Since you are interested in Inspiration, here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas Bella Hristova (violin), Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / 4 CD - released 26/Apr/2019 ] The complete Beethoven violin sonatas, 33 wonderful pieces of music, performed by two of the greatest Beethoven interpreters working today. Over 4 hours of beautifully produced, expertly performed Beethoven in a handsome 4-CD hard-cover... |
DELIUS / ELGAR / GOODALL / etc
And the Bridge is Love: English Music for Strings English Chamber Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber (Conductor; Cello) [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Feb/2015 ] This wide-ranging programme of English music for strings includes the world première recording of Howard Goodall's moving And the Bridge is Love, in which Julian Lloyd Webber plays cello, and of William Lloyd Webber's The Moon, only performed for the... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 20/Nov/2016 ] "her sound growing out of the corporate entity to glitter, coax, snarl and soar as required…[a] thought-provoking and eminently enjoyable cycle" Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 - RECORDING OF THE YEAR |
CLARA SCHUMANN
Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Holly Mathieson [ Decca / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] "it is the performances of the two song transcriptions that show what a gifted musician Kanneh-Mason is." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice August 2019 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 18/Aug/2017 ] Following the monumental set of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, Michael Houstoun and Rattle proudly release a superb account of the Diabelli Variations, thirty-three variations on a waltz by Anton Duabelli composed by Ludwig van Beethoven... |
SATIE / RAVEL / DEBUSSY / FAURE / POULENC
Michael Houstoun - Trois Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 27/Oct/2017 ] Michael Houstoun's second release on Rattle in 2017, following the exceptional tour de force of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, is a selection of personal favourites from the repertoire of French piano music. Trois is an album of absolutely... |
Sol3 Mio
On Another Note [ Universal Music / CD - released 9/Oct/2015 ] United by a love of opera and deep family bonds, tenor brothers Pene and Amitai Pati, and their baritone cousin Moses Mackay have carved out a unique niche for themselves. While continuing to study, train and make huge achievements within the... |
J. S. BACH
Six Evolutions - Bach: Cello Suites (2017 recording) Yo Yo Ma (cello) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 5/Sep/2018 ] "I don't think he has ever made a greater recording and his personal booklet notes help provide a conceptual setting for his playing." Gramophone Editor's Choice Awards Issue 2018 |
Adele
25 [ XL Recordings / CD - released 20/Nov/2015 ] Out Now! "My last record was a break up record and if I had to label this one I would call it a make up record. I'm making up with myself. making up for lost time. making up for everything I ever did and never did." |
ANTONIN DVORAK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Dvorak: Cello Concerto / Rondo in G minor for cello & orchestra / etc Alisa Weilerstein (cello), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek [ Decca / CD - released 21/Apr/2014 ] "Hers is an interpretation of passion. It is by no means heart-on-sleeve but, rather, it is distinguished by well-harnessed vigour and attack, susceptibility to the music's lyrical heart." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Concerto) |
Andrea Bocelli, with Matteo Bocelli, Ed Sheeran, Josh Groban, Dua Lipa, Aida Carifullina & Ensemble
Sì [ Decca / CD - released 26/Oct/2018 ] Presenting Sì: Andrea Bocelli's first album of new material in 14 years. It's a set of powerful, emotional songs, some featuring interpolations of classical themes (from, for example, Bach and Massenet), and an all encompassing positive message of... |
Andrea Bocelli
Cinema (CD/DVD) [ Universal Music CD + DVD / CD/DVD - released 23/Oct/2015 ] International superstar Andrea Bocelli returns with his new eagerly awaited album Cinema. Cinema celebrates the greatest movie songs of all time and reunites a team of musical legends including David Foster, Humberto Gatica and Tony Renis who worked... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Volodos plays Brahms Arcadi Volodos (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 20/May/2017 ] "Comparisons become irrelevant in interpretations of such mesmerising honesty. An award-winner if ever I heard one." Gramophone Award WINNER 2018 - Instrumental |
