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TRADITIONAL
A Family Christmas Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli, Virginia Bocelli [ Classics & Jazz UK / CD - released 21/Oct/2022 ] This holiday season, internationally renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli is teaming up with his 24-year-old son Matteo Bocelli and 10-year-old daughter Virginia Bocelli for their first ever album together, A Family Christmas. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas - Vol 11 (Sonatas Opp 106 & 111) Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 4/Feb/2022 ] "Her playing has great energy and also plenty of light and shade....This is an outstanding disc." Musicweb recommended June 2022 |
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ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Donald Armstrong (violin) / New Zealand Chamber Orchestra [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 18/Nov/2002 ] "In a market crowded with versions of these concerti, the NZSO Chamber Orchestra has given us a first-class, vivid, well-recorded reading. The solo passages feature Donald Armstrong obtaining the sweetest, liveliest tones from his 1754 Gagliano... |
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IGOR STRAVINSKY
Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex / Apollon Musagète Gentlemen of the Monteverdi Choir & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ LSO SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 7/Apr/2014 ] "the performance, by the London Symphony Orchestra and 24 men from the Monteverdi Choir, is admirably clear, precise and hard-edged; the soloists are adequate; and the coupler - Apollon Musagète ballet for string orchestra - is gorgeous." (Times) |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Peter Grimes (Complete Opera recorded in 2004) Glenn Winslade, Janice Watson, Jonathan Lemalu / London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live / 3 CD - released 24/Jul/2004 ] "This is a landmark for the LSO...The Sea Interludes gleam within their dramatic context and the London Symphony Chorus relish their involvement with such a testy choral challenge." (William Dart New Zealand Herald) |
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LEO WEINER
Weiner: Violin Sonatas Hagai Shaham (violin), Arnon Erez (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 20/Apr/2010 ] 'Hagai Shaham plays with a large, richly Romantic tone and a feeling for the grand gestures in which the music delivers its message and the ethnic matrix from which it emerged. But he also has the virtuosic flair to put across the most flamboyant... |
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MAX BRUCH
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 58 / Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46 Jack Liebeck (violin) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins [ Hyperion Romantic Violin Concerto Vol 17 / CD - released 29/Sep/2014 ] "Jack Liebeck and conductor Martyn Brabbins work hard to make the music come alive. Liebeck's playing is consistently fresh and his phrasing always imaginative" (The Guardian) |
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FRANK BRIDGE
Bridge: Complete Songs Janice Watson (soprano), Louise Winter (mezzo soprano), Jamie MacDougal (tenor), Gerald Finley (baritone), Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 10/Aug/2014 ] "This fine collection of settings by poets as diverse as Herrick, Heine and Tagore is full of surprises and beautifully performed by all, especially pianist Roger Vignoles" The Observer |
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SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Songs Julia Sitkovetsky (soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/May/2020 ] 'The versions by Sitkovetsky and Vignoles … form a notable addition to the catalogue and represent a remarkable achievement by an artist making her debut on disc' (MusicWeb International) |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphony No 4 London Symphony Orchestra / Bernard Haitink (conductor) [ LSO Live / CD - released 27/Feb/2005 ] "Contrasts were realised to the full without vagaries of tempo, and at the end, where Brahms finally breaks away from his bass line, the release of pent-up force came like an earthquake." - The Independent, 21 June 2004 |
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ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Symphony No 6 London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live / CD - released 8/Dec/2007 ] "an admirable and infectious performance. Sir Colin Davis and his fine players are wonderfully idiomatic and offer a performance of exceptional clarity of detail." Penguin Guide |
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EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Enigma Variations / 'Cockaigne' Overture / Marches Philharmonia Orchestra, George Weldon [ IMP / CD - released 29/Aug/2011 ] "Turning to the 1953 Philharmonia Enigma Variations, we immediately become aware that Weldon is operating on a different plane altogether...One of the finest performances of the Variations I have heard. " MusicWeb |
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CARL MARIA von WEBER
Weber: Der Freischutz Christine Brewer, Sally Matthews, & Simon O'Neill / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 29/Apr/2013 ] "Simon O'Neill is virtually perfect for Max, not too über-Heldentenor and not too light" (Gramophone, Aug 2013) |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rarities Montserrat Caballe (soprano) with Maja Sunara (mezzo) & Lajos Kozma (tenor) / RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra [ Rca Red Seal / CD - released 22/Jul/2013 ] Caballé's international breakthrough came in 1965 when she replaced a pregnant Marilyn Horne in a semi-staged performance of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at New York's Carnegie Hall, which earned her a 25-minute standing ovation. (Wiki) |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 / Klavierstücke (8), Op. 76 Nicholas Angelich (piano) / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Jarvi [ Virgin Classics / CD - released 20/Nov/2010 ] "Few pianists in my experience have sensed Brahms's emotional turbulence to such an acute degree...these works have rarely, if ever, received finer performances." (Editor's Choice Gramophone Sept 2010) |
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BACH / BRAHMS / WALTON / TCHAIKOVSKY / R. STRAUSS / ELGAR / etc
The Very Best of Paul Tortelier [2 CD set] Paul Tortelier (cello) with various accompanists [ EMI Very Best of / 2 CD - released 1/Dec/2012 ] Paul Tortelier had the lean, ascetic look of an El Greco saint, yet possessed the turbulent idealism of Don Quixote, whom he portrayed so memorably in Richard Strauss's tone poem. |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Spanish Romances Pilar Lorengar (soprano) with Siegfried Behrend (guitar) & Alicia de Larrocha (piano) [ Australian Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/May/2017 ] "A record that offers playing of this quality can hardly be ignored" Gramophone on Granados |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 17 & 20 Piotr Anderszewski (piano and conductor) / Scottish Chamber Orchestra [ Erato Classics / CD - released 1/Feb/2006 ] "In both these concertos everything is perfectly in proportion; the drama is never over-played in the D minor, while the slow movement of the G major is made that concerto's emotional heart" (Guardian) |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Violin Sonatas 1-3 Renaud Capucon (violin) Nicholas Angelich (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 16/Sep/2005 ] "Beautifully considered performances taking an expansive, romantic view" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine Nov 2005 |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Complete Songs, Vol. 4 (Incls 'Vier ernste Gesänge', Op. 121) Robert Holl (bass-baritone) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion Brahms Song Edition / CD - released 1/Oct/2012 ] "This disc, while the whole recital has notable integrity and quality, would be worth having for [the Four Serious Songs] alone." (International Record Review) |