Best Gramophone Podcasts (2025)

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

4d 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 …

1
4. Parachuting into War with a Gramophone 24:56

10d ago24:56

24:56

A fierce warrior turned master strategist, he led elite SAS troops on missions that shifted the tide of World War II. Decorated four times yet denied the Victoria Cross. Was it down to a typo or a face that didn’t fit? Today, his legend burns brighter than ever, fuelling a renewed campaign to honour him with the Victoria Cross.…

1
EARL OKIN'S AMAZING GRAMOPHONE SHOW No.196.

19d ago

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Earl Okin's Gramophone Show. No. 196. To listen or download, please click HERE... (1) Down The Road – Gilbert. GUS ELEN. (2) OTELLO – Verdi. Niun Mi Tema. GIOVANNI ZENATELLO. (1908) (3) It's Tight Like That – Dorsey/Whittaker. ZACK WHYTE'S CHOCOLATE BEAU BRUMMELS. (4) New Piano Roll Blues – Ellington. DUKE ELLINGTON ORCH. (5) OTELLO – Verdi. Niun M…

1
Mandolinist Avi Avital on his new album 'Song of the Birds' | Gramophone Classical Music Podcast 31:03

11d 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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3. The Power of the Unthinkable 25:06

17d ago25:06

25:06

Blair Mayne instils a maverick form of discipline, mourns a brother-in-arms, and forms the tip of the spear to liberate Europe from the Nazis.By BBC Radio Ulster

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Live from 2025 Three Choirs Festival 36:33

18d 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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2. Vagabonds and Gentlemen 25:08

24d ago25:08

25:08

In the shadows of the Middle East, Blair is pulled into a secret war fought far from the headlines. Recruited by a newly formed unit known only to a few - the SAS - Blair wages chaos and destruction behind enemy lines, where no rules apply.By BBC Radio Ulster

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

25d 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 …

1
1. Let’s rob the bank next door... 25:09

1M ago25:09

25:09

Blair Mayne floored his own boxing coach at Queen’s University in Belfast, shot a springbok on the 1938 British & Irish Lions tour, and later stood sharp as a solicitor. The life of this Newtownards war hero was built for the big screen, but did they get it right? Soft-spoken leader of men, or natural born hell raiser? We find out about the Real Bl…

1
2025 BBC Proms: Our Top Picks | Gramophone Classical Music Podcast 27:35

1M 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

1M 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

2M 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

2M 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

1
Conductor John Andrews on recording The Seal Woman 42:10

2M 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

1
Mezzo Kitty Whately on unknown French song 28:52

2M 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

2M 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…

1
EARL OKIN's AMAZING GRAMOPHONE AHOW No.191

3M ago

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Earl Okin's Gramophone Show No.191. To download or listen, please click HERE... (1)One, Two, Button My Shoe – Johnston/Burke. HENRY HALL & BBC Dance Orchestra. (2) LA TRAVIATA – Verdi. Addio Del Passato. ROSALIA CHALIA. (3) Hello, Hello, Who's Your Lady Friend – Fragson. HARRY FRAGSON. (4) Nagasaki – Warren/Dixon. LEW STONE Orchestra (with Nat Gone…

1
Conductor Andris Nelsons on the influence of Shostakovich 36:25

3M 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

3M 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…

1
Masaaki and Masato Suzuki on Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem 27:38

3M 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…

1
Episode 8: Who Watches the Watchmen 18:16

3M ago18:16

18:16

The story of two journalists who investigated an unsolved mass murder in Northern Ireland.Six men were shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in the Height’s Bar, Loughinisland on the 18th June 1994. No-one has ever been charged or convicted. Episode 8 – Who Watches the Watchmen As the dust settles on a historic judgement by the Investigatory Powers …

1
Episode 7: Full Disclosure 15:14

3M ago15:14

15:14

The story of two journalists who investigated an unsolved mass murder in Northern Ireland.Six men were shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in the Height’s Bar, Loughinisland on the 18th June 1994. No-one has ever been charged or convicted. Episode 7 – Full Disclosure Barry and Trevor prepare for a rare public hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tr…

1
Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin on returning to Scriabin's music 26:35

3M 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…

1
Episode 6: A Short History of Spying 14:12

4M ago14:12

14:12

When the High Court finds the warrants were unlawful, the police investigation comes to an end. But Barry is concerned that he may have been placed under surveillance and he approaches the only court in the UK which can tell him if that’s true. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has the power to find out if he was spied on unlawfully, but rarely fin…

1
Episode 5: Ex Parte v Inter Partes 18:49

4M ago18:49

18:49

Released on bail, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney begin a legal fight to challenge the legality of the warrants. Central to their case is the question of what the judge who granted the warrants was - and wasn’t - told by police. The judgment will be viewed as a landmark ruling on the rights of journalists to protect sources; were the warrants unl…

1
Kahchun Wong on The Hallé and Bruckner's Ninth 38:43

4M 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.

1
EARL OKIN'S AMAZING GRAMOPHONE SHOW No. 190.

4M ago

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Earl Okin's Gramophone Show No. 190. To listen or download, click HERE... (1) Summer Blouses – Murray/Hilbury. VESTA VICTORIA. (2) The Sheik Of Araby – Snyder/Smith/Wheeler. KEN 'Snakehips' JOHNSON ORCH. (3) Night – Rubinstein. MEDEA MEI-FIGNER. (4) When I Wants To See Myself/It's So Simple - ???. CHARLES COBURN. (5) Blue Moon – Rodgers/Hart. AL BO…

1
Episode 4: Operation Yurta 16:13

4M ago16:13

16:13

The story of two journalists who investigated an unsolved mass murder in Northern Ireland. Six men were shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in the Height’s Bar, Loughinisland on the 18th June 1994. No-one has ever been charged or convicted. Episode 4 – Operation Yurta On the day of the film’s Belfast premiere, police announce a new investigation –…

1
Episode 3: No Stone Unturned 16:26

4M ago16:26

16:26

The story of two journalists who investigated an unsolved mass murder in Northern Ireland.Six men were shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in the Height’s Bar, Loughinisland on the 18th June 1994. No-one has ever been charged or convicted. Episode 3 – No Stone Unturned While a second Ombudsman investigation gets underway, journalists Barry McCaffr…

1
Cellist Zlatomir Fung on his debut recording of opera fantasies 25:16

4M 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 …

1
Episode 2: Six Men Dead 16:18

4M ago16:18

16:18

The story of two journalists who investigated an unsolved mass murder in Northern Ireland.Six men were shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in Loughinisland on the 18th June 1994. No one has ever been charged or convicted. Episode 2 – Six Men Dead Barry recounts the tragic events of 18th June, when a ruthless UVF gang open fire indiscriminately in …

1
Episode 1: Early One Morning 13:38

4M ago13:38

13:38

The story of two journalists who investigated an unsolved mass murder in Northern Ireland.Six men were shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries in the Height’s Bar, Loughinisland on the 18th June 1994. No one has ever been charged or convicted. Episode 1 – Early One Morning Investigative journalist Barry McCaffrey has slept in and he’s late for work. W…

1
Conductor Alan Gilbert on Brahms and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra 28:21

4M 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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