Edward elgar symphony no. 1

Kammerorchester Basel/Giovanni Antonini Alpha ALPHA1092 76:29 mins The most familiar of the symphonies here, if only because it has a nickname, is No. 55, whose ‘Schoolmaster’ title arises out of the

Cappella Amsterdam; Noord Nederlands Orkest/ Daniel Reuss Pentatone PTC5187489 72:42 mins ‘He always was and still is ahead of everybody.’ The words of Stravinsky’s musical assistant and colleague, Ro

National Symphony Orchestra/ Gianandrea Noseda NSO NSO0022 75:12 mins Mahler’s mad-cap Seventh is the toughest of his symphonies to conceptualise and to execute. Lacking any explicit programme, two of

Andrey Gugnin (piano) Hyperion CDA684712 83 mins This album of Russian ballet transcriptions sparkles like a glass bauble hanging amidst the fairy lights. Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky wrote so colourful

Works by Bach, Vivaldi and Marcello Amandine Beyer (violin); Gli Incogniti Harmonia Mundi HMM90276970 134 mins The communicative warmth and infectious vitality of Amandine Beyer’s performances will ha

Grace Williams loved the sea. In later life, BBC television cameras captured one of her daily morning walks in Barry on the coast of Glamorgan – she strides purposefully along, looking out over the Br