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
Elgar/Boult – Sir Adrian rouses ‘The Wild Bears’ to end the Second Suite of The Wand of Youth, and electrifies the Fugue of Elgar’s orchestration of J. S. Bach’s C-minor for-organ Fantasia and Fugue (BWV537). Recorded with the London Philharmonic for EMI during ACB’s ‘Indian summer’ in the studio.
Post pinned for perpetual Elgarian Enlightenment courtesy of Boult's baton Link removed for Bach orchestration. Link removed for Suite 2... 'Wild Bears' from 14:19. Link removed for Suite 1. IS THERE A CONDUCTOR GREATER THAN ADRIAN BOULT IN THE WONDERFUL WAND OF YOUTH...
Chandos releases Orchestral Music by Florent Schmitt – Peter Donohoe, BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier.
Post pinned until October 16 release date Frenchman Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) left us some very likeable music, as Chandos has already proven, and its Schmitt show continues here, impressively. Symphonie concertante, first performed in 1932 by the Boston Symphony...
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...
Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Peter Oundjian conducts Joan Tower, Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, John Adams’s Frenzy, and Paul Huang plays Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade. Live DSO webcast.
Saturday, October 10, 2026 Orchestra Hall, Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan Perhaps unusually, Joan Tower's 1991 half-hour Concerto for Orchestra (premiered in St. Louis conducted by Leonard Slatkin who then recorded it...
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – Musica Viva concert – conducted by Matthias Pintscher with jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola. Live on BR-Klassik.
Friday, October 9, 2026 Herkulessaal, Munich "The biblical Book of Genesis provided the inspiration for commissioning seven concise works from seven different composers: Lisa Streich (Sweden), Francesco Filidei (Italy), Chen Yi (China/USA), Hannah Kendall (England),...
The Ivors Academy signs new agreement with PRS for Music to amplify the growth of The Ivors Composer Awards.
THE IVORS ACADEMY SIGNS NEW AGREEMENT WITH PRS FOR MUSIC TO AMPLIFY THE GROWTH OF THE IVORS COMPOSER AWARDSThe Ivors Composer Awards recognise excellence in composition across all genres and disciplines including classical, jazz, sound arts, theatre, media and screen....
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – Simon Rattle conducts Pieces for Flute, Bassoon, and for Oboe, by Henri Dutilleux as orchestrated by Kenneth Hesketh, plus Haydn’s Ninetieth Symphony, and Imogen Cooper plays Mozart’s B-flat Piano Concerto (K595; No.27). Live on BR-Klassik. >CONCERT NOT BROADCAST< | >NOW IT HAS<
BR photo from rehearsals – Jürgen Leitner, BRSO percussionist Thursday, July 2, 2026 Herkulessaal, Munich ***I HAD STARTED THIS REVIEW, BUT THE BR-KLASSIK RELAY CHANGED TO A 2007 CONCERT WITH MARISS JANSONS. I WROTE TO BAVARIAN RADIO (RESPONSE IN COMMENTS)*** July 2:...
Sir Simon Rattle extends contract as Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra until 2033.
Of the extension, Sir Simon said, “There is an accepted language for contract renewal, but I find that I cannot bring myself to write it! For me, it’s simple: I love these musicians and I have never been happier. Herbert Blomstedt sent me a touching video message on...
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra – Nicholas Collon conducts Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fantasia & Shostakovich Eleven, and Ava Bahari premieres Antti Auvinen’s Violin Concerto. Live Yle Areena webcast.
Antti Auvinen (born 1974) Wednesday, October 7, 2026 Concert Hall, Helsinki Music Centre, Mannerheimintie 13 A, 00100 Helsinki, Finland 1905 witnessed the first, if failed, Russian Revolution. Five years later, in leafy England, Ralph Vaughan Williams was connecting...
Winners announced for Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2026.
WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR GRAMOPHONE CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARDS 2026 Isabelle Faust wins Artist of the Year and Concerto Award at Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2026 (c) Colin Miller Jean Rondeau’s epic Louis Couperin project wins Recording of the Year and...
Many Happy Returns to Charles Dutoit, 90 today.
Too many excerpts, as determined by YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok6JZDX523A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsHMSnJUeaM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Ofi6ZM9PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqwLh9TLW-o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FHess3NwZY...
The Australian Chamber Orchestra closes 50th anniversary year with world premiere recording of Valentin Silvestrov’s Moments of Memory (VI).
The Australian Chamber Orchestra closes 50th anniversary year with world premiere recording of Valentin Silvestrov’s Moments of Memory (VI) The album also features Pēteris Vasks’s Vox Amoris and Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht Released on ABC Classic on 30 October...
Press Release: ENO presents Gluck’s greatest work Iphigénie en Tauride.
For immediate issue: 6 October 2026, 10amEnglish National Opera presents Gluck's greatest work Iphigénie en TaurideDirected by Lyndsey Turner6-14 November 2026 at the London ColiseumUnder 21s can get free tickets to all ENO opera productions at every level of the...