WILLIAM ALWYN
Alwyn: Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Strings / Elizabethan Dances / The Innumerable Dance Jonathan Small (oboe) / Eleanor Hudson (harp) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / David Lloyd-Jones [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Jan/2007 ] "Recording is natural without being distanced and performances evince commitment and sympathy. The unique experience of hearing more than sixteen minutes of previously unrecorded Alwyn" (Recording of the Month MusicWeb Dec 2006) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Violin Concerto / 2 Romances Joseph Swensen (violin) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn [ RCA Red Seal / CD - released 25/May/1988 ] Joseph Swensen was born in 1960 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and grew up in Spring Valley, New York, Pearl River, New York and Harlem, New York City. His mother was Japanese-American and his father Norwegian-American. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Pieces Julian Lloyd Webber (cello) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Barry Wordsworth [ Philips / CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] Julian Lloyd Webber made his professional debut as a cellist at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in September 1972 when he gave the first London performance of the cello concerto by Sir Arthur Bliss. |
FRANCK / ELGAR / DEBUSSY / BACH / CACCINI / BOCCHERINI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Julian Lloyd Webber: Cello Moods Julian Lloyd Webber (cello) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Philips / CD - released 2/May/2001 ] Bach's "Air On G String", Massenet's "Meditation", Elgar's "Salut D'Amour", etc. |
HERBERT HOWELLS
Howells: Hymnus Paradisi, An English Mass Julie Kennard, soprano / John Mark Ainsley, tenor / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra / Vernon Handley, conductor [ Hyperion / CD - released 16/May/2005 ] GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Arias Kathleen Battle (soprano) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Andre Previn [ EMI / CD - released 1/Feb/1986 ] "This is one of Kathleen Battle's first recordings for EMI, and one of her best. She performs it with virtuosity and elegance, without operatic hyperbole. Battle's voice is one of the most recognisable of all sopranos. It sounds clean and unforced." |
HERBERT HOWELLS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Howells: Concertos & Dances Kathryn Stott (piano) / Malcolm Stewart (violin) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley (conductor) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 4/Oct/2005 ] 'Yet another definitive and indispensable addition to the recorded repertoire of British music... Go forth, purchase, and enjoy!' - Fanfare, USA |
SIR EDWARD ELGAR
The Best of Elgar (Incls 'Nimrod' variation & 'Pomp and Circumstance' March Nos 1 & 4) Maria Kliegel (cello) Dong-Suk Kang (violin) / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / etc [ Naxos / CD - released 10/May/2008 ] Edward Elgar was arguably the leading English composer of his generation and a significant figure among late Romantic European musicians. Born in the West of England in 1857, the son of a piano-tuner and owner of a music shop, he earned his earlier... |
VARIOUS
Lang Lang - The Disney Book Lang Lang (piano), with Andrea Bocelli & Gina Alice / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Ziegler [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 16/Sep/2022 ] "What could so easily have turned into a hotel lobby-style piano amble in fact does a lot better than that. There's a broad range of Disney from across the ages plus a nice variety of pace, and one or two of the arrangements are engagingly clever." |
RAVEL / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / DVORAK / HAYDN / STRAVINSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Pierre Monteux - Complete Decca Recordings London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw, Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Pierre Monteux [ Decca / CD - released 10/Apr/2006 ] Assembled together, for the first time are Pierre Monteux's complete recordings for Decca, Philips, Westminster and Decca/RCA. This lavish set includes a bonus disc of rehearsal material never before released, from producer Christopher Raeburn's... |
WILLIAM ALWYN
Violin Concerto / Miss Julie Suite / etc Lorraine McAslan (violin) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Jun/2011 ] "Lloyd-Jones and McAslan give admirable shape to the long, rhapsodic first movement...[the] technically demanding finale is performed with agile warmth by McAslan whose attractive tone and expressive style seem entirely in tune with this distinctive... |
KARL GOLDMARK / ANTONIN DVORAK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Goldmark: Rustic Wedding Symphony / Dvorak: Slavonic Dances Op. 72 Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Jesus Lopez-Cobos / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Antal Dorati [ Decca / CD - released 10/Feb/1996 ] Original recordings from 1981 (Rustic Wedding Symphony), and, 1984 (Slavinic Dances) |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 (LP) Maria João Pires (piano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, André Previn [ Deutsche Grammophon LP / 2 LP - released 11/Mar/2022 ] "Pires's approach to the concerto is ardently lyrical, giving her spacious sense of rubato and radiant singing tone the greatest expressive freedom..Pires's wonderfully pliable phrasing and bell-like sonority soon win you over." (Gramophone) |
BEETHOVEN / ELGAR / BRAHMS / SAINT-SAENS / FAURE / POPPER / etc
Maria Kliegel - Anniversary Edition Maria Kliegel (cello) / with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Camerata Transsylvanica, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Nov/2022 ] "Her playing has great virtuosity, but it is her phrasing especially in the Elgar, which suggests a great musical intelligence" - Classic CD |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE - Rossini: Heros and Heroines Marilyn Horne (mezzo soprano) / L'Orchestre de la Suisse romande / Royal Philharmonic Orchetra / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 20/Jun/1998 ] 'Marilyn Horne's generously filled recital disc brings us one of the most cherishable among all Rossini aria records ever issued. The voice is in glorious condition, rich and firm throughout its spectacular range, and is consistently used with... |
W. A. MOZART / SCHUBERT / STRAVINSKY / BEETHOVEN / RAVEL / CHOPIN / etc
Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with Daniel Barenboim, Guy Braunstein, etc [ EuroArts DVD / 6 DVD Box Set - released 18/Jun/2021 ] This special edition, released for the occasion of Martha Argerich's 80th birthday, combines some of her most impressive recordings. At the same time, it is testimony to the enormous musical and creative versatility with which she has succeeded in... |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No 1 in B flat minor (LP) Martha Argerich (piano) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit [ Deutsche Grammophon / LP - released 16/Apr/2021 ] Original recording from 1971 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Martin Fröst: Roots Martin Frost (clarinet) / Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra & The Adolf Fredrik's Girls Choir [ Sony Classical / CD - released 1/Jul/2016 ] "Clarinettists and clarinet fans will revel in Fröst's buoyant performance of Crusell's Variations on a Swedish Song…and in his mercurial, technically staggering playing throughout this scatter-shot assortment" BBC Music Magazine, June 2016 ***** |
CLARKE / BACH / MOZART / HAYDN / ALBINONI / MARCELLO
A Portrait Maurice Andre (trumpet) with Jan Parker-Smith, Alfred Mitterhofer (organ), the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Erato / Warner Classics Inspiration / CD - released 10/Feb/2015 ] "(These recordings serve, not only,) as an index of the trumpeter's fabulous chops, but also his sense of fantasy and imagination, his concern for colour, and his spurning of velocity and virtuosity for their own sakes." (MusicWeb) |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 & other shorter works Natalie Clein (cello) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley [ EMI Classics / CD - released 1/Dec/2007 ] "At first what can seem somewhat too introverted is revealed on closer listening as something altogether darker than we are used to in this work. Nothing's comfortable about this reading, nor should it be." Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine... |