ENNIO MORRICONE / BERNARD HERRMANN / SONY BONO / NINO ROTO
The Morricone Duel - The most dangerous concert ever Hans Ulrik (saxophone) Tuva Semmingsen (mezzo) Christine Nonbo Andersen (soprano) / Danish National Symphony, Sarah Hicks [ Euroarts CD / CD - released 28/Apr/2006 ] The Wild West meets the soulful sound of Italy. Fearless New York gangsters meet cowboys from the dusty prairie. Godfather meets Taxi Driver. And the magic of cinema meets the rich sound of a first-class symphony orchestra. |
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Coleridge-Taylor: Hiawatha (complete opera with libretto) Helen Field, Arthur Davies, Bryn Terfel / Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Kenneth Alwyn [ Argo / 2 CD Box Set - released 5/Nov/2007 ] "The performance is both spirited and sensitive...Bryn Terfel is splendid in his dramatic strength and sharpness of focus" Gramophone |
KAROL SZYMANOWSK
Szymanowski: King Roger (Krol Roger), Op. 46 (Complete Opera) plus Prince Potemkin (Kniaz Patiomkin): Incidental Music to Act V Henryk Grychnik (tenor), Andrzej Hiolski (baritone), Anna Malewicz Madej (contralto) / Polish National Radio Symphony / Wit [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 6/Jan/2004 ] "The recorded sound surpasses the others. Perspective is good; voices aren't drowned, but the delicacy of the orchestration is not lost" - American Record Guide |
KENNETH LEIGHTON
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Leighton: Orchestral works Vol 3 (Incls 'Symphony No 1') Howard Shelley (piano) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Martyn Brabbins [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "Shelley proves a marvellously stylish, involving exponent and is backed to the hilt by Brabbins and the BBC NOW. Chandos's sound and balance, too, are beyond reproach." (Gramophone) |
RACHMANINOV
Piano Concertos Nos 1-4 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Howard Shelley (piano) / Scottish National Orchestra / Bryden Thomson (conductor) [ Chandos 241 / 2 CD - released 20/Dec/2005 ] "The Second Concerto's finale easily holds its ground in the proverbial dazzle department, and the Third is a master-class in poise and proportion." (ClassicsToday) |
RICHARD RODGERS / OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II
Oklahoma! Hugh Jackman & Josefina Gabrielle / 1998 Royal National Theatre [ First Night Records / CD - released 13/Mar/1998 ] Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. It is set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Schumann-Introduction and Concert-Allegro) Idil Biret, Jeno Jando (pianos) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Antoni Wit (conductor) [ Naxos Super Budget Series / CD - released 30/Jun/2008 ] "Jeno Jando and his Polish colleagues strike me as getting the balance just about right" - Classic CD |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Les Pecheurs des Perles [The Pearl Fishers] (Complete Opera recorded in 1963) Ileana Cotrubas, Alain Vanzo, Guillermo Sarabia, Roger Soyer / Choeur & Orchestre du Theatre National de 'Opera de Paris / Georges Pretre [ EMI Classics For Pleasure / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/1990 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die - "The well-recorded CfP set is valuable principally because it has Cotrubas at her best, a most appealing Leila and worth the bargain price of the discs on her own account." (Gramophone) |
ANTONIN DVOARK / ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Dvorak/Glazunov: Violin Concertos Ilya Kaler (violin) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Camilla Kolchinsky [ Naxos / CD ] "Kaler's playing of these Romantic sweetly-tuned works is excellent" BBC Music Magazine "Ilya Kaler has great romantic warmth and natural Slavonic feeling....In short this is first class in every way" Penguin Guide |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schumann: Der Rose Pilgerfahrt Op112 Inga Nielesn (sop) Deon van der Walt (tenor) Annemarie Moller (mezzo) / Danish National Radio Symphony & Choir, Gustav Kuhn [ Chandos / CD - released 30/Sep/2007 ] "The chorus and orchestra are first rate and the recording sponsored by Danish Radio, is full-bodied and atmospheric. A valuable rarity." (Penguin Stereo Guide) |
