DOREEN CARWITHEN
Concerto for Piano and Strings / Suffolk Suite / etc Howard Shelley (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra / Richard Hickox [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 1/Feb/2007 ] 'Shelley, Hickox and the LSO put not a foot wrong.' Tempo |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 15, 24, 25, 27 Idil Biret (piano) / London Mozart Players, Worthing Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons [ Naxos Idil Biret Concerto Edition / 2 CD - released 10/Jun/2019 ] This release features the 7th and 8th volumes in the Naxos Idil Biret Concerto Edition. "Miss Biret was soloist in an entrancing performance of Mozart's concerto K. 482 with the Halle Orchestra conducted by Mlle Nadia Boulanger. The variety of her... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Idil Biret Archive Edition Volume 18 - Brahms: Piano Quintet Idil Biret (piano) / London String Quartet [ Naxos / CD - released 29/Jan/2016 ] "Idil Biret's tensile, rhythmic playing was especially fine here." - Music and Musicians - UK March 1980 |
MAHLER
Mahler - Quartet for Piano and Strings (with Franck - Quintet) Idil Biret (piano) London String Quartet [ Naxos Idil Biret Archive Edition Vol 5 / CD - released 1/Oct/2010 ] "..the earliest Mahler work to have come down to us, the single movement for piano quartet in A minor, which he wrote while a student at the Vienna Conservatory |
MENDELSSOHN / SCHUMANN / BRAHMS / BEETHOVEN / MAHLER / etc
Idil Biret Best of Chamber Music - With Selections from the Complete Studio Recordings Idil Biret (piano), with Yehudi Menuhin (violin), Borusan Quartet; London String Quartet [ Naxos Idil Biret Archive / 4 CD Box Set - released 4/Dec/2020 ] From the age of 16, Idil Biret played as a soloist with the most distinguished orchestras in the world including the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and many others. |
MICHAEL TIPPETT
A Child of our Time (complete) Indra Thomas (soprano) Mihoko Fujimura (alto) Steve Davislim (tenor) / London Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] "There are emotional depths here which turn this recording into something very special." (Gramophone Editor's Choice September 2008) |
BRUCH / MENDELSSOHN / PROKOFIEV / MILHAUD / DEBUSSY / etc
Ion Voicu: The Decca Recordings Ion Voicu (violin) with Monique Haas (piano) Victoria Stefanescu (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2015 ] "Ion Voicu is a player of considerable quality and with a lot of technique […] He plays the Bruch with impeccable technique" (Gramophone on Bruch / Mendelssohn) |
DVORAK / SMETANA
Slavonic Dances, Symphonic Variations / The Bartered Bride (excerpts), MAI vlast Israel Philharmonic Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / IstvAIn KertACsz. [ Decca Originals / CD - released 20/Aug/2006 ] 'Kertesz's delightfully rustic Dvorák Symphonic Variations have all of the same qualities of naturalness, charm, and vigour that make his LSO symphony cycle so appealing' ClassicsToday.com |
WILLIAMS / MORRICONE / BONFA / PREVIN / BERNSTEIN / LEGRAND / etc
John Williams Conductor Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell (violins) Yo Yo Ma (cello) / Pittsburg Symphjony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, John Williams [ Sony Classics / 20 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/2018 ] In 1980, composer John Williams became one of the most visible conductors on the planet after being named Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Since then he has lead hundreds of high-profile concerts with the Pops and with many other leading... |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto No 2 (with Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1) Itzhak Perlman (violin) / London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn [ Warner Classics Itzhak Perlman Edition / CD - released 20/Nov/2015 ] Many violinists have recorded the pairing of the Mendelssohn and Bruch concertos, but Itzhak Perlman, with his lustrous tone, romantically soaring line and unfailing sense of poetry, ensures that his interpretations are both inimitable and irreplaceable |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (LP) Itzhak Perlman (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rodney Friend [ Warner Classics / LP - released 22/May/2020 ] Itzhak Perlman is the supreme violinist of his time, adored by audiences around the world and a musician whose powerful but sympathetic artistic personality provides a model for the players who have followed him. |
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI
Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Itzhak Perlman (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa [ Warner Classics Itzhak Perlman Edition / CD - released 20/Feb/2019 ] Henryk Wieniawski's concertos offer a distinctively Slavonic take on Paganini's virtuosic innovations. One of the most important violinists of the nineteenth century, he was born in Poland and travelled widely, but became especially influential in... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Concierto de Aranjuez: Guitar Concertos Jacob Kellermann (guitar) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Norrbotten NEO, Christian Karlsen (conductor) [ BIS / CD - released 4/Dec/2020 ] Works by Francisco Coll and Pete Harden flank Rodrigo's famous concerto. |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Elijah, Op. 70 (complete oratorio recorded in 1954) Jacqueline Delman, Norma Procter, George Maran / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir & Hampstead Parish Church Boys' Choir, Josef Krips [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "Boyce sings the part with studied beauty, as indeed do all the other soloists, and the chorus is in excellent form. Josef Krips sets them some rapid tempi here and there, but the result is lively and interesting … plenty of orchestral detail even in... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great' (with Beethoven - Symphony No 4) [recorded 1953-54] Jacqueline Delman, Norma Procter, George Maran / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir & Hampstead Parish Church Boys' Choir, Josef Krips [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "The excellence of the performance is matched by that of the recording; it manages to be very clean and forward. An unreservedly good recording of this piece" (Gramophone on the Schubert) |
James Galway / Jeanne Galway / London Mozart Players
Hommage a Rampal [ RCA Records / CD - released 3/Apr/2001 ] |
DEBUSSY
The Claude Debssy Collection [18 CD set] James Galway, Paul Crossley, Tokyo String Quartet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, etc [ Sony Classics / 18 CD Box Set - released 1/Apr/2012 ] This limited-edition boxed set is a real bargain for all who would like to hear more from the composer of famous works like Clair de lune and La Mer. |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor / En Saga / Tapiola / Finlandia / Four Legends / etc (rec 1953 & 1958) Jan Damen (violin) / Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Eduard van Beinum [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Jul/2008 ] Eduard van Beinum was quite a Sibelius pioneer and collected here are his complete Sibelius recordings for Decca and Philips. The set also marks the first appearance on CD of his Violin Concerto in a 1952 performance by Jan Damen. |
NICHOLAS MAW
Scenes and Arias (with Anthony Milner-Salutatio Angelica) Jane Manning (soprano) Anne Howells (mezzo) Norma Proctor (contralto) / BBC Symphony / London Sinfonietta & Chorus / David Atherton [ Lyrita / CD ] "The recordings serve the music beautifully and anyone who cares about British Music of the period should snap this recording up without fail" (MusicWeb Nov 2007) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Serenades Nos. 1 & 2 / Alto Rhapsody / Variations on a theme by Haydn / etc Janet Baker (alto) / London Philharmonic Orchestra & London Symhony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult [ EMI Gemini / 2 CD - released 20/Oct/2006 ] "Sir Adrian, courteous and thoughtful English gentleman, was for some reason not always willing to thrust Brahms's arguments fully home, and there is a little too much reserve in his music-making. Yet when he conducts for Dame Janet Baker, who sings... |