Gramophone Magazine

exploring what it means to be a conductor

Handy terms can often serve well as useful shorthand, while rarely reflecting the diversity of what they describe. An ‘orchestra’ can run the gamut from grand symphonic to a period ensemble. The term ‘classical music’ is highly problematic in itself – exactly how medieval chant, Mahler symphonies and contemporary opera relate to each other I shall leave to musicologists to discuss. But what about ‘conductor’? To many in the wider world it conjures a very specific image, probably a man in tails, on a podium, brandishing a baton. Of course such a definition is far too narrow – early music conductors (men and women) standing behind their harpsichords are as far removed from the above image as is a cassock-wearing cathedral choirmaster. Yet even where we do mean that more…

this month’s contributors

‘What began as a teatime interview ended as a late-night discourse on sex, God and Toscanini,’ writes our cover story author PETER QUANTRILL of his interview with Teodor Currentzis, conductor and so-called bad boy of classical music. ‘But then anyone who’s been beaten to a pulp on a film set has a good story to tell.’ ‘Travelling to Bamberg in northern Bavaria can feel a little like going back hundreds of years in time. The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is inspired by its historic home, but this ensemble’s roots are actually a lot more complicated,’ says NEIL FISHER. ‘Unpicking the story was satisfying and rather poignant.’ ‘Like his mentor Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas excites, informs and engages whenever and wherever he’s speaking about music,’ writes STEVEN WINN. ‘Spending a few hours with…

gramophone magazine

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gramophone editor's choice

TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto, etc Daniel Lozakovich vn National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia / Vladimir Spivakov DG Daniel Lozakovich plays this repertoire with truly distinctive personality. A second triumphant DG disc for the young violinist. REVIEW ON PAGE 46 DVORÁK String Quartets Nos 8 & 10 Albion Quartet Signum When a critic concludes a review, in March, with ‘I can already see this being my pick of the year’, you really do have to listen for yourselves. Detail and collegiality throughout make for a superb album. REVIEW ON PAGE 55 LITOLFF Piano Trios Nos 1 & 2. Serenade Leonore Piano Trio Hyperion If you ever need persuading to explore the lesser-known byways of the chamber repertoire, let this album do so: engaging music, played with striking advocacy from the outset, and beautifully recorded. REVIEW ON PAGE 56 MOZART Violin Sonatas,…

for the record

Barry Tuckwell, one of the most admired and successful of 20th-century horn players, died in January, aged 88. Born in Australia, after a musical childhood as a chorister and learning – to his mind unsatisfactorily – piano and violin, Tuckwell began playing the horn aged 13, describing it as ‘a love affair from the start’. Within two years he was playing professionally, having been appointed, aged just 15, as third horn in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. A year later he joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Eugene Goossens, leaving three years later for the UK. He played for two years in the Hallé under Sir John Barbirolli, and after spells in the Scottish National and the Bournemouth Symphony orchestras, in 1955 he was appointed first horn at the London Symphony Orchestra.…

one to watch

Petr Nekoranec Tenor Young Czech tenor Petr Nekoranec has, since September 2018, been honing his skills as a soloist at Oper Stuttgart, where roles have included Almaviva (The Barber of Seville), Ramiro (La cenerentola), and Ernesto (Don Pasquale). This followed two years on the prestigious Lindemann Program for Young Artists at the Metropolitan Opera – the first Czech to have been accepted on the scheme, and first place plus the Plácido Domingo prize in Barcelona’s International Competition of Francesco Viñas. And while stepping in for an indisposed star features on many artists’ early CVs, in Nekoranec’s case it was for Stephen Costello at the opening concert of the Met’s Summer Recital Series. But it’s to his new album of French arias, on Supraphon, that we can now turn. His repertoire may be…