FAURE
Requiem, Op. 48 Lucia Popp, Simon Estes / Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis [ Philips / Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 10/Feb/2011 ] "Among recordings of the 'received' text of Fauré's Requiem, Davis's ranks very high indeed, for the subtle beauty of its choral singing, for the sober richness of its orchestral sound and for its marvellously atmospheric acoustic." (Gramophone) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123 (recorded in Oct 2012) Lucy Crowe, Jennifer Johnston, James Gilchrist, Matthew Rose / Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique & Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / CD - released 20/Feb/2014 ] "Such is the visceral intensity of the music-making, a certain girding of the loins may be required before a second hearing, but isn't that precisely how it should be with a work of this power and magnitude?" Editor's Choice Gramophone, February 2014 |
CARL NIELSEN
Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 2 'The Four temperaments' & 3 'Sinfonia espansiva' Lucy Hall (soprano), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Mar/2013 ] 'Colin Davis establishes himself as a first-class Nielsenian on our pick of the week ... With this coupling, Davis leaves the best for last, too: Nielsen's most accessible symphony.' (The Sunday Times) |
BEETHOVEN / DVORAK / VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Europakonzert 2013 from Prague BLU-RAY Magdalena Kožená (mezzo-soprano), Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Jul/2016 ] "This is a lovely disc offering an agreeable mix of popular and lesser known works beautiful played and recorded." (MusicWeb) |
BEETHOVEN / DVORAK / VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Europakonzert 2013 from Prague Magdalena Kožená (mezzo-soprano), Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 28/Jul/2016 ] "Adeptly displaying her flexibility and attractive tone colour across the surprising broad emotional range of the texts Kožená excels in this demanding repertoire...This is a lovely disc offering an agreeable mix of popular and lesser known works bea |
MARTINU
Suite from the opera Juliette for large orchestra / Three fragments from the opera Juliette Magdalena Kozena (soprano) Steve Davislim (tenor) / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Supraphon / CD - released 20/Jun/2009 ] MARBECKS STAFF PICK: CD OF THE YEAR 2009 -- Gramophone Award WINNER 2009: Recital - "I cannot recommend this scintillating disc highly enough." |
SIR CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD
Stanford: Irish Rhapsody No.4 / Funeral March 'the Martyrdom' from Becket / Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor Malcolm Binns (piano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / Nicholas Braithwaite / Sir Adrian Boult [ Lyrita / CD - released 1/Apr/2007 ] One of the most respected independent labels, Lyrita Recorded Edition, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009, has concluded a comprehensive license deal with Wyastone Estate Limited. |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica / Four Last Songs / Concerto for Two Pianos & Orchestra Mari Eriksmoen (soprano), Louis Lortie, Hélène Mercier (pianos), Roderick Williams (baritone) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Feb/2018 ] "This would be my present first choice ... The Bergen players are especially effective, the huge orchestration never cluttered or opaque in SACD spaciousness ..." BBC Music magazine - Christmas 2017 |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 'Scottish' / Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 (with Schumann - Piano Concerto) Maria João Pires (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ LSO Live SACD + BLU-RAY / 2 Hybrid SACD/DVD - released 10/Nov/2014 ] "a reading formed by life experience…Pires is supported by conductor and orchestra magnificently...I've never heard so much of the orchestral colour and detail in any other Schumann recording … My anticipation that this might be a special recording h |
SCHULHOFF / KRENEK / d'INDY
The 20th Century Concerto Grosso Maria Prinz (piano); Karl-Heinz Schütz (flute) Christoph Koncz (violin); Robert Nagy (cello) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marrine [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] .On this disc, we feature the works of three composers - Vincent d'Indy, Ernst Krenek, and Erwin Schulhoff - who all in the mid- to late-1920s adopted neoclassicism and chose to write works in the neo-baroque concerto grosso style, using a... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K626 Marie Arnet (soprano) Anna Stephany (mezzo soprano) Darren Jeffery (bass) / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Mar/2008 ] 'this performance beneifts from marvellous sound and shows Davis secure in his tempo choices and bringing that combination of solemnity, grandeur and drama' Sound **** Performance ***** BBC Music Magazine |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50 Mark Padmore, Sally Matthews, Kate Royal, Bernarda Fink, Andrew Staples / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 20/Oct/2015 ] "You can really tell that Rattle loves this work. His approach is full of affection - listen to the care he lavishes on the stunning ending of Part Two - but also architectural breadth." (MusicWeb) |
MALCOLM WILLIAMSON
Elevamini-Symphony No 1 / Sinfonia Concertante / etc Martin Jones (piano) Malcolm Williamson (piano) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Groves [ Lyrita / CD - released 27/Apr/2008 ] Though Malcolm Williamson lived in London for fifty years, many of the titles and first performance venues of his works confirm that he was at heart an Australian: as well as his pieces for Australian Bicentennial Year, 1988, his last two symphonies... |
TIPPETT
Triple Concerto / Piano Concerto Martino Tirimo (piano) Ernst Kovacic (violin) Gerard Caussa (viola) Alexander Baillie (cello) / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Michael Tippett, cond [ Nimbus / CD - released 25/Oct/2003 ] Recorded at Studio 7, BBC Broadcasting House, Manchester, Triple Concerto - 7th July 1990, Piano Concerto - 17th May 1991 |
CHARLES IVES
Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 [Symphonies 1 & 2] Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ CHANDOS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Mar/2015 ] An amateur genius of avant-garde composing, who experimented with groundbreaking techniques years ahead of their time, Ives started out with more conventional works - as shown by the two early symphonies recorded here. |
CHARLES IVES
Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 [Central Park in the Dark, etc] Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ CHANDOS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Jan/2016 ] In this second volume, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Sir Andrew Davis play some of the most characteristic pieces of Charles Ives, an insurance salesman by trade and one of the most precociously original of all American... |
EUGENE GOOSSENS
Orchestral Works Volume 2 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] "Chandos's rich sound is up to the usual high standards and outshines Goossens's own 1922 recording of Tam O'Shanter" Gramophone Magazine, May 2013 |
RACHMANINOV
Harvest of Sorrow - Tony Palmer's Film About Sergei Rachmaninoff Mikhail Pletnev / Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Sir John Gielgud and other performers [ Tony Palmer Films / DVD - released 20/Jul/2007 ] Used in films like Brief Encounter and Shine; on TV in The South Bank Show and Panorama; on radio in Semprini Serenade; and including some of the most famous melodies of the 20th century, Rachmaninoff's romantic, passionate music is as popular... |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 / Violin Concerto / Suite No. 3 in G major / etc Mischa Elman (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, Sir Adrian Boult [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] This new collection invaluably gathers up all the Tchaikovsky recordings Adrian Boult made for Decca between 1952 and 1956. |
BRUCH / WIENIAWSKI / LALO / SAINT-SAENS
Violin Concertos / Cello Concertos (recorded 1953 & 1956) Mischa Elman (violin) Zara Nelsova (cello) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult [ Brilliant Classics Retrospective / 2 CD - released 8/Jun/2008 ] Mono recordings |