EDWARD ELGAR / FREDERICK DELIUS
Elgar: Violin Concerto & Salut d'amour - Delius: Suite Nicolas Dautricourt; Frédéric Chaslin; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Capriccio Quartet [ Channel Classics / CD - released 24/Jan/2025 ] 'If you want to know who, for me, is the greatest living composer, I'll tell you without hesitation - it's Elgar, whom I place on the same level as my idols Beethoven and Brahms!' So said the great virtuoso Kreisler.' Nicolas Dautricourt continues:... |
PASCAL DUSAPIN
Dusapin: Concertante Works Nicolas Hodges, Natascha Petrinsky, Carolin Widmann, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Pascal Rophé (conductor) [ BIS / CD - released 30/Nov/2018 ] Pascal Dusapin has composed a number of works for the stage, one of the more recent being the opera Penthesilea, after Kleist's play. From the opera he has also fashioned Wenn Du dem Wind…, the suite which opens this disc. Although beginning and... |
PROKOFIEV
Ivan The Terrible (complete ballet recorded in 2003) Nicolas Le Riche / Eleonora Abbagnato / Karl Paquette / Le Corps de Ballet and Opéra National de Paris / Vello Pähn [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2011 ] Arthaus presents one of the most fascinating choreographies to have emerged from Russia during the last decades: Yuri Grigorovich's original ballet dramatizing Ivan the Terrible's reign as Czar of Russia. |
NIELSEN
Symphonies Nos 4 & 5 Ireland National Symphony Orchestra / Adrian Leaper [ Naxos / CD - released 21/Oct/2007 ] "The "duels" between two timpanists in the concluding section of "The Inextinguishable", few match and none exceed the precision and power of Leaper's kettle drummers" - Fanfare |
CARL NIELSEN
Nielsen: Violin, Flute & Clarinet Concertos Kim Sjogren (violin), Niels Thomsen (clarinet), Toke Lund Christiansen (flute) / Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Michael Schonwandt [ Chandos / CD - released 25/Nov/2007 ] "there is real depth here, thanks in no small measure to Schønwandt. The recording is first class." Penguin Guide |
RACHMANINOV
The Collection: Six CD set (Incls Piano Concertos, Vespers & Etudes-Tableaux) Nikolai Lugansky (piano) John Lill (piano) / National Choir of Ukraine Dumka / Russian State Symphony Orchestra / Valeri Polyansky [ Brilliant Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 30/Apr/2008 ] Sergey Rachmaninoff was the ultimate romantic composer. Being a pianist himself he had a special affinity with the piano. Listen to his 4 piano concertos, the Paganini Rhapsody and two Études tableaux. Also on these CD's the Vespers, The Isle of the... |
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Golden Cockerel (complete opera) Nikolai Stoilov, Lyubomir Borourov, Emil Ugrinov / Sofia National Orchestra, Dimiter Manolov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2013 ] Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky‐Korsakov showed musical promise as a child, but the pursuit of a Naval career meant that much of his grounding in musical theory was gained in between various tours of duty. |
Nitin Sawhney / The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Human Planet [ Silva Screen Records / CD - released 27/Feb/2012 ] |
BIZET / BREINER
Bizet / Breiner: Carmen Concerto For Guitar and Orchestra Norbert Kraft, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/1999 ] "The performances seem excellent. Kraft is a sensitive, colorful guitarist, and the arranger seems a more than competent conductor." Fanfare |
PER NORGARD
Frostsalme Danish National Choir/DR, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, Stefan Parkman [ Chandos / CD - released 16/Sep/2002 ] |
VAGN HOLMBOE
Concertos (Incl Piano Concerto No 1) Noriko Ogawa (piano) Martin Frost (clarinet) Gordon Hunt (oboe) / Aalborg Symphony Orchestra / Owain Arwel Hughes (cond) / Danish National Opera Choir [ BIS / CD - released 1/Feb/2005 ] "A well-packed disc with a nice balance struck between the concertos and a rarely encountered choral-orchestral work." - MusicWeb Feb 2005 |
NILS PETTER MOLVAER
