Price
symbols (used in reviews from Friday 14th onwards)
Superbudget £5.99
or less 
Budget £6-7.99 
Medium £8-10.99 
Full
price £11+
RECORDINGS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano
Sonatas - Volume 4 Sonatas 28-32 Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Piano Sonata D960 
David
Allen Wehr (piano) rec. 2002/4 CONNOISSEUR
SOCIETY CD4264(2) [79.22 + 78.12] [PSh]
Towering,
magnificent, definitive Beethoven; very fine Schubert ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Daniel BÖRTZ (b. 1943) Hans namn var Orestes (His
name was Orestes); En gycklares berättelser (A
Joker’s Tales)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Alan Gilbert rec. 2002-4
BIS-CD-1653/54 [47:49 + 61:54][GF]
I
can’t remember when a contemporary composition
made such a deep impression – and the performance
is absolutely superb. ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Havergal
BRIAN (1876-1972)
Symphony
No. 6 Sinfonia Tragica (1948) [19:43]
Symphony No. 16 (1960) [17:41] Arnold
COOKE (1906-2005) Symphony No.
3 in D (1967) [22:59]
London PO/Myer Fredman (Brian); Nicholas Braithwaite
(Cooke) rec. Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London,
10 April 1973 (Brian); 7 January 1974 (Cooke).
ADD originally issued on LP as SRCS67 (Brian);
SRCS78 (Cooke)
LYRITA RECORDED EDITION SRCD.295 [60:26]
[RB]
The
cool Cooke contrasts with the epic-heroic
business of the Brian symphonies. ... see
Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Georgy
L'vovich CATOIRE (1861-1926)
Violin
Sonata No. 1 in B minor op. 15 (1900) [28:43]
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major Poème
op. 20 (1906) [20:50] Elegy for
violin and piano (1916) [4:13] Maurice
RAVEL (1875-1937) Pièce
en forme de habañera (1907) [3:10]
Tzigane - rapsodie de concert (1924)
[10:31]
Herwig Zack (violin) Bernd Zack (piano) rec.
2007, Munich. co-production with Bayerischer
Rundfunk
AVIE AV2143 [67:49] [RB]
Another
Milstein in the making ... music that is dramatic,
fantastic, poetic ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848) Don
Pasquale Claudio
Desderi, Francisco Gatell, Laura Giordano, Ch & O Teatro
Municipale Piacenza/Riccardo Muti rec. live 2006 ARTHAUS
MUSIK 101303 
[RJF]
Muti’s
sympathetic and idiomatic baton combines with superb stage direction
and period sets and costumes, to do full justice to Donizetti’s
creation ... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH César FRANCK (1822-1890) Complete
Organ Works - Volume I Hans-Eberhard
Ross
rec. 2004/5 AUDITE 91.518 
[2
CDs]
[DM]
One
hesitates to use the word ‘great’ but in this case nothing else
will do ... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Elizabeth MACONCHY
(1907–1994) Music for Voices
BBC Singers/Odaline de la Martinez rec. 2007
LORELT LNT127 [79:57][HC]
Dedication
and immaculate singing of these fine, demanding and rewarding works
... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav MAHLER
(1860–1911) Symphony No.6
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Mark Wigglesworth rec.
2006
ABC CLASSICS 4766220 [2 CDs: 82:14][BBr]
A
great conductor. Power, insight and intelligence show in this performance
... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1756-1791) Die
Zauberflöte Piotr
Beczala, Dorothea Röschmann, Detlef Roth, Gaël Le Roi, L’Opéra
National de Paris Ch & O/Iván Fischer
rec. live 2001 TDK DVWW-OPMFP [158:00] [TH]
This
enchanting production is as good as any I’ve come across in recent
times ... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Richard WAGNER
(1813–1883) Tristan und Isolde
The Glyndebourne Chorus and London Philharmonic
Orchestra/Jiří Bĕlohlávek rec. 2007
OPUS ARTE OA0988D
(3 DVDs) [86:29 + 71:24 + 80:38][GF]
This
is no doubt the most beautiful Tristan und Isolde I have seen ... see
Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Concerti
Brillanti Cello
Concertos by Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88) Friedrich
Hartmann Graf (1727-95) Johann
Adolf Hasse (1699-1783) & Johann
Michael Haydn (1737-1806) Jan
Vogler, Münchener Kammerorchester/Reinhard Goebel BMG
SONY CLASSICAL 88697 119972 [77:19] [BW]
A
well-established concerto and three discoveries, one a minor masterpiece,
in excellent performances ... see Full
Review
BARGAINS
OF THE MONTH
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian
BACH (1685-1750)
The Well-Tempered Clavier Books I & II Angela
Hewitt (piano)
rec. 1997-99 HYPERION CDS44291/4 [4
CDs] [PB]
Highly
sympathetic and rewarding performances of these magnificent creations
... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Lennox BERKELEY
(1903–1989) String Quartets Nos. 1-3
Maggini Quartet rec. 2006
NAXOS 8.570415 [63:02][HC]
Superb
readings of these beautiful and hugely rewarding works ... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Sir Edward ELGAR
(1857-1934) Froissart; Cello Concerto;
Enigma Variations The Wand of Youth – Suites Nos. 1 &
2; The Starlight Express: Songs; Dream Children
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & Welsh National Opera Orchestra/Sir
Charles Mackerras rec. 1990-2
DECCA ELOQUENCE 4428280 [76:38 + 74:26][CH]
Some
very fine Elgar interpretation, especially if you like to home in on
the nostalgic side ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757) Keyboard
Sonatas Mikhail
Pletnev (piano) rec. 1994 VIRGIN
CLASSICS 5181862 [71:81
+ 68:45] [JFL]
The
kind of performance that makes me sing its praises to anyone who
will listen ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Jean SIBELIUS
(1865-1957)
Symphony
7, Tapiola, The Oceanides, Pelleas and Melisande Suite
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir
Thomas Beecham rec. 1955,
EMI CLASSICS GREAT RECORDINGS OF THE CENTURY 5096922 [EM]
A
Great Recording of the Century, beyond a doubt ... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Later
Ballets: Jeu de cartes;Danses concertantes; Scènes
de Ballet; Variations; Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra Philharmonia
Orchestra/Robert Craft rec. 1991-9 NAXOS
8.557506 [79:07][LW]
Excellent
versions relishing both the lyricism and rhythmic verve ...
see Full Review
[Click
here for the most recent reviews (last
five days)]
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]
[Recommended
recordings]
S
EXPLORE
MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL 
