Jessica Duchen
Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine
Jessica Duchen studied music at Cambridge University and was the classical music correspondent for The Independent from 2004 to 2016. She has also written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine and the JC, among others. Jessica Duchen has written librettos include numerous choral works and operas for the composer Roxanna Panufnik, including Silver Birch, commissioned by Garsington Opera and shortlisted for an International Opera Award in 2018. Two more works based on stories by Oscar Wilde were commissioned for Garsington’s Youth Company, The Happy Princess with composer Paul Fincham (2019) and The Selfish Giant with John Barber, which fell victim to lockdown, this has been postponed to 2021.
Recent articles by Jessica Duchen
Brahms: String Quintets
Witch-hunts, ouija boards and Nazi propaganda: the bizarre tale of Schumann’s Violin Concerto
Jessica Duchen tells the extraordinary story of how a message from beyond the grave led to a race to resurrect and perform an important 19th-century work
'I was told I should be in the kitchen, making children'. Why are there still so few female conductors?
The number of female conductors on the world’s orchestral podiums might be rising, but there is
still some distance to cover, writes Jessica Duchen
Isaac Albéniz: Spanish nationalism with a French twist
Though best known for depicting the colours of his homeland, the Spaniard was in fact a truly cosmopolitan figure, says Jessica Duchen
Isata Kanneh-Mason: all you need to know about the gifted British pianist returning to the Proms this summer
Meet Isata Kanneh-Mason, the gifted pianist and member of an astoundingly musical family of performers.
Fanny Mendelssohn • Felix Mendelssohn: choral works
Brahms • R Schumann: cello works
Beach: Piano Music
Brahms • Francisco Coll • Korngold: Piano Trios
Carnival of the Animals: a guide to Saint-Saëns's masterpiece and its best recordings
We explore Saint-Saëns's musical menagerie, Carnival of the Animals, explain its 14 humorous movements and name its best recordings
Brahms: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2
Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Rarities
Robert Schumann: tortured Romantic genius
Mompou: Piano Works
Stained Glass
Scotland
Bartók: Piano Concertos
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 9 & 24 (Lars Vogt)
Orchestre de Chambre de Paris/Lars Vogt (piano) (Ondine)
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 11-15; Oboe Concerto
Roman Borisov (piano), Gabriel Pidoux (oboe); ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien; Mozarteumorchester Salzburg/Howard Griffiths (Alpha Classics)
Brahms Songbook, Vol. 1 (Oliemans/Martineau)
Thomas Oliemans (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano) (Linn Records)
Helen Grime • C Schumann • R Schumann • Huw Watkins: Piano Trios etc
Odysseus Piano Trio (Ty Cerdd)
Discovering Mendelssohn (Christian Li)
Christian Li (violin), James Baillieu (piano); *Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Davis (Decca)
R Schumann – Piano Trios, Vol. 2 (Kungsbacka)
Kungsbacka Piano Trio; Lawrence Power (viola) (BIS)
Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra: A guide to Bartók's masterpiece and its best recordings
Jessica Duchen introduces Bartók's zestful, life-affirming work, his concerto for orchestra, written during his final exile in the US, and finds the best recordings