TRADITIONAL
Mediterraneo Christina Pluhar / L'arpeggiata, featuring Misia [ Erato Classics / CD - released 8/Mar/2013 ] "Misia is not exactly representative of traditional fado, and that is to the advantage of this collaboration, but paradoxically her singing here is the most traditional I have heard from her and she complements the rest with her very different timbre |
Diana Krall
Turn Up The Quiet [ Verve Records / CD - released 5/May/2017 ] Diana Krall's new album celebrates a return to jazz and the Great American Songbook and reunites her with Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma. |
MOZART / CHOPIN
Grigory Sokolov: The Salzburg Recital Grigory Sokolov (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 28/Jan/2015 ] "From the beginning of Mozart's F major sonata, K. 280, the first of two included, the Sokolov spell is cast...here is poetic and intimate playing of the highest order." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Instrumental) |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Classic Hauser Deluxe [CD + DVD 'Alone, Together - From Croatia'] Hauser, London Symphony Orchestra [ Sony Classical / 2 CD/DVD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] Hauser, the dynamic young cellist who rocketed to fame as half of the genre-busting worldwide musical sensation 2Cellos, re-releases his first solo album, now with a DVD. |
HANDEL / JOMMELLUI / LEO / MONTEVERDI / PURCELL
In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Warner Classics / CD - released 10/Nov/2016 ] "In War & Peace' finds DiDonato back on Baroque ground for the first time in a while, and it's a joyful musical homecoming. ..Drama, as ever with DiDonato, is everything. Ornamentation serves narrative first, ego second." Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The King's Singers Gold The King's Singers [ Signum / 3 CD - released 3/Nov/2017 ] "The King's Singers turn out their characteristic, highly polished finish: diction is razor-sharp, ensemble and intonation are well-nigh flawless." BBC Music |
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
A Star Is Born: Motion Picture Soundtrack [ Universal Music / CD - released 5/Oct/2018 ] The official motion picture soundtrack to A Star Is Born features new music from six-time Grammy Award-winner Lady Gaga and director Bradley Cooper. Featuring 19 songs in a wide range of musical styles, and 15 dialogue tracks featuring those moments... |
MAX RICHTER
Richter: From Sleep Max Richter (piano, organ, synthesizers, electronics) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 18/Sep/2015 ] "Sleep is functional music, furniture music, a soundtrack for relaxing and sleeping, and as such it's successful. It's not "classical" music, and shouldn't be judged as such. It does what it claims, and it's enjoyable." (Musicweb) |
BELLINI / GOUNOD / DONIZETTI / MEYERBEER
Dreams: Pretty Yende Pretty Yende (soprano) / Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Sagripanti [ Sony Classics / CD - released 3/Dec/2017 ] "What a lovely sound Pretty Yende makes! Yende is in the same company as, say, Anna Moffo...She's certainly a great asset to the world of opera." ClassicsToday |
VIVALDI / RICHTER
Vivaldi Recomposed: The Four Seasons (Recomposed by Max Richter) Daniel Hope (violin) Max Richter (moog) Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 6/May/2014 ] "I anticipated hating this postmodern reworking of The Four Seasons by the film composer Max Richter. But it is so wittily done that I was gripped, if not quite enchanted." (The Times) |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Cello Concerto / etc Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ Decca / CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] Award-winning British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason returns with Elgar, a brand new album of works anchored around Elgar's Cello Concerto - arguably the best-known work in the classical canon written for solo cello. |
Sol3 Mio
A Very M3rry Christmas [ Universal Music / CD - released 10/Nov/2017 ] Sol3 Mio's first ever Christmas album! A Very Merry Christmas features the breathtaking voices of Pene Pati, Amitai Pati and Moses Mackay, this much requested album will delight their legions of fans and is destined to become a bona fide Kiwi... |
