MAHLER
Symphony No 8 (with Schoenberg-Jacob's Ladder) John Brocheler, Hanno Muller-Brachmann (Baritones) Laura Aikin, Christiane Boesiger (Sopranos) / SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden / Michael Gielen [ Hanssler / 2 CD Box Set - released 19/Apr/2008 ] |
J.S. BACH
St John Passion [complete oratorio recorded in 1996] John Mark Ainsley / Stephen Richardson / Catherine Bott / Michael Chance / Paul Agnew / Stephen Varcoe / Choir Of King'S College, Cambridge [ Brilliant Classics Musica Sacra / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] 'There are fine contributions especially from Stephen Varcoe, and an exceptionally immediate and affecting 'Es ist vollbracht' from Michael Chance.' Gramophone |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Jephtha - oratorio in three acts John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Michael George (bass) Catherine Denley (mezzo-soprano) RIA Kammerchor . Akademie fer Alte Musik Berlin. Marcus Creed [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD - released 14/Aug/2005 ] "this new recording, at super budget price, allows us to appreciate a new team of soloists. And for those who do not know this moving work, this new recording is a good place to start exploring." (MusicWeb July 2003) |
John Michael Montgomery
Original Album Series [ Rhino / 5 CD - released 9/Aug/2010 ] |
John Winter, Anthony Burns-Cox, Michael Overbury, Marc Rochester, (organ)Robinson College, Romsey Abbey, Newark Parish Church, St. David's Hall.
Priory LP Archive Series Volume 2 [ Priory / CD - released 27/May/2004 ] Recorded between 1981 and 1984 |
CARL MARIA von WEBER
Der Freischütz (Recorded at the Semper Oper Dresden, 2015) Dresden Opera / Sara Jakubiak, Christina Landshamer, Georg Zeppenfeld, Michael König / Christian Thielemann (cond) [ C Major DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Feb/2016 ] "This is supple, carefully sifted music-making, beautifully paced...The vocal casting is as precise and well calculated as the overall approach but the production seems to nervous of the work itself to give the singers anything dynamic to do" Gramoph |
Joseph Swensen; Christiane Libor; Michael Weinius; Derek Welton; Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine; Salvatore Caputo; Chœur de l'Opéra National de
Ring Odyssey [ Alpha Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2024 ] "'If, in a parallel universe, Wagner wrote a symphony rather than a sixteen-hour Ring, it might actually resemble my Ring Odyssey.' These are the words used by the new music director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Joseph Swensen, to... |
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
The Lord of the Rings - Part One: The Fellowship of the Ring Radio dramatisation with Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens & others [ BBC Audio / 4 CD Box Set - released 10/Jun/2010 ] A BBC radio dramatisation of the first book in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Brian Sibley's famous 1981 adaptation, starring Ian Holm and Michael Hordern, has been divided into three corresponding parts. |
J. R. R. Tolkien, Brian Sibley, Sir Michael Hordern
The Lord of the Rings: v.2: Two Towers: BBC Radio 4 Full-cast Dramatisation [ AudioGO Limited / 13 CD - released 4/Feb/2002 ] The acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisation on 13 gold CDs |
KURT WEILL
The Seven Deadly Sins / The Threepenny Opera (Suite) Julia Migenes, Robert Tear, Stuart Kale, Alan Opie / London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas [ Sony Opera House / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2012 ] "Julia Migenes manages to bring out the bitterness and irony of the text, whilst combining it with an appropriately seductive, even erotic soprano sound. In support Michael Tilson Thomas weaves a dazzling sound, bringing out fully the symphonic and... |
C. P. E. BACH
The C. P. E. Bach Edition: Symphonies, Concertos, Sonatas & Chamber Music Julian Steckel, Michael Rische, Ana-Marija Markovina, Patrick Gallois, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart & more [ Hanssler Classic / 54 CD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2016 ] The composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach has been rediscovered in recent years. Hardly any other label has done more for the composer's appreciation than Hanssler Classic. Now all, really all, of Hänsslers C.P.E Bach recordings are in a sensational box |
LILBURN
Duos for Violin & Piano Justine Cormack (violin), Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Atoll / CD - released 12/Oct/2013 ] Four compositions for violin and piano, including 2 newly discovered works heard here for the first time. |
KALMAN
Csardasfurstin (Die) (The Gypsy Princess) (Complete operetta) Karl-Michael Ebner, tenor / Mojca Erdmann, soprano / Heinz Holecek, bass / Yvonne Kalman / Marko Kathol, tenor / Yvonne Kenny, soprano / Hellmuth Klum [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] "A sweet 'n' spicy confection that shows operetta at it's delicious best" - Editor's Choice gramophone Magazine March 2005 |
KALMAN
Csardasfurstin (Die) (The Gypsy Princess) (Complete operetta) Karl-Michael Ebner (tenor) Mojca Erdmann (soprano) Heinz Holecek (bass) Yvonne Kenny (soprano) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonynge [ Naxos Opera Classics SACD / 2 SACD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] Kálmán's great contribution to the musical language of Viennese operetta was to bring to it the brilliant colours, the heady rhythms and the dynamic energy of his native Hungary - not just as an imitator, like so many other composers, but as one who... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Organ Music from Guildford Cathedral, The Albert Hall, Nottingham, Coventry Cathedral and Kidderminster Town Hall Philip Moore, Michael Overbury, Christopher Bowers Broadbent and Andrew Millington (organists) [ Priory LP Archive Series Vol 4 / CD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] "...Priory contines to admirable project of remastering the best of its LP recordings from the 1980s and making them available as CDs...all played brilliantly by Christopher Bowers Broadbent...all brilliantly captured by Priory's very capable... |
HARRY BURLEIGH / WILLIAM Levi DAWSON / FLORENCE PRICE / WILLIAM Grant STILL
DVOŘÁK'S PROPHECY - Film 3: The Souls of Black Folk and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music Kevin Deas, Arthur Fagan, James Jeter, Roderick Cox, Joseph Horowitz, Michael Morgan, George Shirley [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] If George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess embodies a glorious (and controversial) fulfilment of Dvořák's prophecy, there also exists a buried lineage of exceptional compositions by Black composers following in Dvořák's wake. |
PURCELL
The Complete Odes and Welcome Songs James Bowman (countertenor) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Michael George (bass) Gillian Fisher (soprano) / The King's Consort / Robert King [ Hyperion Purcell Complete Edition / 8 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2010 ] 'Every disc is such a treasure-house of wonderful invention that the whole set must be an irresistable temptation' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide) |
KAKABDSE
The Phantom Listeners / Arabian Rhapsody Suite / The Mermaid Kit Hesketh-Harvey (narrator) / Emma Brain-Gabbott (soprano) / Clare McCaldin (mezzo) / Michael Bundy (baritone) / Instrumentalists / George V [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] Of Georgian/Russian and Greek/Austrian parentage, British composer Lydia Kakabadse has a number of music theatre, vocal, choral and chamber works to her credit. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Overtures Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "The Kölner Akademie is in period instrument guise, and the sound is of ten suitably thrilling and zippy" BBC Music |
E.T.A. HOFFMANN
Symphony in E flat major & Overtures Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens [ CPO / CD - released 25/Mar/2015 ] E. T. A. Hoffmann is one of the great writers of German romanticism. This month, CPO release his two overtures Undine and Aurora and his Symphony in E flat major. The Symphony is hailed as one of his greatest works, and this gem shines in this... |