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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / The Nutcracker (complete opera & ballet recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera & Ballet / Sonya Yoncheva, Arnold Rutkowski, Alexander Tsymbalyuk / Alain Altinoglu (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2018 ] In March 2016 Russian stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov created a revolutionary production for the Palais Garnier in Paris - the bringing together of Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta and ballet The Nutcracker, which was to become one of the key events of... |
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DONIZETTI
L'Elisir d'amore (complet opera recorded in 2006) Paris National Opera / Heidi Grant Murphy / Paul Groves / Laurent Naouri / Edward Gardner (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques / DVD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] "Edward Gardner conducted with outstanding imagination and authority" The Times, 12th August 2008, BBC Proms 2008 |
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CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Mireille (complete opera recorded in 2009) Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo / Chœur de l'Opéra national de Paris, Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris, Marc Minkowski [ Naxos DVD / 2 DVD - released 11/Jun/2021 ] As soon as I was appointed Director of the Paris National Opera, I wanted to open my term of office with Mireille at the Palais Garnier opera house. In my opinion, Gounod was the greatest French musician of the 19th century, in no way inferior to... |
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CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Mireille (complete opera recorded in 2009) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, Franck Ferrari / Marc Minkowski (conductor) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 11/Jun/2021 ] "Marc Minkowski leads the Parisian forces with lightness and grace while the Provençale rhythms spring to life in his hands. The opera's Prelude is a masterpiece of orchestral tone painting, as brilliantly sun-drenched as are Van Gogh's haystacks" MW |
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NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Aida Garifullina, Yuriy Mynenko, Martina Serafin, Maxim Paster / Dmitri Tcherniakov (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/May/2021 ] "Tatarnikov is sensitive to the score's brilliant colours and vividly imagined textures, drawing on the fine playing of the Paris Opera Orchestra and the enthusiastic engagement - both vocal and dramatic - of the chorus." BBC Music Five Stars |
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W.A. MOZART
Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flute] (complete opera recorded in 2001) Paris National Opera / Piotr Beczala / Dorothea Roschmann / Desiree Rancatore / Ivan Fischer (cond) [ TDK / DVD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] "A Paris National Opera production of The Magic Flute in German sounds like an unlikely prospect, yet the stage settings are beautifully rich and imaginative, as are the costumes. Dorothea Roeschmann as Pamina is outstanding" (Giv Cornfield) |
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W. A. MOZART
La Clemenza di Tito (complete opera recorded in 2005) BLU-RAY Paris National Opera / Susan Graham / Hannah Esther Minutillo / Catherine Naglestad / Ekaterina Siurina / Christoph Pregardien / Sylvain Cambreling [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 27/Oct/2010 ] "An evening of overwhelming beauty." Le Monde |
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MAURICE RAVEL / BENJAMIN ATTAHIR
Ravel: Valse & Rapsodie Espagnole / Attahir: Adh-Dhor Patrick Wibart / Orchestre National de Lille / Alexandre Boch [ Alpha / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] Alexandre Bloch juxtaposes two French composers on this disc. First of all, Maurice Ravel, with the Rapsodie espagnole, his first major work for orchestra alone, written at the age of thirty-two, and La Valse, premiered thirteen years later and which... |
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ALEXANDER ARUTIUNIAN / MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG / DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH
Arutiunian/Weinberg/Shostakovich: Trumpet Concertos Paul Merkelo (trumpet) / Russian National Orchestra, Hans Graf, with Jae-Hyuck Cho (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Oct/2022 ] The trumpet has had many concertos written for it by composers from the Soviet era and beyond. Appealing in its unabashed melodies and colourfully nostalgic feel, Arutiunian's Trumpet Concerto became popular in the West... |
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LENNOX & MICHAEL BERKELEY
Berkeley, Michael - Concerto for Organ and Orchestra; Viola Concerto / Berkeley, Lennox - Voices of the Night, Op. 86; Symphony No. 2 Paul Silverthorne, viola; Thomas Trotter, organ; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Richard Hickox [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] 'The fourth volume of the invaluable Chandos Berkeley series repeats the successful formula of the previous issues... like the others in this series, this is a disc to return to for ever-increasing rewards.' International Record Review |
