MUSSORGSKY / STRAVINSKY
Mackerras conducts Mussorgsky & Stravinsky New Philharmonia Orchestra & London Symphony Orchestra, Charles Mackerras [ Alto / CD - released 25/Mar/2015 ] "Mackerras brings the same degree of visceral excitement and aural fantasy to these Russian orchestral showpieces as in his Janacek interpretations. The LSO's playing is superbly incisive" (Five Stars BBC Music) |
50 BEST BALLET
50 Best Ballet (music from Swan Lake, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Nutcracker, etc) New Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, etc [ EMI Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 28/Mar/2011 ] This 3 CD set contains an unrivalled collection of 50 favourite Ballet Classics, performed by some of the world's leading artists. Includes excerpts from 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Swan Lake', 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Coppelia' & 'Spartacus'. |
SZYMANOWSKI / SAINT-SAENS / CHAUSSON / MASSENET / BRAHMS / JOHN TAVENER
Violin Works Nicola Benedetti, violin, London Symphony Orchestra. Daniel Harding [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 25/Sep/2005 ] Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine June 2005 "Technically superb, this brilliant debut shows a fine artist in the making" |
STRAVINSKY
The Rite of Spring / The Nightingale Olga Trifonova (soprano) / Robert Tear (tenor) / Paul Whelan (bass-baritone) / London Symphony Orchestra / Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Craft [ Naxos Stravinsky Edition Vol 3 / CD - released 9/Nov/2005 ] “Composing The Rite, I had only my ear to help me. I heard and I wrote what I heard.” — Igor Stravinsky |
ALEXANDER GOEHR
Goehr: Marching to Carcassonne Oliver Knussen / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Peter Serkin (piano), London Sinfonietta [ NAXOS / CD - released 13/Feb/2013 ] Alexander Goehr is a central fi gure of the post-war Manchester School of composers with Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies. His work is recognized today for its assimilation of intellectual rigour with transparent expressiveness and richly haunting... |
BRITTEN
Britten - Sinfonia da Requiem / Gloriana Suite / Sea Interludes Osian Ellis, harp / Keiron Moore, oboe / Alexander Taylor, viola / London Symphony Orchestra / Steuart Bedford, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 18/Jun/2005 ] Benjamin Britten occupies an unrivalled position in English music of the twentieth century and a place of the greatest importance in the wider musical world. |
VARIOUS
Encores and Transcriptions, Vol. 2 (Rec 1927-1930) Pablo Casals (cello) with Nicolai Mednikoff, piano, Blas Net, piano, Otto Schulhoff, piano. London Symphony Orchestra / Pablo Casals, conductor [ Naxos Great Cellists / CD - released 1/Feb/2005 ] "As before his novel and revolutionary vibrato usage comes under close scrutiny and that vocalized legato which he occasionally spun out with such daring elasticity demonstrate why he was the premier cellist of his generation...Collectors need not... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / JOHANNES BRAHMS
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 / Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn (recorded in 1927-29) Pablo Casals Orchestra of Barcelona / London Symphony Orchestra / Pablo Casals [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 13/Sep/2007 ] These recordings are notable for their unfussy and direct approach to Beethoven that reveal the music in honest, unvarnished and expressive terms. |
RAVEL
L'Enfant et les Sortileges [complete opera] (with Ma Mere l'Oye) Pamela Nelson Stephen, Anne Marie Owens, Robert Lloyd / London Symphony Orchestra / Andre Previn [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD Box Set - released 20/Jul/2008 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "Andre previn has recorded the opera twice, but his later version has a greater sense of magic and a firmer voiced Child in Pamela Helen Stephen, while the menagerie of animated... |
JOHN IRELAND
Greater Love Hath No Man Paula Bott (soprano) Teresa Shaw (contralto) Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone) / London Symphony Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Hickox [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 1/Feb/2007 ] 'This excellent Ireland disc, probably all youll ever need of this prolific Mancunian composer and organist whose pupils included Britten, shows him at his evocative best… Epic stuff.' The Observer |
