Listening Room: Nicholas Collon

Symphonie Fantastique, Hector Berlioz

Berlioz has always been well celebrated here in the UK, but it wasn’t always the case elsewhere. He had a bit of a low patch in the 20th century, but he’s come good now! There are five movements in this symphony and each of them is perfect. He wrote it in 1830 and the way he orchestrates it with lots of new instruments was way ahead of its time – a total revelation. My friend the conductor Robin Ticciati, made a very good recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Robin Ticciati (conductor), Linn Records

Octet for Strings, Felix Mendelssohn

A very important musical genre for me is chamber music, and one of my favorite pieces would be Mendelssohn’s Octet for four violins, two violas and two cellos. It’s in four movements which just have so much vitality, life, and exuberance. I’m sure there are better recordings out there, but I was brought up on the version by the Vienna Octet in 1988, so I’ll stick with that.

Mendelssohn: Octet, Op.20, The Vienna Octet, Decca

B Minor Mass, J.S Bach

Bach has always been the mainstay of my musical life, and this is the most glorious celebration of a choir and orchestra working together. The early John Eliot Gardiner recording from 1985 would be my pick.

JS Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor), Archiv Produktion

Chamber Concerto for 13 Instrumentalists, György Ligeti

This was one of the first contemporary pieces I conducted, and it was my gateway into 20^th– and 21^st-century music. It’s mercurial, music of the imagination. It explores every contrast in color that can be created by the different instruments. The recording I used to listen to the most was by Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Ligeti: Chamber Concerto for 13 Instrumentalists, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez (conductor), Deutsche Grammophon

Hail, Gladdening Light, Charles Wood

I was at Clare College, Cambridge as an organ scholar and this was the first piece I have ever heard the choir sing. I was 17 and visiting to check out the college, and it completely blew me away. I mean, all choir music is fantastic! We have this wonderful tradition in our cathedrals and churches of building up extraordinary choirs, and with directors of music and choir masters writing brilliant pieces for them, just as Charles Wood did for his choir with this piece.

Light of the Spirit: The Choir of Clare College Cambridge, Timothy Brown (director), Collegium