James Strauss

The Rome Symphony Orchestra will make history at their next concert. For the first time in its 100-year run as the “oldest symphony in the South”, the orchestra will make a commercially available recording of a live performance. Music for a New Year: Bach, Berlioz and Beethoven.

James Strauss (b. November 29, 1974 Recife, Pernambuco) is a Brazilian flautist and musicologist.

With her unmistakably rich and luminous tone, Portuguese spinto soprano Inês Simões is known for her interpretations of contemporary music, including new commissions of operatic, symphonic, electronic, and chamber music repertoire. Inês is one half of Duo Tágide, whose bold programming encompasses works from both past and present as well as a dedicated place for Portuguese songs.

An enthralling production from the Metropolitan Opera under James Levine, with an unbeatable performance from Jessye Norman as Ariadne, and spotless coloratura from Kathleen Battle as Zerbinetta. James King offers sterling support in the taxing role of Bacchus. (James Longstaffe)

German-born baritone Benjamin Appl studied with the legendary Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, whose voice his own resembles on the surface. But then he moved to England and has stayed on there. Heimat (Homeland) is not just an exploration of that German concept, but a personal statement and even a bit of an autobiography, with notes from the artist himself (find these if you listen via download or stream) explaining the resonances of each individual song. This kind of personal connection is what classical music in general needs right now, and all the more so in the rather closed tradition of the German Lied.