RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams:Complete Symphonies London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Hickox, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos Classics / 6 Hybrid SACD - released 27/May/2022 ] 'Impeccable playing' The Times |
NICOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade / May Night / The Tale of Tsar Saltan / The Flight of the Bumblebee / Russian Easter Festival Over L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2010 ] 'Scherazade must be counted as an historical recording' Penguin - Penguin Guide 1996 2/3 star |
LEOS JANACEK / BELA BARTOK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra / Janacek: Sinfonietta Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Andre Previn [ Telarc Classics / CD - released 1/Dec/2002 ] "The Telarc recording captures the full bloom of the orchestra. The coupling is unique." (Penguin Guide) |
RODRIGO / VIVALDI / FLAMENCO / TRADITIONAL
Los Romeros - The Mercury Masters Los Romeros, with San Antonio Symphony, Victor Alessandro [ Decca / Philips / Mercury / 10 CD Box Set - released 8/Dec/2023 ] Los Romeros was the first guitar quartet to achieve eminence across continents and on stages of the world. Their first recordings were made in January 1960 and released on Contemporary Records. |
VERDI / PUCCINI / MOZART / DONIZETTI / LEONCAVALLO / DVORAK
Opera Gold: 50 Greatest Tracks Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Kiri te Kanawa, Mario del Monaco, Placido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Renee Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann [ Decca Music Group / 3 CD Box Set - released 8/Oct/2021 ] Decca, the opera company, presents a premium collection of the most beautiful opera tracks on 3 CDs. Classic arias and preludes performed by the greatest opera stars of all time. |
THREE TENORS
The Three Tenors in Concert 1994 in Los Angeles (complete on CD & DVD) Luciano Pavarotti / Jose Carreras / Placido Domingo / Zubin Mehta [ Warner Classics / 2 LP - released 21/Jun/2024 ] On Saturday July 16, 1994, The 3 Tenors performed a concert in Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium that was acknowledged as "probably the biggest single musical event in history" with an estimated worldwide audience of more than one billion viewers. This... |
ARENSKY / BUSONI / MOZART / POULENC / RACHMANINOFF
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Lyubov Bruk & Mark Taimanov Lyubov Bruk, Mark Taimanov (pianos) / Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Arnold Katz / Leningrad Chamber Orchestra, Lazar Gozman [ Philips Great Pianists Of The 20th Century Vol 15 / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/1998 ] Taimanov was a top concert pianist in the Soviet Union. With his first wife, Lyubov Bruk, he formed a piano duo, some of whose recordings were included in the Phillips and Steinway series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. |
ANTONIN DVORAK / LEOS JANACEK / BOHUSLAV MARTINU
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Dvorak/Martinu/Janacek: Love Songs Magdalena Kozena (soprano) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 30/Aug/2000 ] 2001 GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER - Vocal |
CHRISTOPH GLUCK / W. A. MOZART / JOSEF MYSLIVECEK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Magdalena Kozena - Le Belle Immagini Magdalena Kozena (soprano) / Prague Philharmonia / Michel Swierczewski [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 7/Feb/2002 ] "With good support from orchestra and conductor this is a disc which should be bought even by those who resist hype on principle." - MusicWeb Feb 2005 |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Operatic Arias Magdalena Kozena (soprano) / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Sir Simon Rattle [ Archiv / Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 6/Sep/2006 ] "Here is a singer with both a rich, colourful and 'alive'-sounding voice and the musical intelligence to use that gift." Recording of the Month - Gramophone Magazine (September 2006) |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi: Opera and Oratorio arias Magdalena Kozena (mezzo soprano) / Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 18/Jun/2009 ] "Magdalena Kozená has almost become the Barack Obama of mezzo-sopranos. With that mesmerising voice, that magnetic personality, everybody wants a piece of her." The Times, 5th June 2009 *** |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Maggio Muiscale Florentino / Jeanne Michele Charbonnet, Vladimir Vaneev, Vsevolod Grivnov / James Conlon (cond) [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] "New Orleans-raised Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet proves a powerful if one-dimensional actress in the title-role. The other key protagonists are authentically Russian. The most distinguished singing comes from Vladimir Vaneev... The main attraction of... |
PIETRO MASCAGNI
Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz (Complete Opera recorded in 2022) (Blu-ray) Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Salome Jicia, Charles Castronovo, Teresa Iervolino, Massimo Cavalletti / Riccardo Frizza,(cond) [ Naxos / Dynamic Blu-ray / DVD - released 17/Feb/2023 ] "Cucchi evokes a lively society, never overstated, of friendship and good cheer...Frizza controls the ebb and flow in masterly fashion. The whole thing is very nicely done." Gramophone Blu-ray of the Month April 2023 |
FREDERIC CHOPIN / ALEXANDER SCRIABIN / AKIO YASHIRO
Mao Fujita - 72 Preludes Mao Fujita (piano) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 13/Sep/2024 ] Following his 'consistently impressive' (Gramophone) traversal of Mozart's complete Piano Sonatas for Sony Classical - winner of an Opus Klassik Award - Japanese pianist Mao Fujita has recorded a similarly ambitious project. |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: The Complete Piano Sonatas Mao Fujita (piano) [ Sony Classical / 5 CD Box Set - released 4/Nov/2022 ] "Despite his young years, Fujita is fully inside these works and makes an impressive job in imparting his vision. All the ingredients for outstanding Mozart performance are here." MusicWeb |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mendelssohn: On wings of song Margaret Price (soprano) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 14/Apr/2004 ] "Mesmerising... as is usual, the Hyperion recording is perfectly balanced" - Classic CD |
CANTATE DOMINO
Cantate Domino - A most euphonious selection of Christmas music! Marianne Mellnas (soprano) Alf Linder (organ) / Oscar's Motet Choir / Torsten Nilsson [ Proprius / CD - released 1/Dec/2004 ] Cantate Domino, recorded by Bertil Alving 1976, is famous for it's incredible sound quality. The CD starts with Enrico Bossi's "Cantate Domino" for choir, organ, trumpets and trombones. A wonderful piece with a stunning organ introduction. Included... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: St Matthew Passion BLU-RAY Mark Padmore (Evangelist), Peter Harvey (Christus), Maria Espada (Soprano), Ingeborg Danz (Mezzo) / Royal Concertgebouw & Netherlands Radio Choir, Iva [ Arthaus Musik Blu-Ray / Blu-ray - released 10/Oct/2012 ] This 2012 recording of the most influential and wide spread oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach features the Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer, a visionary in his field, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. The double choir is the... |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Prokofiev: Violin Sonatas Nos 1 & 2 / 5 Melodien Martha Argerich (piano) Gidon Kremer (violin) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "these performances are mercurial and provocative. Kremer and Argerich find expectedly dark resonances in the lyrical Second Sonata whilst projecting a radiant beauty in the Five Melodies." BBC Music Magazine, August 2008 ***** |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Martin Fröst - Vivaldi Martin Fröst (clarinet), Concerto Köln [ Sony Classical / CD - released 22/May/2020 ] Martin Fröst is an internationally renowned clarinettist and conductor. 'Vivaldi' is a baroque adventure based on the question: What might Vivaldi have composed for the clarinet if it had been more fully developed? |