Best Cleveland Orchestra Podcasts (2025)

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Anastasia Kobekina on Bach's Cello Suites | Gramophone Podcast 38:25

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5d ago38:25

38:25

In this week's Gramophone Podcast, cellist Anastasia Kobekina talks about her new recording of one of the most revered series of works for her instrument - Bach's Solo Cello Suites. While the album isn't released by Sony Classical until next Friday (September 26), three movements are already available as singles, and in this side ranging conversati…

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Composer John Rutter: a birthday conversation 56:00

14d ago56:00

56:00

One of the most-performed composers of our time, Sir John Rutter, celebrates his 80th birthday on September 24. To mark the occasion Harmonia Mundi has released an album of his choral music sung by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, directed by Graham Ross – ‘John Rutter: A Clare College Celebration’. And next week Decca releases an all-orchest…

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Rowan Pierce on recording Bach, Handel and Vivaldi | Gramophone Podcast 28:44

22d ago28:44

28:44

Soprano Rowan Pierce joins Jonathan Whiting to reflect on the intimacy of making chamber-scale Baroque music without a conductor, the challenges of Bach’s expansive recitatives, and the almost operatic drama of Handel’s 'Tra le fiamme'. She also speaks about her long collaboration with Ashley Solomon, the ensemble’s director, and about finding new …

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Composer Jake Heggie on 25 years of writing operas 33:28

26d ago33:28

33:28

Composer jake Heggie joins Hattie Butterworth to speak about the recording release of ‘Intelligence’, an opera premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2023 and out now on the LSO Live label. They also look back on 25 years since Heggie’s first opera ‘Dead Man Walking’ was premiered and ahead to a new production of the work at English National Opera in …

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Cellist Alisa Weilerstein on recording new concertos by Gabriela Ortiz and Richard Blackford 23:58

1M ago23:58

23:58

During the 2024-25 season, Alisa Weilerstein premiered three new cello concertos – Richard Blackford’s The Recovery of Paradise (which she has recorded for Pentatone with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Tomáš Netopil), Gabriela Ortiz’s Dzonot (recorded for Platoon with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel) and Thomas Larcher’s Retur…

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The Dover Quartet on recording Woodland Songs | Gramophone Podcast 36:06

1M ago36:06

36:06

Joel and Camden from the Dover Quartet meet Hattie Butterworth in Philadelphia to discuss their latest album, Woodland Songs, which places the music of Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate and Pura Fé alongside the Dvorak 'American' String Quartet in F Major. Though vastly different works in style, expression, and historical context, they share the common …

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Mandolinist Avi Avital on his new album 'Song of the Birds' | Gramophone Classical Music Podcast 31:03

2M ago31:03

31:03

The mandolin player Avi Avital, with his ensemble Between Worlds, has just released a new DG album ‘Song of the Birds’ which crosses boundaries to explore the musics of three geographical regions – Iberia, southern Italy (Puglia) and the Black Sea – with vivid results. For this week’s Gramophone Podcast, James Jolly caught up Avi Avital while he wa…

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Live from 2025 Three Choirs Festival 36:33

2M ago36:33

36:33

Join Hattie at the 2025 Three Choirs Festival in Hereford as she speaks to performers, composers, clergy and audience members to discover what makes the festival such a place of pilgrimage 300 years since its foundation

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Cellist Guy Johnston on the Bliss Cello Concerto | Gramophone Classical Music Podcast 29:26

2M ago29:26

29:26

Guy Johnston joins Hattie Butterworth to discuss his latest recording of the Arthur Bliss Cello Concerto with Andrew Manze and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. A technical mine field, the concerto was written for the great cellist Rostropovich and premiered with Benjamin Britten conducting at the 1970 Aldeburgh Festival. Guy also speaks …

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2025 BBC Proms: Our Top Picks | Gramophone Classical Music Podcast 27:35

2M ago27:35

27:35

As the 2025 BBC Proms season gets underway, Martin Cullingford is joined by Tim Parry and Hattie Butterworth select their top picks. From Rachmaninov with Yunchan Lim and the UK premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Cello Concerto to a late-night tribute to Arvo Pärt and a rare performance of Delius’s A Mass of Life, the team reflects on the Proms’s c…

