KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
Szmanowski: Stabat Mater & Harnasie Lucy Crowe, Pamela Helen Stephen & Gabor Bretz / BBC Symphony Chorus & BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 8/Oct/2013 ] "Lucy Crowe especially has a beautifully clean and pure voice and makes the most ethereal sound in this gorgeous music. Her partnership with Pamela Helen Stephen is a joy to hear." (Musicweb) |
DAME ETHEL SMYTH
Dame Ethel Smyth: Mass in D / 'The Wreckers' Overture BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sakari Oramo [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] Ethel Smyth was one of England's foremost Victorian composers, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first female composer to be honoured with a Damehood. She studied composition with Carl Reineke in Leipzig (alongside Dvorák, Grieg and... |
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI
Concerto for Orchestra / Symphony No. 3 / Chain 3 BBC Symphony Orchestra / Edward Gardner [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Oct/2010 ] "On this evidence, Edward Gardner and the BBC SO are a dream team, pressing the claims of a composer who has been neglected since his death in 1994...This performance sets a seal on a disc that leaves one eager for its successors" Gramophone Magazine |
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
Szymanowski: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 / Concert Overture BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner, with Louis Lortie, piano [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2013 ] BBC Music Magazine Awards 2014 Orchestral Finalist |
WILLIAM WALTON
Walton: Symphony No. 2 / Cello Concerto Paul Watkins (cello) / BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Mar/2015 ] "The Symphony No. 2 gets a performance of élan from Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra." Financial Times, 14th March 2015 |
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI
Orchestral Works 4 [Incls 'Symphony No. 1'] BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner, Michael Collins (clarinet), Tasmin Little (violin) [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] "Gardner's interpretative decisions vary from Lutoslawski's, swifter in the fast movements, very slow in the Poco adagio...The composer had the balance between them just right but Gardner is very persuasive...Highly recommended." Editor's Choice Gram |
JOSEF SUK
Orchestral works: Praga, Symphonic Poem / A Summer's Tale BBC Symphony Orchestra. Jirí Belohlávek [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Sep/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2013: Orchestral |
JOSEF SUK
Symphony in E major, Op. 14 / The Ripening, Op. 34 BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jirí Belohlávek [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Sep/2010 ] "Ripening, a symphonic poem, is a highly charged piece, full of poignant emotion and anguished outbursts. Its power is echoed by the First Symphony...in which Belohlávek inspires the BBCSO to a blazing performance." The Telegraph, 2nd September 2010 **** |
J.S. BACH
The Conductors' Transcriptions (Incls Toccata and Fugue in D minor) BBC Symphony Orchestra. Leonard Slatkin, conductor [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jun/2004 ] Hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) format, presented in multi-channel sound! PLAYABLE ON ANY CD SYSTEM - "Bach poached from the organ loft, or ferried away from the recital stage and magnified to cinematic proportions" Editor's Choice Gramophone Oct 2004 |
FLORENT SCHMITT
Schmitt: Symphony No.2 etc BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor) [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 11/May/2018 ] "Feverish, bacchanalian energies are unleashed in 'Orgie et Danses'…[in the Symphony] Oramo does an especially fine job stitching a narrative thread together from the multiple shifts of mood and perspective" BBC Music |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite, etc BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor) [ Chandos / CD - released 31/May/2019 ] Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2013, Sakari Oramo has a special affinity with the music of his compatriot the Finnish composer Sibelius, which this recording admirably demonstrates. Sibelius's ever-popular Lemminkäinen Suite... |
REBECCA CLARKE / CHARLES IVES
Piano Trios Bekova Sisters [ Chandos / CD - released 19/Jun/2000 ] |
ECCLES
Eccles: The Judgment of Paris / Three Mad Songs Benjamin Hulett (tenor) Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano) Claire Booth (soprano) Roderick Williams (baritone) / Early Opera Company / Christian Curnyn [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] Christian Curnyn, whose reputation continues to grow in the world of Baroque opera, here conducts the world premiere recording of Judgment of Paris performed by the award-winning Early Opera Company, along with a stellar cast of soloists. |
QUILTER / MOERAN / BRITTEN / GRANGER / etc
Down By The Sally Gardens Benjamin Luxon (baritone), David Willison (piano) [ Chandos Collect / CD - released 1/Aug/1992 ] 26 TRACKS - beautifully recorded |
LUCIANO BERIO
Orchestral realisations of Schubert, Brahms & Mahler Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Feb/2012 ] "Gardner shapes it all beautifully, and his soloists - Michael Collins in the Sonata, baritone Roderick Williams in the songs - are suave and refined." (Guardian) |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Op 71 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2015 ] "(Jarvi's) conducting is characterful throughout, and particularly effective in the second half of act one, when the fairytale atmosphere turns scary. The Bergen Philharmonic's playing is both virtuosic and impeccably detailed." (Guardian) |
JOHAN SVENDSEN
Orchestral Works Vol 1 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 12/Dec/2011 ] This is the first volume in a projected series of four, dedicated to the orchestral works of the Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen. As a composer, Svendsen was intrigued and inspired by the new trends in music represented by Wagner, Berlioz, and... |
JOHAN SVENDSEN
Orchestral Works Vol 2 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 20/Sep/2012 ] "[The Cello Concerto] is a fascinating and addictive work that deserves more airings...But Jarvi and his Norwegians are on scintillating form throughout and the Cello Concerto and dark readings of the Symphony are to be treasured." (Gramophone... |
JOHAN HALVORSEN
Orchestral Works Volume 4 (Incls 'Norwegian Rhapsody No. 1 & 2) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / CD - released 28/Mar/2011 ] This is the fourth and final volume of colourful and highly appealing orchestral works by the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. The series is performed by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Neeme Järvi. |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Overtures Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] "If you're looking for a set of Berlioz overtures then this disc has very strong claims on your attention." (MusicWeb March 2013) |