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
The Indianapolis, the 12th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis will take place from today, September 17, through October 4.
Post pinned for the Competition's duration https://violin.org/ Friday, September 25 - the semifinals begin today, four consecutive days, each with four violinists competing to determine who will continue into the latter stages of The Indianapolis. Can be followed...
Somm releases “George Szell in New York”, Vol. 1 – Symphonies by César Franck and Sibelius.
Post pinned until October 16 release date Neither of these performances are new to Szell's discography having previously appeared on the West Hill Radio Archives label, although both are new to me. Surprisingly, given he conducted Franck's D-minor Symphony several...
Diary date: Wednesday September 30th at the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square: London Gala Premiere of The Yellow Tie. Biopic about Sergiu Celibidache. General UK release from October 9th.
Pinned post "The film explores the remarkable life, uncompromising vision, and tempestuous journey of legendary conductor Sergiu Celibidache [with] John Malkovich [above] and Ben Schnetzer as Celibidache across different epochs of his life, alongside Sean Bean,...
Mark Elder’s Mahler Three. Can you help?
Pinned post ***WANTED*** A friend, Richard, is keen to obtain a recording of Mahler's Third Symphony, as conducted at the BBC Proms by Sir Mark Elder on August 6, 1995, in the Royal Albert Hall. Might anyone reading this who holds a tape of what would have been a live...
“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...
Kings Place announce 2027 season, including Origins Unwrapped.
KINGS PLACE ANNOUNCE 2027 SEASON, INCLUDING ORIGINS UNWRAPPED: THE STORIES BEHIND THE MUSIC Origins Unwrapped reveals the personal stories of heritage, identity, migration and cultural tradition behind the music artists create and champion today Artist-in-Residence...
Exciting News from the Metropolitan Opera.
The story of the Metropolitan Opera has always been written by artists, audiences, and supporters who believed that great art matters. Today, we are proud to launch Make the Met Forever—the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the history of the Metropolitan...
The Cleveland Orchestra’s concert canceled amid strike by musicians’ union.
The Cleveland Orchestra’s concert canceled amid strike by musicians’ unionCLEVELAND— The decision by Cleveland Orchestra musicians and their union to strike has resulted in the cancellation of the concert scheduled for September 26 at Severance Music Center.“We are...
Soprano Adriana González makes three major house debuts in 2026-27 and becomes first Guatemalan to debut in a lead role at Covent Garden.
Soprano Adriana González makes three major house debuts in 2026-27, including Royal Ballet and Opera, La Monnaie and Munich’s Prinzregenttheater González becomes the first Guatemalan to debut in a lead role at Covent Garden Soprano Adriana González makes three major...
Metropolitan Opera Announces Landmark $1.5 Billion “Make the Met Forever” Fundraising Campaign.
Metropolitan Opera Announces Landmark $1.5 Billion “Make the Met Forever” Fundraising Campaign to Secure Its Future Met reinforces its standing as one of New York City’s cornerstone cultural institutions with Opera for All, a new free-ticket initiative for underserved...
Malcolm Arnold Festival – 24 October, Northampton (UK).
21st MALCOLM ARNOLD FESTIVAL24 October - LIVE in Northampton1 November - LIVE-STREAM DAY Celebrated cellist Julian Lloyd Webber opens a day of live performances honouring Sir Malcolm Arnold at Cripps Hall and St Matthew’s Church on Saturday 24 October in the...
Apple Music Classical and Kahoot! partner to help students discover and explore classical music.
Apple Music Classical and Kahoot! partner to help students discover and explore classical music Apple Music Classical, the world’s leading classical music app, and Kahoot!, the global learning and engagement platform, have partnered to launch a new collection...
The Cambridgeshire orchestra that gave Shostakovich a British premiere and turns 50.
The Cambridgeshire orchestra that gave Shostakovich a British premiere and had Sir John Major as President turns 50 Season launch performance: Sat 17 Oct 2026, 7.30pm An amateur orchestra in Huntingdon that once gave Shostakovich a British premiere and had a sitting...
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Helsinki Music Centre Choir with tenor Mihails Čuļpajevs – Hannu Lintu conducts Szymanowski’s Symphony No.3 (‘Song of the Night’) and Liszt’s A Faust Symphony. Live Yle Areena webcast.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 Concert Hall, Helsinki Music Centre, Mannerheimintie 13 A, 00100 Helsinki, Finland The ambition alone of pairing these two works - Symphonies by name if not in nature - is noteworthy in itself. Even more laudable was the excellent...
Finalists revealed for International Opera Awards 2026.
FINALISTS REVEALED FOR INTERNATIONAL OPERA AWARDS 2026 Petroc Trelawny presents International Opera Awards 2025 © G.Antonoglou Winners to be announced in glittering ceremony on Saturday 21 November at MusikTheater an der Wien, hosted by Petroc Trelawny Opera...