CORELLI / VIVALDI / REBEL / MOZART
The Art of the Violin Andrew Manze (violin) with Richard Egarr (harpsichord), Jaap ter Linden (viola da Gamba) & English Concert [ Harmonia Mundi / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2009 ] "You can't beat Andrew Manze when it comes to fiery, inspired violin playing." The Independent |
BELA BARTOK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bartok: 44 Violin Duos Angela & Jennifer Chun (violins) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Jan/2010 ] "The Chuns' caring, committed, and stylistically perceptive Bartók playing deserves serious consideration." (9 / 9 ClassicsToday) |
JOHANN LUDWIG BACH
Bach, (J.L.): Trauermusik Anna Prohaska, Ivonne Fuchs, Maximilian Schmitt, Andreas Wolf / RIAS-Kammerchor / Hans-Christoph Rademann [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Jan/2011 ] "Harmonia Mundi's presentation is superb. The sound is wonderfully clear and full. The documentation is excellent, including some fine colour illustrations. Johann Ludwig Bach's masterpiece has been splendidly served here" |
VARIOUS
American Angels: Songs of hope, redemption & glory Anonymous 4 [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 10/Feb/2004 ] Anonymous 4's release explores the beauty and power of early American sacred music. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Harmonia Mundi 50th Anniversary Boxed Set Anonymous 4, Huelgas Ensemble, Fretwork, Andreas Scholl, William Christie, Andrew Manze, Jerusalem Quartet, Alan Planes, Richard Egarr, Isabelle Faust [ Harmonia Mundi / 30 CD Box Set - released 13/Oct/2007 ] 50 WORKS / 30 CDs / OVER 36 HOURS OF MUSIC Described by the New York Times as "one of Europe's finest independent record companies" |
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
Telemann: Viola Concertos Antoine Tamestit, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Sabine Fehlandt, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Jan/2022 ] A precursor in this field as in so many others, Telemann gave the viola its very first masterpieces, immediately establishing it as a solo instrument in its own right. Alongside Sabine Fehlandt and the musicians of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin,... |
JORG WIDMANN
Widmann : Viola Concerto / 24 Duos / Jagdquartett Antoine Tamestit (viola), Symphonieorchester der Bayerischen Rundfunks, cond. Daniel Harding, Signum Quartett, Marc Bouchkov (violin) & Bruno Philippe [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Mar/2018 ] "What is undeniable is the commitment of Tamestit as he plays, moves and sometimes shouts his way through a score more distinctive for its gestural immediacy than its thematic content." Gramophone |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Viola Sonatas / Zwei Gesange Op. 91 Antoine Tamestit (viola), Cédric Tiberghien (piano), Matthias Goerne (baritone) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 30/Apr/2021 ] "The playing of these two fine artists offers high-class musical riches at every point, Tamestit finding a ceaseless range of tone-colours that always sounds natural rather than contrived." - BBC Music Magazine 4/5 Stars |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH / GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Bach: Two Cantatas BWV 82 & BWV 56 / Handel: Arias from 'Susanna' & 'Messiah' Arcadian Academy and friends, The Baroque Choral Guild, Nicholas McGegan, with William Parker (baritone) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 19/May/1991 ] An exquisite program of chamber music |
PAISIELLO / GIULIANO / CAUDIOSO / CECERE
Concerti Napoletani per Mandolino ArteMandoline, Juan Carlos Muñoz (mandolin), Mari Fe Pavón (mandolin), Alla Tolkacheva (mandolin) [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Aug/2018 ] Artemandoline take their listeners on a musical journey to 18th-century Naples. |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Selva morale e spirituale Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Pablo Heras-Casado [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Dec/2017 ] "You'll find everything from grand ensembles to intimate solo confessionals, and this recording is best suited to the latter...individual musicians and singers of the Balthasar Neumann are wonderful, and they shine in their nimble duos and trios." |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Oster-Oratorium & Himmelfahrts-Oratorium [Easter & Ascension Oratorios] Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 27/Mar/2020 ] "No other group performing Bach can boast such a seductive elegance in its unforced balance, textural control and sophisticated turn of phrase." Gramophone, September 2003 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Che Puro Ciel - The Rise of Classical Opera Bejun Mehta (counter-tenor) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Dec/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
HANDEL
Ombra Cara [with bonus DVD] Bejun Mehta (counter-tenor) Freiburger Barockorchester, Renee Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi / CD/DVD - released 20/Nov/2010 ] "This is, inexplicably, his first recital CD. It's superb." (10/10 ClassicsToday Feb 2011) |
IGOR STRAVINSKY / MANUEL de FALLA
Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite - Falla: El Retablo de Maese Pedro & Harpsichord Concerto Benjamin Alard (harpsichord 'Grand Model') / Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Pablo Heras-Casado [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 23/Feb/2024 ] "The Pulcinella Suite is simply perfect, buoyant and stylish rather than in your face, with vivid personalities from leader William Hagen to first bassoon Marceau Lefèvre lending ideal sophistication." BBC Music |
SCHUBERT / SCHUMANN / BRAHMS / WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert / Schumann / Brahms / Wagner: Les Filles Du Rhin / Rhinemaidens Bernarda Fink (mezzo), Anneke Scott, Joseph Walters, Olivier Picon, Chris Larkin (horns) Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 18/Mar/2016 ] "The vocal ensemble Pygmalion, resident at the Opera de Bordeaux, are suitably seductive sirens - and even Bernarda Fink makes a cameo appearance in Schubert's D920 Grillparzer Ständchen, her serenading awash with fellow female songsters, and harp." |
SCHUTZ
Italian Madrigals SWV 1 - 19 Cantus Colln / Konrad Junghanel (cond) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Cantus C011n has done Schutz proud yet again: let us hope that more will follow." (Gramophone) |
SWEELINCK
Sweelinck: Psaumes Francais & Canciones Sacrae Cappella Amsterdam / Daniel Reuss (conductor) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Nov/2009 ] "The 18 fresh-sounding voices of the professional chamber choir Cappella Amsterdam produce a bright and transparent choral balance. Their intonation is flawless, the French pronunciation idiomatic and unaffected" Gramophone Magazine, February 2010 |
JOSQUIN DES PREZ
Miserere mei Deus - Funeral Motets & Deplorations Cappella Amsterdam & Daniel Reuss [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 26/Oct/2018 ] 'To lament, to mourn, to memorialise: such was the new fashion at the very end of the fifteenth century', writes Alice Tacaille. 'The poet, in mourning the musician, attains an expressive intimacy . . . a eulogy of art that places the lamenting poet... |
JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK
Sweelinck: Psalms & Magnificat Cappella Amsterdam, Daniel Reuss [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] Composer, organist, organ builder and teacher of international renown, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was known in his own time as the 'Orpheus of Amsterdam'. Among his significant contributions to Franco-Flemish polyphony, one finds both psalms in French... |