The Gramophone podcast

Elgar's Cello Concerto was premiered 100 years ago today, and to mark the anniversary Julian Lloyd Webber joins Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford to explore the work, its performance and recording history, and to discuss why it still speaks so powerfully to audiences today. The podcast features excerpts from Julian Lloyd Webber's own recording of the work with Yehudi Menuhin, the Philips label.

For his new album, the pianist Joseph Moog has chosen to explore the music of Franz Liszt, presenting works from across the composer's life, including his monumental Sonata in B Minor. Called 'Heaven and Hell', it's available on the Onyx label, and in the latest Gramophone podcast Moog discusses the project with Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford.

The 2019 Gramophone Classical Music Awards have been announced! In this special edition of the Gramophone podcast, Editor-in-Chief James Jolly, Editor Martin Cullingford and Reviews Editor Tim Parry explore the winning albums, and you can hear from some of the artists honoured by Special Awards, including our Artist of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award winners. 

The pianist Boris Giltburg is recording Beethoven's five piano concertos for Naxos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko. The first album is out with the first two piano concertos and the early Rondo, WoO6 from 1793. James Jolly met up with Boris Giltburg after a performance of the First Piano Concerto and the day before the recording sessions.

Igor Levit has just released a set, on Sony Classical, of the 32 piano sonatas, an early and very impressive contribution to the Beethoven 250 commemorations. James Jolly met him at Steinway's London showroom to talk about the sonatas, and also to find out how the pianist approached this colossal project.

Jan Lisiecki on the Beethoven piano concertos

In the third and final of our three podcasts exploring the Gramophone Awards 2019 shortlist, Editor-in-Chief James Jolly, Editor Martin Cullingford and Reviews Editor Tim Parry discuss the Contemporary, Opera, Recital and Solo Vocal Awards.

The 2019 Gramophone Classical Music Awards are just over one month away. In the second of our three podcasts exploring the shortlist, Editor Martin Cullingford and Reviews Editor Tim Parry discuss the Early, Choral and Chamber categories.

The 2019 Gramophone Classical Music Awards are just over one month away, and in the latest issue of Gramophone we reveal the shortlist of the top three albums in each category. Over the next few weeks, the Gramophone Podcast will be devoted to exploring that shortlist. We start this week with the Editor-in-Chief James Jolly and Reviews Editor Tim Parry discussing the Orchestral, Concerto and Instrumental categories.

Jasper Parrott talks to Gramophone's James Jolly about the role of recording in an artist's professional and artistic life, and how it has changed during the 50 years that HarrisonParrott has been one of the world's leading artist management companies.

On his new album, From Palaces to Pleasure Gardens, released on the Regent label, organist Thomas Trotter celebrates Georgian London with a programme of music performed on the newly restored 1735 Richard Bridge organ of Christ Church, Spitalfields. In this week's Gramophone podcast he talks to Editor Martin Cullingford about the works he's chosen, and about the extraordinary instrument he has recorded them on.

Danny Elfman is known to millions for his scores for over 100 movies. This summer he released a new album on Sony Classical containing his Violin Concerto and Piano Quartet. The concerto, written for and played by Sandy Cameron, joined by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by John Mauceri, was the subject of a conversation Gramophone's James Jolly had with Elfman. But they started by talking about the emergence of the specialist film composer in the past 50 or so years.

James Jolly is joined by Rob Cowan to talk about the last quartet of orchestras competing for this prestigious award: Les Siècles, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. To listen to the contenders for the Orchestra of the Year Award, presented with Apple Music, go to our Awards page, sign up for a free three-month Apple Music trial subscription, listen to the playlists and cast your vote.

Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Award is the only one offered as a public vote. In this, the second of three podcasts dedicated to the Award, Gramophone’s Contributing Editor, the critic and broadcaster Rob Cowan, joins Gramophone’s James Jolly to talk about the nominated ensembles. This week their focus is on three major European ensembles, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

This week, James Jolly and Rob Cowan discuss the San Francisco, Boston and London symphony orchestras