GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Pietro Il Grande, Kzar delle Russie (complete opera recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Festival Donizetti Opera / Roberto De Candia, Loriana Castellano, Paola Gradina, Nina Solodovnikova / Rinaldo Alessandrini (cond) [ Dynamic Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 22/Jan/2021 ] "Conducting, playing and choral singing are all terrific, sweeping you through the opera with their infectious precision and energy." Gramphone DVD/Blu-ray of the Month April 2021 |
ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD
Korngold: Die tote Stadt (complete opera recorded in 2019) (Blu-ray) Bayerische Staatsoper / Jonas Kaufmann, Marlis Petersen, Andrej Filonczyk, Jennifer Johnston / Kirill Petrenko (cond) [ BSO Recordings Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 30/Jul/2021 ] "There's a depth and emotional intelligence to this staging that disarmed my initial resistance...on every level, a glorious achievement." Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Opera |
THOMAS ADES
Ades: The Exterminating Angel (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies / Thomas Ades (cond) [ Erato Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 20/Feb/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Contemporary |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Death in Venice (Complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY English National Opera / John Graham-Hall, Andrew Shore, Tim Mead / Edward Gardner (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/May/2014 ] "Graham-Hall is a real stage-animal, convincing us utterly of his descent into obsession...every colour, timbre and texture of this richly imaginative score comes blazing through under Gardner's baton". (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Opera) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Elektra (complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Festival d'Aix-en-Provence / Evelyn Herlitzius, Waltraud Meier, Adrianne Pieczonka, Mikhail Petrenko / Esa-Pekka Salonen (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2014 ] "There's nothing utilitarian about the cast, though, least of all its Elektra. Precise in pitch, unfailingly intense and charismatic, the German soprano Evelyn Herlitzius conquers every challenge." (Gramophone Award WINNER 2015 - Opera) |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 BLU-RAY Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly [ Accentus Music Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 29/Sep/2014 ] 'This Leipzig Ninth is Chailly off the leash, liberating the music in a way that is impassioned, positive, fitfully fractured and often ethereal.' (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Orchestral) |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / John Osborn, Mariangela Sicilia, Maurizio Muraro, Michèle Losier / Sir Mark Elder (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 5/May/2018 ] "Osborn has all the vocal verve and dash to make the devil-may-care sculptor the constant centre of attention. Mariangela Sicilia uses her fearless, technically brilliant vocalism to sustain his beloved Teresa's vibrant personality…a musical treat" |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Les Troyens (complete opera recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House, Bryan Hymel, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Eva-Maria Westbroek / Antonio Pappano (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Nov/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
GEORGE BENJAMIN
Benjamin: Written on Skin (complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Christopher Purves, Barbara Hannigan, Bejun Mehta, Victoria Simmonds / George Benjamin (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Aug/2014 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD WINNER 2014 - Contemporary |
GEORGE BENJAMIN
Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Gyula Orendt, Peter Hoare / George (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jul/2019 ] "At just 90 minutes, this is an opera of impressive concentration with not a word or note wasted." Gramophone |
HUW WATKINS
Watkins: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphony Adam Walker (flute), Alina Ibragimova (violin) / Hallé, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth, Edward Gardner [ NMC / CD - released 20/Jun/2019 ] Watkins is one of today's leading composer-pianists and this album (his second for NMC Recordings) showcases his vibrant, lyrical and impeccably crafted orchestral writing. Both the Flute and Violin Concertos were composed for soloists with whom he... |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites Alban Gerhardt (cello) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Manze / Steven Osborne (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Concerto |
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) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Schwanengesang Andrè Schuen (baritone), Daniel Heide (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 18/Nov/2022 ] "one enjoys Schuen's fresh, beautifully contoured baritone, deployed with breath control that allows him to sail into long vocal lines with an illuminating sense of long-term musical direction, plus telling articulation of text." Gramophone |
FROBERGER / CASPAR / COUPERIN / MUFFAT / etc
Pour passer la Melancolie Andreas Staier (anon. French harpsichord, late 17th century, Joseph Collesse, 1749, restored by Laurent Soumagnac 2000-4) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2013: Baroque Instrumental |
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Birtwistle: Angel Fighter / etc Andrew Watts (Angel) & Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (Jacob) / BBC Singers & London Sinfonietta, David Atherton [ NMC / CD - released 20/May/2017 ] Gramophone Awards 2016 - Finalist - Contemporary |
VALENTIN SILVESTROV
Silvestrov: Hieroglyphen Der Nacht Anja Lechner (cello) [ ECM / CD - released 1/Oct/2018 ] "Listeners familiar with the benign beauty that imbues much of Silvestrov's sacred choral works will be in for quite a shock. [The Elegie is] brilliantly performed by seasoned Silvestrov cellist Anja Lechner." Gramophone |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610) Dorothee Mields, Peter Kooij, Barbora Kabátková, etc / Collegium Vocale Gent & Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe [ PHI / CD - released 18/May/2018 ] Gramophone award finalist 2019 - Choral |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Anna Lucia Richter (mezzo), Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša [ Accentus Music / CD - released 5/Feb/2021 ] "Moving and beautifully crafted Mahler, the symphony's sweep superbly presented by an ever-impressive conductor and players deeply immersed in its idiom" (Gramophone Editor's Choice April 2021) |
J.S. BACH / C.P.E. BACH / J.C. BACH
The Bach Family: Magnificats Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen (conductor) [ Hyperion / CD - released 16/Feb/2018 ] "You would be hard-pressed to find a more illuminating disc than this latest offering from Arcangelo" BBC Music Choral & Song Choice March 2018 |