Harriet Burns and Ian Tindale have released their second album together, ‘A Short Story of Falling’, weaving a web of interconnected works in English from the Victorian era to the present day. The programme includes premier recordings of works written for the duo by Christopher Churcher and Derri Joseph Lewis and two epic solo pieces by Judith Weir – the miniature opera King Harald’s Saga for solo soprano and The King of France for solo piano.
In a star-studded line-up, Beth Taylor is the sorceress on Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Maxim Emelyanychev and Il Pomo d’Oro, with Joyce Di Donato and Michael Spyres in the title roles.
warnerclassics.com
Gramophone Magazine Awards
The shortlist has been announced for the 2025 Gramophone Classical Music Awards with Samling Artists appearing in the opera, song and choral categories:
Opera
Ross Ramgobin is Donny in the first ever recording of New Year, Tippett’s final opera.
William Thomas is Jacopo Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra with Opera North and Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
Song
Nicky Spence for his Fauré recital disc with Julius Drake and the Piatti Quartet.
Natalie Burch and Ross Ramgobin are part of the ensemble for a recording of Britten’s Five Canticles.
Choral
Beth Taylor appears on two nominated discs in the choral category – J.S. Bach’s B-minor Mass and Mozart’s Requiem, both with Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon.
Lucy Crowe is the soprano soloist on Haydn Die Schöpfung with Bavarian Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
Hannah Morrison is the soprano soloist in a collection of sacred works by Zelenka with the Stuttgart Chamber Choir.
The winners will be announced on Wednesday 15 October.
gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2025
Opera News
Following his title role debut in Le nozze di Figaro (see last month’s news) Charles Cunliffe has been announced as the winner of this year’s John Christie Award at Glyndebourne. The prize, supported by The Musicians’ Company, is given annually to a member of the chorus and includes a £15,000 scholarship. Previous winners include Samling Artists Louise Alder, James Newby, David Butt Philip, William Thomas and Michael Ronan.
classical-music.uk/news/article/charles-cunliffe-wins-2025-john-christie-award
Liam Bonthrone makes his role debut as Jonathan in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed staging of Saul at Oper Köln, having covered the role in the same production at Glyndebourne. Later in the season, he returns to Bayerische Staatsoper to appear in the world premiere of Of One Blood by Brett Dean, an exploration of the rivalry between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I.
Other news
Emily Christina Loftus and Euan McDonald were part of the Rising Stars of Voice scheme at Edinburgh International Festival, where they received performance opportunities and coaching from James Baillieu. As part of the scheme, Euan was the tenor soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Emily was one of the soloists in the festival closing performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Alexandra Lowe joins Keynote Artist Management. She also made her debut with the Bergen Philharmonic this month, in an outdoor concert of Viennese favourites.
https://keynoteartistmanagement.com/artists/alexandra-lowe/
Kamilla Dunstan is taking up a new post on the degree programme at Emil Dale Academy, one of the leading Musical Theatre Performing Arts schools in London. She also tells us that her Vivo Music Studio in Yorkshire is growing, with the launch of a young artist scheme to give student teachers a taste of the professional world and former students returning as teachers.
vivomusicstudio.co.uk/teachers
And finally a reminder that Louise Alder becomes the first Samling Artist soloist at the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 13 September.
bbc.co.uk/events/ep3wxj