Ibsen's Ghosts (recorded in 2017) Norwegian National Ballet / The Norwegian National Ballet School [ BelAir Classiques DVD / DVD - released 10/Jun/2019 ] Ibsen's Ghosts is an evocative production in a modern dance style. Nils Petter Molvær has composed new music, which he performs on-stage together with Jan Bang. |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea (complete opera recorded in 2010) Norwegian National Opera / Birgitte Christensen, Jacek Laszczkowski, Tim Mead, Marita Sølberg / Alessandro de Marchi [ EuroArts DVD / DVD Box Set - released 20/Jun/2017 ] "There is, though, some truly terrific singing here. Birgitte Christiansen (Poppea) is an amazingly assured musical presence, who can colour her voice to fit every occasion. Jacek Laszczkowski (Nero) is expressively menacing and lascivious by turn" |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2012) Norwegian National Opera / Diego Torre, Marita Salberg, Vasily Ladyuk, Jennifer Rowley / The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, Eivind Gullberg [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 10/Jun/2022 ] Who among us doesn't already have a personal relationship to La Bohème? Probably a deep and intimate one: this opera, perhaps more than any other, strikes a chord that resonates in us where we are most sensitive. Puccini, one could say, was the... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Norwegian National Opera / Diego Torre, Marita Salberg, Vasily Ladyuk, Jennifer Rowley / The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, Eivind Gullberg [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 10/Jun/2022 ] 'The cast's singing is clearly invigorated by these fresh staging ideas… Tenor Diego Torre has a wonderfully robust high C; soprano Marita Sølberg is a stylistically Italianate as any Mimì I've ever heard.' Gramophone |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: 3 x Poppea - L'Incoronazione di Poppea (complete operas recorded in 1993, 2010 & 2013) Norwegian National Opera with Birgitte Christensen, Jacek Laszczkowski / Concerto Koln, Rene Jacobs / Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Eric Gauthier, Anneleen R [ EuroArts DVD / 3 DVD Box Set - released 2/Feb/2018 ] Three different approaches to the enigmatic mistress of Roman Emperor Nero - in one box: watch Poppea in two contrasting opera productions plus as a futuristic ballet performance. Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea Orchestra of the Norwegian... |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN / ELIZABETH POSTON
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols / Poston: An English Day Book NYCoS National Girls Choir, Christopher Bell [ Signum / CD - released 20/Sep/2010 ] "The voices are rich-toned, well-balanced and powered by developing teenage musculature...The singers' Scottish brogue suits the antique poetry" ClassicFM |
BENET CASABLANCAS
The Dark Backward of Time / 3 Epigrams / Postlude / Love Poem Ofelia Sala (soprano) / Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra / Salvador Mas-Conde [ Naxos Spanish Classics / CD - released 1/Aug/2010 ] Expressive power, meticulous virtuosity and a refined musical language combining the traditional and the avant garde have made Benet Casablancas one of today's most widely recognised Spanish composers. |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 'Babi Yar' Oleg Tsibulko (bass) / Russian National Orchestra, Kirill Karabits [ Pentatone / CD - released 14/Aug/2020 ] "This beautifully engineered studio recording under Kirill Karabits has all the necessary adrenaline to keep the listener fully engaged." BBC |
RACHMANINOV / GRECHANINOV / TCHAIKOVSKY
Vespers (All-Night Vigil) / Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom [5 CD set] Olga Borusene (Sop) Yuri Korinnyk (Tenor) Mykhaylo Tyshchenko (Tenor) / The National Academic Choir of Ukraine Dumka. / Valery Polyansky [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2011 ] "If only for the sake of the Liturgy, buy it!! " (MusicWeb Sept 2002) |