EDGARD VARESE
Orchestral Works Vol 2 (Incls 'Ameriques' & 'Ionisation') Elizabeth Watts (soprano) Maria Grochowska (flute) Thomas Bloch (Ondes MArtenot) / Polish National Orchestra / Christopher Lyndon-Gee [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Jun/2008 ] "An excellent disc, which serves as a welcome introduction to the work of this largely under-valued composer. Varèse's music divulges a creative genius who was undoubtedly a long way ahead of his time, and one can only listen in awe at his work. The... |
JOHN PICKARD
Pickard: Symphonies 2 & 6; Verlaine Songs Emma Tring (soloist) BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 3/May/2024 ] John Pickard is best known for his powerful orchestral and instrumental works, and his music has been widely praised for its large-scale sense of architecture and bold handling of an extended tonal idiom. This recording brings together three works... |
ADOLPHE ADAM
Adam: Le Corsaire (complete ballet recorded August 2014) English National Ballet / Alina Cojocaru, Vadim Muntagirov, Erina Takahashi / Gavin Sutherland (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2015 ] Set in the exotic surroundings of the Ottoman Empire and with a narrative encompassing abduction, murder and shipwreck, Le Corsaire is a swashbuckling pirate drama that delights for its spectacular nature and which includes some of the most bravura... |
ADOLPHE ADAM
Le Corsaire (complete ballet recorded August 2014) BLU-RAY English National Ballet / Alina Cojocaru, Vadim Muntagirov, Erina Takahashi / Gavin Sutherland (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2015 ] Set in the exotic surroundings of the Ottoman Empire and with a narrative encompassing abduction, murder and shipwreck, Le Corsaire is a swashbuckling pirate drama that delights for its spectacular nature and which includes some of the most bravura... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Xerxes [Serse] (opera recorded 1988) English National Opera / Ann Murray, Lesley Garrett, Valerie Masterson / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 7/Aug/2011 ] "a landmark in the reassessment of Handel's genius...Mackerras understood Handel's music intimately...Murray's Xerxes is unfailingly elegant, whether serenading a plant in the shadow of Roubiliac's statue of Handel, or pausing over a demitasse." |
DVORAK
Rusalka (complete opera recorded in 1986) English National Opera / Eilene Hannan / John Treleaven / Rodney Macann / Ann Howard / Phyllis Cannan / Mark Elder (cond) [ Arthaus / DVD - released 4/Sep/2003 ] G :- Dvorak's three act opera is based on two fairy tales and tells the story of a water-nymph, Rusalka, yearning to become human because she has fallen in love with a mortal. |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Death in Venice (Complete opera recorded in 2013) BLU-RAY English National Opera / John Graham-Hall, Andrew Shore, Tim Mead / Edward Gardner (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/May/2014 ] "Graham-Hall is a real stage-animal, convincing us utterly of his descent into obsession...every colour, timbre and texture of this richly imaginative score comes blazing through under Gardner's baton". (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Opera) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
The Rape of Lucretia (complete opera recorded in 2001) English National Opera / Sarah Connolly, Christopher Maltman, Catherine Wyn-Rogers / Paul Daniel (conductor) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 25/Nov/2013 ] Sarah Connolly's 'outstanding' (The Guardian) portrayal of the wronged Roman noblewoman, written originally for Kathleen Ferrier, lies at the heart of David McVicar's powerfully stark production for English National Opera as 'an everyday sort of... |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Cello Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Enrico Dindo (cello) / Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda [ Chandos / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2012 ] "His playing here is remarkably rich, obtaining deep and richly expressive tones from a Rogeri instrument from 1717. The cello sound is forward, bordering on the surrealist as with so many concerto recordings these days, but not intolerably massive... |
GUILLAUME CONNESSON
Cosmic Trilogy / The Shining One Eric le Sage (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Stephane Deneve [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2010 ] "If there's another living composer who combines fantasy with shimmering orchestral virtuosity as brilliantly as Guillaume Connesson, I've yet to hear him." (Daily Telegraph) |
ERKKI-SVEN TUUR
Oxymoron / Salve Regina / Ardor / etc Pedro Carneiro (marimba) Leho Karin (violoncello) Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano) / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra / Olari Elts [ ECM / CD - released 17/Nov/2007 ] "The performances all seem to be of the highest quality, and two artists deserve special mention: Pedro Carneiro for his unbeliveable feats of prestidigitation as marimba soloist in Ardor, and Leho Karin for the sustained intensity she brings to the... |
Estonian National Opera/Lintu
Pylkkinen: Mare And Her Son [ Ondine / 2 CD - released 9/May/2005 ] |
EUGEN SUCHON
Baladická suita / Metamorfózy / Symfonietta rustica Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / CD - released 15/Apr/2015 ] Although his music is rarely performed nowadays, Eugen Suchoň was the most influential and respected Slovak composer of the twentieth century. Three of his greatest symphonic works are performed here by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and... |
EUGEN SUCHON
Baladická suita / Metamorfózy / Symfonietta rustica Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / CD - released 1/May/2015 ] "Suchoň clearly wrote in a style that paralleled Vaughan Williams and others who resisted the urge to "modernise". I very much enjoyed meeting the music of Eugen Suchoň for the first time, and wish that more was available." (MusicWeb April 2015) |
DELIBES / MASSENET / AUBER / BOIELDIEU / THOMAS
French Music for the Stage Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / CD - released 5/Mar/2021 ] "All in all, this is a most rewarding and highly recommendable disc." MusicWeb Recommended |
AUBER / PLANQUETTE / LECOQU
French Opera Overtures Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / CD - released 12/Jul/2024 ] The nineteenth-century French opera overture was for many years looked down on by certain music critics (and musicians) - largely as the genre turned its back on the historical adherence to strict musical form (fugue, sonata form, etc.). Percy... |
LEO WEINER
Leó Weiner: Serenade, Divertimentos Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / CD - released 20/Oct/2017 ] Within his extended discography, Neeme Järvi has explored the work of some magnificent Eastern European composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, recently including Suchoň and Scharwenka. He here reveal s the delightful, witty... |
BOHUSLAV MARTINU
Martinu: Špalíček [suites] / Rhapsody -Concerto Mikhail Zemtsov (viola) / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ CHANDOS / CD - released 26/Jan/2016 ] "The Estonian strings sing their hearts out…the woodwind solos are very lovely, too. Viola-player Mikhail Zemtsov impresses with the sheer beauty of tone." BBC Music |
JOHANN STRAUSS II
Strauss In St Petersburg Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi [ Chandos / 2 CD - released 28/Apr/2017 ] This is a double-anniversary disc, offering a rare collection of lively works to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra as well as the eightieth birthday of its principal conductor, Neeme Järvi. Cheerful... |
HEINO ELLER
Heino Eller: Night Calls Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts [ Ondine / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] This second volume in a series dedicated to the orchestral works of Heino Eller by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Olari Elts is a ground-breaking introduction to one of the founders of the Estonian school of music. The... |