PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (complete ballet recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Amsterdam Music Theatre / Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, James Stout / Ermanno Florio [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] Choreographers Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling created a Nutcracker for the children and adults of today. It is more dynamic and exciting, and less sweet than usual. |
Fairport Convention & Matthew's Southern Comfort
Live in Maidstone 1970 (The Soundtrack From Tony Palmer's Film) [ Tony Palmer / CD - released 14/Jun/2010 ] |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream (recorded live at Shakespeare's Globe, August 2013) Globe / John Light, Pearce Quigley, Michelle Terry, Luke Thompson, Matthew Tennyson / Dominic Dromgoole (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius - but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia… When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods. |
FRANCIS POTT
Pott: At First Light / Word Joseph Spooner (Cello) Christian Wilson (Organ) / Commotio, Matthew Berry [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jul/2020 ] "Every now and then you hear a new work and feel that excitement, the knowledge that here is a piece that is going to become part of the landscape." Gramophone Editor's Choice Sept 2020 . |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Magnificat & Christmas Cantata 63: Reconstruction of Bach's first Christmas Vespers in Leipzig Julia Doyle, Joanne Lunn, Clare Wilkinson, Nicholas Mulroy, Matthew Brook / Dunedin Consort, John Butt [ Linn SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 16/Oct/2015 ] 'This is a beautifully paced, exhilaratingly executed performance' (Choral & Song Choice BBC Music Christmas 2015) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart Momentum - 1785 Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Truscott (violin), Joel Hunter (viola), Frank-Michael Guthmann (cello) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 28/May/2021 ] 'Socially distanced they may have been but the camaraderie that was so evident in their groundbreaking Beethoven cycle with Leif Ove Andsnes is, if anything, even more apparent here.' Gramophone Recording of the Month June 2021 |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Messiah (Complete oratorio) Lucy Crowe (soprano), Alex Potter (counter-tenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The English Concert & Choir, John Nelson [ Erato CDs + DVD / 3 CD/DVD - released 24/Nov/2023 ] The American conductor John Nelson, especially famed for his interpretations of Berlioz, conducted Handel's most celebrated oratorio at Coventry Cathedral in the heart of England in November 2022. |
Matthew Marshall
Brighter Than Blue [ Rattle Records / CD - released 20/Nov/2020 ] This new album by classical guitarist Matthew Marshall features world premiere recordings of music written by New Zealand composers. Primarily an album of duos, the album starts with Philip Norman's six-part Tense Melodies for guitar and flute... |
MATTHEW MARSHALL
Fragments Matthew Marshall (guitar) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] This wonderful album of music written specifically for classical guitar by some of New Zealand's finest composers features classical guitarist Matthew Marshall in a set of recordings made by Radio New Zealand producers and engineers, 1993 - 1995. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Royal Ballet: Pas de deux The Royal Ballet / Sarah Lamb, Mara Galeazzi, Tamara Rojo, Carlos Acosta, Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova, Matthew Golding, Roberta Marquez, etc [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2018 ] This unique collection celebrates the pas de deux: the 'steps for two' or partner dances so central to ballets both modern and classical. It brings together 16 exceptional pas de deux from The Royal Ballet's unequalled repertory. |
LEONARD BERNSTEIN / SAMUEL BARBER / AARON COPLAND
American Choral Music Corydon Singers, Matthew Best [ Hyperion / CD ] 'An imaginative and enterprising programme, extremely well sung and recorded' (Gramophone) 'An exquisite disc. Indispensable' (Acoustic Sounds Catalog, USA) |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: L'Enfance du Christ Yann Beuron, Karen Cargill, William Dazeley, Matthew Rose & Peter Rose, LSO & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis [ Alto / 2 CD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] Disc of the Year: Financial Times & New York Times "Beuron, probably today's finest lyric tenor, gives the performance an essential idiomatic core in his narration ... [Tenebrae are] dramatically alert and glowing as stained glass, the angelic... |
ANTHONY RITCHIE
New Zealand Poets in Song Anna Leese (soprano) Matthew Leese (piano) [ Ode Records / CD - released 20/Oct/2008 ] New Zealand Poets In Song is the latest release featuring the music of Anthony Ritchie. The songs on this recording span 26 years, and signify many happy collaborations between Anthony Ritchie and various New Zealand poets. |
SIR PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
Maxwell Davies: Sacred Choral Works Michael Bonaventure (solo organ) / Choir of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Matthew Owens [ Delphian / CD - released 12/Jun/2006 ] In the 1960s few would have predicted that Peter Maxwell Davies would eventually write a set of Evening Canticles; yet religious texts have always been of fundamental importance to the composer, as this disc vividly demonstrates by bringing together... |
ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Mass in F Minor / Psalm 150 Corydon Singers / Corydon Orchestra, Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 10/Oct/2011 ] "Quite magnificent … hoping for a better all-round performance than this is probably an impossible dream!" (Gramophone) |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mendelssohn: Choral Music (Incls 'Ave Maria' & 'Hear My Prayer') Corydon Singers / English Chamber Orchestra / Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 25/Apr/2007 ] "A welcome addition to Helios catalogue - surely a must for bargain hunters and aficionados alike" (MusicWeb May 2007) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil, Op 37 ('Vespers') Corydon Singers / Matthew Best [ Hyperion 30 / CD - released 1/Sep/2010 ] 'A memorable version of Rachmaninov's masterpiece, most beautifully sung and balanced, with rich and varied tone, and some outstanding soloists... buy this album immediately' (Musical Opinion) |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vaughan Williams: Choral Works [Incls Serenade to Music; Five Mystical Songs & Fantasia on Christmas Carols] (4 CD set) Corydon Singers, Matthew Best, with John Mark Ainsley, Thomas Allen, Elizabeth Connell, John Gielgud, Bryn Terfel, Sarah Walker, etc [ Hyperion / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Jun/2008 ] 'The performances are splendid, graced by such soloists as Thomas Allen and Bryn Terfel … The rapturous Serenade to Music has a cast of 16 singers fit to rival those of the original recording' (Sunday Times) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb / A Wedding Anthem / Festival te Deum / A Boy was Born Corydon Singers, Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 17/Nov/2007 ] 'This beautifully made record deserves the widest circulation. The sound these choirs make is of great beauty, and is captured in a flawless recording full of atmosphere and warmth' (The Monthly Guide to Recorded Music) |
HERBERT HOWELLS
Howells: Requiem (with Vaughan Williams-Mass & Te Deum) Corydon Singers / Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] 'One of the most luminous and touching of 20th-century Requiem settings' (Tower@classical music) |