Our Choices
The BBC Music Magazine team’s current favourites
Oliver Condy Editor
Matins at the Edington Festival in rural Wiltshire this summer was glorious. The early morning sun gleamed through Edington Priory’s ancient stained glass – the perfect counterpoint to the atmospheric plainchant, sung with consummate fluidity and subtlety by festival’s Schola choir. Could there possibly be a more perfect start to the day?
Jeremy Pound Deputy editor
Whether reading his new book (see p111) or researching his love of football (p46-50), I’ve enjoyed spending time in the virtual company of James Macmillan this month. This provided an excuse to revisit my favourite recordings of the Scottish composer’s music, including his own version of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie with the BBC Philharmonic. In turns sinister and startling, Macmillan’s tone poem narrates its tragic story with extraordinary power. Alice Pearson Disc editor
Fancy a reminder of your summer holiday in the French countryside? If so, look no further than Poulenc’s piano suite Les soirées de Nazelles. These pieces are some of the composer’s finest – a suite of eight variations or sketches, opening with a gripping ‘Préambule’ and finishing off with an exciting ‘Final’. They were improvised at a country house in Nazelles – an affectionate, witty tribute to memorable times. I’ve been enjoying Pascal Rogé’s 2003 recording. Michael Beek Reviews editor
While on holiday in Poland, I attended a free Chopin piano recital in Warsaw’s Royal Ëazienki Park, where such concerts have been happening every summer for 60 years. I was amazed at the turnout; the concert was attended by thousands of locals of all ages, some even tying hammocks between trees. Bliss.
Freya Parr Editorial assistant
When I first encountered Glazunov’s Fifth Symphony as a flautist in the Guildhall School’s junior orchestra, I was less than enamoured. How wrong I was. The LPO’S take on this rarely performed work at the Proms highlighted its power and fabulous Russian colours, helped by the brilliant articulation of the principal flute – something lacking from my own performance!