JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Thaïs (complete opera) Anna Maria Chiuri, Michael Nagy, Stephan Rugamer, Adam Riis / Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda [ Chandos SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 10/Jul/2020 ] Gianandrea Noseda continues his series of recordings of the works of Luigi Dallapiccola, this time with his Danish forces. Seen by many as Dallapiccola's masterpiece, Il prigioniero (The Prisoner) is a one-act opera composed in the late 1940s, and... |
EDOUARD LALO / PABLO SARASATE
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole / Sarrasate: Zigeunerweisen (LP) Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Orchestre National de France, Seiji Ozawa [ Warner Classics LP / LP - released 10/May/2024 ] "...pure intonation, the sweet tone and the warmly emotional and committed treatment that this much admired young artist gives the work." Gramophone |
EDOUARD LALO / PABLE de SARASATE / GEORGE BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole / Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen / Bizet: Carmen Suite & Jeux d'enfants Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) / Orchestre National de France, Seiji Ozawa [ EMI Classics Red Line / CD - released 15/Oct/1997 ] Today one of the world's top musicians - back then a child prodigy whose emotional power and technical prowess fascinated audiences and critics alike. |
HENRIQUE OSWALD & ALFREDO NAPOLEAO
The Romantic Piano Concerto 64 - Oswald & Napoleão dos Santos Artur Pizarro (piano) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 64 / CD - released 29/Sep/2014 ] Portuguese virtuoso Artur Pizarro makes a welcome return to the Romantic Piano Concerto series with the outpourings of two brilliant pianist-composers. |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Violin Concertos & Phantasie Baiba Skride (violin) Danish National Symphony Orchestra, John Storgårds [ Orfeo / CD - released 2/Sep/2013 ] These works were written in the last three years of Schumann's life, and it was a stroke of ill luck that the Violin Concerto in D Minor was completed in 1854 just as Schumann succumbed to mental illness. Baiba Skride now offers her performer's... |
HEINO ELLER
Heino Eller: Violin Concerto / Symphony No 2 / etc Baiba Skride (violin) / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts [ Ondine / CD - released 9/Nov/2018 ] "Estonian composer Heino Eller was a wonderful orchestrator, as revealed in these beautiful, if slightly forgettable, works. Skride, Elts and co, however, give the strongest advocacy for them with terrific playing" BBC Music |
CHRISTOPHER GUNNING
Gunning: Symphonies 2, 10 & 12 BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Kenneth Woods (conductor) [ Signum / CD - released 6/Dec/2019 ] Christopher Gunning has composed twelve symphonies, as well as concertos for the piano, violin, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and guitar; many of these have now been recorded. He has also composed many scores for films and television... |
JOHN PICKARD
Pickard: Sixteen Sunrises & Symphony No. 5 BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins [ BIS / CD - released 30/Jun/2017 ] "The music fair kidnaps the listener's attention at the outset and does not random it until the gripping, wholly satisfying close...The performance by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is stunning in its virtuosity" Gramophone |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Overtures from the British Isles, Volume 2 BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Rumon Gamba [ Chandos / CD - released 29/Apr/2016 ] "The BBC National Orchestra of Wales play idiomatically and enthusiastically. This is thoroughly recommendable for any lover of British music." (MusicWeb June 2016). |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 Benjamin Grosvenor (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Elim Chan [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] "It's the kind of disc that makes you rethink these works and appreciate them all over again. And let's hope that this is the start of a wonderful recording partnership with Elim Chan." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Concerto |
KORNGOLD / THOMAS / GOUNOD / MASSENET / BRITTEN / WAGNER
Bo Skovhus sings Arias Bo Skovhus (baritone) / English National Opera Orchestra, James Conlon [ Sony Classical / CD - released 8/Apr/1997 ] Bo Skovhus studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, at the Royal Academy for Opera of Copenhagen and in New York with Oren Brown. |
