TULEV
Songs Robin Blaze (tenor) / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir / Talinn Chamber Orchestra / Paul Hillier [ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/Jan/2009 ] Toivo Tulev, one of the principal figures in Estonian music today, contributes to a wide range of styles. His works are deeply influenced by his study of Gregorian chant, that gives them a mystic, incantatory dimension. Paul Hillier directs this... |
HANDEL
Handel Arias Rolando Villazon (tenor) / Gabrieli Players / Paul McCreesh [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 30/Mar/2009 ] "It is splendid to hear a singer of abundant personality leaping into the suicide scene from Tamerlano with such dramatic authority. Listening to Villazón's lively rendition of Bajazet's "Ciel e terra armi di sdegno", I find myself eager to see him... |
HILDEGARD VON BINGEN
Hildegard von Bingen: Ad Lucem Romain Dayez; Jean-Paul Dessy [ Cypres Records / CD - released 12/May/2023 ] Soundfulness, the new collection of the Cypres label, is an invitation to plenitude through sounds, frequencies, vibrations and breath. Soundfulness creates a space for dialogue between musical cultures, at the crossroads of traditional, sacred and... |
MENDELSSOHN
Elijah, Op. 70 [sung in English] Simon Keenlyside (bass-baritone) Rosemary Joshua (soprano) Sarah Connolly (Mezzo) Robert Murray (tenor) / Gabrieli Consort and Players Paul McCreesh [ Signum Records / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] "Connolly sings with mellifluous tone and Simon Keenlyside is an Elijah of spirit and intelligence: he may not have the sheer weight of a Bryn Terfel, but he's alive to every shift of meaning and his diction is, as ever, impeccable." (BBC Music) |
Roy Haynes With Phineas Newborn & Paul Chambers
We Three (180g LP) [ Concord LP / LP - released 30/May/2014 ] We Three, recorded in a single session in 1958, was the first American studio date as a bandleader for the diminutive and legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes |
MEYERBEER / STRAVINSKY / etc
Triple Bill (choreography by Frederick Ashton recorded in 2004 & 2010) The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden / Carlos Acosta, Darcey Bussell, Jonathan Cope / Barry Wordsworth, Paul Murphy (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 22/Apr/2012 ] Founder choreographer of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton created more than 100 ballets over a 60 year career. Showcasing three of his shorter works, this disc reflects the breadth of his sophisticated, elegant and widely popular style. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Acis and Galatea (complete opera recorded April 2009) BLU-RAY The Royal Opera & Ballet / Danielle de Niese, Charles Workman, Matthew Rose, Paul Agnew / Christopher Hogwood (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Sep/2016 ] "An evening of exquisite sensual pleasure." The Telegraph |
JOHN LANCHBERY
The Tales of Beatrix Potter (choreographer by Frederick Ashton) [recorded 2007] BLU-RAY The Royal Ballet / Victoria Hewitt, Ricardo Cervera, Jonathan Howells / Paul Myrphy (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "Delightful. Witty. Adorable. Charming. Mischievously clever. All excellent adjectives for describing this justly famous Frederick Ashton-John Lanchbery collaboration." (American Record Guide) |
JOHN LANCHBERY
The Tales of Beatrix Potter (choreographer by Frederick Ashton) [recorded 2007] The Royal Ballet / Victoria Hewitt / Ricardo Cervera / Jonathan Howells / Paul Myrphy (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 10/Oct/2009 ] G - Created by Frederick Ashton for a film in 1971, Tales of Beatrix Potter brings alive, with rich characterisation and invention, the famous images and stories of Beatrix Potter. |
W. A. MOZART
Mitridate, re di Ponto (recorded live Covent Garden in 1993) Royal Opera House / Bruce Ford, Jochen Kowalski, Ann Murray, Luba Orgonasova / Paul Daniel (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 10/Feb/2012 ] |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (complete ballet recorded in 2010) Royal Opera House / Sergei Polunin, Will Kemp, Kilian Smith, Charlotte Edmonds / The Royal Ballet School & Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Paul Murphy [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 25/Nov/2014 ] "...Matthew Hart's Peter and the Wolf is one of the most beguiling children's ballets around." The Telegraph |
