GRIEG
Sigurd Jorsalfar (incidental music for baritone, male choir and orchestra, Op.22) / etc Hakan Hagegard (baritone) Garild Mauseth (narrator) / Male-voice choir from the Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Bergen Philharmonic / Ole Kristian Ruud [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Mar/2004 ] "..you really need to hear this sensational disc. The Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak offers about eight minutes of orchestral Sturm und Drang as intense as anything by Berlioz or Mahler; and as recorded here it sounds like a tone poem of Jon... |
MENDELSSOHN
Complete Concertos [4 hours on 1 SACD] Isabelle van Keulen (violin), Ronald Brautigam, Roland Pöntinen & Love Derwinger (piano) / Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Lev Markiz [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jan/2008 ] Ultra Extended Playing Time. These products can only be played on a machine with SACD capability. They cannot be played on a conventional CD player. These concertos span Mendelssohn's complete oeuvre, from 1822 to 1844. |
JOHN DOWLAND
The Complete Solo Lute Music Jakob Lindberg (lute) [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Aug/2008 ] This pioneering recording, which was first released in 1995 as a set of four conventional CDs, contains the complete solo lute pieces ascribed to John Dowland. |
BEETHOVEN / SCHUBERT / MAHLER / BRITTEN
I Wonder as I Wander James Newby (baritone), Joseph Middleton (piano) [ BIS / SACD - released 4/Dec/2020 ] Baritone James Newby explores the theme of wandering in his début recital album. |
CHARLES IVES / BERNHARD GANDER
Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1 Joonas Ahonen (piano) [ BIS SACD / SACD - released 2/Jul/2021 ] Of the two large piano sonatas composed by Charles Ives, No. 2 ('the Concord Sonata') is by far the best known, overshadowing its sibling. The First Piano Sonata is comparably ambitious, however, and with a playing time of more than 40 minutes,... |
ASTOR PIAZZOLA
A Piazzolla Trilogy Karen Gomyo (violin), Stephanie Jones (guitar), Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire [ BIS SACD / SACD - released 6/Aug/2021 ] Karen Gomyo's violin takes centre stage in this homage to Astor Piazzolla. |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Trios Op.1 No.3 & B flat major 'Archduke' Kempf Trio [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jul/2004 ] "...make room for pianist Freddy Kempf and his cohorts, whose individual and collective agility dazzles the ear and serves the composer well...Certainly this release bodes well for a complete Beethoven cycle from the Kempf trio, and represents its... |
SIBELIUS
The Sound of Sibelius (Incls 'The Swan of Tuonela' & 'Karelia Suite') Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vanska [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Dec/2009 ] SIBELIUS IN SURROUND SOUND! The present recordings of The Swan of Tuonela, Lemminkäinen's Return and Finlandia are previously unreleased. |
GRUBER
Zeitstimmung / Rough Music / etc Martin Grubinger (percussion) HK Gruber / chansonnier / Tonkanstler Orchestra / Kristjan Jarvi [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Sep/2006 ] It has been said about HK Gruber (b. 1943) that he 'throws off labels as fast as pundits can affix them. Neo-romantic, neo-tonal, neo-expressionistic, neo-Viennese: he isn’t any of these things, so much as a sentient composer who keeps responding to... |
JOSEF HAYDN
Opera at Eszterhaza Miah Persson (soprano), Kirstin Chávez (mezzo-soprano), Bernard Richter (tenor), Christoph Genz (tenor) / Haydn Sinfonietta Wien / Manfred Huss [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Dec/2009 ] "The likeable Swiss tenor Bernard Richter sings… imaginatively… Baritone Iván Paley is lively in the buffo fun of 'Dice benissimo'… but the finest singing comes from Miah Persson…" BBC Music Magazine, March 2010 **** |
FAURE / DURUFLE
Requiems Miah Persson (soprano) Malena Ernman (mezzo-soprano) Olle Persson (baritone) / Swedish Radio Choir / Fredrik malmberg (conductor) [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Nov/2005 ] Musical settings of the Mass for the Dead have a tendency to dwell on the dramatic high points of the day of judgement and the trumpets of doom (Dies irae and Tuba mirum) – partly for the reason that they really are dramatic high points. |
LUGWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 1 & 6 'Pastoral' Minnesota Orchestra / Osmo Vanska [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Dec/2007 ] "The outstanding SACD sonics let nothing stand between the listener and a visceral encounter with Beethoven's genius. These performances represent the difference between interpretations whose curiosity value rapidly wanes with each encounter,... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 7 Minnesota Orchestra / Osmo Vanska [ BIS SACD / SACD - released 1/Aug/2008 ] Gramophone Award Finalist 2009: Orchestral - "A triumphant final instalment in Vanskas acclaimed Minnesota Beethoven cycle. The BIS recording has exceptional clarity...a dynamic range that catches every graduation of the orchestra's scrupulously... |
J.S. BACH
St. Matthew Passion, BWV 544, (excerpts) Nancy Argenta (soprano) Robin Blaze (counter-tenor) Makoto Sakurada (tenor) Gerd Tark (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki, conductor [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jan/2005 ] "The overall performance, combined with different presentation options, make it a serious contender for first choice." - MusicWeb March 2005 |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphonies Nos 9 & 12 Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Mark Wigglesworth [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jul/2007 ] "The latest instalment in Mark Wigglesworth's ongoing survey of Shostakovich's symphonies offers many of teh virtues that were apparent in some of his earlier releases. Apart from outstanding demonstration sound...there is the impressive orchestral... |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No.8 Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Mark Wigglesworth [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Sep/2005 ] "an interesting and highly individual performance worth hearing." (MusicWeb March 2006) |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Golden Age of the Cornet Ole Edvard Antonsen (cornet) / The Royal Norwegian Navy Band (Kongelige Norske Marines Musikkorps) / Ingar Bergby [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] The Royal Norwegian Navy Band is one of five professional military bands in Norway. With its 32 full-time musicians this highly popular ensemble performs both in Norway and abroad. |
J.S. BACH
Cantatas (Vol 29) Nos 2, 3, 38 & 135 Pascal Bertin (counter tenor) Dorothee Mields (soprano) Gerd Turk (tenor) Peter Kooij (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Nov/2005 ] "This release further enhances the reputation of the series as one of the glories of the CD era" (MusicWeb Feb 2006) |
W.A. MOZART
Concertos for Two and Three Pianos Ronald Brautigam and Alexei Lubimov (fortepianos) / Haydn Sinfonietta Wien / Manfred Huss (direction and fortepiano) [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Sep/2007 ] "In short, this CD is a delight from begin to end. It will make you want to see and hear the two pieces performed live because only then can one fully enjoy the virtuosic playfulness and beauty of the musical interchange between the two pianos in the... |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Works Vol. 1 (Includes the Pathatique Sonata) Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano) [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Sep/2004 ] "The playing is riveting. Brautigam draws out the "Pathetique" sonata's first-movement introduction with plenty of rhetorical emphasis yet keeps the dotted rhythms in sharp focus...Whether in SACD surround-sound or conventional two-channel stereo... |