Otaka/Bbc National Orch Wales
Gubaidulina:pro Et Contra [ Bis / CD ] |
ANDERSON / HOLST / TCHAIKOVSKY / RIMSKY_KORSAKOV / PROKOFIEV / etc
Christmas Spirit Steffan Rhys Hughes (treble) / National Youth Orchestra of Wales / Owain Arwel Hughes [ Quartz / CD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] National Youth Orchestra of Wales, Owain Arwel Hughes |
NICOLAI PAGANINI
Paganini: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Ilya Kaler (violin) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Stephen Gunzenhauser [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Aug/2009 ] "There is no lack of dazzle in the fireworks, and no damp squibs here. With very good notes, this is an excellent example of a Naxos super-bargain at its best." Penguin Guide |
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
The Poisoned Kiss (Compete opera) Pamela Helen Stephen mezzo-soprano; Roderick Williams baritone; Graham-Hall tenor; Richard Suart baritone; Adrian Partington Singers; BBC National Orc [ Chandos Classics / 2 CD - released 12/Nov/2003 ] "So it's a damp pastiche of G&S: does that matter when the music is so glorious?" - Editor's Choice (Gramophone Magazine) January 2004 |
HINDEMITH
Cardillac (complete opera recorded in 2005) Paris National Opera / Alan Held / Angela Denoke / Christopher Ventris / Kent Nagano (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques / DVD - released 24/Jul/2007 ] G :- Cardillac is a master jeweller who cannot live without his creations, killing his clients to recuperate them and assert his authorship. |
BRUNO MANTOVANI
Mantovani: Siddharta (complete ballet recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera Ballet / Nicolas Le Riche, Aurélie Dupont, Stéphane Bullion / Michail Jurowski (cond) [ Arthaus Elegance Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Oct/2016 ] "Preljocaj's own long-term quest has been to harness the earthly, physical nature of dance to its metaphysical possibilities, and in these and similar passages he succeeds magisterially." (The Observer) |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / The Nutcracker (complete opera & ballet recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera & Ballet / Sonya Yoncheva, Arnold Rutkowski, Alexander Tsymbalyuk / Alain Altinoglu (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2018 ] In March 2016 Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov created a revolutionary production for the Palais Garnier in Paris - the bringing together of Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta and ballet The Nutcracker, which was to become one of the key events of... |
DONIZETTI
L'Elisir d'amore (complet opera recorded in 2006) Paris National Opera / Heidi Grant Murphy / Paul Groves / Laurent Naouri / Edward Gardner (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques / DVD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] "Edward Gardner conducted with outstanding imagination and authority" The Times, 12th August 2008, BBC Proms 2008 |
CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Mireille (complete opera recorded in 2009) Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo / Chœur de l'Opéra national de Paris, Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris, Marc Minkowski [ Naxos DVD / 2 DVD - released 11/Jun/2021 ] As soon as I was appointed Director of the Paris National Opera, I wanted to open my term of office with Mireille at the Palais Garnier opera house. In my opinion, Gounod was the greatest French musician of the 19th century, in no way inferior to... |
CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Mireille (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, Franck Ferrari / Marc Minkowski (conductor) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 11/Jun/2021 ] "Marc Minkowski leads the Parisian forces with lightness and grace while the Provençale rhythms spring to life in his hands. The opera's Prelude is a masterpiece of orchestral tone painting, as brilliantly sun-drenched as are Van Gogh's haystacks" MW |
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Aida Garifullina, Yuriy Mynenko, Martina Serafin, Maxim Paster / Dmitri Tcherniakov (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/May/2021 ] "Tatarnikov is sensitive to the score's brilliant colours and vividly imagined textures, drawing on the fine playing of the Paris Opera Orchestra and the enthusiastic engagement - both vocal and dramatic - of the chorus." BBC Music Five Stars |
W. A. MOZART
La Clemenza di Tito (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Susan Graham / Hannah Esther Minutillo / Catherine Naglestad / Ekaterina Siurina / Christoph Pregardien / Sylvain Cambreling [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 27/Oct/2010 ] "An evening of overwhelming beauty." Le Monde |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito (complete opera recorded in 2005) Paris National Opera / Susan Graham, Hannah Esther Minutillo, Catherine Naglestad, Ekaterina Siurina, Christoph Pregardien / Sylvain Cambreling (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] "Mortier has done everything in his power to present the opera in this long-lasting form. However, the only justification for adding this to you collection is the outstanding singing of Susan Graham" (MusicWeb March 2006) |
MAURICE RAVEL / BENJAMIN ATTAHIR
Ravel: Valse & Rapsodie Espagnole / Attahir: Adh-Dhor Patrick Wibart / Orchestre National de Lille / Alexandre Boch [ Alpha / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] Alexandre Bloch juxtaposes two French composers on this disc. First of all, Maurice Ravel, with the Rapsodie espagnole, his first major work for orchestra alone, written at the age of thirty-two, and La Valse, premiered thirteen years later and which... |
ALEXANDER ARUTIUNIAN / MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG / DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH
Arutiunian/Weinberg/Shostakovich: Trumpet Concertos Paul Merkelo (trumpet) / Russian National Orchestra, Hans Graf, with Jae-Hyuck Cho (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Oct/2022 ] The trumpet has had many concertos written for it by composers from the Soviet era and beyond. Appealing in its unabashed melodies and colourfully nostalgic feel, Arutiunian's Trumpet Concerto became popular in the West... |
LENNOX & MICHAEL BERKELEY
Berkeley, Michael - Concerto for Organ and Orchestra; Viola Concerto / Berkeley, Lennox - Voices of the Night, Op. 86; Symphony No. 2 Paul Silverthorne, viola; Thomas Trotter, organ; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Richard Hickox [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] 'The fourth volume of the invaluable Chandos Berkeley series repeats the successful formula of the previous issues... like the others in this series, this is a disc to return to for ever-increasing rewards.' International Record Review |
TAKEMITSU
Dreamtime / Orion and Pleiades / Star-Isle / A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden Paul Watkins (cello) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka [ BIS / CD - released 1/Jul/1996 ] Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) was a Japanese composer, who explored the compositional principles of Western classical music and his native Japanese tradition both in isolation and in combination. Takemitsu was largely self-taught in music. He was... |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Te Deum / A Polish Requiem / etc Izabela KlosiA´nska (soprano) Agnieszka Rehlis (mezzo-soprano) Adam Zdunikowski (tenor) / Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra / Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Oct/2007 ] "dedicated performances" Gramophone Magazine (praise for the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra) |
MAURO GIULIANI / JOAQUIN RODRIGO
Giuliani/Rodrigo: Guitar Concertos Pepe Romero (Guitar) Angel Romero (Guitar) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Orchestre National de l'Opera de Monte-Carlo / with Catherine Miche [ Pentatone SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 18/Aug/2006 ] "The sound quality is as good as I have come to expect from the Pentatone RQR releases, and is a slight improvement over the original Philips LP in terms of its transparency and spatiality...Highly recommended." --SA-CD.net |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Rediscovered: British Clarinet Concertos by Dolmetsch, Maconchy, Spain-Dunk, Wishart Peter Cigleris (clarinet), Deian Rowlands (harp) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ben Palmer (conductor) [ Signum Classics / CD - released 26/Mar/2021 ] Peter Cigleris performs with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a programme of four 'rediscovered' clarinet concertante works of the first half of the 20th Century. Composed between 1930 and 1947, the works span a time of change in the musical... |