W.A MOZART
Chill With Mozart Kosice Teachers' Choir, Concentus Hungaricus [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jan/2008 ] Artists Priti Coles (soprano), Jenö Jandó (piano), Jean Claude Gerard (flute), Janos Fehervari (viola), Magdalena Hajossyova (soprano), Peter Mikulas (bass), Jaroslava Horska (contralto), Jozef Kundlak (tenor), Jiri Valek (flute), Hana Mullerova... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
A Christmas Night Classical and Traditional Favourites (LP) Various Artists [ Harmonia Mundi / LP - released 2/Dec/2022 ] With selections ranging from Praetorius to Britten, plus all-time favourites by J.S. Bach (The Christmas Oratorio) and Handel (Messiah), this album brings together some of the most beautiful and justly famous musical settings of the Nativity story.... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Peaceful Piano Moods Various Artists including Ludovico Einaudi, Vikingur Olafsson, Ola Gjeilo, Maria João Pires, Martha Argerich, Yuja Wang, Max Richter, Lang Lang, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon / 4 CD Box Set - released 15/Mar/2024 ] Immerse yourself in the most peaceful and chilled-out works written for the piano. Introducing Peaceful Piano Moods, a genre-dissolving compilation - a seamless blend of classical and contemporary piano repertoire. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS & POETS
Parihaka: The Art Of Passive Resistance Various performers [ Morrison Music Trust / CD - released 21/Dec/2000 ] Music inspired by story of Parihaka, and extracts from poems commissioned by the Gallery for the exhibition, read by the poets themselves. |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons / Flute Concertos Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute) / Members of the Orchestre National de France, I Soloisti Veneti, Lorin Maazel (violin/director), Claudio Scimone [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 4/Apr/2011 ] Vivaldi's most popular work is accompanied by three Flute Concertos performed by Jean-Pierre Rampal. |
GIOACCHINIO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia Vesselina Kasarova, Manuel Lanza / Opernhaus Zurich, Nello Santi [ EuroArts / DVD - released 1/Jan/2001 ] Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini's comedic opera IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA is probably one of his best-known works; this 2001 live production features the virtuosic vocal talents of Vesselina Kasarova as Rosina. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Vienna State Opera / Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Leo Nucci, Ildebrando D´Arcangelo / Alfred Eschwé (cond) [ Erato / Warner Classics Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Nov/2015 ] Theatrical magic between Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko in Donizetti's delightful and ever-popular comedy L'elisir d'amore |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Manon (complete opera recorded in 1983) Vienna State Opera / Edita Gruberova / Francisco Araiza / Pierre Thau / Adam Fischer (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 12/Dec/2006 ] "[Gruberova] has spoilt her audience with her irresistible high notes and crystalline coloratura...the casualness with which she played the coquette...culminating in her ensnarement of her beau, who was on the verge of entering the priesthood." |
CHARLES GOUNOD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gounod: Faust (complete opera directed by Ken Russell in 1985) Vienna State Opera / Gabriela Benackova, Francisco Araiza, Ruggero Raimondi / Erich Binder (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 23/Jun/2006 ] Gounod's crowning achievement Faust, first staged in 1859 at the Lyric Theatre in Paris, is a conflict of good and evil, love and hate. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Le Nozze de Figaro [The Marriage of Figaro] (complete opera recorded in 2006) Vienna State Opera / Ildebrando D'Arcangelo / Dorothea Roschmann / Anna Netrebko / Christine Schafer / Nikolaus Harnoncourt (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 DVD - released 18/Jun/2007 ] "The opera has probably never sounded as magnificent... It's shattering, unforgettable music theatre." - The Gardian, London |
J.S. BACH / SCHUMANN / KURTAG / BARTOK / BRAHMS / KALDALONS / etc
Víkingur Ólafsson - From Afar (LP) Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 LP - released 7/Oct/2022 ] Childhood memories and a tribute to a musical hero are the inspiration behind Víkingur Ólafsson's most personal album to date. The Icelandic pianist presents From Afar, a unique double album containing two recordings of the same repertoire, one... |
PHILIP GLASS
Glass: Piano Works (2LP) Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) / Siggi String Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon LP / 2 LP - released 31/Jul/2002 ] "Ólafsson's interpretations inhabit a unique, distinct and extraordinary world all their own...[he] possesses that rare gift of illuminating a familiar work in unexpected ways, revealing hidden depths and drawing out its best qualities." Gramophone |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Vladimir Horowitz I Vladimir Horowitz (piano) [ Philips Great Pianists Of The 20th Century Vol. 47 / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2000 ] On December 18, 1925, Horowitz made his first appearance outside his home country, in Berlin. He later played in Paris, London, and New York City. In 1926, the Soviet Union selected Horowitz to join the delegation of pianists that were to represent... |
JANET JENNINGS / WITI IHIMAERA / TOM ROA
Flowing Water Voices New Zealand, Joel Amosa, James Ioelu, Ora Kihi, Amy Thomas, Anna Simmons, Angus Simmons, Morgan-Andrew King [ Performing Arts Community Trust / 2 CD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] This unique blend of kapa haka, opera, drama and music tells the histories of Aotearoa New Zealand through key events that took place from the emerging of this land from the waters, to the arrival of Māori, the arrival of British, to ensuing... |
ROSS HARRIS / HOROMONA HORO
Harris / Horo: Requiem for the Fallen Voices NZ / NZ String Quartet / Richard Greager (tenor) Horomona Horo (taonga puoro) [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 1/Aug/2017 ] Requiem for the Fallen honours the memory of soldiers who died in the First World War. |
J. S. BACH
Walter Gieseking: Complete Bach Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon Walter Gieseking (piano) / Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler [ Deutsche Grammophon / 7 CD Box Set - released 10/Jul/2019 ] 'His tone is attractive (warmed by a little pedal) and subtly nuanced, his phrasing is musicianly, he gives the fugues (often long, in this book) control and cohesion; there is gentleness in the E flat major Prelude and lightness in that in G major.'... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / CLAUDE DEBUSSY / W. A. MOZART / MAURICE RAVEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Walter Giesking II Walter Giesking (piano) [ EMI / Philips / Sony / 2 CD - released 20/Jan/1998 ] Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 - 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control-particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made integral... |
STRAUSS FAMILY / etc
New Year's Concert in Vienna 2020 Wiener Philharmoniker, Andris Nelsons [ Sony Classical DVD / DVD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] The New Year's Concert, one of the world's most famous and spectacular classical music events, returns for the 81st time to present to viewers a sensational programme made up of the vast repertoire of the family of Johann Strauss and its... |
LEOS JANACEK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Janacek: Sinfonietta / Taras Bulba (with Shostakovich: 'The Age of Gold' Suite Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic], Sir Charles Mackerras / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink [ Decca Ovation / CD - released 29/Apr/1991 ] Much as the name Charles Mackerras is rightly associated with Janácek's music, when it comes to the pairing of his two greatest orchestral works, Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba, this recording remains a favourite. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS / ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Wilhelm Kempff I Wilhelm Kempff (piano) [ Decca / Philips / Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 20/Jan/1998 ] Few pianists on record convey quite the impression of actually composing the music while they perform it that sets Wilhelm Kempff's artistry apart. |