Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast
596 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★ - 6 ratingsJon Jacob talks to artists, writers, and audience members about classical music.
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Episodes
182: Pianist Alexandra Dariescu
July 16, 2024 06:51 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBThis Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast episode features Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu who, on the 16th August releases her recording of Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor (pared the Grieg Piano Concerto). She's also playing a major role in the Leeds International Piano Competition later this year giving the first Alexandra Dariescu Award for the outstanding performance of music by a female composer - Clara Schumann's concerto is one of the concerto that finalists can sele...
181: Mezzo Soprano Fleur Barron
July 09, 2024 11:45 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBThe Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast hears from mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron in this episode, previewing her appearance at the 2024 Ryedale Festival in particular her collaboration with dancer Suleiman Suleiman and musician Hibiki Ichikawa intertwining a Japanese Kabuki play with Schubert's iconic Winterreise song cycle. In this podcast Fleur talks about her international influences, illustrating what fuels her work - discovery - something closely aligned to Thoroughly Good's approach...
180: Organist James McVinnie
June 27, 2024 19:52 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBOrganist and pianist James McVinnie is Artist in Residence at Southbank Centre in London this year. His programming like many of his recordings often juxtaposes old and new These juxtapositions can bring about a delicious kind of cognitive shift for the listener. James explored his art, his approach to performance and explains more about his fascination with the intersection between baroque and minimalism. Recommended recording: Counterpoint, 2021 🎧https://open.spotify.com/album/1YaUdmi1...
179: Ton Koopman at BachFest
June 12, 2024 15:54 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBConductor, organist, harpsichordist and lovely man Ton Koopman riffs on the joys of JS Bach at BachFest in Leipzig, ahead of his festival in the Dordogne - Itineraire Baroque - where he and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra will be performing Bach’s St John Passion.
178: Judith Weir's Blond Eckbert at Aldeburgh Festival
June 03, 2024 14:06 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBJon Jacob speaks to ETO General Director Robin Norton-Hale and members of the cast and production team about the English Touring Opera production of Blond Eckbert that opens the 75th Aldeburgh Festival on 7th June 2024.
177: Ben Levy from Classics Explained
April 09, 2024 09:44 - 31 minutes - 29.4 MBHow can recontextualising classical music help build a new audience for the genre? Classics Explained YouTube producer Ben Levy explores the opportunities he's discovered using animation to tell the story of some of classics most-loved works, and some of the pushback he's received doing so.
176: Cellist Tim Posner
March 23, 2024 20:43 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBThis episode spotlights a new release from cellist Tim Posner. Recorded weeks ago, this episode has I'm sorry to say been subject to all manner of technical challenges. Publication has been delayed as a result. But all good things come to those who wait. And this is GOOD. Tim Posner's debut album includes music by Bloch, Bruch and Dohnanyi is a case in point. The music speaks for itself (especially the rarely heard Konzertstucke by Dohnanyi) Posner's playing is full bodied, heartfelt and hug...
175: Cellist Tim Posner
March 23, 2024 20:43 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBThis episode spotlights a new release from cellist Tim Posner. Recorded weeks ago, this episode has I'm sorry to say been subject to all manner of technical challenges. Publication has been delayed as a result. But all good things come to those who wait. And this is GOOD. Tim Posner's debut album includes music by Bloch, Bruch and Dohnanyi is a case in point. The music speaks for itself (especially the rarely heard Konzertstucke by Dohnanyi) Posner's playing is full bodied, heartfelt and h...
175: Monteverdi Choir's Israel in Egypt
March 16, 2024 18:04 - 28 minutes - 26.8 MBHailstones, frogs and sexy trills. Monteverdi Choir's director Peter Whelan joins Amy Wood and Nick Pritchard to introduce the detail and the colour in Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt.
174: On Conducting and Learning to Conduct
March 11, 2024 20:26 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBLPO Principal Concductor Edward Gardner, and LPO Conducting Fellows Charlotte Politi and Luis Castillo-Briceño reflecting on their roles as conductors and the process of developing their conducting presence.
173: Reflections, Recommendations & Previews
December 29, 2023 18:18 - 45 minutes - 42.2 MBLovely people from across the classical music industry share their reflections on the year gone by, and look forward to the year ahead. Hear thoughts and recommendations from violinist Fenella Humphreys, pianist Charles Owen, Roger Wright, London Chamber Orchestra's Jocelyn Lightfoot, Manchester Camerata's Bob Riley and Manchester Collective's Rakhi Singh.
