Hi,
I’m Colin Anderson, a writer on music and the editor of Classical Source.
Welcome to my Column, a bit of a blog: news, reviews, things to watch, and other posts to read; a mix of things.
I hope you like the contents.
Cheers, Col
BBC Press Release: How to watch the BBC Proms on TV and iPlayer.
Pinned post for the duration BBC Proms 2026 - How to watch on TV and BBC iPlayer 27 Proms programmes will be available on TV and BBC iPlayer, and every Prom will be broadcast on Radio 3 and BBC Sounds See the trailer here:BBC Proms 2026 launch trailer...
BBC PROMS 2026 – 86 concerts over eight weeks: more than 70,000 tickets at £8, every note broadcast on BBC Radio 3 & BBC Sounds, and 24 Proms programmes on BBC TV and iPlayer.
Pinned post Friday 17 July – Saturday 12 September 2026 At London’s Royal Albert Hall and venues across the UK A season-long celebration of American music marks 250 years since the signing of the US Declaration of Independence, with the Proms debut of The Met...
“The Royal Ballet Gala Performances”. Ernest Ansermet conducts Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Recorded 1957 in Kingsway Hall, London (Michael Williamson, producer; Kenneth Wilkinson, engineer); released 1959 on RCA Victor Living Stereo. The current 180g-vinyl remastering is by Bernie Grundman for Analogue Productions on five 45rpm LPs. ***Superb in every, any & all particulars***.
Pinned post in pleasurable perpetuity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlIcBFhHuew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQbpTdCuETo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONBF6bVc2BA&t=144s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBqew4t9EUs...
Herbert Blomstedt’s conducting schedule for the next few months and – as at June 21 – beyond.
Pinned post Leipzig 17/18/20 Sept Bruckner 8 London 4 Oct Bruckner 5...
New(s): Column Honorees Enrolled.
Pinned Post For posts pertinent to an individual, please click on the appropriate tag above. I had a thought recently - potentially dangerous - actually it was a few months ago*: there are now quite a few entries posted on the Column, gathering to close-on 10,000...
Soundtracks of Our Lives (twenty-six episodes) – note to self and all: Friday evenings at 11 p.m. (UK time) on Classic 107.3; this Friday, June 12, programme twenty-five.**
**(Programme 25 not broadcast. This and the final episode are looked-forward-to in due course.) Post pinned for the duration Started on Dec.26 A few words on Episode Two (Jan.2)......
A new Column category – “Music That Time Forgot” – Pieces once regularly played that today have fallen out of the repertoire: ‘Polka & Fugue’ from the opera Schwanda the Bagpiper (1926) by Prague-born Jaromir Weinberger (1896-1967). Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner (RCA; 1956).
Pinned post https://www.colinscolumn.com/category/music-that-time-forgot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsStqAiYhDI...
Can it be true that BBC Radio 3 no longer broadcasts mono recordings and with it denies listeners the artistry of great musicians from the first half of the twentieth-century?
Pinned post "Coincidentally, there are headlines just now which state that more people are switching to YouTube, from which these recordings come, having found the BBC “very samey and boring.” "One thing is for sure, since we are looking at “In the South,” and that is...
An die Musik, abschied. (An invitation to readers.)
Pinned post This being a Sunday, the Sabbath, it seems an appropriate time to publish this, which I hope will not seem morbid or cause any distress. Apologies if so. Anyway, on and off, I have been contemplating, providing I knew that my time had come, what piece of...
Exquisite solace from Bach/Busoni, the Chorale Prelude ‘Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ’, BWV639, played wonderfully by Alexis Weissenberg. … Also orchestrated by Vittorio Gui, recorded for Chandos by BBC Symphony Orchestra & Leonard Slatkin.
Pinned post. ASD 2971; recorded 1974 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CImntAmfOj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjjcJO3YJS8 https://www.discogs.com/release/6806222-Bach-BBC-Symphony-Orchestra-Leonard-Slatkin-The-Conductors-Transcriptions Vittorio Gui records...
Offering eloquent, deep-passion, gorgeous-sounding solace, the Adagio of Brahms’s Second Symphony, as conducted by Celibidache on April 11, 1975, with Stuttgart Radio SO, from his wonderful SWR cycle on DG. In contrast is Celi’s scintillating conducting on home turf of Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No.1.
Pinned post https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=IGoQpq_RXhs&embeds_referring_euri=http%3A%2F%2Fguitarandmylife.blog86.fc2.com%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt...
