HAVERGAL BRIAN
Brian: Symphony No. 1, The Gothic Vladimir Dolezal (tenor) / Eva Jenisova (soprano) / Peter Mikulas (bass) / Dagmar Peckova (alto) / Slovak National Opera / Lenard [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 12/Jun/2004 ] "Now it's reissued at bargain price, no one who claims the slightest interest in 20th-century British music has any further excuse to be without this thrilling, astonishing work." Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine, 08/04 |
ERNEST CHAUSSON
Chausson: Poème de l'amour et de la mer & Symphonie, Op. 20 Véronique Gens; Orchestre National de Lille; Alexandre Bloch [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Mar/2019 ] Ernest Chausson is a most unusual figure in French music, positioned at the crossroads where the romanticism of Berlioz and Franck meet the language of Wagner and the symbolism of the young Debussy. His Poème de l'amour et de la mer is a unique score... |
RICAHRD WAGNER
The Best Of Wagner Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra & Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Halasz, Uwe Mund & Johannes Wildner [ Naxos / CD - released 6/May/1997 ] The perfect introduction to the orchestral music of Richard Wagner |
WE'LL KEEP A WELCOME
We'll Keep A Welcome-The Welsh Album Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone) / Welsh National Opera / Gareth Jones [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 29/Jun/2000 ] With The Orchestra of Welsh National Opera / Gareth Jones |
JOHN ALDEN CARPENTER
Carpenter: Adventures in A Perambulator / Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, John McLaughlin Williams, conductor [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 14/May/2001 ] You have to hand it to Naxos. Here--on one very-nicely-performed program (played with gusto, polish, and complete sympathy by those specialists in American repertoire, the Ukraine National Symphony!!) and recorded in clean, bright, engaging sound." |
WILLIAM PERRY
Jamestown Concerto for cello and orchestra (with works by Schuman & Thomson) Yehuda Hanani (cello) / RTE National Symphony Orchestra / William Eddins (conductor) [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 1/Dec/2008 ] "William Perry's Jamestown Concerto was written in 2007 for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, VA, in 1607. It is programmatic, very tuneful, and adroitly scored, sounding more than a little bit like movie music...the recorded sound... |
The National
Alligator [ Beggars Banquet Records / CD - released 12/Apr/2005 ] Described by Uncut as "a genuine treasure" The National are five New York based brothers and friends from Ohio. 'Alligator', is full of peculiar intimacies and awkward grace. |
The National
Cherry Tree EP [ 4AD / CD - released 26/Feb/2021 ] 2021 re-mastered repress. Released a year before The National broke through with their third album Alligator, 2004's Cherry Tree EP is a thrilling record which - thanks to its collection of delicate ballads and anthemic crowd-pleasers - sums up what... |
The National
Live In Brussels [ 4AD / CD - released 13/Jul/2018 ] To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their acclaimed album Boxer, The National chose to perform the record from beginning to end at a very special show in Brussels, Belgium on 9 November 2017. The National have established themselves as... |
Tal National
Zoy Zoy [ Fat Cat Records / CD - released 1/May/2015 ] By the time Tal National reached international acclaim with 2013's 'Kaani', the band's first release outside of Niger, they had spent more than a decade crisscrossing their native country, usually on dirt pathways through the Sahara, playing epic... |
ERIK SATIE
Best of Satie Aldo Ciccolini, Anne Queffelec (piano) / Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House [ Warner Classics Inspiration Series / CD - released 20/Jun/2015 ] Meditative piano sounds and glitter of Parisian cabaret. Satie was one of the most interesting figures of early 20th century Paris moving in the same artistic circles as Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray. He was known for his droll sense of... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Cantatas Aleksei Tanovitski (bass) & Kostiantin Andrejev (tenor) / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Narva Boys Choir & Estonian Concert Choir, Paavo Järvi [ Erato / Warner Classics / CD - released 20/Jun/2015 ] "Järvi's Estonians perform with fervour and the Razin makes the issue worthwhile." (Sunday Times) |
CHRISTINE / YVAIN / SIMONS / HAHN / MORETTI / MESSAGER
Croisette - Operettas des Annes Folles Amel Brahim-Djelloul, Patricia Petibon, Marion Tassou, Pauline Sabatier, Rémy Mathieu, Laurent Naouri, + / Orchestre National de Cannes, Benjamin Levy [ Erato / CD - released 23/Sep/2022 ] Taking its name from la Croisette, the beachside boulevard in glamorous Cannes on the Côte d'Azur, this album evokes the fun-loving 1920s. It takes a trip around opérettes, French musical comedies of the era, composed by Maurice Yvain, Henri... |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphonies Nos 13 Babi Yar; 14 & 15 Anatoli Kotscherga / Ljuba Kazarnovskaya / Sergei Leiferkus / National Male Choir of Estonia; Gateborgs Symfoniker / Neeme Jarvi [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 4/Aug/2003 ] "This is the most entertaining modern recording of what is usually counted a forbidding work." (Gramophone on Symphony No 13) |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY/ MAURICE RAVEL / GABRIEL FAURE
Anne Queffelec [3 CD set] Anne Queffelec (piano) with Pierre Amoyal (violin) / Orchestre National de Monte-Carlo [ Erato / Warner Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2014 ] A collection of Anne Queffélec's Erato recordings of French repertoire which in which she expresses great musicality, allowing us to rediscover her fine recordings of Ravel's Miroirs, Debussy's Etudes and Fauré's Violin Sonatas (with Pierre Amoyal),... |
GLAZUNOV / PROKOFIEV
Glazunov / Prokofiev: Violin Concertos (with Shchedrin - Stihira) Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) / National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., Mstislav Rostropovich [ Erato Classics Original Jacket Reissues / CD - released 20/Apr/2015 ] Three highly contrasted works from 20th century Russia. Anne-Sophie Mutter is the soloist in Glazunov's richly lyrical violin concerto, first performed in 1905, and in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No 1, dating from the time of the Revolution and a... |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saens: The Five Symphonies Bernard Gavoty (organ) / Orchestre National de l'ORTE, Jean Martinon [ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2012 ] "these are scintillating performances" (Gramophone) |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Ballets: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty (complete) Boston Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa / Russian National Orchestra / Mikhail Pletnev [Sleeping Beauty] [ DG Collector's Edition / 5 CD - released 6/Dec/2004 ] Squeezed onto just 5 CDs, here are Tchaikovsky three great ballets, complete, and offered at budget for the first time. |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Orchestral Works (Incls 'Daphnis et Chloe', 'Ma Mere l'Oye' & 'Bolero') Choeurs du Theatre National de l'Opera / Orchestre de Paris, Jean Martinon [ Warner Classics / 3 CD - released 21/Oct/2007 ] "Fortunate the collector who chances on this set; delight and revelation await. At bargain price this is a gift that will cast its smiling spell for years to come" (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month October 2007) |
ALEXANDER BORODIN
Borodin: Prince Igor (Complete Opera recorded in 1967) Constantin Chekerliksi, Boris Christoff, Todor Todorov / Orchestra & Chorus of the National Opera theatre of Sofia, Jerzy Semkow [ Warner Classics Home of Opera / 2 CD - released 20/Jan/2017 ] "Boris Christoff is a past master at subtly altering his vocal colour: at this stage of his career, he was in full command of a magnificent voice with many shades of colour in it. This is superlative artistry." (Gramophone) |