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RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Adolphe ADAM
(1803-1856)
Giselle 
Laëtitia Pujol, Nicolas Le Riche, Marie-Agnès Gillot, Wilfried Romoli,
Corps de Ballet de L'Opéra National de Paris L'Opéra National de Paris
O/Paul Connelly rec. 2006
TDK DVWW-BLGISP 
[111:00] [RW] 
Treats
everything with traditional elegance and is imaginatively recorded
... see Full Review
RECORDING OF THE MONTH Isaac
ALBÉNIZ (1860-1909) Ibéria; Navarra;
Suite Española
Alicia de Larrocha (piano) rec. 1986
DECCA 4780388 [64:12 + 61:11][TB] 
A
notable addition to the catalogue ... see Full
Review
Charles
AVISON (1709-1770) 18 Concerti
Grossi, Opus 9 (1766-7) and Opus 10 (1769) The
Avison Ensemble/Pavlo Beznosiuk rec. The Jubilee Theatre, St
Nicholas’s Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 8-11 October
2006. DDD. DIVINE
ART DDA21211 [66:56 + 64:45] [BW]
Excellent
music, well performed and recorded and inexpensively priced ...
see Full Review
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Harpsichord
Concertos Accademia
Bizantina/Ottavio Dantone (harpsichord) rec. 2007
DECCA L’OISEAU LYRE 4759355 [65:11][BW]
Good
but not as exciting as Dantone’s Vivaldi ... see Full
Review
Johann Sebastian BACH
(1685-1750) Concertos for Violin BWV
1041 & 1042 Sofia GUBAIDULINA (b.1931) Violin Concerto In
tempus praesens
Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin); Trondheim Soloists & London Symphony
Orchestra/Valery Gergiev rec. 2007-8
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4777450 [63:38][AVW]
Mutter vigorously meets the challenges unfailingly catching the drama
... see Full Review
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Partitas
Nos. 2-4 Murray
Perahia (piano) rec. 2007
SONY CLASSICAL 88697226952 [71:49][JQ]
In
this immaculately executed recital Murray Perahia delights our spirits
... see Full Review
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Well-Tempered
Clavier, Book II, Sergey
Schepkin (piano) rec.1998/99 ONGAKU
RECORDS 024-115 [70:51 + 73:01] [DC]
Richter’s
Russian directness and Schiff’s refinement and warmth of expression
... see Full Review
Johann Sebastian
BACH (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations
Beth Levin
(piano) rec. 2007
CENTAUR CRC2927 [62:28][DC]
A
brave release ... see Full Review
Johann Sebastian BACH
(1685-1750) Secular
Cantatas BWV203, 211 & 212
Amsterdam Baroque O & Ch/Ton Koopman rec. 1995/1996
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72280 [65:30]
Wedding Cantatas BWV195-197 & 202
Amsterdam Baroque O & Ch/Ton Koopman rec. 1994-2003
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72284 [74:21]
Cantatas for the Marian Feast BWV 1, 125 & 161
Amsterdam Baroque O & Ch/Ton Koopman rec. 1995-2002
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72281 [66:04] [JFL]
Altogether
satisfying ... see Full Review
Johann Sebastian BACH
(1685-1750)
Magnificat Georg Frideric
HANDEL (1685-1759) Dixit Dominus
Natalie Dessay, Philippe Jaroussky, Toby Spence, Le Concert d’Astrée/Emmanuelle
Haïm rec. 2006 VIRGIN
CLASSICS 3952412 [56:06] [JW]
Vital,
often invigorating performances ... see Full
Review
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas, Vol.
