Gramophone

Jonathan Biss is widely admired for his Beethoven – and this recording of the Third Concerto helps cement his reputation. It may be a middle-of-the-road interpretation: certainly, it aims for neither the edgy drama of Rubinstein’s version with Toscanini (RCA, 1/91) nor the deliberation (in several senses) of Arrau with Colin Davis (Philips, 6/89).

Tim Ashley celebrates the great American soprano whose wide-ranging operatic repertoire encompassed Mozart, Barber and Britten and whose broadcasts made her a household name ‘Child, where did you learn to sing Mozart like that?’ Bruno Walter asked Eleanor Steber, when he first heard her. The young American soprano had recently won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, a nationwide singing competition broadcast by NBC Radio.

The finest performers, their repertoire and recordings showcased in our 100-page collectors' edition Gramophone presents The Great Pianists, the latest volume in our series of special editions, is this time published in association with our sister title focussed on all things piano-related, International Piano.

In addition to a cash prize, laureates receive valuable international exposure with invitations to perform with major orchestras (Photo: Svetlanov Conducting Competition) The Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition will come to the UK for the first time in partnership with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. With applications now open (until April 15, 2026), the competition will take place in September at venues including Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

From Bach’s Passions to contemporary reflections by Pärt, MacMillan and Saariaho, these ten recordings capture the drama, intimacy and spiritual intensity of the season The music of Holy Week is transportive in its drama and elemental in its themes. From the intimacy of shared communion to the deception, dejection and resolve of Christ, our playlist below grapples with the fundamentals of human experience through the immediacy of art.

We knew the deluge was coming: 2026 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of John Dowland. Lutenists have been counting down the days; I imagine certain countertenors are pretty pleased, too. Some musicians, such as Thomas Dunford, got ahead of the curve (Erato, A/25), and I imagine much, much more from pluckers far and wide is to come. Few, though, are likely to come close to the innovation of ‘Mr Dowland’s Dream’. We have come to expect great things from lutenist Bor Zuljan.

David Threasher explores the history on record of an often-overlooked 20th-century symphony Entirely my mistake, ladies and gentlemen.’ Boult’s shouldering of the blame when the first performance of Michael Tippett’s Second Symphony fell apart a little over two minutes into the first movement was a characteristically gentlemanly gesture.

'I do not think of this as a transcription, nor even as a version for other instruments. I would simply call it an apparition – something that exists, but, like certain natural phenomena – a rainbow, for instance – becomes visible only under particular conditions.’ So writes Mario Brunello in the introduction to this album’s booklet notes. While for the context of this review I can’t call them ‘apparitions’, I can call them wonderful.

Edward Breen and Mark Seow compare notes on Otto Klemperer’s distinctive 1960‑61 recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion The original review Bach St Matthew Passion, BWV244 Sols; Philharmonia Chor & Orch / Otto Klemperer (Warner Classics) … I was convinced by the slow, or very slow, tempi Klemperer adopts in many places. They play a vital part in his fine and noble conception of the great work, and criticism of them becomes almost irrelevant in the context.

A veritable compendium of Prokofiev – master of disguise – dispatched with terrific panache by Nemanja Radulović and friends. It’s a programme you won’t find anywhere else in the recorded catalogue and that in itself sets it apart.