JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Werther (Complete Opera) Jael Azzaretti (soprano) Marcus Haddock (tenor) Rene Massis (baritone) / Orchestre National de Lille-Region Nord, Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Jan/2003 ] The most successful opera composer of his generation in France, Massenet wrote music that has sometimes inspired cynicism and hostility through its particularly sensuous beauty. |
SAMUEL BARBER
Barber: Violin Concerto / Serenade for Strings / Souvenirs (Ballet Suite) James Buswell (violin) Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 2/Apr/2002 ] "This is a performance with a genuine heart, superbly played, with a marked care for detail, instrumental colour and melodic inflection, and with a deeply communicative warmth and affection." Daily Telegraph |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Fat Knight / Serenade to Music / Henry V Overture James Clark (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Martin Yates [ Dutton Epoch SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/May/2017 ] "Yates secures some commendably alert playing from the RSNO, who seem to be thoroughly enjoying the whole experience…it's hard to conceive of a more sympathetic performance of either [the Henry V Overture] or the radiant Serenade to Music in its... |
SALLY BEAMISH
The Singing James Crabb (accordion) Branford Marsalis (alto saxophone) Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] The works on this disc of music by Sally Beamish were composed between 2003 and 2012. As a whole the programme highlights the inspiration she has found in Scotland, her adopted homeland. |
GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
Cox and Box / Trial by Jury (Complete operettas) James Gilchrist, Neal Davies, Donald Maxwell, Rebecca Evans / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Richard Hickox [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 8/Jul/2005 ] "If you are a G& If S fan, you won't be able to live without this disc; if you are not, this CD just might convert you." (William Dart NZ Herald 3rd Aug 2005) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Schumann: Introduction and Concerto-Allegro Jeno Jando (piano) Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/1999 ] "Jeno Jando and his Polish colleagues strike me as getting the balance just about right" Classic CD |
DONIZETTI
Mary Stuart (Scenes from the opera in English) Janet Baker, English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Chandos Opera in English / CD - released 17/Nov/2001 ] Janet Baker made her last appearances with English National Opera |
DONIZETTI
Mary Stuart (Complete Opera in English) Janet Baker, Rosalind Plowright, English National Opera, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Chandos Opera in English / 2 CD - released 17/Nov/2001 ] Janet Baker made her last appearances with English National Opera |
ARTHUR SULLIVAN
Sullivan: Ivanhoe (Complete Opera) Janice Watson (sop) Geraldine McGreevy (sop) Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-sop) Toby Spence (ten) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales, David Lloyd-Jones [ Chandos / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2010 ] "The singers provide a polished performance, sing superbly and support each other admirably. Special mention should be made of Janice Watson with sincerity of portrayal and effortless top notes" (Recording of the Month MusicWeb Feb 2010) |
PADEREWSKI
Paderewski: Piano Concerto Janina Fialkowska (piano), Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jan/1999 ] "Paderewski's...Piano Concerto of 1888 is a lovely work, a vehicle for virtuoso display, as is the Fantasy. Janina Fialkowska is an articulate, sensitive soloist." - The Independent |
VALENTIN SILVESTROV
Silvestrov: Symphony for Violin and Orchestra / Postludium for Piano and Orchestra Janusz Wawrowski (violin) Jurgis Karnavičius (piano) / Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee/ [ Naxos / CD - released 24/May/2024 ] Berlin-born Lukas Foss studied music in Paris before settling in Philadelphia in 1937. Though he freely explored diverse compositional styles, three of the works in this recording fall into his early neo-Classical period and exemplify his dictum that... |
ALAN HOVHANESS
Hovhaness: Guitar Concerto No. 2 / Symphony No. 63 / Fanfare for the New Atlantis Javier Calderon (guitar) Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Stewart Robertson [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "I cannot over-emphasise how attractive this music is. Hovhaness wrote in the 1960s of the importance of identifying our own kind of beauty. These three works bear him out completely." (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month June 2008) |
VYTAUTAS BACEVIČIUS
Bacevicius: Orchestral Works Vol 2 Gabrielius Alekna (piano) / Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/2024 ] Vytautas Bacevičius's life was defined by exile and migration during the turbulent first half of the 20th century, but his impressive catalogue represents a remarkable creative spirit undimmed by adversity. Composed while studying in Paris, the... |
BO HOLTEN
Wisdom and Folly and other Choral Works Jesper Juul Sorensen (trombone) / Danish National Girls Choir/DR / Danish National Choir/DR / Bo Holten, conductor [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 12/Jul/2005 ] "Music full of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic interest" (MusicWeb Dec 2005) |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No.14 Op.135 for soprano, bass and chamber orchestra Joan Rodgers (soprano) John Tomlinson (bass) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Mark Wigglesworth [ BIS / CD - released 10/Apr/2005 ] "Mark Wigglesworth delivers an exceptionally coherent interpretation supported by fine and idiomatic singing from both soloists...compelling...shattering." - Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music (Oct 2001) |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Highlights from the operettas John Mark Ainsley / Thomas Allen / Rebecca Evans / Felicity Palmer / Richard Suart / Welsh National Opera / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Telarc Classics / CD - released 1/Nov/2005 ] "...this anthology is a delight." -Daily Press (Newport News, VA) |
VERDI
Rigoletto (Complete Opera in English) John Rawnsley (baritone) Arthur Davies (tenor) Helen Field (sop) / English National Opera [ Chandos Opera in English / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2001 ] .A further addition to Chandos's Opera in English series |
DEBUSSY
Pelleas and Melisande (Complete Opera in English recorded in 1981) John Tomlinson (bass) Sarah Walker (mezzo) Robert Dean (baritone) / English National Opera / Mark Elder [ Chandos / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Jan/2012 ] This live BBC broadcast of Claude Debussy's ground-breaking opera Pelléas and Mélisande was recorded at the Coliseum in 1981. The unique performance is now available on CD for the first time, as part of Chandos' Opera in English historical series,... |