W. A. MOZART / CHOPIN / SCHUMANN
Maria Joao Pires: Complete Concerto Recordings Maria Joao Pires (piano) / Orchestra Mozart, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Jul/2020 ] This collection brings together all of Maria João Pires' concerto recordings for Deutsche Grammophon from between 1990 and 2011. It displays the great Portuguese pianist in the music of three composers who have always been close to her heart -... |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 (LP) Maria João Pires (piano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, André Previn [ Deutsche Grammophon LP / 2 LP - released 11/Mar/2022 ] "Pires's approach to the concerto is ardently lyrical, giving her spacious sense of rubato and radiant singing tone the greatest expressive freedom..Pires's wonderfully pliable phrasing and bell-like sonority soon win you over." (Gramophone) |
EVGUENI GALPERINE
Galperine: Theory of Becoming (LP) Maria Vasyukova (voice), Sergei Nakariakov (trumpet), Sebastien Hurtaud (violoncello) [ ECM New Series / LP - released 18/Nov/2022 ] The ECM New Series debut of Evgueni Galperine is one of the most strikingly original and evocative albums of the year. A composer of Russian and Ukrainian heritage, living in Paris since 1990, Galperine is working with sound, texture and dynamics in... |
SPIRITUALS / VERDI / BRAHMS / SCHUMANN / HAYDN / SCHUBERT / etc
Marian Anderson - Beyond the Music - Her complete RCA Victor recordings [15 CDs with large book] Marian Anderson (contralto) [ Sony Classical / 15 CD/Book - released 27/Aug/2021 ] "Special mention must be made of this set's presentation, which stands among the glories of the CD era not just for its musical comprehensiveness, but also for its artful design." Opera |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Music For The Queen Of Heaven: Contemporary Marian Motets The Marian Consort [ Delphian / CD - released 1/Dec/2017 ] The Marian Consort originally made its name with the music of the Renaissance. But the group has also worked regularly with living composers for a number of years. This programme of contemporary Marian anthems - many of them commissioned by the... |
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rautavaara: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra; Symphony No. 8, The Journey (with bonus CD sampler) Marielle Nordman (harp); Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam [ Ondine / CD - released 21/Feb/2005 ] "Sound is excellent. A disc well worth hearing, and having." - MusicWeb July 2004 |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6 (recorded in Paris in 2010) BLU-RAY Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev [ Mariinsky Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Dec/2011 ] "Not a note is out of place, even in the most desperate and hectic passages of these performances...Yet the overall impression is of a paradoxical combination of coolness and hysteria" (BBC Music) |
Marijana Mijanovic
Handel: Affetti Barocchi [ Sony Classical / CD ] |
GIACOMO MEYERBEER
Meyerbeer: Le Prophete (Complete opera recorded in 1976) Marilyn Horne, Renata Scotto, James McCracken, Jerome Hines / Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Henry Lewis [ Sony Classical Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2016 ] "The role calls for a Brünnhilde range with an Amneris-type voice: the vocal flexibility and dramatic punch needed are extraordinary. Miss Horne has them all, and she brings out the pathos of the part without sentimentalizing it." (Gramophone) |
Mario Biondi
Sun [ Sony Classical / CD - released 13/May/2013 ] |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (complete ballet) Marion Ralincourt (flute) / Les Siècles & Ensemble Aedes, François-Xavier Roth [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Apr/2017 ] "Lean gut strings achieve feathery lightness... With fine choral contributions from the Ensemble Aedes, this new recording is highly recommended." Gramophone Award WINNER 2018 - Orchestral |
Mariss Jansons
Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra [ Sony Classical / CD - released 5/Nov/2007 ] |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: 'As steals the morn' scenes and arias for tenor Mark Padmore (tenor) / The English Concert, Andrew Manze (with Lucy Crowe, sop) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD/Book - released 15/Jan/2007 ] BBC Music Magazine Award Winner 2008 (Best Vocal Recording) |
MANUEL de FALLA
De Falla Collection Marta Senn, Cecilia Angell, Fernando de La Mora, Timora Rosler, Benita Meshulam, Jutta Czapski, Klára Würtz, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venez [ Briliant Classics / 5 CD - released 17/Oct/2021 ] Regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the twentieth century, Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) developed an interest in native Spanish music - in particular Andalusian flamenco - while studying with Felipe Pedrell in Madrid in the late 1890s. |
Martha Argerich
Various: Coffrets Rtl Classiqu [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 28/Feb/2011 ] |
BARTOK / BEETHOVEN / BERLIOZ / BRAHMS / DVORAK / BRUCKNER / etc
Masters of Classical Music: 20 documentaries on 4 Blu-ray Discs Martha Argerich (piano) Gil Shaham (violin) / Pierre Boulez, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink [ Euroarts Blu-ray / 4 Blu-ray Box Set - released 29/Sep/2017 ] Masters of Classical Music is an informative and captivating guide to twenty of the most important works in music history. Outtakes from the original scores within the documentaries, assist the viewer by making it easier to follow the music and to... |
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps Martin Frost (clarinet) Lucas Debargue (piano) Janine Jansen (violin) Torlief Thedeen (cello) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 20/Jan/2018 ] "The playing is flawless but still deep-felt, unflinching in the white heat of the Dance of Fury, intently hushed in the Abyss of the Birds, fervent in both tender Louanges." The Guardian |
PHILIP GLASS / IGOR STRAVINSKY
Glass & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos David Nebel (violin), London Symphony Orchestra, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Kristjan Järvi [ Sony Classical / CD - released 15/May/2020 ] This breath-taking new album features exceptional works by two of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century: The Violin Concerto No.1 by American minimalist composer Philip Glass and Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical Concerto. |
Martin Stadtfeld
Bach: Goldberg Variations [ Sony Classical / CD - released 19/Sep/2005 ] |
FREDERIC CHOPIN & OTHERS
The Maryla Jonas Story - Her Complete Piano Recordings Maryla Jonas (piano) [ Sony Classical / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2018 ] "'As Bryce Morrison puts it: 'a blazingly original talent, heard here in brilliantly remastered sound'." Gramophone Reissue of the Month Jan 2018 |