner. In this Gramophone Podcast, James Jolly talks to him about the inspiration and evolution of the three works, The London Citizen Exceedingly Injured, which takes its title from an early 18th-century pamphlet; Yiu's Symphony, a 2015 BBC Proms commission, and The World Was Once All Miracle, commissioned to commemorate the centenary of the author and composer Anthony Burgess.

In the first episode of a brand new series for Gramophone, Editor-in-Chief James Jolly and critic and broadcaster Rob Cowan discuss Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and compare the various approaches that conductors have to taken to this most famous of masterpieces. They talk about how a professional critic should approach a new recording, how performance practices have changed over the decades, and how – no matter how many times you've heard this symphony – Beethoven's genius always shines through. Listen to all the discussed performances on an Apple Music playlist.

Daniel Hope, joined by Alexey Botvinov, has recorded an album for Deutsche Grammophon of music for violin and piano by Alfred Schnittke. James Jolly caught up with him to learn about his love for this music, how he met the composer and how he assembled this new recording. And after a 2020 like no other, Daniel Hope also talks about the life-changing series of 'Hope at Home' concerts, his work with his two chamber orchestras and his hopes and aspirations for the future.

Stephen Hough's new album 'Vida Breve' is a beautiful and thought-provoking meditation on death - and life - drawing on works by Busoni and Gounod (including their Bach arrangements), Chopin and Lizst - and even Hough himself. The pianist explores the programme with Gramophone Editor Martin Cullingford, and you hear excerpts from the new album, which is released today on the Hyperion label.

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.