172: Thomas Guthrie and Barokksolistene
November 23, 2023 21:21 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBSchubert's epic and much-revered song cycle Die Schoene Mullerin is given a folksy feel with a new recording released by Rubicon Classics featuring Barokksolistene and Thomas Guthrie (who you'll hear in this podcast episode). If you're pro-deference this one probably isn't for you, but if you're open, curious or in need of a fresh approach then come on in and make yourself comfortable. Find yourself a bale of straw and sit yourself down. It's a treat.
171: Katharine Dain and Sam Armstrong introduce 'Forget This Night'
November 21, 2023 20:09 - 33 minutes - 31 MBSoprano Katharine Dain and pianist Sam Armstrong reflect on the recording of their latest ravishing duo album Forget This Night, featuring the music of Lili Boulanger, Karol Szymanowski, and Grażyna Bacewicz.
170: Ivors Award-Winners John Rutter & Tansy Davies
November 14, 2023 21:15 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBHear the thoughts and reflections of two Ivor Award-Winning composers - John Rutter and Tansy Davies. Both doing the same thing - writing music. Both creating entirely different work. At the 2023 Awards at the British Film Institute in London, Tansy Davies received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Works Collection. John Rutter received the Academy Fellowship - the highest honour the institution awards individuals. Thoroughly Good explored their purpose, what they've learned, what they...
169: Making Callas - Paris, 1958
November 10, 2023 10:59 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBProducer and Director Tom Volf explores his fascination with soprano Maria Callas and the work involved restoring her 1958 Paris debut for cinema release.
168: Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht
November 03, 2023 07:15 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBViolinist Victoria Mullova and cellist Matthew Barley explore Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht.
167: Miloš Karadaglić introduces 'Baroque'
October 25, 2023 16:36 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MBGuitarist Miloš Karadaglić reflects on his work producing the new album 'Baroque' released October 2023.
166: Pianist Cordelia Williams introduces Cascade
October 04, 2023 23:05 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBCordelia Williams returns to the Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast to talk about her new album on SOMM 'Cascade', and to reflect on her experiences teaching in Kenya.
165: Pianist Lucy Parham
October 02, 2023 15:47 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBLucy Parham introduces selected piano works by Sergei Rachmaninoff ahead of her London Piano Festival appearance with actor Tim McInnery. For more information and tickets visit: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/london-piano-festival/
164: Composer Joseph Phibbs
September 29, 2023 16:06 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBComposer Joseph Phibbs returns to the podcast to introduce two new pieces premiered at Hatfield Chamber Music Festival and Wigmore Hall on 29th October and 7th October.
163: Composer Matthew Taylor
September 06, 2023 17:26 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBAhead of the world premiere of Matthew Taylor's second horn concerto, Jon Jacob speaks to the composer about his work, his inspiration and the life force of Beethoven.
162: Benedetti's Call To Action
August 22, 2023 15:51 - 6 minutes - 6.06 MBNicola Benedetti announces the new Benedetti Baroque Sessions, a competition to participate in her Baroque orchestra, plus she pops up on Radio 4's Today to talk about what music education needs now.
161: Lost Voices with Prof Leah Broad and Violinist Fenella Humphreys
August 07, 2023 16:38 - 36 minutes - 34.1 MBDr Leah Broad's book Quartet tells the story of four women composers who have received little or no attention by the classical music world. The lives of Ethyl Smyth, Dorothy Howell, Rebecca Clarke and Doreen Carwithen span the 20th century and yet their music was, until a few years ago, relatively unheard of. Quartet - a substantial history of four women's compositional lives - explains why. Following publication, Leah Broad and violinist Fenella Humphreys have joined forces with pianist N...
160: Horn player Felix Klieser
July 31, 2023 10:51 - 25 minutes - 23.8 MBKlieser plays the horn with his feet. This seemingly monumental achievement is of comparatively little consequence to Felix who sees himself not as a differently abled artist but as a musician who wants to make the audience happy. At a point in time when identity, representation and opportunity are words that rightly weigh heavily in our present-day discourse and thinking, it’s Klieser’s motivation – from the age of 4 – which is counter-intuitively the more powerful message he shares. He ...
159: The Endz with Flame, Prince and the Multi-Story Orchestra
July 07, 2022 13:25 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBThe Endz is a production mounted by school children in South London, supported by the Multi Story Orchestra, a radical performance group well-known in the industry for mounting live performances in a former multi story car park (now known as Bold Tendencies) in Peckham. Since its Proms appearances in 2016 and 2017, the team behind the orchestra led by Kate Whitely has sought out new ways to enhance cultural experiences for the community its made its home in. But Multi Story’s vision and me...
