Christopher Cook
Recent articles by Christopher Cook
Puccini: the Italian opera maestro who added Wagner to Verdi
Opera's craftsman of emotion
Schubert in English, Vol. 4
Weill: L’opéra de quat’sous
Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin
Offenbach: La Princesse de Trébizonde
Virginie Verrez, Anne-Catherine Gillet et al; London Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Daniel (Opera Rara)
Massenet: Ariane
Amina Edris; Kate Aldrich, Jean-François Borras, Jean-Sébastien Bou, Julie Robard-Gendre; Munich Radio Orchestra; Bavarian Radio Choir/Laurent Campellone (Bru Zane)
Musorgsky: Boris Godunov (ROH/Pappano)
Bryn Terfel et al; Royal Opera House Orch. & Chorus/Antonio Pappano (Opus Arte)
Grosz: Achtung, Aufnahme!! etc
Lilia Milek (soprano), André Post (tenor) et al; Ebony Band/Werner Herbers; Cappella Amsterdam/Daniel Reuss (Channel Classics)
Who was Luciano Pavarotti? A guide to the life and times of the world's most famous opera singer
Luciano Pavarotti was one of classical music's biggest stars. We remember the tenor who famously ‘couldn’t act for toffee’, but brought opera to an audience of millions
Paola Prestini: Edward Tulane
Jack Swanson, Brian Vu, Zulimar López-Hernández, Zachary James, Elise Quagliata, Jeremiah Sanders, Benjamin Sieverding; Minnesota Opera/Lidiya Yankovskaya (VIA Records)
Hoiby: The Italian Lesson; Bon Appetit!
Janina Baty, Vanessa Schukis; Boston Modern Orchestra Project/Gil Rose (BMOP Sound)
R Schumann: Dichterliebe; Kerner Lieder (Boesch/Martineau)
Florian Boesch (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano) (Linn Records)
Mercadante - Il Proscritto (Opera Rara)
Ramón Vargas, Irene Roberts, Iván Ayón-Rivas, Sally Matthews, Goderdzi Janelidze; Opera Rara Chorus; Britten Sinfonia/Carlo Rizzi (Opera Rara)
My Soul, What Fear You? (Christopher Purves)
Christopher Purves (bass-baritone), Simon Lepper (piano) (King's College)
Anime Immortali (Franco Fagioli)
Franco Fagioli (countertenor); Kammerorchester Basel/Daniel Bard (Pentatone)
Verdi: Requiem (arr. Blackford)
Helena Dix (soprano), Catherine Carby (mezzo), Luis Gomes (tenor), Jihoon Kim (bass), Peter Fry (percussion), Iain Farrington, Anna Tilbrook (piano); The Bach Choir/David Hill; Philip Scriven (organ) (Nimbus)
So Romantique! (Cyrille Dubois)
Cyrille Dubois (tenor); Orchestre National de Lille/Pierre Dumoussaud (Alpha Classics)
Mascagni: L'amico Fritz (DVD)
Salome Jicia, Charles Castronovo, Teresa Iervolino; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino/Riccardo Frizza (Dynamic/DVD)
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Chicago Symphony/Muti)
Anita Rachvelishvili, Piero Pretti, Ronnita Miller, Luca Salsi, Sasha Cooke, Alessandro Visconti; Chicago Symphony Chorus & Orchestra/Riccardo Muti (CSO Resound)
Schubert Revisited (Matthias Goerne)
Matthias Goerne (baritone); The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Florian Donderer (DG)
Gagnon: Nelligan
Marc Hervieux, Dominique Côté, Kathleen Fortin, Frayne McCarthy, Linda Sorgini, Jean Maheux; Chloé Dominguez (cello), Esther Gonthier, Rosalie Asselin (piano) (ATMA Classique)
Beethoven • Schubert: Schwanengesang etc
Mark Padmore (tenor), Mitsuko Uchida (piano) (Decca)
The can-can: how Offenbach became associated with the risqué 19th century dance
Christopher Cook explores how a dance from a famous Offenbach operetta became the soundtrack to Paris’s risqué can-can
Plácido Domingo – The Versailles Gala (DVD)
Plácido Domingo, Jennifer Rowley; Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal/Laurent Campellone (Château de Versailles/DVD)