TOBY YOUNG
The Art of Dancing: 21st-Century Concertos for Trumpet, Piano and Strings Simon Desbruslais (trumpet), Clare Hammond (piano), English String Orchestra, Kenneth Woods (conductor) [ Signum / CD - released 25/Aug/2017 ] Simon Desbruslais returns to disc on Signum with an album that continues to expand the repertoire of the trumpet even further, with four new commissions for Trumpet, Piano and String Orchestra Toby Young's The Art of Dancing is described by the... |
Soweto String Quartet
Zebra Crossing [ Colossal Music / CD - released 22/Sep/1994 ] This is neither the throbbing mbaqanga of the townships nor the ponderous classicism of Kronos's African explorations. The Soweto String Quartet offer a light, poppy sound that mixes their cello, viola, and violins with a South African rhythm... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos 1, 2, & 4 St. Petersburg String Quartet [ Sony Music / CD - released 1/Jul/1995 ] Recorded at Melodia Studio, St. Petersburg, Russia April & December 1994. |
ANDREAS ROMBERG / ROBERT FUCHS / CHARLES Villiers STANFORD
Romberg/Fuchs/Stanford: Clarinet Quintets Thea King (clarinet) / the Britten String Quartet [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 6/Jun/2001 ] "There's plenty of lively, affectionate musicianship in these performances - all warmly and intimately recorded." ***** Five Stars BBC Music Magazine (Aug 2001) |
HOWELLS / COOKE / McCONCHY / FRANKEL / HOLBROOKE
English Clarinet Quintets Thea King (clarinet) The Britten String Quartet [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 24/Mar/2003 ] 'Yet another super disc from this company. Thea King is no stranger to Hyperion but I think this may be her best disc to date for them. [The Frankel] is a masterpiece pure and simple and anyone who tells you different must be deaf' (Tempo) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: String Quartets Nos 9 & 13 Tokyo String Quartet [ RCA Victor Red Seal / CD - released 10/Apr/1988 ] "Right from the start you know that the Tokyo Quartet's will be a dramatic, fiery reading: there's that hair-raising initial attack, with subsequent loud/soft contrasts powerfully underlined." (Gramophone) |
JOHANN BAPTIST VANHAL
Vanhal: Flute Quartets, Op. 7, Nos. 2, 3, 6 Uwe Grodd (flute) / Janaki String Trio [ Naxos / CD - released 15/May/2007 ] "Fortunately the performances and each of the three quartets prove attractive. The players of the Janaki String Trio and flautist Uwe Grodd play on modern instruments and do so with deft sensitivity" (MusicWeb April 2007) |
HOLST / KHACHATURIAN / GLINKA / PROKOFIEV / ORFF / RACHMANINOV / etc
Classical Heat: music to warm you up [incls 'The Planets', 'Ride of the Valkyries', Carmina Burana & Ritual Fire Dance] Royal Scottish National Orchestra / National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine / Maggini String Qtet / Maria Kliegel / Royal Ballet Sinfonia / etc [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2009 ] Over two and a half hours of music to warm you up! |
JUDITH LANG ZAIMONT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Zaimont: Tale Of Abram & Isaac / Sacred Service Various Artists incls James Maddalena (baritone), Margaret Kohler (soprano), Everest String Quartet, Samuel Adler, Frances Lucey (soprano) [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 1/May/2006 ] "This is one of the most consistently rewarding of the fascinating Milken Archive series. So much so that it leaves one wanting to hear more" MusicWeb |
PHILIP GLASS
Glass: Piano Works Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) / Siggi String Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/May/2017 ] "Ólafsson's interpretations inhabit a unique, distinct and extraordinary world all their own...[he] possesses that rare gift of illuminating a familiar work in unexpected ways, revealing hidden depths and drawing out its best qualities" Gramophone |
BEETHOVEN
String Quartets Opus 18 - Allegri String Quartet [ Vivat / CD - released 10/Jun/2013 ] |
Half String
Maps For Sleep (2LP) [ Captured Tracks / 2 LP - released 31/Oct/2016 ] |
Incredible String Band
U [ BGO Records / CD - released 7/Mar/2014 ] Originally a double album released by Elektra Records in 1970. Recorded in a hectic 48 hours by long-time producer Joe Boyd, 'U' is an eclectic mix of musical styles as featured in the band's stage show of the same name. The show had not been a... |
Rahim Alhaj
Letters from Iraq Rahim Alhaj Oud and String Quintet [ Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / CD - released 1/Jun/2023 ] Letters from Iraq expresses the love and pain of lives lived by the people of war-torn Iraq. Actual mailed letters and their stories are transposed into eight gripping programmatic compositions by Iraqi-American composer and oud player, Rahim AlHaj... |
The String Theory
The Los Angeles Suite (LP) [ ADA / Warner / LP - released 25/Sep/2020 ] Grammy-nominated neoclassical pop orchestra from Berlin/Gothenburg releases new album on newly founded label Project C/Clouds Hill. Maverick orchestra The String Theory may be known primarily for their long-term collaboration with the gentle... |
The String Theory
The Los Angeles Suite [ ADA / Warner / CD - released 25/Sep/2020 ] Grammy-nominated neoclassical pop orchestra from Berlin/Gothenburg releases new album on newly founded label Project C/Clouds Hill. Maverick orchestra The String Theory may be known primarily for their long-term collaboration with the gentle... |
BEETHOVEN
Complete String Quartets Vol 1 Elias String Quartet [ Wigmore Hall Live / 2 CD - released 1/May/2015 ] Gramophone Magazine - Editor's Choice - April 2015 |
J. S. BACH
Bach Fugues Emerson String Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "Perfect playing, superb sound - but Bach shouldn't be this well tempered… Sonically speaking, the Emersons have never sounded better on disc, yet there's more to this music than their beautiful, world-class playing lets on." (Gramophone) |
J.S. BACH
The Art of Fugue Emerson String Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 21/Sep/2003 ] The Art of Fugue is a multi-purpose thing: a work of instruction and enlightenment, a kit to be assembled by performer or listener (for which the programmable nature of the CD makes an ideal medium), composed (in the words of Bach's dedication in his... |
BEETHOVEN
String Quartets Nos. 7-11 Emerson String Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon Duo / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2014 ] "Beethoven's five middle-period Quartets in dazzlingly polished accounts. The clarity of the fugal-style finale from the last Razumovsky Quartet has to be heard to be believed." (Five Stars BBC Music) |