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ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (2LP) Sir Simon Rattle & Berliner Philharmoniker [ Warner Classics LP / 2 LP - released 23/Aug/2024 ] Bruckner was working on the Ninth Symphony until the day he died. He left a stark and magnificent torso that marks the end of the 19th-century symphony - but he also left fragments and sketches for a magnificent finale that would cap his life's work.... |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 Sir Simon Rattle & Berliner Philharmoniker [ Warner Classics / 2 LP - released 23/Aug/2024 ] In 1999, Sir Simon Rattle was appointed as successor to Claudio Abbado as the Berliner Philharmoniker's principal conductor. He gave his first concert as principal conductor on 7 September 2002, leading performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony no.5... |
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BARTOK / STRAVINSKY / BERNSTEIN / SHOSTAKOVICH / MAHLER / R. STRAUSS / etc
Orchestral Music in the 20th Century Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with Felicity Palmer, Gidon Kremer, Anne Sofie von Otter, Willard White, etc [ Arthaus Musik DVD / 7 DVD Box Set - released 1/Jan/1999 ] "The series was one of the last intelligent contributions to classical music by British television and, even by 1996, one suspects that only a musician of Rattle's stature and determination could have got it made." Gramophone |
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BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Christ on the Mount of Olives Sir Simon Rattle, Elsa Dreisig, Pavol Breslik, David Soar, London Symphony Orchestra [ LSO Live SACD / CD - released 13/Nov/2020 ] Composed in 1803, while Beethoven was also writing the 'Eroica' Symphony, Christ on the Mount of Olives (Christus am Ölberge) is the composer's only oratorio, and combines the emotive force of his later Missa Solemnis with the theatre of a Bach... |
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JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: An Imaginary Orchestral Journey Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra [ LSO / CD - released 2/Feb/2018 ] Sir Simon Rattle pays homage to a composer he holds close to his heart with An Imaginary Orchestral Journey through the music of Joseph Haydn. Rattle trawls through the great composer's impressive catalogue, piecing together excerpts from symphonies,... |
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CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (complete opera) Christian Gerhaher, Magdalena Kožená, Bernarda Fink, Franz-Josef Selig / London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle [ LSO Live SACD + BLU-RAY AUDIO / 4 Hybrid SACD - released 6/Dec/2017 ] "Rattle maintains both a clear pulse in individual scenes and a through line which positively celebrates Debussy's and Maeterlinck's radical intercutting of scenes of varied physical and emotional locations in the central acts." Gramophoe |
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MAURICE RAVEL
Maurice Ravel: The Complete Works Sir Simon Rattle, Martha Argerich, Bertrand Chamayou, Samson François, André Cluytens, Armin Jordan, Lorin Maazel, Charles Münch, etc [ Warner Classics / 21 CD Box Set - released 4/Sep/2020 ] An essential collection of landmark performances, this 21-CD box of Ravel's complete works brings together major interpreters of the present day and preceding generations. |
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STEPHEN HOUGH
Hough: Piano Concerto, Sonatina & Partita Sir Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Feb/2025 ] Polymath Sir Stephen Hough has a growing reputation as a composer of chamber, choral and above all solo piano music with four sonatas and a constellation of dazzling arrangements to his name. This album presents the premiere recording of his... |
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FREDERICK DELIUS
Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet (1946-1952) René Soames, Lorely Dyer, Dennis Dowling, Frederick Sharp / Luton Choral Society; Royal Philharmonic Chorus, Royal Philharmonic, Sir Thomas Beecham [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / 2 CD - released 2/Aug/2004 ] "It is also good to hear such vintage singers of the period as Dennis Dowling and Frederick Sharp as the respective fathers of the hero and heroine, with an excellent line-up of soloists in the many incidental roles." Penguin Guide |
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Sir Thomas Beecham
The Founding Years - Beecham [ Lpo / CD - released 3/Oct/2005 ] |
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Sir Winston Churchill
Great Speeches [ Regis Records / CD - released 12/Jun/2007 ] This collection from one of the greatest orators of the 20th Century - Winston Churchill - is timeless. All his major speeches throughout the war years are featured on this disc. |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Favourite Overtures [incls 'Ride of the Valkyries'] Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] Richard Wagner was one of the most revolutionary figures in the history of music, a composer who made pivotal contributions to the development of harmony and musical drama that reverberate even today. Indeed, though Wagner occasionally produced... |
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GRIEG / SCHUMANN
Piano Concertos Stephen Kovacevich (piano) / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ PHILIPS / CD - released 1/Jan/2008 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - "An excellent transfer brings the long-admired recording by Stephen Kovacevich and Colin Davis vividly back to life." (1001 Classical) |
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BEETHOVEN
Piano Concertos Nos 2 & 4 Stephen Kovacevich (piano) / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ Pentatone SACD / SACD - released 12/Apr/2005 ] "The solo piano enters and what a sound. It is like a magnificent, properly tuned piano! The overall sound is just right. And so it goes, with every release in this series." - Rad Bennett, Radical Sounds (April 1, 2003) |
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HANDEL
Messiah (complete oratorio plus bonus DVD of highlights) Susan Gritton, Sara Mingardo, Mark Padmore, Alastair Miles / Tenebrae Choir / London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / 3 Hybrid SACD/DVD - released 17/Nov/2007 ] |
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GUSTAV HOLST
Holst: Orchestral Works Volume 3 [incls 'The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18'] Susan Gritton (soprano) / BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 7/Oct/2013 ] "A superb release, in excellent sound. By far the best recording of the Choral Symphony available." (MusicWeb Nov 2013) |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C Minor op. 67 & No. 6 in F Major op.68 SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart; Sir Roger Norrington, Conductor [ Hanssler / CD - released 26/May/2003 ] "Norrington's thoughts and reappraisals always present plenty of fodder to chew on. Expect to be surprised, moved and, possibly, irritated." (Music Web) |
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EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 (plus Wagner's Overture from Die Meistersinger) SWR Symphony Orchestra / Sir Roger Norrington [ Hanssler / CD - released 15/May/2006 ] Gramophone magazine had this to say: "An honest, intelligent Elgar First from an unexpected source…" |
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Bruckner,
Symphonie No. 7 Symphonieorchester d. BR, Sir Colin Davis [ ORFEO / CD - released 7/Nov/1989 ] |