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Julian Bream: an archive interview from 2013 with the great guitarist 19:23

2M ago19:23

19:23

We're today continuing the theme set by last week's edition, in which we marked the 500th episode of the Gramophone Classical Music podcast by looking back over some of our most memorable interviews and episodes. The interview Editor Martin Cullingford chose to reflect on was a conversation he had with the guitarist Julian Bream all the way back in…

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Music and conversation: 500 episodes of the Gramophone Podcast 38:20

3M ago38:20

38:20

Earlier this year the Gramophone Podcast passed 1 million downloads. Now we’ve reached another milestone: our 500th episode. Launched before podcasting’s current popularity, the series steadily built a following, which grew substantially once we adopted a weekly schedule and set formats. Those formats include: interviews with major artists on new a…

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Orchestra of the Year 2025: exploring this year's nominees 33:19

3M ago33:19

33:19

Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford speaks to James Jolly about the 2025 Orchestra of the Year nominated orchestras, discussing the impact each of them has made to recordings and the wider musical landscape To vote for Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year 2025, head to gramophone.co.uk/vote25

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Conductor John Andrews on recording The Seal Woman 42:10

3M ago42:10

42:10

Conductor John Andrews joins Hattie Butterworth to speak about the debut recording of Sir Granville Bantock and Marjory Kennedy-Fraser’s folk opera, The Seal Woman. They explore the folk song collecting of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, as well as Andrews’s commitment to uncovering lesser-known repertoire

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Mezzo Kitty Whately on unknown French song 28:52

3M ago28:52

28:52

Kitty Whately joins Hattie Butterworth to discuss her new album on Chandos with pianist Edwige Herchenroder titled Horizons: French Melodies. They also explore the historic erasure of women composers, as well as Kitty's ongoing advocacy and research

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20 Years of VOCES8 with co-founders Paul & Barnaby Smith and soprano Andrea Haines 39:56

4M ago39:56

39:56

The vocal ensemble VOCES8 are marking their 20th anniversay with a new release – out today – celebrating the full breadth of their creativity, and an exciting season of concerts. Editor Martin Cullingford sat down with three of the key figures behind this most innovative of ensembles – the co-founders Barnaby Smith, Artistic Director, and Paul Smit…

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Conductor Andris Nelsons on the influence of Shostakovich 36:25

4M ago36:25

36:25

This week’s Gramophone podcast is a special focus on one of the most significant of 20th century composers, Dimitri Shostakovich, the 50th anniversary of whose death we mark this year. As our guide to his music we’re privileged to have conductor Andris Nelsons, who, together with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has just reached the end of a journey …

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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau at 100: Richard Wigmore discusses the great baritone's Winterreise recordings 49:44

4M ago49:44

49:44

The German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's 100th birthday falls on May 28. One of the most versatile singers of the last century – his operatic repertoire alone ranged from Gluck, Handel and Mozart via Verdi, Wagner and Richard Strauss to Berg, Busoni and Reimann – it's his devotion to song that remains his lasting legacy. To mark the anniversa…

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Masaaki and Masato Suzuki on Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem 27:38

4M ago27:38

27:38

In this week's episode, Editor Martin Cullingford met with the founder and Music Director of Bach Collegium Japan Masaaki Suzuki, along with the group's Principal Conductor Masato Suzuki, to talk about their new recording of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, available now on BIS – as well as discussing Bach's St John Passion, which they had performed…

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Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin on returning to Scriabin's music 26:35

5M ago26:35

26:35

In 2007, Yevgeny Sudbin released an album of music by Alexander Scriabin. Reviewing it in Gramophone, Bryce Morrison described it as a 'disc in a million'. Now, Sudbin has returned to the composer for his 25th recording for BIS, and offers a wide-ranging survey of music that includes two more of the piano sonatas. James Jolly caught up with Yevgeny…

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Kahchun Wong on The Hallé and Bruckner's Ninth 38:43

5M ago38:43

38:43

In this week's episode of the Gramophone Classical Music Podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by the Principal Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, Kahchun Wong, to talk about the orchestra's relationship with its home city, Manchester, and their new recording of Bruckner's Symphony No 9.