PROKOFIEV
Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (complete ballet recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Royal Opera House / Sergei Polunin, Will Kemp, Kilian Smith, Charlotte Edmonds / The Royal Ballet School & Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Paul Murphy [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Apr/2016 ] Choreography Matthew Hart Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev's musical fairy tale, has been delighting children since 1936. Nearly 60 years later, in 1995, the young choreographer Matthew Hart created a witty choreographed version for the Royal Ballet... |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Gloriana (complete opera recorded in June 2013) Royal Opera House / Susan Bullock, Toby Spence, Patricia Bardon, Mark Stone, Kate Royal / Paul Daniel (conductor) [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / DVD - released 25/Nov/2013 ] Central to the Royal Opera's centenary celebrations marking the birth of Benjamin Britten was Richard Jones's witty and insightful new production of the royal operatic pageant that Britten wrote to honour the Coronation, exploring the late life, love... |
OLIVER DAVIS
Davis: Arcadia Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Bateman [ Signum / CD - released 10/Oct/2019 ] Oliver Davis graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1994 and has since composed numerous concertos, ballet scores, albums, soundtracks and television scores working with many of the major London orchestras. The Infinite Ocean was composed... |
J. S. BACH
J.S. Bach: Matthäus Passion (Deluxe Edition) Rufus Müller, Richard Jackson, Nancy Argenta, Jonathan Peter Kenny, Jamie MacDougall, Stephen Varcoe / Paul Goodwin (conductor) [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 2/Feb/2024 ] The audio version of Jonathan Miller's ground-breaking production for TV of Bach's great sacred drama. |
STEPHEN ALBERT
RiverRun / Symphony No. 2 Russian Philharmonic Orchestra / Paul Polivnick [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 18/Apr/2007 ] Stephen Albert’s music is at once traditional and contemporary, lyrical yet powerful and dynamic. He drew inspiration from the rich orchestral palettes of composers such as Stravinsky and Bartók, but his musical language is very much his own. |
WILLIAM WALLACE
Lurline (complete opera) Sally Silver, Paul Ferris, Fiona Janes, Keith Lewis / Victorian Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Richard Bonynge (Conductor) [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2010 ] Stylistically a German opera much indebted to Weber and Mendelssohn, with a passing knowledge of Wagner. That is then diluted to make it a pleasingly melodic opera and forerunner of the Gilbert and Sullivan era. |
W. A. MOZART
Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flute] (complete opera recorded the Salzburg Festival in 2006) BLU-RAY Salzburg Festival / Rene Pape, Genia Kuhmeier, Paul Groves, Diana Damrau / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti (cond) [ Decca Classics / Mozart 22 Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Jun/2016 ] "Gerhaher's beautifully enunciated Papageno and Kuhmeier's text-conscious Pamina have vocal class but they are given little to do as actors. Muti shapes good playing with po-faced grandeur ." (Gramophone) |
CECIL COLES
Music from Behind the Lines Sarah Fox (soprano) Paul Whelan (baritone) / BBC Scottish Symphony, Martyn Brabbin [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 10/Aug/2014 ] ***** Five Stars BBC Music Magazine (July 2002)- "His orchestral writing is highly accomplished; and the dramatic flair suggests a potential opera composer…excellent singing and committed playing." |
PARRY / SOMMERVELL / STANFORD
A Century of English Song Volume 2 Sarah Leonard Soprano, Paul Leonard Baritone, Malcom Martineau Piano [ Somm / CD - released 2/Oct/2002 ] This CD is devoted to Parry, Somervell, and Stanford, three of the greatest songwriters of the Late-Victorian Renaissance. Parry is considered to be a very fine composer indeed, and this collection includes some of the best of his songs. The Stanford... |