BACH / MOZART / GLUCK
Music for flute & orchestra Claude Monteux (flute) / London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] "Claude Monteux's tone is clear and cool, his technique impeccable, his style admirably Mozartian, and in choosing his own cadenzas to play he chose right: these are at once the most idiomatic and the most effective of all those at present on offer". |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: 5 Symphonies London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / 4 CD Box Set - released 5/Nov/2001 ] "This was one of Abbado's biggest recording projects with the orchestra of which he was music director, and remains a richly rewarding legacy." (Gramophone) |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 / Violin Concerto Ruggiero Ricci (violin) / Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, Erich Kleiber / New Symphony Orchestra of London, M. Sargent [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] Despite being recorded under 78rpm conditions, in four- or five-minute sections, the Fourth Symphony is marked by a palpable symphonic rigour as well as the edgy brass which lends such intensity to Decca's Paris recordings of Russian music. |
MINKUS / PAULLI / HELSTED / GADE
Minkus and friends: Don Quixote, Paquita, La Bayadere, Napoli London Festival Ballet Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Elizabethan Trust Melbourne Orchestra, John Lanchbery [ Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Nov/2010 ] Ludwig Minkus composed some of the most important full-length ballet scores during the golden age of classical ballet in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. His works often involved exotic settings like Spain and India. |
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 |
MARK-ANTHONY TURNAGE
Speranza / From the Wreckage Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet), London Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding (conductor) [ LSO SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 11/Oct/2013 ] BBC Music Award Nomination 2015 - Orchestral |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) Daniela Barcellona, Kenneth Tarver / London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra / Colin Davis [ LSO Live / 2 CD - released 11/Jan/2008 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1801-1850) -- 'Sir Colin Davis's third recorded Roméo et Juliette with fine young soloists and his superb LSO forces. The refinement of the sound brings pianissimos of breathtaking delicacy,... |
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Bernstein: Wonderful Town Danielle de Niese, Alysha Umphress, Nathan Gunn, Duncan Rock / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Oct/2018 ] 'I cannot imagine better casting for the sisters than the quintessentially sassy Danielle de Niese and the effortlessly funny Alysha Umphress.' The Times |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 & 7 / Pohjola's Daughter / Karelia Suite / etc Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Collins, Thomas Jansen [ Australian Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "I think the star performance is that of the Sixth Symphony - so elusive, so easy to ruin by over-interpreting. I was fascinated by what seemed like a hint of Russian flavouring in the string chants of the coda - well why not?" (Gramophone) |
KHACHATURIAN
Khachaturian (incls Violin Concerto & Spartacus [excerpts]) David Oistrakh (violin) Mindru Katz (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra / Philharmonia Orchestra / etc [ EMI 20th Century Classics / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Dec/2010 ] "Another valuable EMI reissue is a 2-disk set of works of Aram Khachaturian many with the composer on the podium. The major work is the violin concerto played by David Oistrakh who collaborated with the composer in writing the work. One might... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 [German Requiem] David Wilson-Johnson (bass-baritone), Felicity Lott (soprano) / London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox [ Chandos Richard Hickox Legacy / CD - released 28/Jul/2017 ] This reissue is a moving experience in itself, and not only for returning to the catalogue a superlative recording of Brahms's masterpiece, not the best known at the time of its release in 1991, but also for the exceptional soloists, majestically... |
BERLIOZ
Symphonie Fantastique / Béatrice et Bénédict, Op. 27: Overture London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live / CD - released 12/Feb/2001 ] Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - May 2001 |
GUSTAV HOLST
Holst: The Planets London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis [ LSO Live / CD - released 5/May/2003 ] |
Schubert,
Symphonie No. 3 D-Dur, Symphonie No. 1, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Opern- und Konzertarien Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; London Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch [ ORFEO / CD - released 14/Jul/2003 ] |
BRAHMS
Brahms: Serenades 1 & 2 / Overtures, Haydn Variations Dresdner Philharmonie, Heinz Bongartz / London Symphony Orchestra, Rafaël Frühbeck de Burgos [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Apr/2015 ] "I was in a perfectly blissful mood. I have seldom written music with such delight." Thus Brahms, notorious curmudgeon, to his friend Joseph Joachim, while engaged in his standard practice of arranging larger works - in this case the Second Serenade... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Earl Wild Goes to the Movies (Incls Mozart' Piano Concerto No 21 & Slaughter on 10th Avenue) Earl Wild (piano) / London Promenade / RCA Symphony / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Ivory Classics / CD - released 26/Jan/2008 ] Born on November 26, 1915 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the young Wild displayed extraordinary musical ability from the age of three. By the time he was six years of age, he was reading music fluently and before his twelfth birthday, he was studying... |
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN
Scriabin: Symphonies Nos 1 & 2 Ekaterina Sergeeva (mezzo-soprano) & Alexander Timchenko (tenor) / London Symphony Orchestra & chorus / Valery Gergiev [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 1/May/2016 ] "there's a great sense of freedom in this music that Gergiev manages to create ... Gergiev's volatility really works in this Scriabin." CDReview |
MAHLER
Symphony No 2 'Resurrection' / Symphony No. 10 in F sharp minor - Adagio Elena Mosuc (soprano) Zlata Bulycheva (mezzo-soprano) / London Symphony Orchestra & chorus / Valery Gergiev [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 20/Feb/2009 ] "This really is a very appealing performance, and even in a crowded field I can easily imagine it giving Mahlerians a good deal of pleasure." (ClassicsToday 9/9) |
BARTOK
Bluebeard's Castle Elena Zhidkova & Sir Willard White / London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Valery Gergiev [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 5/Sep/2014 ] "…Gergiev and his superlative orchestral forces and vocal soloists, supported by magnificent sound quality, present the enigmatic piece with great power, leaving us, as adequate performances always do, feeling stunned and somewhat bewildered." (BBC) |