JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 / Klavierstücke (8), Op. 76 Nicholas Angelich (piano) / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Jarvi [ Virgin Classics / CD - released 20/Nov/2010 ] "Few pianists in my experience have sensed Brahms's emotional turbulence to such an acute degree...these works have rarely, if ever, received finer performances." (Editor's Choice Gramophone Sept 2010) |
JAMES LEE III
Voyages - Orchestral music by James Lee III ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor [ Avie / CD - released 20/May/2022 ] In Voyages, prolific American composer James Lee III takes the listener on a colourful journey through his endlessly creative orchestral music; painting biblical imagery in Beyond Rivers of Vision and celebrating the joyous Feast of Tabernacles... |
GRAZYNA BACEWICZ
Bacewicz: Concertos for 1 & 2 Pianos / Overture / Music for Strings, Trumpets & Percussion Peter Jablonski and Elisabeth Brauß (piano) / Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Collon [ Ondine / CD - released 5/May/2023 ] "Bacewicz's music certainly thrives on its high metabolic rate, its impatience, even, for which this brilliantly executed new album makes no apology." Gramophone Award Finalist 2024 - Concerto |
BEDRICH SMETANA
Smetana: Ma Vlast (My Fatherland), including Vltava (Moldau) The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 15/Sep/2000 ] "this new Naxos offering enshrines an interpretation of no mean stature and individuality: an undoubted bargain, I would say" - Gramophone |
Porridge Radio
Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me [ Secretly Canadian / CD - released 18/Oct/2024 ] Recorded in the Somerset countryside in early 2024 by longtime Big Thief and Laura Marling engineer Dom Monks, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me is Porridge Radio's new album and first new music in two years. The UK band's new album... |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Sonata in D Major Tedi Papavrami (violin) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Feb/2009 ] "Tedi Papavrami is evidently someone to shout about, playing with flawless technique". - Classic CD |
FREDERICK DELIUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Delius: Fennimore and Gerda (complete opera) Robert Tear (tenor) Brian Rayner Cook (baritone), Hedwig Rummel (Mezzo Soprano) Elisabeth Söderström (Sop) / Danish national radio symphony, Meredith [ EMI Classics / CD - released 12/May/1997 ] "Throughout his career, (Meredith Davies) championed the cause of Frederick Delius, and his most celebrated association with Benjamin Britten came in May 1962, when he directed the premiere of Britten's War Requiem" Guardian |
BERTHOLD GOLDSCHMIDT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Goldschmidt: Beatrice Cenci (complete opera with libretto) Roberta Alexander, Stefan Stoll, Simon Estes, Della Jones / Berlin Radio Chorus, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lothar Zagrosek [ Sony Classical / 2 CD Box Set - released 7/Feb/1995 ] "The cast is a strong one, dominated by the burnished tone of Roberta Alexander in the title role of the abused daughter. Della Jones as her stepmother Lucrezia is equally fine" BBC Music |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Sonya Yoncheva - The Verdi Album Sonya Yoncheva (soprano) / Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra, Massimo Zanetti [ Sony Music / CD - released 8/Feb/2018 ] "She certainly has a go at just about everything, ranging from the delicacy of Desdemona's 'Ave Maria', to the wilder grief of the Forza Leonora's 'Pace! Pace, mio Dio!' OperaNews |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Prokofiev / Shostakovich: Cello Concertos Steven Isserlis (cello) / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Apr/2015 ] BBC Music Magazine Awards 2016 Finalist - Concerto |
MAURICE RAVEL
Best Of Ravel Dong-Suk Kang (violin), Pascal Devoyon (piano), Francois-Joel Thiollier (piano), Marat Bisengaliev (violin) Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Ph [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/1999 ] Take a large spoonful of Bolero, add a small amount of Pavane, simmer in the heat of Feria, then mix with a little Blues and you have the perfect Ravel. Its the recipe for success in the 'Best of' market. |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
My First Tchaikovsky Album Maria Kliegel (cello) / Ireland National Symphony Orchestra; Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra; Queensland Symphony; Slovak Philharmonic Orches [ Naxos / CD - released 27/Feb/2012 ] Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky: a great Russian name for a great Russian composer! Tchaikovsky was not always a happy man. He didn't laugh a lot. But he wrote music that is full of good melodies. |
GOUNOD / DELIBES / TCHAIKOVSKY / RIMSKY-KORSAKOV / RACHMANINOV / etc
Aida Aida Garifullina (soprano) / ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Cornelius Meister [ Decca Records / CD - released 10/Mar/2017 ] 'Garifullina dazzles in this impassioned and musical performance' Opera recording of the Month April 2017 |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Liebeslieder Aldis Liepiņš & Dace Kļava (pianos) Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 10/Jul/2015 ] "Under Sigvards Kļava these singers don't wallow in over-sentimentality but give an impressive interpretation of this glorious music, aided by two superb pianists." Choir & Organ |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nos. 3 & 4 Alicia de Larrocha (piano) / Radio-Symphonie-Orchester, Berlin, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca Eclipse / CD - released 27/Jan/1995 ] Recorded: June 1983 (No. 3); September 1984 (No. 4) |
REINHOLD GLIERE
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Glière Conducts Glière: Ballet Suites Nos. 1 & 2 All-Union radio Orchestra, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Reinhold Gliere [ Consonance / CD - released 22/Feb/1995 ] Recorded in 1947 |
PUCCINI / CILEA / VERDI / DONIZETTI / FRANCK / SCHUBERT / TRADITIONAL
Viaggio Italiano Andrea Bocelli (tenor) / Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra [ Philips / CD - released 8/Nov/1998 ] Viaggio Italiano sees Bocelli perform a concert of famous opera arias and traditional songs. It's an imaginary journey through the melodrama of the Italian opera |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Angela Rippon (narrator) / Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Ondrej Lenard [ Naxos Children's Classics / CD - released 28/Oct/2007 ] "Angela Rippon's concise narration is dynamically conveyed with interest as one might expect from this lover of ballet. (Presumably she wrote the notes as no credit is given in this respect.)" --Review by Raymond Walker, Musicweb International,... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (a film by Robert Dornhelm) Anna Netrebko (soprano) & Rolando Villazon (tenor) / The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bertrand de Billy [ Kultur DVD / DVD - released 5/Dec/2009 ] "The lovers' sheer intensity and Dornhelm's cinematic vision, expanded in the accompanying documentary, make this one of the finest opera films ever - unmissable." BBC Music Magazine (Five stars *****) |