158: Composer and vocalist Laura Bowler about her new opera 'The Blue Woman'
June 27, 2022 15:16 - 29 minutes - 27.6 MBRPS award-winning composer and vocalist Laura Bowler talks about her newest opera 'The Blue Woman', and her climate-change inspired collaboration with Cordelia Lynn, 'Houses Slide'. TICKETS: https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/the-blue-woman-by-katie-mitchell-details Laura's new work Distance is premiered by Juliet Fraser and the Talea Ensemble at Cheltenham Festival on 10 July. TICKETS: https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/music/whats-on/2022/distance This interview was recorded o...
157: Celebrating 50 years of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme
June 06, 2022 16:54 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBThis year Aldeburgh Festival celebrates 50 years of the artist development programme - a music-making experience rooted in the Suffolk countryside that has supported many of the world's leading musicians. In this episode, previous participants reflect on their experience attending the Britten-Pears Orchestra and courses at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies now known as the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme. Contributors in order of appearance: Nicholas Daniel Jessi...
156: Yaniewicz & Green Square Piano
May 28, 2022 18:19 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBJosie Dixon the great great great great grandaughter of Polish Lithuanian violinist and composer Felix Yaniewicz explains how a chance discovery unearthed a series of discoveries about the man in her family she knew only from a portrait. https://www.yaniewicz.org/piano.html
155: Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston introduces her new album Battle Cry
May 16, 2022 06:58 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBHelen Charlston and Toby Carr release 'Battle Cry' in May 2022 - available from 27th on Delphian records featuring songs by Barbara Strozzi, Henry Purcell, John Eccles, Claudio Monteverdi & Owain Park. To coincide with the release, both performers appear at the London Festival of Baroque at St John's Smith Square and the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. TICKETS: https://www.lfbm.org.uk/whats-on/helen-charlston-and-toby-carr
154: Composer Tom Coult introduces the new opera 'Violet'
May 11, 2022 18:58 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBWritten in 2019 and originally premiering at the Aldeburgh Festival in 2020, Tom Coult and Alice Birch's 'Violet' tells the 24-day story of a village discovering the gradual loss of time. Recorded at rehearsals in the Jerwood Space in London in May 2022. 'Violet' opens the 2022 Aldeburgh Festival on 3 June. 🎫 https://brittenpearsarts.org/events/violet
153: Composer Oliver Davis
May 01, 2022 19:33 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBReleased on Friday 6 May, 'Air' features a collection composer Oliver Davis' characteristically uplifting writing performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Kerensa Peacock, and Grace Davidson. Jon Jacob speaks to Davis about his dyslexia, his compositional influences, and his commercial writing experience. This podcast was recorded in March 2022 at the Southbank Centre.
151: The Opera Story's 'Beauty and the Seven Beasts'
April 05, 2022 17:00 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MB"Beauty and the Seven Beasts is possibly the most incredible but also the most challenging Opera Story project so far." Opera Story Hamish McKay, soprano Katherine Aitken, Dan de Sousa, and conductor Berrek Dyer talk about this new work combining the librettos and music of eight composers in one chamber opera staged at Brixton Jamm, 6-14 April 2022.
150: Violinist James Ehnes
February 18, 2022 19:18 - 21 minutes - 29.1 MBOn the day James Ehnes was meant to be playing Berg's Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, we meet on Zoom to discuss intonation, Walton, and being a tourist in London.
149 Southbank Director of Music Gillian Moore
February 08, 2022 17:42 - 34 minutes - 47.9 MBHow did Gillian Moore's musical upbringing shape her views about the relevance of music in the lives of everyone today? Ahead of her appearance a the Association of British Orchestras conference in Glasgow in February 2022, she reflects on her own experiences and offers some thoughts on what we need to do next to secure music in the lives of future generations.
148: Baritone Benjamin Appl on Winterreise
February 03, 2022 18:56 - 34 minutes - 32.1 MBBaritone Benjamin Appl prepared for his first ever performance of Schubert epic song cycle Winterreise by learning the work on a four-hour car journey back in 2010. Twelve years later he's recorded it with pianist James Baillieu both as an album and in a documentary made by John Bridcut. Baillieu and Appl perform live at Wigmore Hall on 18th February 2022.
147: Ivors Composer Awards 2021
December 12, 2021 19:13 - 27 minutes - 37.7 MBJon Jacob speaks to a selection of Ivors Composer Award Winners from 2021 backstage at the ceremony in the British Museum.
146: Clarinettist Barnaby Robson
December 06, 2021 13:55 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBClarinettist Barnaby Robson discusses his latest release on Orchid Classics.