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Cellist Zlatomir Fung on his debut recording of opera fantasies 25:16

5M ago25:16

25:16

Zlatomir Fung won the Cello category of the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition, and also has an enviable collection of other cello awards and prizes to his name. He was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022 and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2020. His debut recording, ‘Fantasies’, is just out from Signum and on it …

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Conductor Alan Gilbert on Brahms and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra 28:21

5M ago28:21

28:21

Alan Gilbert is Chief Conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, as well as Music Director of the Royal Swedish Opera. Gramophone's James Jolly caught up with him during a run of Wagner’s Die Walküre in Stockholm, where he lives. They talked about his Hamburg-based orchestra, the role today of a radio orchestra and also about the work orchestr…

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Leif Ove Andsnes on Liszt's Via Crucis 37:38

6M ago37:38

37:38

In this episode, Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford talks to pianist Leif Ove Andsnes about his new recording on Sony Classical of the extraordinary work Via Crucis by Franz Liszt, the composer's deeply spiritual meditations on the Stations of the Cross, released just before the start of Holy Week. This week's podcast is produced in association…

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Jessica Duchen on the life of pianist Myra Hess 30:20

6M ago30:20

30:20

This week journalist and author Jessica Duchen joins Holly Baker to talk about her new book Myra Hess - National Treasure, which is out now on Kahn & Averill. Extracts of music on the podcast come from the album 'Myra Hess - The complete solo and concerto studio recordings' on APR Records

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James Ehnes on Bach's complete violin concertos 32:42

6M ago32:42

32:42

This week violinist James Ehnes joins the Gramophone Podcast to talk about his new recording of Bach's complete violin concertos, recorded with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, and released on the Analeketa label.

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Attacca Quartet on Ravel and relationships 40:33

6M ago40:33

40:33

The two-time Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet has seen stratospheric success in recent years across new and popular music collaborations. Hattie Butterworth meets the group as their debut album with Platoon of Ravel's String Quartet is released. Music clips: Ravel String Quartet – Platoon PLAT26294 Entr'acte by Caroline Shaw from Orange – Nones…

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Anna Dennis and Julian Perkins on John Weldon's The Judgment of Paris 30:57

6M ago30:57

30:57

John Weldon, born in 1676, was an English composer and pupil of Henry Purcell. Keyboardist Julian Perkins and soprano Anna Dennis join Hattie Butterworth to discuss the world premiere recording of Weldon's opera 'The Judgment of Paris', recorded by the Academy of Ancient Music and Cambridge Handel Opera…

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Pianist Bertrand Chamayou on his 'Ravel Fragments' album 30:23

7M ago30:23

30:23

Maurice Ravel was born 150 years ago, on March 7, 1875, and he is the subject of numerous tributes this season. Bertrand Chamayou recorded the complete piano works ten years ago for Erato ('No one who loves French music or exquisite piano-playing will want to miss this' wrote Patrick Rucker in Gramophone), a set that incidentally has just been rele…

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Ian Bostridge and Saskia Georgini on Schumann songs 29:25

7M ago29:25

29:25

Tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Saskia Georgini join Gramophone Editor Martin Cullingford this week to talk about their new album of Schumann Songs, Twilight, released on the Pentatone label.

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Nevermind on Bach's Goldberg Variations 21:23

7M ago21:23

21:23

For this edition of the Gramophone Podcast Editor Martin Cullingford was joined by three of the four members of the French ensemble Nevermind - flute player Anna Besson, viola da gamba player Robin Pharo and harpsichordist Jean Rondeau - to talk about the group's new creative exploration of Bach's Goldberg Variations, newly released on the Alpha la…

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Baritone Benjamin Appl on his collaboration with György Kurtág 25:24

7M ago25:24

25:24

The baritone Benjamin Appl has recorded an album for Alpha that combines the music of György Kurtág with that of Franz Schubert. 'Lines of Life: Schubert & Kurtág' is the result of a long process that started with Kurtág choosing the singer for this unique project and working with him on the music, and finally producing the recording - and even pla…

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María Dueñas on Paganini's Caprices 19:48

7M ago19:48

19:48

For this week's Gramophone Podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford talked to violinist María Dueñas to talk about her wonderful new album of Paganini's 24 Caprices - as well as works by successors who were influenced by the style - which is available now on Deutsche Grammophon.

