SAMUEL BARBER
Barber: Piano Concerto / Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance / etc Stephen Prutsman (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 10/Oct/2011 ] "The American Classics series has been one of the most innovative and exciting recording projects in recent years. The exploration of Barber's works has persistently provided the brightest jewels in the Naxos crown." (The Observer) |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Piano Concerto ‘Resurrection’ & Flute Concerto Barry Douglas (piano) / Lukasz Dlugosz (flute) / Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra [ Naxos / CD - released 7/Mar/2013 ] Scored for a large orchestra, including triple wind and a raft of percussion, Penderecki's Piano Concerto, heard here in its 2007 revision first performed by Barry Douglas, renews the composer's direct involvement with the 'grand' concerto tradition... |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Symphony No. 2 / Cello Concerto (conducted by Elgar) (1927-28) Beatrice Harrison (cello) / London Symphony Orchestra / New Symphony Orchestra / Edward Elgar [ Naxos Historical Elgar conducts Elgar / CD - released 15/May/2007 ] "These performances are essential listening for Elgarians. Both are flawed in execution, but both are valuable historical documents. The recording of the Second Symphony is more than that. It is a genuinely exciting recording in its own right...Sound... |
TIPPETT
Piano Concerto / Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage Benjamin Frith (piano) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / George Hurst, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 15/Feb/2002 ] "Those of you who know little about Tippett should start here, as it is the ideal entry into his sound world, and you don't risk much of the family budget." - Fanfare |
AARON COPLAND
Copland: The Tender Land Suite / Piano Concerto / Old American Songs Benjamin Pasternack (piano) Nathaniel Stampley (baritone) / Elgin Symphony Orchestra / St. Charles Singers / Robert Hanson [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 1/Jun/2008 ] "Another collection of American classics that deserves the highest praise. With exemplary playing, singing and an acoustic to match this is plainly indispensable." (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month July 2008) |
BACH / MOZART / SCHUBERT
Furtwangler Early Recordings, Vol. 1 (Incls 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 3' & 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik') [rec 1929-37] Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Wilheim Furtwangler [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 20/Jul/2008 ] "The Berlin Philharmonic is, to no great surprise, revealed in Mark Obert-Thorn's excellent sonic remastering as one of the most sophisticated orchestras of its era" (MusicWeb June 2008) |
ERNST TOCH
Toch: Tanz-Suite / Cello Concerto Berlin Spectrum Concerts, Thomas Carroll [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 4/Dec/2006 ] "These works are very much redolent of their time and place, and if the period or the idiom interests you, then so will these very polished and well recorded performances." -Classics Today |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos 1 & 3 Bernd Glemser (piano) / Polish National Radio Symphony, Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jan/2011 ] Tolstoy says: "Tchaikovsky is dead," - and two huge tears (for everything is larger than life with him...), rolled down his great cheeks" (Marie Scheikevitch). To the writer Vasily Yastrebtsev (1899), Tchaikovsky was a man of his time: "When... |
FREDERICK DELIUS
Delius: Violin Concerto / Piano Concerto / Eventyr / A Song Before Sunrise Betty Beecham (Piano) / Jean Pougnet (Violin) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Thomas Beecham [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 4/Dec/2006 ] Sir Thomas Beecham's almost single-handed promotion of the music of Delius to international acceptance through his own personal standing and his conducting genius, besides being among the singular feats of the twentieth century, remains unrivalled in... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Schumann: Introduction and Concerto Allegro Idil Biret (piano) / Polish National Radio Symphony, Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Oct/2000 ] "A release well worth hearing." ClassicsToday |
JOHANNES BRAHMS / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Schumann: Introduction and Allegro appassionato Idil Biret (piano) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice); Antoni Wit, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 5/Jun/2000 ] "The two Schumann works are fine bonuses, both rendered with the same commitment and insight from soloist and orchestra. In the end, one must assess all these performances as quite extraordinary and fully competitive with the best." ClassicalNet |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Boris Giltburg (piano) / Brussels Philharmonic, Vassily Sinaisky [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Apr/2023 ] Rachmaninov's First Piano Concerto was composed while he was a student at the Moscow Conservatoire, then fully reworked before he left Russia in 1917 and again in 1919. It is hard to explain why it never achieved a higher level of popularity. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 'Emperor' / Piano Concerto No. 0, WoO 4 Boris Giltburg (piano) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko [ Naxos / CD - released 11/Mar/2022 ] These works share the common key of E flat major but represent two very different stages in the composer's life. The Piano Concerto No. 0, WoO 4, written when Beethoven was 13 years old, is one of his earliest works. |
JOSE SEREBRIER
Serebrier: Symphony No. 1 / Violin Concerto Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus / José Serebrier [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 18/Oct/2010 ] "Serebrier gets back to his roots in a couple of agreeable tangos but the First Symphony is a fascinating document from a teenage composer." Gramophone Magazine, November 2010 |
WILLIAM SCHUMAN
Schuman: Violin Concerto, New England Triptych (with Ives-Variations on 'America') Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Jose Serebrier (conductor) [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 22/Jun/2001 ] Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (July 2001) |
BELA BARTOK
Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra / music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos / CD - released 10/May/2012 ] "This muscular and thrilling recording amply demonstrates why Marin Alsop is such a sought after conductor and why the Baltimore Symphony is so highly thought of all over the world." MusicWeb International, July 2012 |
BELA BARTOK
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD ] "The impulse gives a feeling of live performance" Penguin Guide |
CLEMENTI
Clementi: Piano Concerto in C major Bruno Canino (piano) / Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Francesco La Vecchia [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Jul/2014 ] These four works are among the few surviving examples of Muzio Clementi's early orchestral music. The two Symphonies, Op. 18 follow Classical models but are full of the surprise modulations and dynamic contrasts to be found in his piano sonatas. The... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti - Double Concerto / Flute Concertino / Clarinet Concertino Budapest Camerata / Laszlo Kovacs (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Dec/2004 ] Gaetano Donizetti, while generally known only as a composer of operas, was in fact responsible for the composition of a great many other works, totalling 611 in all. Instrumental works make up a relatively small proportion of these and are apparently... |
ZOLTAN KODALY
Kodály: Concerto for Orchestra / Dances of Galanta / etc Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos / CD - released 22/Dec/2017 ] Zoltán Kodály, like his compatriot Béla Bartók, wrote major orchestral scores that were deeply enriched by his research into Hungarian folk music. The Dances of Galánta are full of swagger and vitality, and the Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned... |