CHARLES GOUNOD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gounod: Symphonies 1 & 2, Faust Ballet Music Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conducted by Sir Neville Marriner [ Philips / CD - released 1/Dec/1998 ] Recorded: 1997 Recording Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Requiem KV 626 Barbara Bonney, Anne Sofie Von Otter, Willard White / Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque / Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ Philips / CD - released 12/Dec/2005 ] "John Elliot Gardiner with characteristic panache gives one of the most powerful performances on record" *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Last Night of the Proms 2000 Hilary Hahn (violin) Jane Eaglen (soprano) / BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ BBC / Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 11/Apr/2002 ] G :- "The Last Night of the Proms" is one of the most famous musical events in the world, watched and listened to by millions. It celebrates British tradition and encapsulates the unique spirit of the BBC Proms, by featuring leading international... |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (complete opera) Bernd Weik, Teresa Kubiak, Stuart Burrows / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Music Group Limited DVD / DVD - released 16/Aug/2004 ] Director Petr Weigl is celebrated for his sumptuous opera films, using magnificent natural settings and casting photogenic actors in the principal roles. |
BIRGIT NILSSON
La Nilsson (arias and songs by Wagner, Weber, Beethoven, Gounod, etc) Birgit Nilsson (soprano) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Sir Edward Downes (with Ake Leven, organ) [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] One of the greatest soprano legends of all time, Nilsson's 1963 Decca recital with Sir Edward Downes of popular opera arias by Wagner, Weber, Beethoven, et.al. has never been fully issued. Here it is on CD - issued complete for the first time and in... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Opera and Oratorio Arias (Judas Maccabaeus, Dettingen Te Deum, Serse +) Bryn Terfel (baritone) / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 19/Jun/2000 ] "The singing here incorporates a good deal of embellishment, some of it of Sir Charles Mackerras's devising. He is an excellent conductor for Terfel, sharing with him an appreciation of the zest in Handel." Gramophone |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen / Kindertotenlieder / 5 Lieder Christa Ludwig (mezzo) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, Andre Vandernoot, Sir Adrian Boult (conds) [ Warner Classics Redline / CD - released 15/Oct/2018 ] "This disc is a classic, make no mistake." ArkivMusic.com |
CHOPIN / BALAKIREV / RACHMANINOV / DOHNANYI / etc
Cyril Smith: The Complete Solo Recordings HMV & Columbia recordings Cyril Smith (piano) with Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent [ APR / 3 CD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] We tend to remember Cyril Smith (1909-1974) these days as the pianist who overcame the misfortune of a paralysing stroke to form a hugely successful duo for three hands with his wife, pianist Phyllis Sellick. Before then though, he had conquered the... |
CARISSIMI / VIVALDI / GLUCK / CALDARA / HANDEL / etc
Arie Antiche: songs and arias Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone) Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Sir Neville Marriner [ SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2005 ] The sequence of Italian operas on this recording take us from the birth of opera at the end of the sixteenth century to the first flowerings of the Classical period nearly 200 years later. The extraordinary power and agility of Dmitri Hvorostovsky's... |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The World of Gilbert & Sullivan D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Isidore Godfrey, Royston Nash, Sir Malcolm Sargent [ Decca / CD - released 14/Jul/1990 ] "If you are looking for a CD to cheer you up on a dull day this Decca (recording) will serve admirably." Rosette Recording. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
RICHARD STRAUSS / ALBAN BERG / MAURICE RAVEL / IGOR STRAVINSKY
Easter Festival Baden-Baden (recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Elina Garanca (mezzo), Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 30/Nov/2018 ] At this concert performance from the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle and the Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča performed music from the early 20th century. |
RICHARD WAGNER
George London sings Wagner George London (bass-baritone) / Wiener Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch & Sir Georg Solti [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2013 ] " These are not merely good performances: they have that intense, imaginative re-recreation of the music which lifts them out of that category." (Gramophone) |
C. P. E. BACH / J. C. BACH / THOMAS ARNE
Arne, CPE Bach & JC Bach: Harpsichord Concertos George Malcolm (harpsichord) / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 16/Sep/2017 ] There were many worlds in George Malcolm's (1917-1997) universe - organist, harpsichordist, pianist, composer, choral director and conductor - and this one demonstrates his unique skill as a solo performer who, throughout his career, more than any... |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies / Orchestral Works Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 19/Mar/2021 ] Sir John Barbirolli's electrifying interpretations of the works of Jean Sibelius have inspired audiences all over the world. In a letter to Barbirolli, Sibelius declared himself to be a 'devoted admirer' of the conductor, adding that he was always... |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture: Cockaigne Jacqueline Du Pre (cello) Dame Janet Baker (mezzo) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics Original Jacket Reissues / CD - released 22/Aug/2015 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE 100 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto / Apollon musagète / etc James Ehnes (vioin) / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 23/Feb/2024 ] "…James Ehnes gives a performance of unobtrusive elegance … Ehnes's intonation is, as ever, second to none." Gramophone |
MAURICE RAVEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ravel: Sheherazade (with lieder by Chausson, Duparc, Schumann & Brahms) [recorded in 1967] Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano) / New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli, London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn, & Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (ba [ Warner Classics Original Jacket Reissues / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/1999 ] A classic recording of Ravel's Shéhérazade, evoking a wealth of moods and sensations. Janet Baker, an irresistible storyteller, is accompanied on her journey by Sir John Barbirolli, conducting the New Philharmonia with sensitivity and imagination |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 1962) Joan Sutherland, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merill / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Sir John Pritchard [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 15/Mar/2012 ] "Sutherland's performance puts lovely things in the listener's way at every stage" (Gramophone) |
FALLA / GRANADOS / DEBUSSY / ALBENIZ / RAVEL
Falla: Noches en los jardines de Espana [Nights in the Gardens of Spain] (recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Joaquín Achúcarro (piano) / Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Blu-Ray / DVD - released 20/Sep/2011 ] "There is something special with Achucarro. Very few musicians can extract this kind of sound from the piano" Sir Simon Rattle |