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mussorgsky: The Nursery, Sunless & Songs and Dances of Death plus eight other songs (recorded 1955-7) Boris Christoff (bass) Alexandre Labinsky, piano, Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise / Georges Tzipine [ EMI Great Recordings of the Century / CD - released 15/Feb/2003 ] "The Mussorgsky songs constitute a complete world in themselves, and they cast a strong spell: their range is enormous and their insight into the human condition deep. Christoff was at the height of his vocal powers when he made this set" Rosette:... |
BIZET / BERLIOZ / DEBUSSY / MUSSORGSKY / RAVEL / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Conductors of the 20th Century: Andre Cluytens Boris Christoff (bass) / National Opera of Sofia / Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra, André [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 25/Feb/2018 ] Great Conductors of the 20th Century is a joint venture between the production and licensing expertise of IMG Artists and the international marketing and distribution clout of EMI. Sixty volumes were planned with hopes for even more. Unfortunately,... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Etudes-tableaux Boris Giltburg (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Carlos Miguel Prieto [ Naxos / CD - released 17/Aug/2017 ] "Giltburg certainly has something fresh to say in Rachmaninov's Second Concerto...and he says it elegantly and eloquently...one of the most appealing aspects of this performance is its grand trajectory." Gramophone Editor's Choice |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Nos 4 saisons [Four Seasons] Camille & Julie Berthollet (violin, cello, voice, piano) / String Ensemble of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse [ Warner Classics / CD - released 24/Jan/2020 ] "We are so excited and thrilled to finally reveal this project, which we have been imagining and developing for months... «Nos 4 saisons», our four seasons! We heard The Four Seasons for the first time before we even knew how to talk, and the sound... |
SIR LENNOX BERKELEY
Berkeley: Piano Concerto,Op. 29 in B flat major / Berkeley, Michael-Gethsemane Fragment; Four Poems of St Teresa of Avila, Op. 27 Catherine Wyn-Rogers (contralto) Celia Craig (cor anglais) Howard Shelley (piano) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Richard Hickox [ Chandos Berkeley Edition Vol 5 / CD - released 6/Dec/2004 ] "This eloquent father-and-son series restores the scintillating concerto." Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (February 2005) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Idomeneo (complete opera) Christian Elsner / Kristina Hammarström / Henriette Bonde-Hansen / Raffaella Milanesi / Danish National Choir / Danish Radio Sinfonietta Adam Fischer [ DACAPO SACD / 4 Hybrid SACD - released 6/Dec/2010 ] fleet-footed orchestral playing and strong, characterful soloists...Elsner captures the conflict raging within the Lear-like Idomeneo and demonstrates some fiendish coloratura...Fischer understands this opera deeply and presents it as a convincing... |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Op 41 The National Academic Choir of the Ukraine 'Dumka' / Yevhen Savchur [ Brilliant Classics Musica Sacra / CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] After their successful recording of Rachmaninov' s Vespers the Dumka Choir made a new recording of Tchaikovsky's masterwork the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, in which he captures the spirit of the Russ. |
LAVAILLAT
La Petite Danseuse De Degas (from The Opéra Garnier, Paris 2010) BLU-RAY Clairemarie Osta / Dorothée Gilbert / Mathieu Ganio / Corps De Ballet & Orchestre De L'Opéra National De Paris / Koen Kessels [ ArtHaus Musik Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 8/Aug/2011 ] "An inspired and visually ravishing creation. This ballet deserves to go from success to success." (recording of the Month MusicWeb Aug 2011) |
DARIUS MILHAUD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Milhaud: Le Carnaval d'Aix / Le boeuf sur le toit / la creation du monde / Concertos Claude Helffer (piano) Frederique Cambreling (harp) / Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon [ Warner Classics Erato / 2 CD - released 16/Nov/1998 ] Distinctively French, yet cosmopolitan in his personal and artistic horizons, Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was adventurous, prominent, and prolific. A pupil of Dukas and d'Indy, he became a member of Les Six and a distinguished teacher in the USA and... |