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TAKEMITSU
Dreamtime / Orion and Pleiades / Star-Isle / A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden Paul Watkins (cello) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka [ BIS / CD - released 1/Jul/1996 ] Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) was a Japanese composer, who explored the compositional principles of Western classical music and his native Japanese tradition both in isolation and in combination. Takemitsu was largely self-taught in music. He was... |
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KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Te Deum / A Polish Requiem / etc Izabela KlosiA´nska (soprano) Agnieszka Rehlis (mezzo-soprano) Adam Zdunikowski (tenor) / Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra / Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Oct/2007 ] "dedicated performances" Gramophone Magazine (praise for the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra) |
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PUCCINI / GOUNOD / MASSENET / MASCAGNI / VERDI / BERLIOZ
Nessun Dorma (LP) Pene Pati (tenor) / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Emmanuel Villaume [ Warner Classics / LP - released 20/Sep/2024 ] Taking its title, Nessun Dorma, from the greatest tenor hit of them all, Pene Pati's second album balances favourite numbers with operatic rarities - one of them in world premiere recording. In addition to Puccini, the Italian composers are Verdi,... |
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DONIZETTI / GOUNOD / VERDI / ROSSINI / MEYERBEER / MASSENET / GODARD
Pene Pati Pene Pati (tenor) / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Emmanuel Villaume [ Warner Classics / Warner / CD - released 25/Mar/2022 ] "A generosity of spirit not always to be taken for granted with tenors is in constant evidence on Pene Pati's debut album…His voice certainly has the colour for both the French and Italian repertoire presented here" BBC Music Choice of the Month May |
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MAURO GIULIANI / JOAQUIN RODRIGO
Giuliani/Rodrigo: Guitar Concertos Pepe Romero (Guitar) Angel Romero (Guitar) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Orchestre National de l'Opera de Monte-Carlo / with Catherine Miche [ Pentatone SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 18/Aug/2006 ] "The sound quality is as good as I have come to expect from the Pentatone RQR releases, and is a slight improvement over the original Philips LP in terms of its transparency and spatiality...Highly recommended." --SA-CD.net |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Rediscovered: British Clarinet Concertos by Dolmetsch, Maconchy, Spain-Dunk, Wishart Peter Cigleris (clarinet), Deian Rowlands (harp) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ben Palmer (conductor) [ Signum Classics / CD - released 26/Mar/2021 ] Peter Cigleris performs with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a programme of four 'rediscovered' clarinet concertante works of the first half of the 20th Century. Composed between 1930 and 1947, the works span a time of change in the musical... |
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MINKUS
Don Quixote (complete ballet recorded in 2010) Peter De Jong / Karel De Rooij / Anna Tsygankova / Matthew Golding / Dutch National Ballet / Holland Symfonia / Kevin Rhodes [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2011 ] Don Quichot - an audience favourite of prestigious companies worldwide - is a dazzling display of high spirits, virtuosity and Spanish temperament. The fl amboyant leaps, dizzying pirouettes and crisp pointe work that are standard features of the... |
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MINKUS
Don Quixote (complete ballet recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Peter De Jong / Karel De Rooij / Anna Tsygankova / Matthew Golding / Dutch National Ballet / Holland Symfonia / Kevin Rhodes [ Arthaus Musik Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jul/2011 ] Don Quichot - an audience favourite of prestigious companies worldwide - is a dazzling display of high spirits, virtuosity and Spanish temperament. The fl amboyant leaps, dizzying pirouettes and crisp pointe work that are standard features of the... |
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JOHN GARDNER
Piano Concerto No. 1 / Symphony No. 1 / Midsummer Ale Overture Peter Donohoe (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / David Lloyd-Jones [ Naxos British Piano Concertos / CD - released 3/Oct/2007 ] This recording should help to re-establish [Gardner's] reputation with two relatively early works written in the post-war years, the Symphony No. 1, "a superbly crafted work... by a subtle and imaginative orchestrator" (Paul... |
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ANDRE TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Piano Sonata Peter Jablonski (piano) / Polish National Radio Symphony, Lukasz Borowicz [ Ondine / CD - released 21/Nov/2025 ] This album from pianist Peter Jablonski and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under Ćukasz Borowicz , includes the world première recording of André Tchaikowsky 's (1935-1982) First Piano Concerto and the first studio recording of the... |