The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column

Fischer-Dieskau Centenary Releases

21st May 2025

In the history of recorded sound, surely no other singer has had such a wide influence in the field of art-song as the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925–2012), the centenary of whose birth falls next week. In the 1960s and 70s, when his career was at its considerable peak, he was virtually ubiquitous on the concert stages and in the opera houses of the great musical cities of the world. His repertoire was phenomenal: some 3000 individual songs and cycles, hundreds of sacred works and over 100 operatic roles,... read more

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Two recent losses to English music

13th May 2025

The past week has seen the loss of two notable figures on the English musical scene, both of them particularly valued for their contributions to the choral repertoire.

Ronald Corp, who died on 7 May at the age of 74, was born in Wells, Somerset, on 4 January 1951. He studied music at Oxford, and joined the Music Library at the BBC, at the same time working as conductor with such ensembles as the Finchley Children’s Music Group. In 1988 he established the New London Orchestra and, three years later, the New London... read more

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The New Janáček Renaissance

7th May 2025

It’s now a good half century since the post-war ‘discovery’ of Janáček by Anglophone audiences, thanks in large part to the pioneering work of Charles Mackerras, the centenary of whose birth falls later this year. Mackerras studied in Prague with the great Czech conductor Václav Talich, and it was there that he also first encountered Janáček’s extraordinary music, not least the operas of his remarkable compositional Indian summer. From the early 1950s onwards, Mackerras’s championship of Janáček’s works went... read more

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Doing things by halves (and quarters, fifths, and sixths...): Alois Hába

29th April 2025

In the wider international perception of Czech music, Alois Hába (1893–1973) remains an outlier. Unlike such figures as Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček, Suk and Martinů, Hába’s music is little performed even in his homeland. His position as one of the pioneers of 20th-century music rests largely on his reputation as handed down in the history books: he was an early proponent of quarter-tone composition. The vast majority of works in the classical canon are founded on the division of the octave into twelve semitones:... read more

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Of Popes and Music

23rd April 2025

The death at the age of 88 of Pope Francis has dominated headlines for the last 48 hours (at the time of writing). Much has already been written about the achievements of his 12-year papacy, as well as the challenges and criticisms (from both conservatives and progressives) he faced during that time. Less widely-known is Francis’s taste in music: he was particularly well-versed in classical music, and soon after he took on the role of supreme pontiff an interview shone light on his deepest musical loves. They included Mozart... read more

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