FRANCK
Symphonic Variations for piano & orchestra, M46 (with Schumann - Piano Concerto) Peter Katin (piano) / the London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Eugene Goossens [ Everest / CD - released 1/Jun/2009 ] "...the result was (as one critic put it) a recording of the Schumann concerto that could have been made in a large and luxurious swimming pool." |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Peter Grimes (a filmed version of the complete opera filmed in 1969) Peter Pears / Heather Harper / Owen Brannigan / Elizabeth Brainbridge / London Symphony Orchestra / Benjamin Britten [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 12/Dec/2008 ] G : - "Heather Harper sings with the most beautiful tone in the role of Ellen and acts with compelling sincerity. Pears himself is utterly vindicated... The whole complex character is there - and the camera follows closely." Gramophone Magazine,... |
BRITTEN / BUSH / SEIBER
Noel Mewton-Wood & Peter Pears Peter Pears (tenor) Noel Mewton-Wood (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Basil Cameron [ Testament / CD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] "Recording captures the vitality and dexterity the pianist brought to the revised version of Britten's Piano Concerto in 1946" (Financial Times) |
SIBELIUS
Kullervo Petter Mattei (baritone) Monica Groop (mezzo soprano) / London Symphony Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / SACD - released 22/Feb/2006 ] 'When treated with such compelling force and urgency, it's impossible to deny Kullervo its rightful place as a major, even great piece. Fantastic!' Artistic Quality 10, Sound Quality 10 ClassicsToday.com (US), 3 January 2006 |
TCHAIKOVSKY / DELIBES / PROKOFIEV / WALTON / ADAM / etc
I Love Ballet (music from Swan Lake, Cinderella, Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Coppelia, etc) The Philarmonia Orchestra, London Symphony, Paris Opera Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, etc [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2009 ] "I Love Ballet is overall an attractive compilation of some very good music and other, slightly less good but pleasant enough. Above all, I think it is an excellent introduction to classical ballet music for beginners of all ages" (MusicWeb March 2010) |
SIBELIUS
Incidental Music (Incls 'Karelia Suite' & 'King Christian II Suite') Philharmonia Orchestra / Enrique Batiz / London Symphony Orchestra / Loris Tjeknavorian [ Regis Records / CD - released 20/Aug/2007 ] "Tjeknavorian is a serious and thoughtful [Sibelius] interpreter...we [do not] find him trying to score interpretative points or playing to the gallery" (Gramophone) |
MAHLER (COMPLETED BY DERYCK COOKE)
Symphony No. 10 (1964 Proms premiere of the completed version and 1960 lecture/performance on BBC radio) Philharmonia Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / Berthold Goldschmidt / [ Testament / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2011 ] "What it must have been to experience the finale's flute melody for the first time outside a BBC studio! Goldschmidt gives this exquisite moment all the time in the world...Strongly recommended." (Gramophone) |
PROKOFIEV
Symphony No.5 in B flat major, Op.100 (with works by Rossini & Vivaldi) (Recorded 1955/57/74) Philharmonia Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti / Thomas Schippers [ Medici Masters / CD - released 26/Oct/2007 ] "Overall this is a fascinating memento of a talent cut short too soon. Impossible to say how Schippers' career would have developed, but there is sufficient evidence of real musicality and real individuality on this disc to make us regret what might... |
MICHAEL TIPPETT
Tippett: Suite in D for the Birthday of Prince Charles / Fantasia Concertante on a theme of Corelli Philip Jones Brass Ensemble / London Symphony Orchestra / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Jul/2006 ] *** 'The Concerto for Double String Orchestra receives a performance more sumptuous and warm-hearted than any before on record ... the recording is outstanding' Penguin Guide |
BERG
Violin Concerto / Chamber Concerto for Violin and Piano / Three Orchestral Pieces Pinchas Zukerman (violin) / London Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez [ Sony Classical / CD - released 1/Jul/2011 ] |