The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column

20th March 2024

Widely vilified as the epitome of mawkish late-Victorian religious sentimentality, John Stainer’s The Crucifixion was first performed in St Marylebone Parish Church on 24 February 1887 at the beginning of Lent. Composed as a Passion-themed work within the capabilities of parish choirs as part of the Anglo-Catholic revival, its publication by Novello led to its phenomenal success as churches throughout England quickly took it up. It also spawned many imitations – such as John Henry Maunder’s Olivet to Calvary – which lacked... read more

14th March 2024

With the recently announced acquisition of Chandos Records by the founder of Naxos Records, Klaus Heymann, another leading independent classical label has passed to a larger company. Just last year, both the Swedish label BIS and the British firm Hyperion were snapped up, by Apple Music and Universal Music respectively. The press release issued to confirm the situation with Chandos spoke of a ‘synergy’ between Chandos and Heymann’s team, and stressed that ‘the label will remain independent long-term’. Chandos is... read more

6th March 2024

As you might have gathered from some of the releases that have featured in our recent reviews and columns, 2024 has got off to an exceptionally strong start for lovers of early music. Consort music by Matthew Locke, violin concertos by Vivaldi, opera and oratorio by Handel (Alcina and Theodora) have already given us many hours of listening pleasure. And, even restricting ourselves to Handel, the delights don’t stop there. Two recent releases on the Delphian label have been especially interesting: violinist Bojan... read more

28th February 2024

The news that changes are afoot at BBC Radio 3 under its new Controller, Sam Jackson, has raised alarm in some quarters. The official announcement declares – in language that W1A’s Ian Fletcher would be proud of – that ‘Distinctiveness and ambition are at the heart of the new Radio 3 schedule’, but for those who can bear to read further, it’s clear that magazine-style programmes featuring interviews interspersed with music have received a boost. Two 2024 centenaries are to be celebrated: conductor Neville Marriner and... read more

21st February 2024

Surely the most intriguing of all Handel’s oratorios is his antepenultimate work in the genre. Unlike the biblical works on Old Testament subjects with which the composer had enjoyed some of his greatest successes, Theodora is based on the story of an early Christian martyr, persecuted for her beliefs by the Roman authorities during the reign of Diocletian. The story is a bleak one. For her refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods, Theodora is first ordered to serve as a prostitute, and then – when her beloved Didymus, a Roman... read more