Felix mendelssohn symphony no. 4 ‘italian’

Symphony No. 5; Swanwhite Suite etc Christian Tetzlaff (violin); Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon Ondine ODE 1468-2 77:16 mins One of the features of Finland’s impressive music educati

Gargantuan in scope and scale, Busoni’s Piano Concerto is ferociously complex – demanding both virtuosic solos and expansive accompaniment from its pianist – and structured in a way that makes Beethov

Paavo Järvi (conductor) Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich Alpha 1004 With literally hundreds of recordings of the ‘Italian’ Symphony available, it might seem an impossible task to select a credible shortlist

THE last specks of rain of the previous night’s storm pattered against the widow of the drawing-room. Meryl Stewart sat at the keyboard of her baby grand, working her way through the piano arrangement

Maurice Ravel has been an enduring part of my world, both as a performer and teacher. As a little girl I played the Mouvement de menuet from his Sonatine at a piano competition, which the renowned pia

On Friday 18 July, at the hands of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Sakari Oramo, the BBC Proms will be launched into life with Bliss’s Birthday Fanfare for Sir Henry Wood – two minu