The Spin Doctor Europadisc's Weekly Column

Early Music Catch-Up

29th March 2023

Wherever your particular tastes lie in the vast (and often uncharted) landscape of ‘early’ music, the past few months have seen a steady stream of admirable releases, only a few of which we’ve been able to review in any detail. Cherubini’s drastically edited 1804 version of Mozart’s Requiem (coupled with an equally fascinating account of Paisiello’s Mass for the coronation of Napoleon) on the Alpha label from Julien Chauvin and his Concert de la Loge was an ear opener for many. Another Alpha disc, Marais’s previously... read more

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Celebrating Max Reger

22nd March 2023

Of the various composers whose significant anniversaries are being celebrated in 2023, one name seems to have slipped under the radar. Max Reger (1873–1916) has a reputation not so much formidable as forbidding. Yet the 150th anniversary of his birth presents an opportunity for a reappraisal of a composer who has earned notoriety for dense counterpoint, yet who was also capable of writing music of great charm and melodic beauty. And, contrary to received opinion, these qualities often overlap in many of his works, making... read more

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From the BBC Archives: BBC Legends Vol.3

15th March 2023

The recent spiral of apparent wilful self-destructiveness at the BBC has caused dismay among many of our regular respondents to this column. How timely, then, that a new box of BBC Legends – delayed from its original release date because of production issues – has finally become available thanks to the efforts of ICA Classics. A 20-disc set of ‘great recordings from the archive’, all of which were originally issued separately, brings together many legendary conductors and soloists from what now seems like a golden age of... read more

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Good News from Bru Zane, Bad News from the BBC...

8th March 2023

First, the bad: just a week after our piece about the plight of radio orchestras (1 March), the BBC has announced a response to its 2022 review into its classical music services, and the results are worse than many had feared. Not only are they proposing a 20% reduction in salaried roles at its three English-based orchestras (the BBC Symphony, Philharmonic and Concert Orchestras), but the BBC Singers – the UK’s only full-time professional choir – is to be axed entirely. To describe this news as a bombshell would be to... read more

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The Plight of Radio Orchestras

1st March 2023

The recent news that the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra faces serious funding cuts (and ‘will need to seek alternative funding’) is a reminder of the challenges facing arts organisations in the present economic climate. In particular, it highlights the plight of ensembles attached to broadcasters, and the seemingly perennial threats to the finances of radio orchestras. (The BBC orchestras currently face a similar threat, though details are yet to be spelt out.) The golden age of radio orchestras can be broadly... read more

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