W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Overtures Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "The Kölner Akademie is in period instrument guise, and the sound is of ten suitably thrilling and zippy" BBC Music |
E.T.A. HOFFMANN
Symphony in E flat major & Overtures Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens [ CPO / CD - released 25/Mar/2015 ] E. T. A. Hoffmann is one of the great writers of German romanticism. This month, CPO release his two overtures Undine and Aurora and his Symphony in E flat major. The Symphony is hailed as one of his greatest works, and this gem shines in this... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Serenades - 'Haffner' Kölner Akademie / Michael Alexander Willens, with Alexander Janiczek (violin solo) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] "Rhythms are nicely pointed, the phrasing elegant but never precious, and the ensemble sonority never turns crude in pursuit of "authenticity."...The engineering, as so often with BIS, is ideal." ClassicsToday |
PUCCINI
Turandot (complete opera) Lando Bartolini / Giovanna Casolla / Bilbao Choral Society / Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra / Alexander Rahbari (Conductor) [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 1/Oct/2006 ] "Calling all 'Nessun dorma' fans who've never listened to the Puccini opera it climaxes...both [stars] exhibit considerable force and character, taking commendable charge of a uniformly fine cast” - The Observer |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Cherevichki (The Slippers) (complete opera recorded in 2009) Larissa Diadkova / Maxim Mikhailov / Vladimir Matorin / Olga Guryakova / Vsevolod Grivnov / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Alexander Polianichko [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 19/Dec/2010 ] |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Complete works for Two Pianos Piotr Laul & Alexander Sandler (pianos) [ Northern Flowers: St. Petersburg Musical Archive / CD - released 1/Oct/2016 ] |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: 'Enigma' Variations / Pomp and Circumstance Marches / Three Bavarian Dances / etc Leon Goossens (oboe) / Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Norman Del Mar, George Hurst / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Alexander Gibson [ Chandos 241 / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/1999 ] "A great bargain and highly recommended." (MusicWeb) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT / AIRAT ICHMOURATOV
Schubert: Death and the Maiden / Ichmouratov: Concerto Grosso No. 3 'Liechtenstein' LGT Young Soloists / Alexander Gilman (leader and artistic director) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/2024 ] Gustav Mahler arranged Schubert's String Quartet No. 14 'Death and the Maiden' by expanding it into a grand orchestral spectacle. It reveals his admiration for Schubert and serves to intensify the quartet's journey through life, death and human... |
GORDON GETTY
Joan and the Bells (with Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet: Suite No 2) Lisa Delan (soprano) Vladimir Chernov (baritone) / Eric Ericson Chamber Choir / Russian National Orchestra / Alexander Vedernikov (conductor) [ Pentatone SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/Apr/2005 ] "A powerful work given a refreshingly unpretentious performance." Gramophone (September 2003) |
TCHAIKOVSKY / STAMITZ / HAYDN / RACHMANINOV / RUBINSTEIN / GLAZUNOV / SAINT-SAENS / etc
Andante Cantabile: Romantic music for cello and orchestra Ludovit Kanta, Maria Kliegel, Alexander Rudin, Christian Benda, Vytautas Sondeckis (cellos) with various orchestras [ Naxos / CD - released 25/Sep/2006 ] "A COMPILATION of favourite tunes for the cello is almost guaranteed to be moody and relaxing. And sure enough, its woody tones - in the hands of Christian Benda, Ludovic Kanta, Vytautus Sondeckis, Maria Kliegel and Alexander Rubin - draw a... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven Recomposed: Cello Sonata No. 3 / Violin Sonata No. 9 (arr. for strings) Luka Coetzee (cello), Miclein LaiPang (violin), LGT Young Soloists, Alexander Gilman [ Naxos / CD - released 13/Nov/2020 ] To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Russian born arranger Paul Struck has arranged two of the composer's great mid-period chamber masterpieces for soloist and string ensemble. |
BOHUSLAV MARTINU / HANS KRASA / VIKTOR KALABIS
Martinů, Krása & Kalabis: Harpsichord Concertos Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord) / Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra / Alexander Liebreich [ Hyperion / CD - released 3/Feb/2023 ] "An unalloyed joy from first chord to last...The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra's accompaniment is sensitive and ideal, and Esfahani plays like an angel." Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Concerto |
WAGNER
Overtures [Incls Faust, Rienzi & Christoph Columbus] Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra / Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] "The Faust overture, remnant of a Faust Symphony project, begins to glimmer with possibility. But the masterful power of the Rienzi overture is apparent from the extraordinary first note, that solitary trumpet A." - The Sunday Times |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (complete opera) Alberto Rinaldi, Tatiana Lisnic, Mabel Perelstein, Stefano Secco, Gerardo Lopez, Sara Galli Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos / CD - released 5/Jan/2004 ] Recorded in 2002 |
LUIGI CHERUBINI
Cherubini: Cantatas Maïlys de Villoutreys, Ursula Eittinger & Andreas Karasiak / Kölner Academie, Michael Alexander Willens [ CPO / CD - released 20/Nov/2016 ] CPO presents unknown Cherubini cantatas. Cherubini never fails to give the sorrow, rage and pain of his subjects a truly personal dimension. |
DVORAK
Rusalka (Complete opera) Marcel Rosca, Ursula Furi-Bernhard, Nelly Boschkova, Walter Coppola / Academic Choir Ivan Goran & Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 20/Feb/2010 ] 'The standard of the orchestral playing is high' Gramophone 1999 |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 (Complete ballet recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY/DVD Mariinsky Theatre / Diana Vishneva, Vladimir Shklyarov, Alexander Sergeyev, Ilya Kuznetsov / Valery Gergiev (cond) [ Mariinsky DVD + Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 10/Sep/2014 ] "Balanchine's 1967 creation is a dazzling stylistic potpourri of pure dance ... a spectacular sight and a fitting climax to a great evening" The Times |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: War and Peace (complete opera recorded in 1991) Mariinsky Theatre / Yelena Prochina, Irina Bogachova, Alexander Gergalov / Valery Gergiev (cond) [ Arthaus Legendary Performances DVD / DVD - released 12/Sep/2016 ] Sergei Prokofiev devoted the last twelve years of his life to War and Peace. He completed the orchestration by April 1942 and the entire score was ready in March 1943. Having completed the first version (containing eleven scenes) unusually quickly,... |
Marina Shaguch, soprano, Alexander Kisselev, bass, Residentie Orchestra The Hague
Nabokov, Nicolas - Ode: Maditation sur la majesta de Dieu / Union Pacific [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 28/Apr/2002 ] "projected with great fervour and commitment by Polyansky" (BBC Music) |
RACHMANINOV
Music for Cello & Piano Marina Tarasova (cello) Alexander Polezhaev (piano) [ ALTO / CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] Marina Tarasova (cello) & Alexander Polezhaev (piano) |