Organist and pianist James McVinnie's new album 'Dreamcatcher' is a beautiful series of works by contemporary composers including Nico Muhly, John Adams, Giles Swayne, Gabriella Smith, Meredith Monk and others, all based around ideas of imagining – be that to do with memory, architecture, musical form or social justice. He joins Editor Martin Cullingford in this week's Podcast to talk through the programme, and about the sound world he's created for this captivating recording. 'Dreamcatcher' is available on the Pentatone label from next Friday, January 17. 

Last August Gramophone's James Jolly travelled to Montana in the USA, to sample the musical, artistic and architectural wonders of Tippet Rise, an arts centre created by Peter and Cathy Halstead on a 12,000 acre working ranch. As well as possesssing a wonderful concert hall, Tippet Rise also plays host to numerous large sculptures, some of which can also be used as performance spaces. And for a number of weekends each year musicians from all over the world come to perform at Tippet Rise. 

In 2024, pianists Yevgeny Sudbin and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet were among the performers and James took the opportunity, made considerably easier by Tippet Rise’s state-of-the-art recording facilities, to sit down with them to talk about pianos, recording, repertoire and the place in which they all found ourselves …

The photograph was taken in The Olivier Music Barn, Tippet Rise's concert hall, in front of Mark di Suvero's painting Seminal (1978-82, acrylic on linen).

In a special edition of the Gramophone Podcast, we explore the music of Charles Villiers Stanford with the leading expert on the composer, Jeremy Dibble, who joins Editor Martin Cullingford to mark the centenary year of Stanford's death. Though arguably still best known today for his church music, we discuss the full breadth of Stanford's works, including his symphonies, songs, chamber music, and his operas - the latter a genre he was devoted to throughout his life. 

William Christie, the founder - and guiding spirit for the past 45 years – of Les Arts Florissants, celebrates his 80th birthday on December 19. 

Gramophone's James Jolly went to visit him at home in Paris to talk about his long career and its colossal impact of the rediscovery of the music of his adopted homeland. Since leaving the USA in the early 1970s and settling in France, Christie has been a major figure both in concert and on record (with a clutch of Gramophone Awards to his name), focusing on music of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Their conversation ranged widely taking in memories of the harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, the countertenor Alfred Deller, the founder of Harmonia Mundi Bernard Coutaz, and many others.

Musical excerpts are from from his Harmonia Mundi catalogue, including his latest release 'Bill and Friends' which finds him performing with a host of young musicians.

George Szell took over the Cleveland Orchestra in 1946, and, once he had created the instrument he needed, he started an extensive series of recordings for CBS (American Columbia, now Sony Classical). The focus was on the great works of the Austro-German repertoire and, needless to say, the nine Beethoven symphonies and a selection of overtures were among them (recorded between 1957 and 1967). Sony Classical have just gathered together the symphonies and overtures from the large 'George Szell Complete Columbia Collection' set from 2018, and are releasing them on seven CDs on December 13 and also digitally (already available).

James Jolly went to talk to Gramophone's long-serving contributor Rob Cowan about the recordings, and also about George Szell as a conductor in general.

Benjamin Nicholas, Music Director of Merton College, Oxford joins Editor Martin Cullingford to talk about his new recording of Gabriel Jackson's The Christmas Story. This major new commission by the college, available now on the Delphian label, has been recorded by the Choir and Girl Choristers of Merton College and the Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia, and is an Editor's Choice in the latest edition of Gramophone.

Thélème won Gramophone’s Early Music Award in 2022 with their Aparté album of music by Josquin Desprez, ‘Baisiez-moi’. Now they return with a new programme, also for Aparté, ‘All we get is life’, that brings together the music of John  Dowland and John Cage – with an extra track featuring Sting in his song ‘Shape of my Heart’ which he performs alongside Thélème.

James Jolly caught up with Thélème’s Director and one of his vocalists, Jean-Christophe Groffe, to talk about what made him bring these two composers together on a single album.

The British pianist Charles Owen has made some fine recordings, securing a quartet of Gramophone Editor's Choice accolades for albums of Poulenc, Jonathan Dove, Liszt and, with the violinist Augustin Hadelich, a collection of Czech music. Now, for Avie, he turns his attention to the music of Robert Schumann from the 1830s, including Carnaval, Papillons, the Intermezzi Op 4 and the Abegg Variations.

James Jolly caught up with Charles recently in London to talk about the album, how Schumann's fascination with the duality of his character infuses these early works, and also about the luxury of recording in a beautiful restored barn deep in The Cotswolds without having to worry about the strict timetable of a commercial recording studio.

In this week's Gramophone Podcast, the horn player Alec Frank-Gemmill joins Editor Martin Cullingford to talk about his beautiful new recording of Mozart's horn concertos, released today on the BIS label. 

Alexandre Kantorow was winner of the piano category at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition as well as the recipient of that year’s Grand Prix. One of the world's finest young musicians, he has recorded a series of much-praised albums for BIS. And the latest release – a Gramophone Editor's Choice in the November 2024 issue – completes the trio of recordings of the three youthful piano sonatas by Johannes Brahms. It’s joined by Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy and a selection of Schubert songs in Liszt’s transcriptions.

James Jolly caught up with Alexandre in Paris recently to talk about the new release, and also to find out about his plans for the future.

Pianist Hanni Liang speaks to Hattie Butterworth about her new album 'Voices' on Delphian Records formed around Liang's interest in Ethel Smyth's music and life. They also speak about Liang’s musical upbringing and her move towards doing things differently on the concert platform. She shares the cultural differences between China and the west, and what it was like growing up in Germany with Chinese parents.