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Pianist Samson Tsoy on his debut solo album, 'Inmost Heart' 27:35

8M ago27:35

27:35

The pianist Samson Tsoy makes his solo debut on record with an album for Linn, 'Inmost Heart'. Built around Brahms's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, the programme explores Brahms's fascination with the Baroque, but also how his music was later transcribed by Reger and Busoni. This Gramophone Podcast is given in association with Wigmore H…

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Fatma Said on lieder and friendship 40:02

8M ago40:02

40:02

Soprano Fatma Said shares the closeness she feels to the world of lieder and how this has lead to her latest album on Warner Classics. She speaks to Hattie Butterworth about the element of friendship within a musicians’ professional and personal life, as well as her creative decisions throughout the album to include a number of pianists and instrum…

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Pianist Dmitry Masleev on his Dies irae-themed Liszt & Rachmaninov album 23:45

8M ago23:45

23:45

Dmitry Masleev took first prize in the Piano category of the 2015 Tchaikovsky International Competition and since then has released a number of recordings. The latest, from Aparté, is a concertante collection of Liszt's Totentanz, his Rhapsodie espagnole (in a version for piano and orchestra made by Masleev's professor at the Moscow Conservatoire, …

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Seong-Jin Cho on Ravel's piano music 24:11

8M ago24:11

24:11

Seong-Jin Cho, the 30-year-old pianist and winner of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, has been entrusted by Deutsche Grammophon to spearhead the company's celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great French composer, Maurice Ravel. The first release, out on January 17, contains the complete solo piano works, and t…

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James McVinnie on his new album, Dreamcatcher 24:17

9M ago24:17

24:17

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 Culli…

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Pianists Yevgeny Sudbin and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet in conversation with James Jolly 38:21

9M ago38:21

38:21

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 ca…

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Lessons And Observations in 2024 (#40) 53:21

9M ago53:21

53:21

Well, it's been over a year since our last episode! As a COVID-19 pandemic project, sticking to a consistent publishing schedule for this podcast has been tough. But we've always said that even if our focus on it fades and drifts, we'll continue putting out content as long as we have something to say. So, we threw this episode together on New Year'…

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Charles Villiers Stanford: Jeremy Dibble on the composer's music 1:02:31

9M ago1:02:31

1:02:31

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, in…

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Conductor William Christie: An 80th birthday conversation 58:49

10M ago58:49

58:49

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…

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Rob Cowan on George Szell's Cleveland Orchestra Beethoven symphonies 22:40

10M ago22:40

22:40

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 wer…

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Benjamin Nicholas on Gabriel Jackson's The Christmas Story 33:10

10M ago33:10

33:10

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…

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Thélème's Director Jean-Christophe Groffe on pairing John Dowland and John Cage 22:51

10M ago22:51

22:51

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 along…

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Pianist Charles Owen on 'The Young Schumann' 25:35

10M ago25:35

25:35

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, Papil…

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Alec Frank-Gemmill on Mozart's horn concertos 24:51

11M ago24:51

24:51

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.

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Pianist Alexandre Kantorow on his new Brahms, Schubert and Liszt album 28:42

11M ago28:42

28:42

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…

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Pianist Hanni Liang on her new album 'Voices' 37:16

11M ago37:16

37:16

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 …

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Handel in Rome, with Nardus Williams and John Butt 21:44

11M ago21:44

21:44

For this week's Gramophone Podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by soprano Nardus Williams and Director of the Dunedin Consort John Butt to talk about their new album exploring the music Handel wrote during his years in Rome, a young composer still in the early stages of his creativity. 'Handel in Rome' is released on Linn Records, and avai…