The Gramophone podcast

José Serebrier on writing his concertos for piano and flute

For her latest Signum Classics album, ‘The Divine Muse’, the soprano Mary Bevan has chosen a programme of Franz Schubert and Hugo Wolf, and at its heart, Joseph Haydn’s scena Arianna a Naxos. She explores the project with James Jolly.

The English soprano on a work of which she’s become a modern champion

The soprano Louise Alder has just released her first recording for Chandos. It’s called ‘Lines written during a sleepless night: The Russian Connection’ and finds her joined by the pianist Joseph Middleton in songs by Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Grieg, Medtner and Britten. She tells James Jolly about the project.

Stephen Hough on Brahms's late piano music

Rachel Portman on Mimi and the Mountain Dragon

Freddy Kempf has recorded another Prokofiev piano sonata album (containing Nos 3, 8 and 9) for BIS. During this year's Tchaikovsky International Competition, at which Kempf was a jury member in the piano category, James Jolly caught up with the pianist to talk about the composer and his music.

Alison Balsom's new album, Royal Fireworks, is a collection of virtuoso baroque works performed on natural trumpet. For the latest Gramophone podcast she joins Editor Martin Cullingford to talk about the natural trumpet and about the repertoire on the album. Royal Fireworks is available from Warner Classics.

Stile Antico's latest album - their third in a series of three explorations of Christmas from different countries - takes us to the golden age of the Spanish Renaissance, from the polyphony of Victoria to dance-like carols in the Spanish language. For the latest Gramophone podcast, soprano Helen Ashby and bass Will Dawes join Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford to talk us through this richly fascinating festive feast of choral music. A Spanish Nativity is available now from Harmonia Mundi.

In the latest Gramophone podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford meets renowned pianist Norma Fisher to talk about her life and career, about the condition that forced her to give up public performance in the 1980s, about her teaching work, and about volume 2 of the fascinating recordings from the BBC archives.

Stephen Cleobury died on Friday, aged 70 - just two months since he had retired as Music Director of King's College, Cambridge, a post he'd held for 37 years. In tribute, we're republishing the last of the many interviews Gramophone conducted with him across his career, in which we discussed the then new release of music by Herbert Howells, and look back across his time leading the music at King's.

The Russian conductor and keyboard player has recently been appointed Principal Conductor of one of the UK's most dynamic ensembles. We caught up with him to find out what makes him tick.

The Tallis Scholars's acclaimed series of recordings of the Masses of Josquin reaches Volume 8. Featuring what may be the last Mass the composer wrote, along with a Mass not by Josquin but once thought to have been by him, this penultimate volume certainly raises some fascinating questions! To discuss them, the Tallis Scholars's founder and director Peter Philips joins Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford on this week's podcast - which features excerpts from the album, available now on Gimell.

The pianist and conductor Lars Vogt has just released a new recording of Brahms's D minor Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, directing from the keyboard. James Jolly met him to discuss the project, released on the Ondine label.

Jonathan Biss has been recording the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas for the past nine years. Now, as he reaches the end of the journey with Vol 9, Gramophone's James Jolly caught up with the pianist to talk about this extraordinary series of works. Excerpts are taken from the album, released today by Orchid Classics.