Browse the latest Classical Ear reviews

Thu 19 Apr, 2018:
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas – No 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 2 (Moonlight); No 29 in B flat major, Op 106 (Hammerklavier)

Turn to the pensive limpidity of the Hammerklavier’s Adagio or the seething turbulence of the Moonlight’s finale for the measure of the quality of...

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Thu 12 Apr, 2018:
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas – No 4 in A minor, Op 23; No 5 in F major, Op 24 (Spring); No 7 in C minor, Op 30 No 2

Joseph Kerman believed that for Beethoven, the violin sonata was “never a very solemn form”. But it could be a passionate one, the forthright...

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Thu 29 Mar, 2018:
A Map of the Kingdom of Ireland – Electro-acoustic music by 13 Irish composers

A companion to 2013’s On the Nature of Electricity & Acoustics, the beautifully packaged A Map of the Kingdom of Ireland brings Dublin-based Heresy...

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Mon 19 Mar, 2018:
Chopin Evocations – Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 (orchestrated by Mikhail Pletnev); Variations on ‘La ci darem la mano’; Rondo for 2 pianos; Impromptu No 4; Schumann: ‘Chopin’ (No 12 from ‘Carnaval’); Grieg: ‘Homage à Chopin’; Barber: Nocturne; Tchaikovsky: ‘Un poco di Chopin’; Mompou: Variations on a theme by Chopin

It’s Daniil Trifonov and Mikhail Pletnev. Reactions could vary from apprehension to dismay. Comfort zones may be seriously disturbed. Pletnev’s...

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Mon 26 Feb, 2018:
Bach: Keyboard Concertos – No 1 in D minor, BWV 1052; No 2 in E major, BWV 1053; No 3 in D major, BWV 1054; 4 in A major, BWV 1055; 5 in F minor, BWV 1056; 7 in G minor, BWV 1058; Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971

The young South Korean Sonya Bach makes an uneven debut on disc in the company of her illustrious namesake, JS Bach. She’s clearly an able pianist...

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Mon 29 Jan, 2018:
Four Composers – Four Pieces – Four Hands: Works by Schubert, Chopin, Liszt & Stravinsky

What an interesting and, in the auditioning, persuasive idea – to play four great piano works on different instruments, each contemporary to the...

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Fri 15 Dec, 2017:
Scriabin: Symphony No 2 in C minor, Op 29; Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op 20

Thrilling orchestral playing from the Oslo Philharmonic under its dynamic Russian chief – gloriously articulate, finely nuanced and keenly...

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Tue 12 Dec, 2017:
Hahn: Belle Époque – Le ruban denoué (Deux Valses à deux pianos); Pour bercer un convalescent; Caprice mélancolique pour deux pianos; Scherzo lent pour deux pianos; Pièce en forme d’aria er bergerie; Berceuses pour piano à quatre mains; Variations puériles pour piano à quatre mains sur une mélodie de Carl Reinecke; Trois Préludes pour piano à quatre mains sur des airs populaires Irlandais; Variations pour piano à quatre mains sur un theme de Charles Levadé

With form in resurrecting neglected French repertoire, the enterprising Australian label Melba has struck gold again in this beautifully played survey...

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Mon 04 Dec, 2017:
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica; Concerto for two pianos and orchestra; Four Last Songs

The Chandos survey of Vaughan Williams’ symphonies begun in the late 1990s by the late Richard Hickox reaches its conclusion with a fine account of...

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Thu 16 Nov, 2017:
Brahms: Piano Trios – No 1 in B major, Op 8; No 2 in C major, Op 87; No 3 in C minor, Op 101

In 1933, Australian pianist William Murdoch described Op 101 as “powerful music, brusque and harsh at times, angular and bad-tempered but mostly...

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Mon 06 Nov, 2017:
Mozart: Piano Concertos – No 14 in E flat major, K449; No 19 in F major, K459; Divertimento in D major, K136; Divertimento in F major, K138

Nine-foot concert grand, small band; and disparity is clear. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s initial entry in K449 is loud and forward; and the Manchester...

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Thu 02 Nov, 2017:
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas – No 3 in C major, Op 2 No 3; No 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 1 (Moonlight); No 23 in F minor, Op 57 (Appassionata); No 26 in E flat major, Op 81a (Les Adieux); No 32 in C minor, Op 111; 32 Piano Variations on an Original Theme in C minor

This first solo recital from Evgeny Kissin in more than a decade also marks his return to the venerable Yellow Label after 25 years. Beethovenians,...

