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RECORDINGS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Amy BEACH (1867-1944) Piano
Music Vol. 2: The Turn of the Century Includes Variations
on Balkan Themes, Children’s Album, Eskimos 
Kirsten
Johnson (piano)
rec. 2007/8 GUILD GMCD7329 [60:48] 
[DM]
Heart-warming,
grace and character. A hidden gem ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Guirne CREITH
(1907-1996) Violin Concerto Thomas PITFIELD
(1903-1999) Concerto Lirico Richard ARNELL
(b.1917) Violin Concerto
Lorraine McAslan (violin); Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Martin
Yates rec. 2008 DUTTON
EPOCH CDLX7221 [63:42][RB] 
McAslan
triumphs again in these unknown violin concertos ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH John IRELAND
(1879-1962) Piano Concerto Frank
BRIDGE (1879-1941) Phantasm William
WALTON (1902-1983) Sinfonia Concertante
Kathryn Stott (piano) Royal PO/Vernon Handley rec. 1989
DUTTON CDLX7223 [70:01]
[RB]
An
old friend returns wearing new clothes ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Charles LEVENS
(1689 - 1764) Te
Deum [41:24] Deus noster refugium [25:54]
Sophie Landy, Sophie Pattey (soprano), Vincent Lièvre-Picard (haute-contre);
Sébastien Obrecht (tenor); Sébastien Brohier, Marduk Serrano (baritone);
Marcos Loureiro de Sà (bass) Members of l'Ensemble baroque Orfeo and
the Groupe Vocal Arpège, Les Passions/Michel Laplénierec. 8-11 November
2007, Chapelle de la Miséricorde, Bordeaux, France. DDD
ÉDITIONS HORTUS 060 [67:29]
[JV]
Levens
had a great sense of drama and text expression ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH James MacMILLAN (b.
1959) St.
John Passion Christopher
Maltman (baritone)
London SO & Ch/Sir Colin Davis
rec. 2008 LSO LIVE LSO0671 
[54:14
+ 36:06] 
[JQ]
A
very unsettling and deeply moving experience. An unqualified triumph
... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Felix
MENDELSSOHN
(1809-1847)
Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 (1844) [25:49] Piano Trio No.1 in
D Minor, Op.48 (1839) [27:41] Violin Sonata in F Major (1838) [24:02]
Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin);
Lynn Harrell (cello); André Previn (piano) Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Kurt
Masur rec. March 2008, Leipzig, Gewandhaus (Concerto); September 2008,
Vienna, Musikverein, Brahms-Saal (Sonata, Trio)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON CD + DVD 
4778001
[76:92 + 101:58]
[PL]
A
revelation ... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Rodion SHCHEDRIN
(b. 1932) The Sealed Angel
Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge/Geoffrey Webber; Choir
of King’s College, London/David Trendall rec. 2008
DELPHIAN DCD34067 [54:42][JQ]
A
work of great beauty and profundity, splendidly performed ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Peter Ilyich
TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Symphony
No.5 in E Minor, Op.64 [48:04] Francesca da Rimini, Op.32 [25:33] Simón
Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela; Gustavo Dudamel rec. 2008, DDD
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
4778022 [73:37]
[PL]
Filled
with dynamism, introspection and heart-lifting emotional surges ...
see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Pyotr Ilyich
TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Manfred Symphony; Romeo
and Juliet
State TV and Radio Grand Symphony Orchestra/Konstantin Symeonov rec.
1960 VISTA VERA VVCD-00150
[79:33][RB]
A
great Manfred ... see Full
Review
RECORDING OF THE MONTH Jacobus Vaet
(c1529-1567) Missa Ego flos campi
Cinquecento Renaissance Vokal rec. 2008
HYPERION CDA67733 
[75:21]
[BW]
The
best recording yet in Cinquecento’s very fine series ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Eva
Podleś (contralto) Songs by
Chopin, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky & Szymanowski Garrick
Ohlsson (piano) rec. live, 2008 WIGMORE
HALL LIVE WHLIVE0027 [78:47] [GF]
One
of the finest and most captivating song recitals for a long time
... see Full Review
BARGAINS
OF THE MONTH
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) String
Quartet 1, String Quintet 2 Belcea
Qt, Thomas Kakushka (viola) rec. 2003 EMI
CLASSICS ENCORE 2357122 [62:19] 
[CC]
Do
not hesitate ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH
Arthur
BUTTERWORTH (b. 1923) Symphonies
1 & 4, Viola Concerto, Talk by composerArthur Butterworth Royal
Scottish Ntl O/Arthur Butterworth, Hallé O/Sir John Barbirolli rec.
1958/2008 DUTTON EPOCH
CDLX 7212 [70:40 + 73:07] [RB][PC]
Butterworth’s
music casts a potent spell that looks to the North. ... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Girolamo
FRESCOBALDI (1583-1643) Keyboard
Music from Manuscript Sources Martha
Folts (harpsichord)
rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.570717 [73:03] [GPu]
Deserves
the highest praise … see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Giacomo Giacomo PUCCINI
(1858-1924) Tosca
(1900) [68:36] Maria Callas (soprano) - Tosca; Giuseppe Di Stefano (tenor)
- Cavaradossi; Tito Gobbi (baritone) - Scarpia;
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milan/Victor de Sabata rec. 1953, .
ADD BRILLIANT CLASSICS
93927 [66:22 + 62:14]
[MS]
Splendid … not
to be missed ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Ottorino RESPIGHI (1879-1936) Il
Tramonto, Roman trilogy, Gli Uccelli, Trittico Botticelliano,
La
Sensitiva Christine Rice,
Janet Baker, O
dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome/Antonio Pappano, Philadelphia
O/Riccardo Muti, ASMF/Sir Neville Marriner, City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hickox
rec. 1976-2007 EMI CLASSICS
2376762 [77:36
+ 69:23] [ST]
Why
hesitate? ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
Night Ride and Sunrise etc.
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/Pietari Inkinen rec. 2007
NAXOS 8.570763
[64:34][LW]
One
terrific disc! ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Thomas TALLIS (1505-1585) The
Complete Works Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon,
Charivari Agréable
rec. 1996-2004 BRILLIANT CLASSICS
93612 [10 CDs: 657:34] [EM]
Wonderful
music … exquisite music-making... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH
Victoria de los Angeles The
Voice of an Angel
The Early Recordings, Great Italian Operas, Great French Operas, Popular
Songs & Zarzuela Arias, Chants d’Auvergne, Art Songs & Lieder,
Songs of Spain rec. 1948-74
EMI CLASSICS ICON 2173082
[7 CDs: 533:27]
[GF]
A
treasure-trove to last a lifetime ... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Stokowski/Bach
Transcriptions Vol. 2 With
works by Boccherini, Byrd, Clarke, Haydn, Mattheson & Palestrina Bournemouth
SO/José Serebrier
rec. 2008 NAXOS 8.572050 [64:59] [BBr]
Fabulous
... see Full Review
Click
for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part
1 New] [Part
2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part
5 S-Z]
[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part
7 Misc M-Z]
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