The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column

Bizet Rarities

11th March 2025

Despite the widespread neglect of much of his output, Georges Bizet – the 150th anniversary of whose death at the age of just 36 falls on 3 June this year – is much more than a one-work composer. True, his final opera, Carmen (premiered on 3 March 1875), has long all but eclipsed his other works, although its sensational success came tragically too late for its unfortunate composer. Nevertheless the suites from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet’s play L'Arlésienne, his early Symphony in C (unperformed until 1935), his... read more

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Comfort Listening: Purcell’s Fantazias

5th March 2025

Amid the present highly-charged social and political times, one could be forgiven for being perpetually exercised by the daily deluge of alarming news. Whether or not one has an interest in current affairs, no area of life seems to be untouched, from the cost of living to the arts (most recently, both Washington DC’s Kennedy Center and the likely closure of Cardiff University’s excellent Department of Music have made the headlines). The church – which historically many have turned to in turbulent times – also seems to be in... read more

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Exquisite Dissonance

25th February 2025

Dissonance, the dictionary tells us, is ‘a lack of agreement or harmony between people or things’, but also, in its more strictly musical sense, ‘a lack of harmony among musical notes’ or ‘a mingling of sounds that strike the ear harshly’. Dissonance is typically regarded in a dichotomous relationship with ‘consonance’, and the consonance-dissonance pairing is often equated with beautiful-ugly or agreeable-disagreeable. Yet what constitutes these opposed qualities shifts over time. In the middle ages, the consonant intervals... read more

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Treasures from the Czech Radio and Supraphon archives

18th February 2025

Although its new releases are not as numerous as, say, the Polish label Dux, the Supraphon label – for generations the illustrious standard-bearer of Czech and Czechoslovak musical identity – continues to have a committed following among record collectors, not least for its unearthing of treasures from the past. Its most recent releases are a case in point. As well as a first CD issue of one of its earliest complete stereo opera recordings (of which, more anon), it has just issued a fascinating 7-disc set of live radio... read more

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Celebrating Machaut

5th February 2025

Over the years there has been a steadily growing number of recognised landmark recording projects: Solti’s Ring would stand near the top of most lists, as would the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt cycle of Bach cantatas. The CBS/Sony Stravinsky Edition ranks high for many, as does BIS’s complete Sibelius Edition. Others worth mentioning are Doráti's set of Haydn’s complete symphonies, Scott Ross’s marvellous survey of Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas, and Mackerras’s series of Janáček operas on Decca. Hyperion’s vast set of... read more

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