TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No.4. / Capriccio Italien Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Daniele Gatti [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/May/2009 ] "Daniele Gatti's music directorship of the Royal Philharmonic is generally considered to be the finest thing to happen to the orchestra in years. Just how far he's managed to turn them into a force to be reckoned with can be gauged by this powerhouse... |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphonies Nos 4, 5 & 6 / Romeo & Juliet / Capriccio italien / Serenade for Strings Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Daniele Gatti [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD - released 1/Nov/2010 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - "The performance is magnetic; Gatti has the full measure of Tchaikovsky's white-heat inspiration. Altogether an excellent recommendation." The Gramophone on the Pathetique. |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No.5. / Romeo & Juliet Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Daniele Gatti [ Harmonia Mundi SACD / SACD - released 11/Apr/2004 ] "Gatti strips away layers of accrued misreadings of the scores and instead unearths tempos and dynamics as originally stipulated by the composer. Wonderful." Andrew Clarke, The Independent, 7-13 February 2004, ***** - On Hybrid Super Audio CD... |
KARA KARAYEV
The Seven Beauties & The Path of Thunder Ballet Suites Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitry Yablonsky [ Naxos / CD - released 5/Feb/2014 ] Kara Karayev was one of Dmitry Shostakovich's most distinguished pupils. Karayev absorbed his teacher's influence, binding it to his own distinctive use of native Azerbaijani folk melodies and harmonies to produce music in an eclectic range of genres |
RESPIGHI
Symphonic Poems (Incls 'Pines of Rome') Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Enrique Batiz [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Aug/2007 ] "played to the hilt and recorded with enough amplitude to arouse the hard of hearing" - CD Review (USA) |
RACHMANINOV
Symphonic Dances / The Isle of the Dead Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Enrique Batiz (Conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Apr/2006 ] In this symphonic poem Rachmaninov makes constant use of fragments of the traditional plainchant Dies irae, a hymn that for centuries had formed part of the Catholic Requiem Mass and had inevitable associations with death in the minds of its hearers |
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 5 / Sonata No. 29 (orch. Weingartner) (rec 1930, 1933) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Felix Weingartner [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 1/Jun/2007 ] The Hammerklavier transcription was transferred mainly from U.S. Columbia “Viva-Tonal” pressings with the exception of two sides that came from first edition laminated English Columbias (including the second movement, which has a pronounced swish on... |
SIBELIUS
Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Orchestra / Sir John Barbirolli [ Testament / CD - released 1/May/2010 ] "Barbirolli's October 1962 account of the Second Symphony with the RPO… finds Sir John at his inspirational best in a reading which marries outsize but never wilful temperament to edge-of-seat spontaneity and keen poetic instinct." (Gramophone) |
XIAOGANG YE
Symphony No. 3, 'Chu' The Last Paradise Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hila Plitmann (soprano), Cho-Liang Lin (violin) [ BIS / CD - released 22/Apr/2016 ] Born in 1955, Xiaogang Ye is regarded as one of China's leading contemporary composers. For three decades his works have drawn attention both in the West and in the Far East, through performances by ensembles including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra... |
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / John Tavener
Plays John Tavener [ CD ] |
RESPIGHI
Pines of Rome / Fountains of Rome / Roman Festivals Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Josep Caballé-Domenech [ Onyx / CD - released 28/Sep/2011 ] "surely, once in a while, we should indulge in this outrageous music, especially in these highly charged and glossy performances." (The Sunday Times) |
CHRISTOPHER GUNNING
Christopher Gunning: Symphony No. 5 & String Quartet No. 1 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Juno String Quartet / Christopher Gunning (conductor) [ Signum / CD - released 4/Jun/2021 ] Christopher Gunning's Symphony No. 5 was composed during 2009 and was the composer's most ambitious to date, in four extended movements. There is no strict programme, but the music moves through several phases which could be said to correspond to... |
PIERSON / RAWSTHORNE / MORGAN / ARNOLD / etc
Premieres & Encores Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Philharmonic Orchestra / London Syphony Orchestra / Vernon Handley / John Pritchard / Nicholas Braithwaite [ Lyrita / CD - released 18/Jan/2008 ] In the Britain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands edition of the Twentieth Century Composers series, Humphrey Searle commented on Alan Rawsthorne: "I feel that his contribution to English music is as important as that of any composer working in England... |
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / MOZART / HANDEL / VERDI / ROSSINI / KHACHATURIAN / etc
Classics for Pleasure Volume 2 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult / John Ogdon (piano) / Barry Tuckwell (horn) / etc [ EMI Classics for Pleasure / CD - released 2/Feb/1983 ] The perfect introduction to the classics from the vast EMI catalogue |
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No 6 / Egmont Overture Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Marc Ermler [ Royal Philharmonic / SACD - released 10/Oct/2008 ] |
ARTHUR BENJAMIN
Symphony / North American Square Dance Suite / etc. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Myer Fredman / London Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth [ Lyrita / CD - released 12/Apr/2007 ] "Benjamin's light and serious sides generously represented in vivid performances and with recording to match" (Recording of the Month MusicWeb March 2007) |
KHACHATURIAN
Violin Concerto / Concerto-Rhapsody Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Nicolas Koeckert [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jun/2009 ] "Unthreatening, but pleasant, and brilliantly played" (MusicWeb July 2009) |
BORODIN
Symphony No 2 / Music from 'Prince Igor' / In the Steppes of Central Asia Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ole Schmidt [ Alto / CD - released 25/Nov/2013 ] "rich, open orchestral sound…is just as impressive in the fill-ups" (c) Gramophone |
OWAIN ARWEL HUGHES
Anatiomaros and other orchestral works Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Owain Arwel Hughes [ BIS / CD - released 1/Jun/2011 ] A student of Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst among others, Hughes early on began to work for the BBC and had limited opportunity to compose. This CD brings together most of his oeuvre for orchestra, from Anatiomaros (1943) to the 'legend' Owain... |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Owain Arwel Hughes [ Rubicon Classics / CD - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "Hughes gives us a very direct performance of [No.1], free of any interpretative exaggeration. The playing of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is first class in all departments" Gramophone Editor's Choice Nov 2020 |