JUNE ANDERSON
Fantasias / The Crazed Moon / The Discovery of Heaven London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski & Ryan Wigglesworth [ LPO Live / CD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Golden Years of the Gramophone (incl. Gendarmes' Duet, Cats' Duet & Song of the Flea) Manchester School Children's Choir / Halle Orchestra / Peter Dawson / Feodor Chaliapin [ EMI Classics for Pleasure / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] A nostalgic issue of mostly vocal pieces. Twenty-three original recordings - classic and fondly remembered recordings from the 78 era. |
LEOPOLD GODOWSKY
Godowsky: The Complete Studies on Chopin's Etudes Marc-Andre Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 12/Jun/2000 ] "It is quite stunning, an extraordinary schievement even by Hamelin's own standards. No one with an interest in the piano should pass this by." Rosette (Highest Rating) - Penguin Stereo Guide |
LENNOX & MICHAEL BERKELEY
Stabat Mater: Sacred Choral Music by Lennox & Michael Berkeley The Marian Consort, Berkeley Ensemble, David Wordsworth [ Delphian / CD - released 22/Jul/2016 ] "The Marian Consort's background in early music pays dividends in their superb precision of pitch, impeccable rhythmic placing and beautiful diction.the lush harmonies that open [Judica me] are sumptuously delivered and beautifully recorded" Gramopho |
THOMAS ADES
Adès Conducts Adès Mark Stone (baritone), Kirill Gerstein (piano), Christianne Stotijn (mezzo-soprano), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Adès [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] "...for proof that Adès does what he does with mind-boggling brilliance, look no further." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Contemporary |
SIR PETER MAXWELL DAVIES / SIR ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK
Symphonies No. 10 Markus Butter (baritone) / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Antonio Pappano [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/Aug/2015 ] "It's a big, deeply reflective statement, its matter and form based on the life and work of the Italian baroque architect Francesco Borromini, some of whose words Davies sets. Pappano, the baritone Markus Butter and the LSO perform it brilliantly." |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: The Seasons Marlis Petersen, Werner Güra & Dietrich Henschel / RIAS Kammerchor & Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/2014 ] Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - Awards Issue 2004 Gramophone Awards 2005 Record of the Year Finalist Radio3 Building a Library First Choice - March 2008 Haydn's The Seasons is a two-hour vocal work that praises God and nature and... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 Martin Helmchen (piano) / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Andrew Manze [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 13/Dec/2019 ] As the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth approaches, and following a much admired version of the Diabelli Variations (Alpha 386 - Gramophone Editor's Choice), Martin Helmchen has decided to record his complete piano concertos... |
MOZART / MEHUL / OFFENBACH / LEONCAVALLO / LEHAR / WAGNER / RAVEL / etc
Michael Spyres - BariTenor Michael Spyres (baritone/tenor) / Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, Marko Letonja, Choeur d'hommes de l'Opéra national du Rhine [ Erato Classics / CD - released 1/Oct/2021 ] "The range of roles is astonishing, but then so are these performances...Spyres really is a tenor - and a baritone, it seems - who has the operatic world at his feet." Gramophone Award WINNER 2022 - Vocal & Ensemble |
LULLY / HANDEL / VIVALDI / VINCI / PORPORA / SARRO / HASSE / etc
Michael Spyres - Contra-Tenor Michael Spyres (tenor) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Francesco Corti [ Warner / Erato / CD - released 21/Apr/2023 ] "Michael Spyres's now famous range coupled with his superb sense of drama and glorious technique singles him out - once again - as one of the finest opera singers before us today. " Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Voice & Ensemble |
TALBOT / EINAUDI / SHORE / SCHUMANN
Miloš : The Moon & The Forest Miloš Karadaglić (guitar) / BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ben Gernon, National Arts Centre Orchestra Alexander Shelley [ Decca / CD - released 7/May/2021 ] 'Premiere recordings of two dazzling new concertos which offer new perspectives on the relationship between guitar and orchestra, performed with considerable conviction and élan.' Gramophone Editor's Choice June 2021 |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Il Sogno di Scipione (complete opera) The Choir and Orchestra of Classical Opera, Ian Page [ Signum / 2 CD - released 13/Oct/2017 ] Classical Opera continue their continuing complete Mozart opera recording series with the one-act dramatic serenade 'Il sogno di Scipione', K126. Composed in 1771 as a celebratory homage to Prince Archbishop Sigismund Schrattenbach of Salzburg,... |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Death in Venice (complete opera recorded in 2013) English National Opera / John Graham-Hall, Andrew Shore, Tim Mead / Edward Gardner (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 3/Mar/2014 ] "Graham-Hall is a real stage-animal, convincing us utterly of his descent into obsession...every colour, timbre and texture of this richly imaginative score comes blazing through under Gardner's baton". (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Opera) |
HENRI DUPARC
Complete Songs of Duparc Malcolm Martineau (piano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone), William Thomas (bass) [ Signum / CD - released 20/May/2022 ] "There's a terrific and consistently persuasive grandeur and sweep in much of Martineau's playing…This is a fine and fascinating addition to his discography" - Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Song |
LEOS JANACEK
Janácek: The diary of one who disappeared & other works Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Jun/2019 ] "Not only does Spence's voice offer a rare mix of steely strength and velvety tenderness but his bright, vibrant timbre communicates a touching, wide-eyed sense of ardent longing, tinged with melancholy." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Solo Vocal |
GIACOMO MEYERBEER
Meyerbeer: Robert le Diable (complete opera) John Osborn, Nicolas Courjal, Amina Edris, Erin Morley, Nico Darmanin / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine; Marc Minkowsk [ Bru Zane CDs + Book / 3 CD/Book - released 23/Sep/2022 ] "It all adds up to a formidable re-evaluation of a seminal if neglected work, as well as being a remarkable achievement in its own right." Gramophone Recording of the Month Awards Issue 2022 |
CHARLES-VALENTIN ALKAN
Alkan: Concerto and Symphony for Solo Piano Paul Wee (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] "What is almost incredible is that the soloist Paul Wee is not a professional pianist but a highly successful international commercial London lawyer." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Instrumental |
J.S. BACH
Bach: The Well-Tempered Consort - III Phantasm, Laurence Dreyfus [ Linn / CD - released 28/Apr/2023 ] "Through the intimacy of the viol consort these keyboard works are clothed in a new timbral mantle, equally sumptuous and revelatory." Recording of the Month BBC Music Magazine April 2023 |
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) [ Pentatone SACD / 3 Hybrid SACD - released 9/Mar/2018 ] "It's hard to imagine the textures having greater impact or precision, or the continuity and discontinuity being projected with greater concentration…Not a single sound emerges with indifference." Gramophone |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier - Book II [excerpts] Piotr Anderszewski (piano) [ Erato / Warner Classics / CD - released 29/Jan/2021 ] GRAMOPHONE Award WINNER 2021 - Piano |