Dong Hyek Lim: Goldberg Variations **

Published in The Times August 3rd 2008

The latest in the long line of pianists to try their recording luck with Bach’s fiendish Goldberg Variations is the young South Korean. Continue reading ››




Pianist Gabriela Montero revives the art of improvisation

Published in The Times July 29th 2008

You call for it and Gabriela Montero, the world’s best improv pianist, will play it. Continue reading ››




Valery Gergiev: Mahler Symphony No 7 ****

Published in The Times July 26th 2008

Gergiev’s Mahler season with the London Symphony Orchestra has been splitting critics since the opening concert. But this live Barbican recording of the tricky Seventh in March 2008 shows that here at least there is method in Gergiev’s wild, frenetic madness. Continue reading ››




Claudio Abbado/Giuliano Carmignola: Mozart Violin Concertos ****

Published in The Times July 19th 2008

This two-CD compilation of Mozart violin concertos marks the end of a three-year concert cycle around Italy for Abbado, and Carmignola’s first recording of Mozart’s violin concertos. Carmignola, renowned for his Baroque, is a clean interpreter of Mozart’s violin concertos, his sweet-sounding strings flitting in well-matched dialogue with the attentive period detailing of Abbado’s young ensemble. Continue reading ››




Placido Domingo: Luisa Fernanda ****

Published in The Times July 5th 2008

The Spanish zarzuela — rather like an operetta — had its day from the 1850s to the 1930s, but this effort from the zarzuela master Torroba remains popular. The 1868-set plot is simple; a tapestry of returning soldiers and unfaithful hearts on the eve of revolution, with a love triangle between a noble farmer (an excellent Domingo), and honest heroine and her soldier sweetheart. Continue reading ››