RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (complete opera recorded live in 2008) BLU-RAY Bayreuth Festival / Michael Volle, Klaus Florian Vogt, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Anne Schwanewilms / Philippe Jordan (cond) [ Deutsche Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray - released 5/Dec/2019 ] "The performances of the cast are of a high standard dramatically and mostly musically. Volle now paces himself well and Lehmkuhl is a magical and unclichéd Magdalene." Gramophone |
ADRIAN SUTTON
Sutton: Orchestral Works BBC Philharmonic, Michael Seal [ Chandos / CD - released 4/Oct/2024 ] Following a devastating cancer diagnosis in September 2022, Adrian Sutton, composer of the music for War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and other National Theatre productions, made a conscious decision to change his focus,... |
STRAUSS / ELGAR / MOZART / ROSSINI / PURCELL
Cinema Classics 2006 BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / George Hurst (Conductor) / Eder Quartet / Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia / Michael Halasz (Conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 11/Jul/2006 ] Classical tracks and excerpts used in some of the most popular recent blockbuster movies! |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
The Best Of Beethoven The Best of Beethoven Diane Elias, Robert Holzer, Jenö Jandó, Gabriele Lechner, Takako Nishizaki, Michael Pabst, Balazs Szokolay & Stefan Vladar [ Naxos / CD - released 23/Jun/1997 ] Artists Diane Elias, Robert Holzer, Jenö Jandó, Gabriele Lechner, Takako Nishizaki, Michael Pabst, Balazs Szokolay & Stefan Vladar Zagreb Philharmonic Chorus, Capella Istropolitana, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra &... |
SIR PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
Maxwell Davies: Sacred Choral Works Michael Bonaventure (solo organ) / Choir of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Matthew Owens [ Delphian / CD - released 12/Jun/2006 ] In the 1960s few would have predicted that Peter Maxwell Davies would eventually write a set of Evening Canticles; yet religious texts have always been of fundamental importance to the composer, as this disc vividly demonstrates by bringing together... |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann [The Tales of Hoffmann] (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Bregenz Festival / Daniel Johansson, Kerstin Avemo, Mandy Fredrich, Rachel Frenkel, Michael Volle / Johannes Debus (cond) [ C Major BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2016 ] "Johansson's big-voice Hoffmann lacks a genuine pianissimo but phrases elegantly…Fredrich and Frenkel are nicely stylish…playing and choral singing are both excellent" (Gramophone) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Bregenz Festival / Mlada Khudoley, Manuel von Senden, Michael Ryssov, Riccardo Massi / Paolo Carignani (cond) [ EuroArts / Unitel Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Mar/2016 ] "Guanqun Yu's schoolgirl Liu, sporting beret and pigtails, is the pick of the cast. She delivers a beautifully affecting, 'Tu che di gel sei cinta'. Riccardo Massi sings attractively as Calaf, with a very creditable 'Nessun dorma'." |
COMEDY CLASSICS
The Bricklayer:- 17 Comedy Classics Various Artists incls Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, Gerard Hoffnung, Peter Sellers, Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman & others [ ALTO / CD - released 18/Nov/2011 ] Featuring Gerard Hoffnung, Peter Sellers & Sophia Loren, Tony Hancock, Flanders & Swann, Tom Lehrer, Peter Cook & Bob Newhart. |
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater / Orfeo (Cantata) Julia Faulkner (sop) Anna Gonda (alto) / Camerata Budapest, Michael Halasz [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Feb/1994 ] "The voices match beautifully in duet, and in all such respects the performances deserve warm recommendation" Gramophone |
KURT WEILL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Weill: Der Neue Orpheus / Violin Concerto Carole Farley (soprano) Michael Guttman (violin) / Rheinische Philharmonie, Jose Serebrier [ ASV / CD - released 1/May/1998 ] Recorded in May 1996 |
GEOFFREY BURGON
Cathedral Music of Geoffrey Burgon (Incls Nunc dimittis) Choir of Chichester Cathedral, with Michael Laird (trumpet) & Jeremy Suter (organ) [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE |
MAX BRUCH / FELIX MENDELSSOHN / HENRI VIEUXTEMPS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bruch: Violin Concerto No 1 / Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto / Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto Cho-Liang Lin (violin) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas [ Sony Music / CD - released 15/Feb/1994 ] "Cho-Liang Lin is accompanied most sensitively by Slatkin and the Chicago orchestra, and this reading is totally compelling in its combination of passion and purity, strength and dark, hushed intensity. The recording is excellent." *** Penguin Guide |
GORDON SHI-WEN CHIN
Chin: Double Concerto / Formosa Seasons Cho-Liang Lin (violin) / Felix Fan (cello) / Kansas City Symphony Orchestra / Michael Stern [ Naxos / CD - released 4/Mar/2007 ] "Formosa Seasons" is based on a series of Haiku-like poems, and is dedicated to the celebrated Taiwanese-American violinist Cho-Liang Lin. |
MENDELSSOHN
Symphonie Nr.2 "Lobgesang" Christiane Karg, Christina Landhamer, Michael Schade, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Pablo Heras-Casado [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] Symphony, cantata, or oratorio? The Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise), commissioned by the city of Leipzig from its Kapellmeister Mendelssohn to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing in 1840, has elements of all three... |
HANS PFITZNER
Pfitzner: Palestrina (complete opera) Christopher Ventris / Peter Rose / Michael Volle / Falk Struckmann / Christiana Karg / Bavarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Simone Young [ Euroarts DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Jun/2010 ] "Simone Young directs a flowing and nicely paced account. Christopher Ventris is sensitive, achieving exhausted nobility as the composer, and Falk Struckmann provides a rounded portrayal of the subtle Borromeo." (Gramophone) |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 'Organ' (with Messiaen: L'Ascension) )rchestre de l'Opera bastille, Myung-Whun Chung, with Michael Matthes (organ) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/Jan/1993 ] "The majestic brass of the first movement set the tone, but it's the rapturous, shimmering string tremolandos of the second (Alleluias sereins d'une âme qui désire le ciel, that really made me sit up and take notice." Review by David Smith |
JOSEPH BOULOGNE SAINT-GEORGES
Saint-Georges: Symphonies concertantes / Symphony in G major Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, Michael Halász [ Naxos / CD - released 24/Sep/2021 ] Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a brilliant swordsman, athlete, violin virtuoso and gifted composer, with a claim to being the most talented figure in an age of remarkable individuals. He was an early and important exponent of the... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano Trios Daniel Barenboim (piano), Michael Barenboim (violin), Kian Soltani (cello) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] Maestro Barenboim teams up for the second time with his fellow musicians Kian Soltani (cello) and Michael Barenboim (violin). |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Fantaisie / Violin Sonata / Cello Sonata / La Mer Daniel Barenboim (piano), Michael Barenboim (violin), Kian Soltani (cello) / Martha Argerich (piano), Staatskapelle Berlin [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 25/Jun/2021 ] Daniel Barenboim performs Debussy with Martha Argerich, Michael Barenboim, Kian Soltani and the Staatskapelle Berlin. |
FRIEDRICH KUHLAU
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Kuhlau: Overtures Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Schonwandt [ Chandos / CD - released 20/Aug/2012 ] Kuhlau was born on 11 September 1786 just south of Lüneburg in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony (Germany). At the age of seven, he lost his right eye when he slipped on ice and fell. His father, grandfather, and uncle were military oboists. Even... |