Herbert Blomstedt cancels his appearances with Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – September 17, 18 & 20 – Bruckner Eight. Marek Janowski now conducts.
![BBC Prom 2026 on Monday August 17 at Royal Albert Hall, London – BBC National Orchestra of Wales – Ryan Bancroft conducts Billy the Kid and Petrushka, with clarinettist Anthony McGill giving the European premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s Clarinet Concerto (‘If love will not swing wide the gates’). [Posted for the record.]](https://www.colinscolumn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/prommcg-400x250.webp)
BBC Prom 2026 on Monday August 17 at Royal Albert Hall, London – BBC National Orchestra of Wales – Ryan Bancroft conducts Billy the Kid and Petrushka, with clarinettist Anthony McGill giving the European premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s Clarinet Concerto (‘If love will not swing wide the gates’). [Posted for the record.]
Photo, BBC/Angus Race Copland: Billy the Kid (suite)Gabriel Kahane: Clarinet Concerto, ‘If love will not swing wide the gates’ [BBC co-commission: European premiere] Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version) Anthony McGill (clarinet) BBC National Orchestra of WalesRyan...
Last night a friend was ‘In London Town’ and took these photos of Tower Bridge and The Shard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmQzWJpSx_0 Philharmonia Orchestra*/Barbirolli. Released 1963/HMV ASD 548 c/w Enigma Variations. *The YT poster mistakenly credits the LSO.
Julian Lloyd Webber announces successful treatment for prostate cancer.
Julian Lloyd Webber has happily announced successful treatment for prostate cancer but is shocked by last week’s revelation that men over fifty can now be refused testing for the disease. Earlier this year, the renowned cellist received a prostate...
BBC Proms 2026 – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Vasily Petrenko conducts Webern and Walton, with Pablo Ferrández playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
Photo, BBC/Mark Allan REVIEWED FROM LIVE RELAY ON BBC RADIO 3 Sunday, August 16, 2026 Royal Albert Hall, London In days of yore this not-quite-seventy-minute programme could well have been just the first half of a Prom. Quality before quantity of course... Anton...
![BBC Proms 2026 on Sunday morning August 16 at Royal Albert Hall, London – Swedish Chamber Orchestra & Martin Fröst. [Posted for the record.]](https://www.colinscolumn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/frost-400x250.webp)
BBC Proms 2026 on Sunday morning August 16 at Royal Albert Hall, London – Swedish Chamber Orchestra & Martin Fröst. [Posted for the record.]
Photo, BBC/Chris Christodoulou A programme exploring the evolution of dance, from Rameau to Mühlrad, and culminating with Beethoven. Martin Fröst: Cradle SongJacob Mühlrad: Helix(BBC commission: world premiere)Jean‐Philippe Rameau: Dardanus – Gigue (Act 5) orch. Hans...
Additional photo (3) for… BBC Proms 2026 – London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, Julien Henric – Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Berlioz’s Requiem (Grande Messe des morts).
Photo, BBC/Chris Christodoulou https://www.colinscolumn.com/bbc-proms-2026-london-symphony-orchestra-london-symphony-chorus-bbc-symphony-chorus-julien-henric-sir-antonio-pappano-conducts-berliozs-requiem-grande-messe-des-morts/
Additional photo (2) for… BBC Proms 2026 – London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, Julien Henric – Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Berlioz’s Requiem (Grande Messe des morts).
Photo, BBC/Chris Christodoulou https://www.colinscolumn.com/bbc-proms-2026-london-symphony-orchestra-london-symphony-chorus-bbc-symphony-chorus-julien-henric-sir-antonio-pappano-conducts-berliozs-requiem-grande-messe-des-morts/
Additional photo (1) for… BBC Proms 2026 – London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, Julien Henric – Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Berlioz’s Requiem (Grande Messe des morts).
Photo, BBC/Chris Christodoulou https://www.colinscolumn.com/bbc-proms-2026-london-symphony-orchestra-london-symphony-chorus-bbc-symphony-chorus-julien-henric-sir-antonio-pappano-conducts-berliozs-requiem-grande-messe-des-morts/
BBC Proms 2026 – London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, Julien Henric – Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Berlioz’s Requiem (Grande Messe des morts).
Photo, BBC/Chris Christodoulou REVIEWED FROM LIVE RELAY ON BBC RADIO 3 Saturday, August 15, 2026 Royal Albert Hall, London When the Day of Judgement arrives, its soundtrack is catered for, the 'Dies irae' from Berlioz's Requiem (1837), with four brass bands positioned...