38 Bach Collegium
Japan/Masaaki Suzuki rec. 2006
BIS BISSACD1631 
[66:00]
Generally
excellent performances of popular and less well known cantatas ... see
Full Review
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) The
Cello Suites Sebastian
Klinger (cello)
rec. 2007 OEHMS OC718 [66:56
+ 67:41]
[JFL]
Bach’s
Cello Suites excite and enthuse ... see Full
Review
Oboe
d’Amore Concertos Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685–1750) Concertos in A & D see TELEMANN
Mili Alexeyevich BALAKIREV (1837-1910)
Tamara see MUSSORGSKY
Samuel BARBER
(1910-1981) Adagio for Strings; Violin
Concerto; Essay no.1; Cello Concerto; Agnus Dei
Various artists CLASSICS
FOR PLEASURE 2282752 [79:31][GPJ] 
Is
Samuel Barber the most inexplicably underrated composer of the 20th
century? ... see Full Review
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) The Symphonies
Berliner Philharmoniker/Claudio
Abbado rec. 2000-1 DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON 4775864 [5 CDs: 75.42 + 67.36 + 74.54 + 65.06 + 62.15][DC]
Exciting,
stimulating and satisfying – guaranteed ... see Full
Review
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphonies
Nos. 4-7
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Wolfgang Sawallisch rec.
1991
EMI CLASSICS 5176592 [71:41 + 75:09][BBr]
Fine,
classical, performances, well thought out, well played and very enjoyable
... see Full Review
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano
Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
Ronald Brautigam (piano); Norrköping Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Parrott
rec. 2007 BIS BISSACD1692
[67:16][TH]
Very
hard to fault this disc … sheer vitality and magnetism work their spell
... see Full Review
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Guido Cantelli
- The Great Beethoven Recordings
Piano Concertos 1, 3-5; Symphonies 5 & 7
Rudolf Serkin, Rudolf Firkušný, Wilhelm Backhaus, Robert Casadesus (piano)
New York PO/Guido Cantelli rec. 1953-56
ANDROMEDA ANDRCD5092 [3 CDs: 70:27 + 65:55 + 66:41] [JQ]
Bracing
and stimulating Beethoven from a great Italian maestro ... see Full
Review
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Late String
Quartets and Op.95
Busch String Quartet rec. 1932-37
EMI CLASSICS GREAT RECORDINGS OF THE CENTURY 5096552 [3 CDs: 78:59
+ 70:44 + 73:07][JW] 
Imbued
with the greatest sense of elevation ... see
Full
Review
Berkeley
and Benjamin piano music played Colin
Horsley and Lamar Crowson CD 1 Lennox
BERKELEY (1903-1989) Piano
Sonata in A Major Op.20 (1945) [23:35] Six
Preludes Op.23 (1944) [11:36] Scherzo
in D Major Op. 32 No. 2 (1949) [2:11] Impromptu
in G Minor Op. 7 No. 1 [1:50] Concert
Study in E-flat Op.48 No. 2 (1955)
[2:33] Concert Studies Nos.
2, 3, 4 Op. 14 (1940) [7:38]
Colin Horsley (piano) CD 2 Arthur
BENJAMIN (1893-1960) Pastorale,
Arioso and Finale (1943) [15:05] Scherzino
(1936) [2:44] Etudes Improvisées
[14:11] Siciliana (1936) [3:53]
Lamar Crowson (piano) rec. mono. December
1958 (Berkeley); February 1960 (Benjamin).
ADD Originally from LPs: Berkeley
RCS9; Benjamin RCS20 Mid Price Double
LYRITA REAM.2109 [49:24 + 35:58]
[RB]
Special
insights in pioneering recordings from the
1960s... see Full
Review
Hector
BERLIOZ (1803-1869) La
Damnation de Faust, La Mort de Cléopatre Nicolai
Gedda, Janet Baker, Orchestre de Paris/Georges Prêtre London
SO/Alexander Gibson rec. 1969 EMI
CLASSICS 3814932 [76.55 + 61.14] [RH]
Made
doubly tempting by Baker's wonderful Cléopatre ... see Full
Review
Leonard
BERNSTEIN (1918–1990) Serenade see
SCHUMAN
Georges BIZET (1838-1875) L’Arlésienne suite 2 (arr.
