Written in 1892, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut catapulted him to international fame, but his early works — pre-Manon Lescaut — offer a fascinating insight into his development as a composer. John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London lead a journey through this development that includes student compositions and orchestral extracts from Puccini’s earliest operas. The Preludio sinfonico (loosely based on Wagner’s …

John Wilson and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra’s second volume of works by Edward MacDowell features the tone poem Hamlet & Ophelia; the First Orchestral Suite; the Romanze for cello and orchestra featuring cellist Peter Dixon; and the virtuosic Second Piano Concerto featuring Xiayin Wang as soloist. In 1884, MacDowell and his wife, Marian, spent their honeymoon in England, and were …

The Sinfonia of London conducted by John Wilson present their second volume of works by Sir William Walton featuring Jonathan Aasgaard as soloist in the Cello Concerto. Walton’s First Symphony was universally acclaimed as an outstanding success, with John Ireland commenting: “unlike any other English symphony, this is in the real line of symphonic tradition. It is simply colossal, grand, …

Founded in 1993, Onyx Brass has been a leader in cementing the place of the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music. The group has commissioned and performed the world premières of more than 200 new works with many more are in the pipeline for performance and recording. Their new album combines pieces for the ensemble’s core quintet …

John Wilson and Sinfonia of London complete their cycle of Rachmaninoff symphonies with this recording of the First Symphony and the Symphonic Dances. The 1897 premiere of the First Symphony in St. Petersburg was a disaster. Rumor had it that the conductor was drunk; in any case he seems to have had little interest in the piece, and the performance …

The new album from star cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason features Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2, performed with John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London, alongside the cello sonatas of Shostakovich and Britten with his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. This deeply personal recording pays tribute to cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the towering figure who inspired both composers and Kanneh-Mason himself. Sheku Kanneh-Mason has …

The prolific recording artists Sinfonia of London conducted by John Wilson present works by Sir William Walton (the first in a new series of recordings) featuring Charlie Lovell-Jones as soloist in the Violin Concerto. Leader of the Sinfonia of London, the 26-year-old Welsh violinist has been recognized as one of the most promising international soloists of his generation. Commissioned by …

The fifth volume of John Wilson’s series of orchestral works by his mentor and friend Sir Richard Rodney Bennett features three works composed between 1973 and 1989. The Concerto for Orchestra is an homage to Benjamin Britten, taking a twelve-note series used by Britten in his Cantata Academica as an abstract musical starting point. Bennett’s rarely performed cello concerto Sonnets …

This first release in a new series dedicated to the orchestral works of the American composer Edward MacDowell centers the First Piano Concerto, played by Xiayin Wang with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by John Wilson. The various romantic influences that shaped the style of the First Concerto include the music of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Grieg, while the technical demands …