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Wed 25 Oct, 2017:
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No 3 in C minor, Op 78 (Organ); Carnival of the Animals

Here's an arrestingly characterised reading of Saint-Saëns's indestructible zoological entertainment, for which Antonio Pappano and instrumental...

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Wed 18 Oct, 2017:
Schubert: Piano Sonatas – No 20 in A major, D 959; No 21 in B flat major, D 960

Expectations run high for Krystian Zimerman’s first solo recording in many decades, and he doesn’t disappoint. Schubert’s late sonatas allow the...

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Thu 19 Apr, 2018:
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas – No 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 2 (Moonlight); No 29 in B flat major, Op 106 (Hammerklavier)

Turn to the pensive limpidity of the Hammerklavier’s Adagio or the seething turbulence of the Moonlight’s finale for the measure of the quality of...

Thu 12 Apr, 2018:
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas – No 4 in A minor, Op 23; No 5 in F major, Op 24 (Spring); No 7 in C minor, Op 30 No 2

Joseph Kerman believed that for Beethoven, the violin sonata was “never a very solemn form”. But it could be a passionate one, the forthright...

Thu 29 Mar, 2018:
A Map of the Kingdom of Ireland – Electro-acoustic music by 13 Irish composers

A companion to 2013’s On the Nature of Electricity & Acoustics, the beautifully packaged A Map of the Kingdom of Ireland brings Dublin-based Heresy...

It’s Daniil Trifonov and Mikhail Pletnev. Reactions could vary from apprehension to dismay. Comfort zones may be seriously disturbed. Pletnev’s...

Mon 26 Feb, 2018:
Bach: Keyboard Concertos – No 1 in D minor, BWV 1052; No 2 in E major, BWV 1053; No 3 in D major, BWV 1054; 4 in A major, BWV 1055; 5 in F minor, BWV 1056; 7 in G minor, BWV 1058; Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971

The young South Korean Sonya Bach makes an uneven debut on disc in the company of her illustrious namesake, JS Bach. She’s clearly an able pianist...

Mon 29 Jan, 2018:
Four Composers – Four Pieces – Four Hands: Works by Schubert, Chopin, Liszt & Stravinsky

What an interesting and, in the auditioning, persuasive idea – to play four great piano works on different instruments, each contemporary to the...

Fri 15 Dec, 2017:
Scriabin: Symphony No 2 in C minor, Op 29; Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op 20

Thrilling orchestral playing from the Oslo Philharmonic under its dynamic Russian chief – gloriously articulate, finely nuanced and keenly...

With form in resurrecting neglected French repertoire, the enterprising Australian label Melba has struck gold again in this beautifully played survey...

Mon 04 Dec, 2017:
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica; Concerto for two pianos and orchestra; Four Last Songs

The Chandos survey of Vaughan Williams’ symphonies begun in the late 1990s by the late Richard Hickox reaches its conclusion with a fine account of...

Thu 16 Nov, 2017:
Brahms: Piano Trios – No 1 in B major, Op 8; No 2 in C major, Op 87; No 3 in C minor, Op 101

In 1933, Australian pianist William Murdoch described Op 101 as “powerful music, brusque and harsh at times, angular and bad-tempered but mostly...

Mon 06 Nov, 2017:
Mozart: Piano Concertos – No 14 in E flat major, K449; No 19 in F major, K459; Divertimento in D major, K136; Divertimento in F major, K138

Nine-foot concert grand, small band; and disparity is clear. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s initial entry in K449 is loud and forward; and the Manchester...

Thu 02 Nov, 2017:
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas – No 3 in C major, Op 2 No 3; No 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 1 (Moonlight); No 23 in F minor, Op 57 (Appassionata); No 26 in E flat major, Op 81a (Les Adieux); No 32 in C minor, Op 111; 32 Piano Variations on an Original Theme in C minor

This first solo recital from Evgeny Kissin in more than a decade also marks his return to the venerable Yellow Label after 25 years. Beethovenians,...

Wed 25 Oct, 2017:
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No 3 in C minor, Op 78 (Organ); Carnival of the Animals

Here's an arrestingly characterised reading of Saint-Saëns's indestructible zoological entertainment, for which Antonio Pappano and instrumental...

Wed 18 Oct, 2017:
Schubert: Piano Sonatas – No 20 in A major, D 959; No 21 in B flat major, D 960

Expectations run high for Krystian Zimerman’s first solo recording in many decades, and he doesn’t disappoint. Schubert’s late sonatas allow the...

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