LISZT / WAGNER / BERLIOZ
Sirenes Stéphanie d'Oustrac (mezzo) Pascal Jourdan (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2019 ] "The French singer's gleaming bright mezzo brings soprano overtones to this music, and she is especially compelling in Berlioz's anguished "Ah! Sans amour, s'en aller sur la mer" in Sur les lagunes, and skittish and playful in Villanelle" SundayTimes |
BEETHOVEN / RIES / PUNTO / DANZI
Horn and Piano: A Cor Basse Recital Teunis van der Zwart (horn), Alexander Melnikov (paino) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Jan/2022 ] "van der Zwart exploits the disruptive contrasts between registers, and between stopped and open notes, as vividly as I've ever heard...A winner, and not only for horn fanciers." Gramophone Editor's Choice March 2022 |
EDWARD ELGAR / ERNEST BLOCH
Elgar (arr. Tertis) - Viola Concerto / Bloch: Suite for Viola and Orchestra Timothy Ridout (viola) / BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 13/Jan/2023 ] "Ridout is a strong, personable player whose deft handling of the Scherzo and heartfelt playing of the Adagio make the concerto's central episodes exceptionally memorable." Gramophone Award WINNER 2023 - Concerto |
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/Jun/2024 ] "Where Gimeno makes the piece his own is in the complex rhythmic games of the three 'Turangalîla' movements, coolly coordinating them with a species of late Debussian sensuality that Boulez might have recognised, had he not deplored the piece" Gramop |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Piano Trio no.1 op.99 / Piano Trio no.2 op.100 Trio Wanderer [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 22/Feb/2008 ] "With these recordings the Trio Wanderer made their debut in 2000, and were greeted with remarks about 'near-Beethovenian' voltage…here, indeed, the Trio live up to their name by responding with a sure touch to Schubert's sad wanderer rhythm.". |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet & Seven Romances of Alexander Blok Trio Wanderer / Ekatarina Semenchuk (mezzo-soprano), Catherine Montier (violin), Christophe Gaugué (viola) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Oct/2020 ] "The individual members of Trio Wanderer capture the cycle's contrasting moods of despair, passion, violence, mystery and gentle lyricism with playing of magnetic power and imagination." BBC Music Five Stars - Chamber Choice. Dec 2020 |
CESAR FRANCK
Franck: Piano Trio & Quintet, Violin Sonata - Louis Vierne: Piano Quintet Trio Wanderer & Vierne Quintette [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 26/May/2023 ] The Trio Wanderer follows up its multi-award-winning Schumann set with an exploration of the fascinating world of César Franck. The gulf between his youthful trios and the prodigious works of his maturity reveals a fundamental turning point in the... |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Piano Sonatas opp.37 & 80 Vadym Kholodenko (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Jun/2021 ] "[Op. 37] whatever can be done to bring out the sonata's beauty and variety, along with genuine feeling, Kholodenko does it. this disc came as one of the nicest surprises of the year, and I can warmly recommended it as a first choice for the Grande |
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.... |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 6 / Visions Fugitives Vadym Kholodenko (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 5/Jun/2020 ] Following up on his acclaimed recordings of Prokofiev's piano concertos, Vadym Kholodenko offers more music by his favorite composer. The solo works assembled here reveal several facets of Prokofiev. He was an outstanding melodist - a 'classicist' on... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 30/Apr/2020 ] Perfect Synthesis. Bach's exploration of the Italian concerto grosso took the principles of instrumental 'rivalry' to the point of paroxysm, bringing to the form an unprecedented harmonic and contrapuntal refinement. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.1 & 2 (with CPE Bach: Symphonies Wq 175 & 183/4) Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Jul/2020 ] BBC Music Award Nomination 2021 - Orchestral |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Gran Partita - Wind Serenades K. 361 & 375 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/May/2021 ] "For those wanting the music played on the kinds of instruments that Mozart himself knew, this beautifully recorded new version sweeps the field." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2021 |
J.S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Triple Concerto BWV1044; Harpsichord Cto. BWV 1052 Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] "the gestures bold and the virtuosity glittering." - International Record Review |
ANTONIO VIVALDI / JEAN-FERY REBEL
Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni [The Four Seasons] / Rebel: Les Eléments Midori Seiler (solo violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "..[Midori Seiler] and the Berliners have simply insisted on taking nothing for granted...the sheer flair of this new release dazzles as much as it delights." BBC Music |
VIVALDI / GABRIELI / PORTA / MARCELLO / etc
A Venetian Journey Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, with Xenia Löffler (baroque oboe) - Amandine Beyer, Gli Incogniti - Concerto Palatino [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD - released 18/Jan/2019 ] From the late Renaissance until the middle of the eighteenth century, Venice was the scene of unrivalled musical splendour, encompassing the magnificent ceremonial music heard at Saint Mark's Basilica and the virtuoso music-making at the charitable... |
PAUL WRANITZKY
Wranitzky: Symphonies Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2022 ] Bernhard Forck leads Akamus in a spirited showcase of the Moravian-born composer's gifts as an orchestrator, featuring the overture to Oberon, the 'Grande Symphonie caractéristique pour la Paix avec la République francaise', and the 'Tempest' Symphony. |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Marie Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Justin Doyle - RIAS Kamerchor [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 15/Nov/2019 ] "Altogether, there is much to discover in this little-known work, and the conductor Justin Doyle with his talented team of soloists and the RIAS Chamber Choice and Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik do it proud. Recommended." BBC Music Five Stars |
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti: Griselda Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/2019 ] Scarlatti's Griselda, premiered in Rome in 1721, received a single performance at the Teatro Capranica, and was never taken into the repertoire elsewhere, both for financial reasons and because of the changing tastes of the time. The tragic story of... |
J.S. BACH
Bach: Mass In B Minor Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Sep/2022 ] A composition as brilliant as it is protean - the earliest sections date back to 1724, others were written in 1733 in the hope of obtaining a post in Dresden - the Mass in B minor occupied Bach until the end of his life. The work, which is more... |