}
}
Yehudi Menuhin
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Beethoven’s magnum opus with Menuhin skilfully drawing the complex web of emotions together building to an ecstatic rendition of the ‘Ode to Joy’ .
Leonard Bernstein
London Symphony Orchestra
Brighton Festival Chorus singing as English Bach Festival Chorus. New sounds, forms and shapes define the Symphony of Psalms, a profoundly unironic expression of Stravinsky's unique approach to the psalms, one of the most deeply moving and genuinely spiritual pieces Stravinsky ever wrote.
Antal Dorati
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Creation was inspired by Handel‘s Messiah and Israel in Egypt which Haydn had heard while visiting England. The oratorio describes the creation of the world from a formless void to an enchanted garden, with vivid depictions of sea, sun, birds and flowers, and is one of Haydn’s best works.
André Previn
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Holst’s starting point for the music was the astrological character of each of seven planets. Neptune, the mystic, is the last movement where a double chorus of women’s voices provide an ethereal quality to the diaphanous veil of orchestral sound.
Antal Dorati
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Seasons, a secular oratorio, is a rustic celebration of the four seasons of the year with peasant dances and animated musical portraits of the changing weather. With its winter storms and whistling ploughmen, hymns of praise and booze-fuelled revels, this sequel to The Creation was inspired by Haydn’s time in London and written specially to appeal to British audiences.