In this new recording on SOMM (SOMMCD 0722), clarinettist Peter Cigleris brings us three 20th-century clarinet concertos, all dating from 1948, one by Denis ApIvor (1916–2004), one by Freda Swain (1902–1985), and the last by Gerald Finzi (1901–1956). Despite coming

In its latest issue in its series The Beecham Collection, SOMM Recordings puts together 3 works well-known through their studio recordings, but these live recordings bring something new and vital to what you know of his work. Sir Thomas Beecham

In 1878 and 1886, Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) created his Slavonic Dances, Opp. 46 and 72. In this series of 16 dances, Dvořák picked up on the idea from Johannes Brahms‘ Hungarian Dances. Dvořák originally wrote this for piano four-hands, and,

British composer and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Stephen Dodgson (1924–2013) taught at the Royal College of Music from 1956 until his retirement in 1982. As a composer, he wrote across many different genres, from opera and large-scale orchestral music to

The all-female a cappella vocal quintet Papagena was formed in 2015, and is made up of sopranos Elizabeth Drury, Imogen Ram-Prasad, and Suzzie Vango; mezzo-soprano Shivani Rattan; and alto Sarah Tenant-Flowers. Each of the members brings a speciality to the

Rising young American pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu releases his third album, Solitude with Schubert, in the form of an evening of Franz Schubert (1797–1828). Just as in Schubert’s time, when the eponymous ‘Schubertiade’ hosted by the composer for his friends

In the second volume of material from the archives of Elgar recordings, we look at Elgar‘s two string concertos. Elgar’s violin concerto was written for Fritz Kreisler and, for a time, was part of the repertoire for the great virtuoso

Once the modern early music field was established, one of its favourite composers was John Dowland. Rather than characterless songs setting undistinguished poetry, here was a composer who was known for his melancholy, for his dark sounds, and for an