|
ALFONSO X / YEHUDA HALEVI / JUAN del ENZINA & others
Granada 1013-1526 Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 28/Jul/2016 ] "In short, this is a breathtaking achievement. It's the kind of disc that often left me in quiet astonishment not just at its ambition, artistry or skill, but at the way it tries to further the human story and enrich the experience of us all. Bravo! |
|
TRADITIONAL / BIBER / HANDEL / JENKINS / DUMANOIR / etc
War & Peace 1614-1714 [2 CDs plus large book] Hespèrion XXI, Les Concert des Nations, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox SACD / 2 CD/Book - released 12/Jul/2015 ] "I was left repeatedly amazed that Savall and his performers are so good at such a wider range of repertoire...This isn't just an impressive musical release: it's a whole cultural festival within two covers. Both for its ambitions and for its artisti |
|
PIZZETTI
La Pisanella - Suite / Concerto de l'estate (with works by Respighi and Rota) I Musici / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Lamberto Gardelli / Argo Chamber Orchestra / Laszlo Heltay [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 24/Aug/2006 ] Appearing on CD for the first time, Lamberto Gardelli's Pizzetti recording has been one of the most venerated in the Decca catalogue, not only because the music is comparatively rare, but because the recording is true state-of-the-art. |
|
HANDEL
Rinaldo (Complete Opera recorded in 1977) Ileana Cotrubas, Carolyn Watkinson & Paul Esswood / La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy, Jean-Claude Malgoire [ Sony Opera House / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2010 ] "The vigour of Malgoire's direction of an opera which plainly for him is very much alive, makes this a very attractive set. The finest singing comes from Ilena Cotrubas, but the whole team is convincing. The bright but spacious recording adds to the... |
|
MICHAEL JARNEFELT
Jarrell: Orchestral Works Ilya Gringolts (violin), Florent Jodelet (percussion), Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Pascal Rophé [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Dec/2023 ] "The excellent Pays de la Loire Orchestra, who accompany the two concertos in exemplary fashion, take centre stage in the album's centrepiece, the Sechs Augenblicke...A very strong recording." Gramophone Editor's Choice Jan 2024 |
|
J.S. BACH
Trauerode BWV 198 / Jesu, der du meine Seele BWV 78 Ingrid SchmithAsen, Howard Crook, Peter Kooy, Charles Brett / La Chapelle Royale / Philippe Herreweghe (dir) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] Whatever the occasions for which they were written (a tribute to a dead queen, or a chorale cantata), the two works on this recording have one subject in common: death and the soul's salvation. Performed in 1727 in memory of the sorely mourned... |
|
HANDEL
Italian Cantatas Volume 5 - Rome (1707) Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Yetzabel Arias Fernández (soprano) & Romina Basso (alto) / La Risonanza / Fabio Bonizzoni (harpsichord & direction) [ Glossa Handel Italian Cantatas / CD - released 1/Oct/2009 ] MARBECKS STAFF PICK: CD OF THE YEAR 2009 - Gramophone Magazine: Editor's Choice June 2009 - "Bonizzoni has the admirable knack of conveying the strong rhetorical elements in Handel's vivacious music, and the entire performance is beautifully... |
|
Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo
Strange But True [ Matador Records / CD - released 20/Oct/1998 ] |
|
VIVALDI
Vespers of Sorrow Jakub Burzyinski (counter-tenor) / La Tempesta [ BIS / CD - released 5/Oct/2004 ] "A superb release, not to be missed! This will be my Record of the Year!" - MusicWeb Nov 2004 |
|
Jakub/La Burzynski Tempesta
Vivaldi: Vespers Of Sorrow [ Bis / CD - released 1/Nov/2004 ] |
|
Jean La Fenice/Tubery
Concerto Imperiale [ Ricercar / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] |
|
JEAN-BAPISTE LULLY
Lully: Acis et Galatée Jean-François Lombard, Elena Harsányi, Valeria La Grotta, Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli / Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Federico Maria Sarde [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 20/Oct/2023 ] Jean-Baptiste Lully's unrivalled position at the Sun King's court gave him freedom to produce numerous grand theatre works. Acis et Galatée is acknowledged as one of his masterpieces with its adroit alternation of effects and situations and its... |
|
PHILIPPE BOESMANS
Boesmans: On purge bébé ! Opera in One Act Jean-Sébastien Bou, Jodie Devos, Denzil Delaere, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra, Bassem Akiki [ Fuga Libera / CD - released 8/Sep/2023 ] I'd read On purge bebe ! even before I composed Pinocchio. I said to myself: 'This is a wonderful play... but it's impossible to turn it into an opera'. And if I say something like that, it means that I'm going to do it -- it's like I'm setting... |
|
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Overtures - Prometheus, Fidelio, Leonore 2 & 3 / Grosse Fuge Joan Sutherland, Norma Procter, Arnold Van Mill / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2009 ] "…the depth and concentration of the Ansermet shines decisively out… Ansermet's reading is taut and imposing" Gramophone |
|
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater in F minor (with Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F minor 'La Passione') Jodie Devos; Adèle Charvet; Julien Chauvin / Maîtrise de Radio France; Le Concert de la Loge [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 11/Feb/2022 ] Pergolesi's Stabat Mater has enjoyed enormous fame ever since the eighteenth century - Rousseau called its first movement 'the most perfect and touching that has ever come from the pen of any composer'. |
|
FAURE / FRANCK
Requiem / Symphonie Johannette Zomer (soprano) Stephan Genz (baritone) / La Chapelle Royale / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/May/2002 ] "It was an inspiring occasion - the young musicians were clearly entranced by one of Europe's most charismatic 'period' musicians...And, as a rare and generous coupling, Franck's Symphony is compellingly performed." Editor's Choice (Gramophone... |
|
TRADITIONAL
Bailoar Cantando: Fiesta Mestiza en el Peru Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, Hesperion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox SACD / CD - released 17/Aug/2018 ] The Codex Trujillo is a manuscript edited by Baltasar Jaime Martínez Compañón, bishop of Trujillo, Peru. It contains 1,411 watercolours and 20 musical scores documenting the life in the diocese. It shows how baroque pieces imported from Western... |
|
ANTONIO VIVALDI / W. A. MOZART / GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Vivaldi / Mozart / Handel: Dixit Dominus Jordi Savall, Le Concert des Nations, la Capella Reial de Catalunya [ Alia Vox SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 21/Oct/2016 ] Following the critically acclaimed Magnifcat & Concerti two years ago, here we experience the full maturity of Savall's ensembles. |
|
TRADITIONAL
Llibre Vermell de Montserrat [Red Book of Montserrat] Jordi Savall (rabec, rebab, viella & direcció) / Hespèrion XXI & La Capella Reial de Catalunya [ Alia Vox CD + DVD / 2 CD/DVD - released 20/Dec/2016 ] The 'Llibre Vermell de Montserrat' is a collection of devotional texts containing late medieval songs and dances. |
|
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Harmonie Universelle - the best of Jordi Savall (Vol 2) Jordi Savall with Montserrat Figueras, Hesperion XXI, La Concert des Nations [ Alia Vox / CD - released 16/Apr/2007 ] Jordi Savall is widely credited with the rebirth of the viola da gamba, an instrument which has been all but ignored since the late 17th century - the period of its greatest exponents, François Couperin, Marin Marais and Antoine Forqueray. Savall's... |