Marc Minkowski; Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine; Florian Sempey
Rossini: Figaro? Sì! [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 22/Apr/2022 ] The French baritone Florian Sempey has established himself as a key player on today's operatic scene. For his first solo recital, Rossini was the obvious choice, first of all because he has already performed the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia... |
GE GAN-RU
Chinese Rhapsody Margaret Leng Tan (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Jose Serebrier, conductor [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/May/2005 ] Featuring a Western symphony orchestra accented by Chinese percussion, both Chinese Rhapsody and Wu are perfect introductions to Ge's compositional fusion CD... |
CHOPIN / LOEWE
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor Op. 21 / Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Mari Kodama (piano) / Russian National Orchestra / Kent Nagano [ Pentatone SACD / SACD - released 6/Jul/2005 ] "Mari Kodama who numbers Brendel and Tatiana Nikolaeva among her teachers, is an impressive soloist happy to note-spin with all the required ease and facility in the Loewe and to provide a good deal more in the Chopin." ---Bryce Morrison, Gramophone... |
VERDI
Aida (Highlights from the complete opera) Maria Dragoni, Kristjan Johannsson, Barbara Dever, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland; Rico Saccani, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 30/Jun/2003 ] "The most impressive performer is indeed the fiery, plush-voiced, confident Dever... Gragoni is an interesting, highly individual Aida with some temperament and a good high C." - American Record Guide (Ralph V. Luciano) May/June 2001 |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 107 / Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 126 Maria Kliegel (cello) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; Antoni Wit, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Jan/2004 ] "Kliegel manages to convey a feeling of spontaneous improvisation and her command of the instrument is impressive. Naxos's recording is nicely ambient." - Gramophone - Oct.1996 |
CARPENTER / HEAD / DEAZLEY / JOHNSTON
Only a Singing Bird Karen Cargill (mezzo) & Philip Moore (piano) / NYCoS National Girls Choir, Christopher Bell [ Signum Classics / CD - released 20/Feb/2016 ] A beautiful collection of songs, 'Only a Singing Bird' features Michael Head's best-known works, 'The Ships of Arcady' and 'The Little Road to Bethlehem', as well as his beautifully-imagined, nostalgic song-cycle, 'Snowbirds'. The National Youth... |
CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR
Piano Concertos 1 & 2 / Fantaisie in A flat major Op. 62 Markus Becker (piano) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Thierry Fischer [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 55 / CD - released 1/Nov/2011 ] Charles-Marie Widor was born in Lyon to a family of organ builders and consequently became an organist of great skill and an assistant to Camille Saint-Saëns at La Madeleine in Paris at the age of twenty-four. |
RAVEL
Symphonies Concertantes / Violin Concerto in D Major MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig / Lyon National Orchestra / Jun Markl [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2009 ] "This is totally recommendable - especially at the price" (MusicWeb June 2009) |
PERRY
William Perry: Music for Great Films of the Silent Era Michael Chertock (piano), Helen Kearns (soprano) / RTÉ National Symphony, Paul Phillips [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Nov/2011 ] |
Michael Nesmith & The First National Band
Loose Salute [ Music On Vinyl / LP - released 14/Jan/2022 ] Michael Nesmith is best known as a member of the successful American pop and rock band The Monkees. After their break-up, he started performing with the seminal country-rock group the First National Band, and later as a solo artist. His second album... |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Symphony No 8 Michaela Kaune (sop) Agnieszka Rehlis (mezzo) Wojtek Drabowicz (bar) / Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir & Orchetsra / Antoni Wit, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Nov/2008 ] "…The recording quality on this disc is first class…Tenor Minkiewicz easily negotiates his tricky lines in the Dies irae, and hits the right level of hysteria. All the soloists are excellent, and the Warsaw National Philharmonic under Wit provides... |
BERLIOZ
L'Enfance du Christ Op 25 (Complete oratorio) Michele Lagrange ; Orchestre National de Lille-Region Nord ; Choeur Regional Vittoria de l'Ille de France ; Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 4/Feb/2003 ] Hector Berlioz was born in 1803 at La Cote-St-Andre in the departement of Isere, the eldest son of a doctor of some local distinction. |
KHACHATURIAN
Violin Concerto / Concerto-Rhapsody Mihaela Martin (Violin) / National Symphony Orchestra Of Ukraine / Theodore Kuchar [ Naxos / CD - released 23/Nov/2007 ] "Well-trained musicians from the Ukraine's National Symphony and heartfelt playing from the Romanian-born violinist Mihaela Martin." -- Music Week, January 24, 2004 |
PROKOFIEV / BEINTUS
Peter and the Wolf / Wolf Tracks Mikhail Gorbachev / Sophia Loren / Bill Clinton / Russian National Orchestra / Kent Nagano [ PentatoneSACD / SACD - released 21/Oct/2003 ] Screen legend Sophia Loren and former presidents Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev are narrators on the latest CD from the Russian National Orchestra (RNO). |
PROKOFIEV
Symphony No. 5 in B flat / Ode to the End of the War, Op. 105 Russian National Orchestra / Vladimir Jurowski [ Pentatone SACD / SACD - released 20/Oct/2007 ] He died on the same day as Stalin. Not only did March 5, 1953 see the ending of the life of the Soviet dictator who despised mankind, but also of the life journey of Sergei Prokofiev, which had travelled its winding path for more than 60 years and... |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Concertos 2 and 4 Mikhail Pletnev (piano) / Russian National Orchestra / Christian Gansch [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 20/Apr/2008 ] Pletnev is one of the truly unique and universal artists on DG: Like Beethoven himself, Pletnev is a pianist, a conductor, and a composer. The Beethoven project is very close to his heart: "For me Beethoven is like a god. I worship him, and I admire... |
BEHZAD ABDI
Abdi: Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle (Complete opera) Mohammad Motamedi, Hossein Alishapour, Babak Sabouri, Eshaq Anvar / Credo Chamber Choir, Ukraine National Symphony, Vladimir Sirenko [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 13/Aug/2021 ] The music of Iranian composer Behzad Abdi fuses dastgāh (the Iranian modal system) with Western classical forms. He wrote Iran's first national opera, Rumi, and Hafez also exemplifies his approach to the medium. |
Murray Gold (The BBC National Orchestra of Wales Conducted by Ben Foster)
Doctor Who - Series 6 [ Silva Screen Records / 2 CD - released 12/Dec/2011 ] Murray Gold's exhilarating music for the sixth series of 'Doctor Who' across two discs and sixty six tracks! |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Cinderella (Recorded live at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, 2012) BLU-RAY Dutch National Ballet / Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, Larissa Lezhnina, Megan Zimny Gray / Ermanno Florio (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Oct/2013 ] Christopher Wheeldon's acclaimed new Cinderella for the Dutch National Ballet is an imaginative interpretation of a muchloved classic. Inspired by the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Wheeldon gives the characters renewed depth and complexity,... |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Orphee aux Enfers / La Belle Helene (complete operettas recorded in 1998 & 2000) Natalie Dessay / Felicity Lott / Yann Beuron / Laurent Naouri / Opéra National de Lyon / Les Musiciens du Louvre / Marc Minkowski [ ArtHaus Musik DVD / 2 DVD Box Set - released 10/Oct/2012 ] Arthaus presents an Offenbach Box Set (Orphée aux Enfers & La belle Hélène) featuring Marc Minkowski - the preeminent Offenbach conductor of our day but also a team of wonderful singer-actors (Natalie Dessay & Felicity Lott). |