W. A. MOZART
Mozart: String Quintets K. 515 & 516 Quatuor Van Kuijk; Adrien La Marca [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "Time and again, they seem to me to catch this music exactly where it speaks most powerfully: balanced perfectly - poignantly - between laughter and tears." Gramophone Editor's Choice Awards Issue 2020 |
JOHN ADAMS
Adams: Complete Piano Music Ralph van Raat (piano) with Maarten van Veen (piano) [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 4/Mar/2007 ] The works on this disc span his entire career to date, and illustrate his many different styles of writing for the piano. Phrygian Gates and China Gates - "gate" here referring to a type of electronic switch - could be regarded as his first "minimal"... |
FREDERIC RZEWSKI
Rzewski: The People United will never be Defeated Ralph van Raat (piano) [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 6/Apr/2008 ] "This is another excellent Naxos release, and should be snapped up by anyone with even the mildest interest in 20th century piano music, or just piano music in general." (MusicWeb April 2008) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies No. 5 & 9 (Blu-ray) René Kollo, Anna Tomowa-Simtow, Agnes Baltsa, José van Dam / Choir of the Deutsche Oper, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 6/May/2022 ] This important visual document provides a rare insight into the way in which 'das Wunder Karajan' fashioned his unique style. The roused interpretation of Beethoven's most popular symphony, Symphony No. 9 with the Berliner Philharmoniker was recorded... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Theodora HWV68 (complete oratorio recorded in 1991) Roberta Alexander, Jochen Kowalski, Jard van Nes, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt [ Teldec Das Alte Werk / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Jun/1991 ] "Harnoncourt treats this, the most operatic of Handel's oratorios, with considerable drama - including some eccentric tempos." BBC Music |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Genoveva (complete opera recorded in 1997) Ruth Ziesak, Marjana Lipovsek, Thomas Quasthoff, Rodney Gilfry, Deon van der Walt, Hiroyuki Ijichi / Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt [ Teldec / Warner Classics The Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 4/May/2009 ] "Opera buffs might complain at a lack of action, but lovers of Schumann will celebrate a work that is at once intimate, thought-provoking and gloriously melodious. A sure-fire first choice." (Gramophone) |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi: Concertos pour Violoncelle (for cello) Roel Dieltiens (cello) / Richte van der Meer (cello) / Ensemble Explorations / Roel Dieltiens [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 22/Sep/2007 ] "An excellent soloist, a creative band playing one-to-a-part and a beautifully rounded recorded sound. This is an exceptional release." Early Music Review |
SAMUEL / BERG / MAHLER
Clytemnestra - Orchestral Songs Ruby Hughes (soprano) BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jac van Steen [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 3/Jan/2020 ] "Her eloquence is always unfussy and direct. The instrumental fabric is equally strong, with beautiful playing from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, on the top of its top form, conducted by Jac van Steen" The Times Five Stars |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart - Don Giovanni [Complete opera with libretto] Ruggero Raimondi, Kiri Te Kanawa, Edda Moser, Jose van Dam, Teresa Berganza / Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris, Lorin Maazel [ Sony Classical / 3 CD Box Set - released 25/Jun/1982 ] "Donna Anna sweeps in like a tornado: with Edda Moser all the furies, and a good many of the vowels as well, really are let loose." Gramophone |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Cantatas BWV98, BWV188 & BWV23 Ruth Holton, Sytse Buwalda, Nico van der Meel, Kmut Schoch / Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] The Bach's Cantatas have secured their place in the canon of human creations of eternal value. In no other oeuvre one finds the expression of all universal human emotions, from utter grief to extatic joy, from turbulant drama to serene... |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Il ottavo libro de madrigali, 1638 'Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi' Salomé Haller, Maria Cristina Kiehr, Bernarda Fink, Marisa Martins, Christophe Laporte,Kobie Van Rensburg / Concerto Vocale, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi HMHeritage / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2016 ] Monteverdi was 71 when he published his Eighth Book of madrigals. This collection, a monumental work of remarkable beauty, is a synthesis of all Monteverdi's experience in the realm of secular music. It is the culmination of a genre, the Italian... |
SAMUEL BARBER
Barber: The Complete Songs Samantha Clarke, Soraya Mafi, Louise Kemény, Mary Bevan, Fleur Barron, Jess Dandy, Nicky Spence, Dominic Sedgwick, Julien Van Mellaerts, etc [ Resonus / 2 CD - released 6/May/2022 ] "These two discs undoubtedly set a new benchmark in Barber's vocal music, and every art song lover should have them." BBC Music 5 out of 5 stars Recording of the Month August 2022 |
SIMEON TEN HOLT
Canto Ostinato XXL Sandra & Jeroen van Veen (piano duo), Elizabeth & Marcel Bergmann (piano duo) & Aart Bergwerff (organ) [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 14/Aug/2005 ] Canto Ostinato by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt is becoming one of the most important, iconic, and most frequently performed piece of Minimal Music of our time. This particular performance is the longest ever, lasting more than 4 hours. It uses... |
TELEMANN / SAINT-SAENS / DOPPLER / VILLA-LOBOS / J. S. BACH
Sharon Bezaly - Synergy Sharon Bezaly (flute) /Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Urban Svensson, Thomas Dausgaard & Michael Collins, with Michala Petri (recorder) & Bram van Sambeek [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Sep/2022 ] On Synergy, flautist Sharon Bezaly and her musician friends demonstrate that one plus one can be much greater than two. Featuring works that celebrate the coming together of like-minded musicians. |
Sharon Van Etten
Are We There [ Jagaguwar / CD - released 23/May/2014 ] Stunning Brooklyn-based songstress Sharon Van Etten follows up her third and breakthrough album - 2012's Tramp with an equally heartbreakingly beautiful release Are We There. Sharon sings heartbreaking and heartfelt songs that are intensely... |
Sharon Van Etten
Are We There (10 Year Anniversary Edition, Black Silver & Grey Vinyl LP) [ Jagjaguwar / LP - released 21/Jun/2024 ] For all the attention that was paid to her 2012 break-through album Tramp, Sharon Van Etten returned to the studio ready and eager to turn another corner, delve deeper, and write with more honesty and vulnerability than ever. The result of that... |
Sharon Van Etten
Are We There (LP) [ Jajaguwar / LP - released 23/May/2014 ] Stunning Brooklyn-based songstress Sharon Van Etten follows up her third and breakthrough album - 2012's Tramp with an equally heartbreakingly beautiful release Are We There. Sharon sings heartbreaking and heartfelt songs that are intensely... |
Sharon van Etten
I Don't Want to Let You Down (EP) [ Jagjaguwar / CD - released 5/Jun/2015 ] Sharon Van Etten has never needed much room to make a grand statement. With four albums diligently released during the last six years, she's become one of music's most astute new cartographers of the heart, able to capture emotional trials and... |
Sharon Van Etten
Remind Me Tomorrow [ Jagjaguwar / CD - released 18/Jan/2019 ] Sharon Van Etten's Remind Me Tomorrow comes four years after Are We There, and reckons with the life that gets lived when you put off the small and inevitable maintenance in favor of something more present. Throughout Remind Me Tomorrow, Sharon Van... |
Sharon Van Etten
Remind Me Tomorrow (LP) [ Jagjaguwar / LP - released 18/Jan/2019 ] Sharon Van Etten's Remind Me Tomorrow comes four years after Are We There, and reckons with the life that gets lived when you put off the small and inevitable maintenance in favor of something more present. Throughout Remind Me Tomorrow, Sharon Van... |