VALENTIN SILVESTROV
Silvestrov: Ode to a Nightingale / Piano Concertino / Symphony No. 7 Inna Galatenko, Oleg Bezborodko, Marija Grikevičiūtė / Lithuanian National Symphony, Christopher Lyndon-Gee [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Aug/2020 ] Valentin Silvestrov's elusive post-modern style is rich in nostalgia for the lost music of a barely remembered past filled with beauty and spiritual aspiration. |
KARL GOLDMARK
Goldmark: Rustic Wedding Symphony / In the Spring Ireland National Symphony Orchestra Stephen Gunzenhauser, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Feb/2005 ] "Gunzenhauser gives a fresh, bright-eyed account of the Rustic Wedding Symphony...the overall performance is spontaneous and enjoyable...In Italy is especially vivacious and sparkling" - Penguin Guide |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Violin Concerto / Violin sonata & sonatina Jack Liebeck (violin) Katya Apekisheva (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Garry Walker [ Sony Classical / CD - released 24/Aug/2009 ] "He shines most with the pianist Katya Apekisheva in Dvorák's Violin Sonata, winningly dispatched with plenty of depth and colour... Sweetness of tone and a prancing gait enliven the Violin Concerto." The Times, 30th May 2009 |
WALTER PISTON
Piston: Violin Concertos / Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra James Buswell (violin) / National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine / Theodore Kuchar [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 15/Feb/2001 ] Rosette (Highest Rating) Penguin Stereo Guide / * * * * * 5 Stars - BBC Music Magazine (Sept 99) / Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (Oct 99) / Critic's Choice Gramophone Magazine 1999 |
WOLFGANG RIHM / JOHANNES BRAHMS / JOHN HARBISON
Brahms, Rihm, Harbison: Double Concertos Jan Vogler (violoncello). Mira Wang (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra [ Sony Classics / CD - released 20/Jun/2018 ] The cellist Jan Vogler, who lives in New York and Dresden, has recorded three Double concertos for violin, cello and orchestra with his wife, the outstanding violinist Mira Wang, with the renowned Royal Scottish National Orchestra under direction of... |
AARON COPLAND / WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI / CARL NIELSEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Copland / Lutoslawski / Nielsen: Works for Clarinet & Orchestra Janet Hilton (clarinet) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Matthias Bamert [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Jan/1989 ] "Janet Hilton's new record couples two of the best, and most attractively complementary, twentieth-century clarinet concertos with what at the moment seems to be every clarinettist's favourite fill-up." Gramophone |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 / Waltz Suite, Op. 110: Nos. 1, 3 & 4 Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Aug/2013 ] "Järvi celebrates [the symphony's] epic grandeur" International Record Review |
LEO DELIBES
Delibes: Lakme (Complete opera recorded in 1968) Joan Sutherland, Alain Vanzo, Gabriel Bacquier / Orchestra and chorus of Monte Carlo National Opera, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD - released 12/May/1999 ] "(Joan's) "Bell Song" is treasurable, with an ease of execution which is almost frightening and a sinuousness which reeks of oriental mystery. Bacquier's Nilakantha is magnificent." MusicWeb |
LEO DELIBES
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Delibes: Lakme (Complete opera recorded in 1968 with complete libretto) Joan Sutherland, Alain Vanzo, Gabriel Bacquier / Orchestra and chorus of Monte Carlo National Opera, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD - released 12/May/1989 ] "(Joan's) "Bell Song" is treasurable, with an ease of execution which is almost frightening and a sinuousness which reeks of oriental mystery. Bacquier's Nilakantha is magnificent." MusicWeb |
PUCCINI / VERDI / BELLINI / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Love Duets Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 5/Apr/1999 ] The ardour and passion of some of the best-known love duets from Italian Opera are brought out to the full by the stunning voices of two of the world's greatest singers. |