145: Royal Overseas League Gold Medal 2021 Preview
November 21, 2021 16:21 - 20 minutes - 27.8 MBHear participants Ryan Corbett, Milly Forrest, Mathias Balzart, David Zucchi and members of the Echea String Quartet, plus artistic director Geoff Parkin discuss the importance of the Royal Overseas League Music Competition. The Gold Medal 2021 will be staged at the Royal Overseas League in London on Wednesday 24 November. Watch live on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpkkTQnwNHGi7Jj_SK6x20g.
144: Director Daisy Evans and conductor Stephen Higgins
November 08, 2021 15:54 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MBTheatre of Sound director Daisy Evans and conductor Stephen Higgins are currently mid-way through a run of a new of Bartók’s only opera Bluebeard's Castle. Their work reimagines the piece as a love story between a long-married couple – Duke Bluebeard and Judith – both coming to terms with living with dementia. The production is staged at Stone Nest – a stunning former Welsh chapel in the heart of London’s West End – and runs until 14 November with singers soprano Susan Bullock, bass-baritone...
143: Composer Electra Perivolaris
November 03, 2021 20:17 - 25 minutes - 35 MBComposer Electra Perivolaris talks about her collaboration with a Devonshire couple living with dementia, capturing their musical memories and reworking them in a brand new chamber opera, performed on Saturday 6 and 13 November 2021. Tickets via the Theatre of Sound website : https://www.tickettailor.com/events/theatreofsound/576577
142: English Concert Artistic Director Harry Bicket
October 13, 2021 19:51 - 34 minutes - 47.5 MBEnglish Concert artistic director Harry Bicket talks about Handel's Samson, the opera Alcina. Bicket also explains the three things others find annoying about him. Lateness is one of them. What are the other three?
141: Pianist Pavel Kolesnikov
October 06, 2021 19:49 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBPianist Pavel Kolesnikov appears at The Two Moors Festival in October 2021 in a programme of Bach's Goldberg Variations. In this podcast he explores identity, the careers he might pursue if he had the time, and 'those shoes'.
140: Tenor Nicky Spence and Help Musicians UK CEO James Ainscough
September 27, 2021 20:09 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBThroughout 2020 and 2021 Help Musicians UK supported creatives impacted by COVID-19 to the tune of £18 million. In this podcast HMUK ambassador Nicky Spence and CEO James Ainscough explain how the 100 year old charity works, how its support has been invaluable, and how it will be vital in the years to come.
139: Tom Poster and Elena Urioste's Jukebox Album
September 22, 2021 20:22 - 8 minutes - 7.81 MBThe Jukebox Album is the soundtrack to the feeling that characterises this period in time we’re slowly coming out of, and perhaps a reminder that we should forget about either. A love letter from two musicians to their audience. A potent reminder of things previously taken for granted. A musical Ground Zero.
138: Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage
September 21, 2021 20:15 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBComposer Mark-Anthony Turnage has written a Concertino for clarinettist John Carnac. It will be performed at Music@Malling in Kent in late September by clarinettist John Carnac. Jon Jacob spoke to composer and performer about the work at rehearsals in Birmingham.
137: Horn player Ben Goldscheider
September 20, 2021 10:23 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MBBen Goldscheider appeared with members of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective at the recent Lammermuir Festival in East Lothian, Scotland. In this conversation he discusses horn player Dennis Brain, plus works by Oliver Knussen and Ruth Gipps.
136: Grace Davidson & Christian Forshaw
September 15, 2021 14:52 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBGrace Davidson and Christian Forshaw's new album Historical Fiction blends Baroque and Renaissance in a contemporary setting. Produced by Forshaw during the pandemic, it develops fragments of melody into a musical framework, creating a soundtrack for a royal occasion. The album is released on 17 September 2021.
136: Grace Davidson & Christian Forshaw
September 15, 2021 14:52 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBGrace Davidson and Christian Forshaw's new album Historical Fiction blends Baroque and Renaissance in a contemporary setting. Produced by Forshaw during the pandemic, it develops fragments of melody into a musical framework, creating a soundtrack for a royal occasion. The album is released on 17 September 2021.
135: Odaline de la Martinez
September 13, 2021 18:59 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBThe London Festival of American Music runs from 13-18 September 2021 and this year features a ground-breaking opera exploring the personal stories of a trans character in 'As One'. In this podcast, a LFAM artistic director, conductor and producer Odaline De la Martinez introduces the festival and talks about how she came to discover the music of Dame Ethel Smyth. For more information and tickets visit https://www.lontano.co.uk/.
134: Violinist Gil Shaham
September 09, 2021 12:01 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBGil Shaham is one of a handful of performers who can switch between the character in the music and the personality of the performer mid-performance. Nothing is compromised as was witnessed at the InClassica International Music Festival in Dubai 2021. How does he manage to look so bright and perky on stage? And does it stop when he walks off the stage?