Classical Music
Worthy instrument
York Bowen, Willam Walton: Viola concertos (SWR Music)
When the music stopped
A reflection on the inexorable decline of arts education and the rise of knee-jerk politics and managerialism
Franco-Irish vigour
Augusta Holmès: Symphonic poems (CPO)
Forces of nature
Antonin Dvorak: Symphonies (Warner/Pentatone)
A full musical meal
An unforgettable concert experience
Illicit fun
Jonathan Leibowitz: Eastern Reflections (Delphian)
Messing with the master’s work
Beethoven: Emperor Concerto; Brett Dean: A Winter’s Journey (Orchid)
Anger and intuition
Mieczyslaw Weinberg: String quartets 6, 13, 15 (Chandos)
Schoenberg’s morning and night
Arnold Schoenberg: Expressionist Music (Orchid)
Too measured for its own good
Lukas Foss: 1st symphony &c (Naxos)