JOSEPH HAYDN / C.P.E. BACH
Haydn & CPE Bach: Cello Concertos Steven Isserlis (cello), The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Sep/2017 ] "Isserlis's 1998 recording [of the Haydn] remains classy stuff, but this has superbly trumped it." Gramophone Disc of the Month Awards Issue 2017 |
DVORAK / ELGAR / SAINT-SAENS / HAYDN / BOCCHERINI / etc
The Very Best of Jacqueline du Pre Jacqueline du Pre (cello) with Various Artists, Orchestras and Accompanists [ Warner Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2005 ] Few artists are regarded with as much affection in the musical world as the cellist Jacqueline du Pré. Her colourful life, tragically early death, supreme recordings and regular press and media attention as a result of several controversial books... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Double Piano Concertos Lucas Jussen (piano), Arthur Jussen (piano) / Academy of St Martin in the fields, Sir Neville Marriner [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 16/Mar/2017 ] ".The Jussen boys have found perhaps the perfect collaborator in Sir Neville Marriner, who has conducted more Mozart than most; the Academy acquit themselves well." Editor's Choice Gramophone January 2016 |
PUCCINI / VERDI / DONIZETTI / LEONCAVALLO / BIZET / MASSENET / FRANCK / etc
Pavarotti - The Greatest Hits Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) with Mirella Freni, Dame Joan Sutherland & others [ Decca Music Group / 3 CD - released 27/Jun/2019 ] Over 4 hours of the legendary tenor's golden voice including the immortal hits such as Nessun Dorma, O sole mio, Caruso, Volare and La Donna è mobile. This package includes a 20 page photo booklet. |
J. S. BACH
Hilary Hahn plays Bach Hilary Hahn (violin) [ Decca / CD - released 10/Feb/2019 ] "This is quite simply magnificent violin-playing, the sort that while you're listening to it convinces you that the music couldn't possibly be played any other way" Gramophone Recording Of The Month November 2018 |
AULETTA / LEO / PERGOLESI / PORPORA / SCARLATTI / VINCI
Arie Napoletane Max Emanuel Cencic (countertenor) / Il Pomo D'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Decca / CD - released 27/Jan/2016 ] Gramophone Magazine - Editor's Choice - December 2015 |
PUCCINI / BIZET / DVORAK / OFFENBACH / DONIZETTI / VERDI / etc
40 Most Beautiful Arias Maria Callas, Placido Domingo, Cecilia Bartoli, Kiri te Kanawa, Jose Carreras, José Cura, Angela Gheorghiu, etc [ Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/2009 ] Nothing stirs the soul and tugs at the heartstrings more than an inspired operatic aria. Warner Classics CD set 40 MOST BEAUTIFUL ARIAS collects forty of the most moving ones the world has known on this star-studded collection. |
MAX BRUCH
Bruch: String Quintets & Octet The Nash Ensemble [ Hyperion / CD - released 26/Mar/2017 ] "Together, these performances go to the top of a not exactly crowded field; in fact his disc needs to be heard by everyone who loves German Romantic chamber music." Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Chamber |
Neil & Liam Finn
Lightsleeper [ CD - released 24/Aug/2018 ] Neil Finn - he of Crowded House fame and the newest member of Fleetwood Mac - needs no introduction. After Liam Finn moved to London with his band Betchadupa, they split and he began a solo career, attracting worldwide acclaim with the I'll Be... |
Tony Bennett & Diana Krall
Love Is Here To Stay [ Verve / CD - released 21/Sep/2018 ] Tony Bennett and Diana Krall celebrate their shared love of the music of George and Ira Gershwin on their new collaborative album. |
FAURE / BEETHOVEN / GLUCK / RUTTER / MOZART / RAVEL / etc
50 X Relaxing Classics Various performers from the vast Decca catalogue [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Oct/2014 ] From Faure's beautiful Pavane to Elgar's "Enigma" variations here is a beautiful selection of favourite classics to wind down after a hectic day. |
DOMENICO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti: 18 Sonatas Vol 2 Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 18/Mar/2016 ] "More than a decade on from his impressive debut on the BIS label - and indeed in our pages - with music by Scarlatti, Yevgeny Sudbin returns to the composer with a truly triumphant recital." Recording of the Month Gramophone April 2016 |