ARNE
Artaxerxes Classical Opera Company / Ian Page [ LINN / CD - released 10/May/2011 ] "The very fine cast enters with spirit into the text's convoluted scenario of love and betrayal in ancient Persia and delivering [sic] the notes with assurance. Ian Page conducts the period-instrument forces with conviction and the sound is... |
Classical: The Greatest Moments Ever
Various [ Petrol Records / CD - released 31/Oct/2002 ] Features works from Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Strauss, Richard Wagner, Vivaldi, etc |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: La Scala di Seta [The Silken Ladder] (complete opera) Claudia Urru, Meagan Sill (sopranos) Michele Angelini, Remy Burnens (tenors) Emmanuel Franco (baritone) Eugenio Di Lieto (bass) / Kraków Philharmonic [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 10/Jun/2022 ] Gioachino Rossini was only 20 when he was commissioned to compose La scala di seta. It is one of four farsa comica operas which fed popular demand for this genre in Venice in the early 19th century and was wildly successful. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No 1 (LP) Claudio Arrau (piano) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini [ Warner Classics Vinyl / LP - released 26/Aug/2020 ] The LP benefits from a new remastering in 192htz/24 bit done in 2022 from original tapes by Art & Son Studio, Annecy. |
BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / CHOPIN / DEBUSSY / SCHUMANN/ LISZT / GRIEG
Claudio Arrau - The Complete Warner Classics Recordings Claudio Arrau (piano), Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera, Andreas Weissgerber (violin) [ Warner Classics / 24 CD Box Set - released 14/Oct/2022 ] Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) is a pianist fully deserving of the epithet 'legendary'. His rigorous intellect and sense of the sublime found expression in his transcendent technique and sumptuous, yet lucid sonorities. The recordings in this 24CD... |
ANTONIN DVOARK / BEDRICH SMETANA
George Szell conducts Dvorak & Smetana The Cleveland Orchestra, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York, George Szell [ Sony Classical Masters / 7 CD Box Set - released 5/Jun/2019 ] "George Szell's Dvorák performances feature his customary blend of razor sharp orchestral discipline allied to a wholly idiomatic, singing line..Indispensable!" ClassicsToday Dvorak Symphonies |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Stravinsky: Petrouchka; Le Sacre du Printemps (LP) Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez [ Deutsche Grammophon Vinyl / 2 LP - released 16/Apr/2021 ] Originally recorded in 1992 |
SCHUMANN / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / IVES / BARBER / MENDELSSOHN / etc
Cleveland Quartet - The Complete RCA Album Collection The Cleveland Quartet, with Emanuel Ax (piano), Jack Brymer (clarinet), Barry Tuckwell (horn), Richard Stoltzman (Clarinet), Yo Yo Ma (cello) [ Sony Classical / RCA Red Seal / 23 CD Box Set - released 11/Nov/2023 ] Immediately upon their debut at the 1969 Marlboro Festival, four brilliant young American musicians calling themselves the Cleveland Quartet were hailed as a chamber ensemble of exceptional quality. |
Cleveland So/Szell
Haydn: Szell Conducts Haydn [ Sony Classical / 4 CD - released 4/Apr/2011 ] |
OST / Cliff Martinez
Drive [ Sony Classical / CD - released 2/Apr/2012 ] |
Cole Porter
Ost: Silk Stockings [ Sony Classical / CD - released 1/Nov/2010 ] |
HOOK / J C BACH / JOHN MAHON
English Classical Clarinet Concertos Colin Lawson, Michael Harris (clarinets, basset horns) / The Parley of Instruments / Peter Holman [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 1/Dec/2006 ] 'This is a really delightful collection of pieces. Both Lawson and Harris play superbly throughout, blending well together and displaying immaculate intonation' (BBC Music Magazine) |
Columbia So/New York Phil/Walt
Various: The Edition [ Sony Classical / 39 CD - released 20/May/2013 ] |
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Gershwin: An American in Paris / Rhapsody in Blue (with works by Bernstein) Columbia Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein (piano/conductor) [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Mr. Bernstein is not only brilliant where brilliance is called for but he is supremely affectionate in the improvisatory passages and gives the impression of thoroughly enjoying himself, one that is by no means common." (Gramophone on Rhapsody in Blue) |
MAHLER / BRUCKNER / WAGNER / BEETHOVEN / MOZART / etc
Bruno Walter: The Complete Columbia Album Collection Columbia Symphony, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Walter, with Rudolf Serkin, Ernst Haefliger, Maureen Forrester, Lily Pons, etc [ Sony Classical / 77 CD Box Set - released 25/Nov/2019 ] Walter was arguably the most old-world of the many long-lived conductors who were born in the latter part of the 19th century. Indeed, few maestros of any era were so big-hearted and warmly expressive, yet without undo sentimentality. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 5 Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt [ Sony Classical / CD - released 10/Jul/2016 ] "the Fourth Symphony is as good a new version as I've heard in a long time…the kind of performance that brings back the sense of discovery and surprise to a slightly over-familiar score" - BBC Music Magazine ***** |
HANDEL / MOZART
Timotheus oder die Gewalt der Musik Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Werner Güra (tenor) & Gerald Finley (bass) / Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 27/May/2013 ] "The 'authentic' movement resulted in so many anaemic, small-scale recordings that Timotheus, performed in such a way as Handel all too rarely is these days." (Gramophone Disc of the Month - September 2013) |
ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (LP) Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum [ Vinyl Passion Classical / LP - released 5/Feb/2019 ] Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, September 1956 |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphonies Complete Danish Chamber Orchestra, Adam Fischer [ Naxos / CD Box Set - released 26/Aug/2022 ] 2022 marks 25 years of close, innovative cooperation between Adam Fischer and the Danish Chamber Orchestra. This has resulted in a number of releases, and gained international recognition. |
RUDOLF ESCHER
Escher: Orchestral, Chamber and Choral Music Concertgebouw, Riccardo Chailly / Netherlands Chamber Choir [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2020 ] The most extensive survey on record of a major Dutch 20th-century composer, featuring some of the country's most distinguished musicians. |