CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Images / Le martyre de Saint Sebastien Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Feb/1993 ] "Rahbari is a sensitive and perceptive Debussian." Gramophone |
RAVEL
Orchestral Works (Incls 'Gaspard de la Nuit' & 'Valses nobles et sentimentales') Bielefelder Philharmoniker, Alexander Kalajdzic [ MDG SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 16/Aug/2014 ] Maurice Ravel instrumented many of his piano compositions for full orchestra, but even this tone-color magician kept his safe distance from his bloodcurdling Gaspard de la nuit. It was left to Marius Constant to accomplish this Herculean task, and... |
TCHAIKOVSKY / DELIBES / PROKOFIEV / KHACHATURIAN
Ballerina: The World's Favourite Ballet Music [2 CD set] Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Lazarev / Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste / Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon, Kent Nagano [ Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 5/May/2010 ] "For sheer enjoyment, though, I would definitely place it at the top of the pile. I would urge anyone who loves this music to make a point of hearing Nagano's outstanding reading." (Gramophone on Coppelia) |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (complete opera recorded at the paris Opera in 2008) Bolshoi Theatre / Marius Kwiecien / Makvala Kasrashvili / Tatiana Monogarova / Alexander Vedernikov (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques / 2 DVD - released 10/May/2009 ] G - "Kwiecien is scoring a triumph in the title role, a part everywhere identified with his immediate predecessor, Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky…Kwiecien commands the stage with his good looks, rich and resonant voice and the volatile... |
ROBERT SCHUMANN / JOHANNES BRAHMS
Schumann: Symphony No. 1 / Brahms: Symphony No. 1 Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD ] "Rahbari brings admirable sweep and dramatic fervour" CD Review |
Brown/Alexander/Malone
Brown/Alexander/Malone [ Telarc / 2 CD - released 2/Dec/2002 ] |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9 BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jan/1990 ] |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphony No.1 / Haydn Variation BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels / Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2000 ] "A strong, direct reading, spacious yet with plenty of impetus." Penguin Guide |
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 |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 / Serenade No. 2 Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD ] "Rahbari's shaping of phrases and of long paragraphs is excellent and the tempi he sets are apt. He senses the dramatic crux of the slow movement perceptively and builds the finale to its climax with an admirable sense of inevitability" Hi-Fi Choice |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphony No.10 Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD ] "Rahbari[']s…leadership is inspiring. The overall effect is low-key compared to some of the 'big guns', but it seems a legitimate other way to play the music. The Naxos sound is beautiful-better than many of the 'big' labels." American Record Guide |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Songs of Cricket Cantabile - The London Quartet, with Chris Hatt and Alexander L'Estrange (pianos) [ Signum Classics / CD - released 1/Nov/2011 ] "Brilliant moments - a droll psalm-chant recitation of the "rules" and an ingenious Pärt-style setting of a pleasingly circular explanation of the game ("Cricket Tea Towel") - show just what these singers can do." (The Independent) |
Messiaen,
Quatuor pour la fin du temps Carolin Widmann, Jörg Widmann, Nicolas Altstaedt, Alexander Lonquich [ ORFEO / CD - released 10/Aug/2012 ] |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Stravinsky: Apollon musagète & Pulcinella Suite Alexander Janiczek, Chamber Orchestra of Europe [ Linn Records / CD - released 12/Jul/2019 ] The Chamber Orchestra of Europe performs Stravinsky's Apollon musagète and Pulcinella Suite, repertoire that demands the fresh and energetic delivery for which the COE is renowned. The COE deliver the 'wonderful freshness' Stravinsky himself... |
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV / OTHMAR SCHOECK
Glazunov/Schoeck: Violin Concertos Chloe Hanslip (violin) Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Alexander Vedernikov [ Hyperion Romantic Violin Concerto Vol 14 / CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] "The engineering forms a perfectly adroit complement to the demands of these sunset works in performances that seem faithfully to emote the composers' intentions. In a word: glorious." (Recording of the Month MusicWeb March 2013) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: The Bells Op 35 / The Rock Op 7 Ivan Choupenitch (tenor) / Helen Field (soprano) / Oleg Melnikov (bass) / RTE Philharmonic Choir. Choupenitch, Alexander Anissimov [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Apr/2002 ] "Budget or no, these are Bells you ought to hear." |
ERIC MONTALBETTI
Montalbetti: Chamber Music Harmonieuses Dissonances Christian Tetzlaff / Alexander Vorontsov / Delphine Haidan / Pierre Génisson / Les Dissonances / Solistes de l'Ensemble intercontemporain [ Alpha / CD - released 24/Apr/2020 ] Harmonieuses Dissonances: that is the title of the string quartet that closes this second album of music by Eric Montalbetti, but above all it is a statement of the very subject of the works assembled here: they start out from heterogeneous elements,... |
DIMITRI SCHOSTAKOVITCH/ RODION SCHEDRIN/ SERGEI PROKOFIEV/ SERGEI RACHMANINOV
The Russian Album Christoph Croisé (cello), Alexander Panfilov (piano) [ AVIE / CD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] In the spring of 2019, Christoph Croisé scored a break-through with his critically acclaimed recording of Haydn's Cello Concertos (AV 2402). With The Russian Album, he turns his attention to two towering 20th-century masterpieces, Sergei Rachmaninov' |
MARCO PUTZ
Pütz: Moods Cottbus State Theatre Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Merzyn, with Philippe Schwartz (euphonium) & Karl Berkel (tuba) [ Naxos / CD - released 27/Jan/2023 ] Marco Pütz gained international recognition after winning awards for his compositions in the mid-1990s. Accessibility and enjoyment for both audiences and musicians are a central element in Pütz's music, and he is renowned for numerous symphonic,... |
BIZET / MASCAGNI / SCHMIDT / HUMPERDINCK / PUCCINI / etc
Intermezzo Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; Alexander Rahbari, conductor ; Budapest Symphony Orchestra ; Michael Halasz, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 30/Jun/2003 ] The lights are dimmed and from the pit the sound of the orchestra rises. |