Ernest Guiraud) see MUSSORGSKY
Ernest
BLOCH (1880-1959) Violin Concerto Benjamin
LEES (b. 1924) Violin Concerto
Elmar Oliveira (violin); National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/John
McLaughlin Williams rec. 2007
ARTEK AR00422 [65:36][JW]
A
well contrasted pair of concertos, excellently
recorded and finely played ... see Full
Review
Composers
at the Piano -
Bowen
and Reizenstein
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Johannes BRAHMS
(1833-1897) Begräbnisgesang; Schicksalslied;
Symphony No. 1 Felix MENDELSSOHN
(1809-1847) Mitten wir im Leben sind
The Monteverdi Choir; Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique/Sir John
Eliot Gardiner rec. 2007
SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG702 [75:11][JQ]
This
new Brahms symphony cycle has been launched auspiciously ... see Full
Review
Johannes BRAHMS
(1833-1897) Symphony No. 2 Anton
BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony No. 7
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm
Furtwängler rec. 1942-8
NAXOS HISTORICAL 8.111000 [64:17][RM]
Notable
for unpredictability and volatility and of genuine significance ...
see Full Review
Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Brahms Rediscovered
Amati Chamber Players
rec. 1997 BIDDULPH
802272 [79:27][JW]
Febrile
and violin-centred tonally with a less homogenised corporate sound ...
see Full Review
Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Cello Sonatas
Nos. 1 & 2 Robert SCHUMANN
(1810-1856) Five Pieces in Folk Style
Clive Greensmith (cello); Boris Berman (piano) rec. 2005
BIDDULPH 802262 [68:35][JW]
Subtle
and variegated performances tending toward the interior ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Piano
Concerto in D Major Op.13 (1938) [32:27] (CD includes original
version of the third movement) [09:10] Young Apollo Op.16
for piano, string quartet and string orchestra (1939) [6:56] Diversions for
piano (left hand) and orchestra Op.21 (1940) [22:26] Steven
Osborne (piano) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov rec.
Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, 21-23 September 2007 HYPERION
CDA67625 [71:16] [JF]
A
fine introduction to some of the composer’s
earlier scores ... see Full
Review
Benjamin
BRITTEN
(1913-1976)Peter
Grimes, op.33
(1945) [142:17]Peter Pears (tenor)
– Peter Grimes; Heather Harper (soprano) –
Ellen Orford;
London Symphony Orchestra/Benjamin Britten.
Stage Director: Joan Cross Video Director:
Brian Large rec Snape Maltings, 24-28 February
1969 Colour
DECCA
074 3261 [142:17]
[MG]
A
valuable benchmark and eloquent performance
in its own right. … see Full
Review
Max
BRUCH (1838-1920) Der romantische
Sinfoniker
Neue Philharmonie Westfalen/Johannes Wildner rec. 2004-5
EBS EBS6141
[3 CDs: 54.59 + 52.03 + 56.26]
Max BRUCH (1838-1920) Der romantische Sinfoniker II
Neue Philharmonie
Westfalen/Theo Wolters rec. 2006
EBS EBS6142
[64.04][CF]
Highly
enjoyable discs and very much worth the having ... see Full
Review
Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony
No. 7 see BRAHMS
Dietrich
BUXTEHUDE (c.1637-1707) Harpsichord Music
- Volume 2 Lars
Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord) rec. 1998
NAXOS 8.570580 [52:46][GPu]
Lively,
tonally varied performances … a very attractive sound … see Full
Review
William
Byrd
(1543-1623) Music for a Hidden Chapel
Mass for 5 voices In Tempore Paschali, Motet for 3
voices, Mass for 5 voices In Assumptione Beatæ Mariæ Virginis,
Antiphons for 4 voices
Chanticleer/Joseph Jennings rec. 1998
Harmonia Mundi Classical Express HCX395 5182 [51:58] [BW]
An
inexpensive source of considerable musical pleasure ... 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]
[Recommended
recordings]
Il that anyone who brackets me with
Cage is bracketing actual music with metaphysical
