|
VERDI
Aida [recorded live in 1953] Maria Callas, Kurt Baum, Giulietta Simionato, Jess Walters / Covent Garden Opera Chorus & Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Testament / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2009 ] "it was in many ways a performance that outshines all [Callas's] studio recordings, with the stage atmosphere well caught. Barbirolli too is a winningly warm and sympathetic Verdian" (Penguin) |
|
Mozart, Wo
Symphonie KV 551, Divertimento KV 136 Camerata Academica; Sir Roger Norrington [ ORFEO / CD - released 20/Jul/2001 ] |
|
VERDI
Falstaff (Complete opera) Carlos Alvarez, Balent Bezduz, Alasdair Elliott, Ana Ibarra, Peter Hoare / London Symphony Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / 2 SACD - released 1/Nov/2004 ] "A memorable evening's fun is fully captured on disc: bouquets all round" Editor's Choice Gramophone Nov 2004 - Hybrid SACD Compatible with all CD players. Includes high denstity stereo and surround tracks that can be read by SACD players. |
|
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi Opera Choruses (Incls 'Anvil Chorus' & Grand March from Aida) Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 30/Aug/2014 ] |
|
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No.1 in D major Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Originals / CD - released 25/Mar/2007 ] 'The Chicago players give Solti everything he asks for in sonority, power, and rhythmic attack...as an interpreter of this symphony Solti has lost little of his old flair and insight.' Gramophone October 1984 |
|
GRIME / ADES / BIRSTWISTLE / KNUSSEN / ELGAR
This Is Rattle Christian Tetzlaff (violin) London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ LSO Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray - released 6/Sep/2019 ] Sir Simon Rattle's arrival in London heralded a new era for the LSO, and the ten day festival that opened his inaugural season as the Orchestra's Music Director wowed critics and audiences alike, going on to win the prestigious Royal Philharmonic... |
|
VERDI
Requiem (complete recorded in 2009) Christine Brewer / Karen Cargill / Stuart Neill / John Relyea / London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] "…Sir Colin conducts the Requiem with a judicious mix of fire and meditative calm; tempi never drag nor are they, in the reflective passages, metronome-quick. The work of the LSO Chorus is first-rate, as is that of the LSO itself." Gramophone... |
|
JOSEF HAYDN
Die Schopfung [The Creation] Christine Oelze (sop) Scot Weir (tenor) Peter Lika (bass) / Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Sir Roger Norrington [ Hanssler Profil / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Nov/2008 ] The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801) are two works of unique artistic excellence. In them Haydn combined the theatrical gestures of Handel's oratorios with elements of his own symphonic style. Both The Creation and The Seasons represent the... |
|
JAMES MacMILLAN
St John Passion (complete) Christopher Maltman / London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 10/Feb/2009 ] "James MacMillan has delivered a St John Passion that stirred its premiere audience to a standing ovation, Maltman sought out the lyrical core of this striking portrayal, while acknowledging its angry edge." (The Independent) |
|
WILLIAM WALTON
Henry V: A Shakespeare Scenario Christopher Plummer (narrator) Celia Nicklin (oboe) / Academy of St.Martin / Sir Neville Marriner [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2007 ] 'Chandos's stunning sound captures with unflinching ease the rousing spectacle of the battle music at full tilt. In all, another winner of a CD in what's turning out to be a most distinguished series.' Hi-Fi News |
|
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E flat major 'Symphony of a Thousand' Christine Brewer, Soile Isokoski, Juliane Banse, Birgit Remmert, Jon Villars, etc / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ Warner Classics Masters / CD - released 25/Jul/2017 ] "A Mahler 8 that seems dutifully fervent against a euphoric Rattle and his forces" - Recording of the Month Gramophone Magazine April 2005 |
|
Claire Martin & Sir Richard Ro
When Lights Are Low [ Linn / CD - released 31/Oct/2011 ] |
|
ELGAR
Crown of India, Op. 66 [Orchestrations by Anthony Payne] Clare Shearer (mezzo-soprano), Gerald Finley (baritone), various narrators / Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus & BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos / 2 CD - released 20/Nov/2009 ] "The music… is from start to finish authentic middling Elgar, highly enjoyable and well worth revival. Gerald Finley shines as St George in 'The Rule of England', however embarrassing the words." BBC Music Magazine |
|
SATIE / BRITTEN / DVORAK
GymnopACdies / Sinfonia da Requiem, Op.20 / Symphony No 7 Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam / Sir John Barbirolli [ Testament / CD - released 27/May/2003 ] The great Sir John Barbirolli conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra |
|
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 (with works by Franck & Litolff) Clifford Curzon (piano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell [ Decca Legends / CD - released 9/Aug/2010 ] Another great Brahms performance: Curzon's beautifully judged fantasy matched by a smiling, sympathetic Szell - James Jolly, Gramophone 1000th issue |
|
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... |
|
SUK
Asrael Symphony, Op. 27 Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Supraphon / CD - released 8/Sep/2011 ] "this more recent Mackerras performance digs just that little bit deeper and for that reason edges nearest to the classics by Talich and Kubelík." (Gramophone Award Finalist 2011 - Orchestral) |
|
DVORAK
Dvorak - Symphonic Poems Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Supraphon / CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2010 ] "The Golden Spinning Wheel, a performance full of warmth and vitality, very realistically recorded and surely the highlight of the disc." Gramophone Awards 2010 WINNER - Orchestral |
|
SIR EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: The Music Makers / The Spirit of England Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Staples (solo tenor), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Nov/2018 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Choral |
|
SIR ARTHUR BLISS
Bliss: Mary of Magdala Dame Sarah Connolly (Mezzo-soprano), James Platt (Bass), BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] Bliss composed The Enchantress in 1951, the year of his sixtieth birthday, for Kathleen Ferrier. The text is a free adaptation of the Second Idyll of Theocritus, made by Henry Reed, and well suited to Bliss's love of classical Greek... |