Gramophone Classical Music Podcast

Jack Pepper meets Festival Academy Budapest co-founder and Artistic Director Barnabás Kelemen to explore his upcoming concerto marathon, the gypsy violin tradition and a packed 2026 Summerfest
This podcast has been produced in association with the Festival Academy Budapest.
The World Should Know', The Festival Academy's Marathon Concert Series, takes place from May 1-3 at the Grand Hall of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest: https://fesztivalakademia.hu/en/let-the-world-know/
The Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition will be held from June 24 to July 5, while the Festival Academy Budapest's XI Summerfest runs from July 3-13: https://fesztivalakademia.hu/en/

Kirill Karabits and the orchestra whose Principal Conductor he was for 15 years, the Bournemouth Symphony, have recorded the opera Esther by Thomas de Hartmann (1885-1956). Written in Paris during the last years of the Second World War, and completed in 1946, Esther is based on the play by Racine which in turn draws on the biblical Book of Esther and tells of Esther's intercession to her husband King Ahasuerus on behalf her fellow Jews living in Persia. The episode is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Purim every spring.
Released by Pentatone, the opera features Corinne Winters in the title role, Yuriy Yurchuk sings Assuérus, Andrew Foster-Williams sings Mardochée and Bernard Richter is Aman. The Grange Festival Chorus join the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. James Jolly spoke to Kirill Karabits about the project recently when he was in the UK conducting the LPO.
Today's podcast is sponsored by Kirker Holidays, creators of short breaks and tailor-made holidays for curious, discerning travellers to cultural destinations throughout Europe and beyond. For more information or to speak to one of Kirker's expert human beings, call 020 7593 2283 or visit kirkerholidays.com. And Gramophone readers who book a Kirker holiday will receive a bottle of Pol Roger champagne with which to celebrate – make sure to mention Gramophone at the time of booking.

In this week's episode of the Gramophone podcast, Georgia Keeley speaks with composer Rachel Portman, marking 30 years since her Oscar-winning soundtrack for Emma (1996), and discussing her approach to writing music for film.
Today's podcast is sponsored by Kirker Holidays, creators of short breaks and tailor-made holidays for curious, discerning travellers to cultural destinations throughout Europe and beyond. For more information or to speak to one of Kirker's expert human beings, call 020 7593 2283 or visit.

In this week's episode of the Gramophone Podcast, Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by one of the most acclaimed figures of today's musical world, Jordi Savall, to talk about his new recording of Bach's St John Passion, recorded with La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert Des Nations, and released on the Alia Vox label.
Today's podcast is sponsored by Kirker Holidays, creators of short breaks and tailor-made holidays for curious, discerning travellers to cultural destinations throughout Europe and beyond. For more information or to speak to one of Kirker's expert human beings, call 020 7593 2283 or visit kirkerholidays.com. And Gramophone readers who book a Kirker holiday will receive a bottle of Pol Roger champagne with which to celebrate – make sure to mention Gramophone at the time of booking.

The soprano, Elsa Dreisig, has just released a new Erato album, 'Invocation'. Joined by the Orchestra e Coro dell'Opera Carlo Felice Genova conducted by Massimo Zanetti, it gathers together arias by Dvořák, Janáček, Puccini, Verdi, Gounod, Wagner, Rossini, Flotow, Peter Heise, and Carolina Uccelli, as well as songs by Grieg, Amy Beach and Bizet, all with a unifying theme.
James Jolly talked to Elsa Dreisig in Naples, where she was in rehearsals for Puccini's La bohème in which she was singing the role of Mimì. 
 
Today's podcast is sponsored by Kirker Holidays, creators of short breaks and tailor-made holidays for curious, discerning travellers to cultural destinations throughout Europe and beyond. For more information or to speak to one of Kirker's expert human beings, call 020 7593 2283 or visit kirkerholidays.com.