LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1, 2, 3, 5 & Rondo in B flat Julius Katchen (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Piero Gamba [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2004 ] "The performances are fresh and commanding … Tempi are often on the fast side, but Katchen keeps a classical firmness and provides the necessary contrast in relaxed, poetic accounts of slow movements and sparkling readings of finales." Penguin Guide... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 / Choral Fantasy in C minor / Mozart-Piano Concertos, K415, 466 & 503, Piano Sonata K331) Julius Katchen (piano) / Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Karl Munchinger [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2004 ] "The pared-down sonority of Karl Münchinger's Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, together with Decca's close miking points up Mozart's ceaselessly inventive woodwind scoring." International Record Review |
VERDI / BIZET / OFFENBACH / MASSENET / MASCAGNI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Arias, Duets & Songs, Vol. II Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) [ EMI Classics / 10in - released 1/Jan/1993 ] Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th century, Björling appeared for many years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and less frequently at the major European opera houses, including |
DONIZETTI / VERDI / CILEA / MASSENET / PUCCINI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jussi Bjorling: Opera Arias Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) / Stockholm Royal Opera Orchestra, Stockholm Symphony Orchestra, Nils Grevillius [ EMI Classics / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] Björling made his first stage appearance in the small part as the Lamplighter in Manon Lescaut at the Royal Swedish Opera on 21 July 1930. This was soon followed by his official debut role as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni on 20 August 1930. |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons / Concertos & Sinfonia Michel Schwalbe (violin) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 2/Feb/1990 ] Recorded 1971 $ 1972 |
NICOLA PORPORA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Karina Gauvin - Porpora Arias Karina Gauvin (soprano) / Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis (conductor) [ Atma / CD - released 10/Sep/2009 ] "Historians and musicians have assumed than Porpora was an also-ran...There is no reason why we cannot appreciate and enjoy Porpora's music on its own terms - not least when the singer is the marvellous Karina Gauvin." Gramophone |
SCHUMANN / BRAHMS / SIBELIUS / SCHUBERT / J. STRAUSS / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Excellence: The Artistry of Karita Mattila Karita Mattila (soprano) with Ilmo Ranta (piano) / Turku Philharmonic Orchestra / Finnish Radio Symphony [ Ondine / CD - released 29/Jan/2005 ] "Mattila's singing is spectacular" - Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Lohengrin (Complete opera with libretto ) Karl Ridderbusch, James King, Gundula Janowitz, Thomas Stewart / Bavarian Radio Chorus,Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 6/Sep/2003 ] "Gundula Janowitz is an ideally innocent, vulnerable Elsa - far more so than Sharon Sweet for Davis, while Thomas Stewart and Gwyneth Jones as Telramund and Ortrud make a formidable pair of villains." (BBC Music) |
DEBUSSY / DELIBES / CANTELOUBE / ORFF / R. STRAUSS / RODRIGO / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Kate Royal Kate Royal (soprano) / The Academy Of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Edward Gardner [ EMI Classical / CD - released 3/Sep/2007 ] Kate Royal was born in London and attended Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset. Her teachers as a youth included Jon Andrew.[citation needed] She later studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then the National Opera Studio. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Kate Royal - A Lesson in Love Kate Royal (soprano) Malcolm Martineau (piano) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 21/Feb/2011 ] "Kate Royal's beautifully sung new album, with finely characterised piano-playing from Malcolm Martineau, ranges imaginatively across a spectrum of composers who have captured the first pangs, the heartaches and the dashed hopes." Gramophone... |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Songs of Robert Schumann Vol 10 (Incls Liederkreis Op 39) Kate Royal, with Felicity Lott, Lydia Teuscher (sopranos) Ann Murray, Daniela Lehner (mezzos) Stephan Loges (baritone) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion / CD Box Set - released 30/Nov/2007 ] "...So it is good now to hear how Royal shapes up in miniatures by Schumann, again with Johnson. You can hear why the master accompanist is a fan." - Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine Jan 2008 |
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Kathleen Ferrier, contralto, with various orchestras and accompanists
Kathleen Ferrier - 'Klever Kath' 19 More Kathleen Ferrier favourites (Includes Che faro? from Orfeo ed Euridice) [ Regis Records / CD - released 1/Feb/2004 ] "..Musical tastes change and other singers come and go, but the record-buying public has remained constant to this most loved performer over the years.." James Murray |
HERBERT HOWELLS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Howells: Concertos & Dances Kathryn Stott (piano) / Malcolm Stewart (violin) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley (conductor) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 4/Oct/2005 ] 'Yet another definitive and indispensable addition to the recorded repertoire of British music... Go forth, purchase, and enjoy!' - Fanfare, USA |
JOHN IRELAND / FRANK BRIDGE / WILLIAM WALTON
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ireland/Bridge/Walton - Works for Piano and Orchestra Kathryn Stott (piano) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley [ Conifer / CD ] "The recording is powerful - listen to the RPO horns at 24:30 and to Stott's obsidian verve at 24:03. Every detail emerges unmistakably. This is music that is both angry and grimly atmospheric" MusicWeb on the Frank Bridge |
GEORGE GERSHWIN / PERCY GRAINGER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gershwin: An American in Paris / Grainger: "Porgy and Bess": Fantasy Katia and Marielle Labeque (pianos) [ EMI Classics Nipper Collectaion / CD - released 10/May/2002 ] Recorded in May and June of 1984. |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN / MAX BRUCH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mendelssohn / Bruch: Concertos for 2 Pianos Katia and Marielle Labeque (pianos) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Semyon Bychkov [ Philips / CD - released 24/Mar/1993 ] This CD contains the Labèques' Philips recording of Mendelssohn & Bruch's concertos for two pianos. Over one hour of sheer musical exuberance. |
BELA BARTOK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bartok: Concerto for Two Pianos / Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion Katia & Marielle Labèque (pianos) Silvio Gualda, Jean-Pierre Drouet (percussion) / City of Birmingham Symphony, Simon Rattle [ EMI Classics / CD - released 20/Jul/1987 ] "the playing by the Labeques, with Rattle and the CBSO in the Concerto, and the recording, made in 1985, are all exemplary." Classical Candor |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Khatia Buniatishvili: Schubert Khatia Buniatishvili (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 3/May/2019 ] "It's a reading of extremes that will either beguile or frustrate… There's no doubting Buniatishvili's considerable pianistic powers, nor her abundant imagination, but overall this seems a disc that promotes her rather than Schubert's sublime music." |
ANDREA & GIOVANNI GABRIELI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Glory of Venice King's College Choir, Cambridge, Stepen Cleobury / Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Philip Jones [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] With Charles Brett (countertenor), Ian Caddy (bass), Thomas Elias (treble), Richard Farnes (organ), Peter Hall (tenor), William Kendall (tenor), Stephen Layton (organ), John Scott (organ) |
HENRY PURCELL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Purcell: Ode for the birthday of Queen Mary / Funeral Anthem of Queen Mary King's College Choir, Cambridge / The Academy of Ancient Music / Stephen Cleobury [ EMI Classics / CD - released 20/Mar/2006 ] The Choir of King's College, Cambridge has collaborated with the Academy of Ancient Music on a richly evocative album of works composed for Queen Mary II by Henry Purcell. |