Superbudget £5.99 or less 
Budget £6-7.99 
Medium £8-10.99 
Full price £11+
Download
Lauri
SAIKKOLA (1906 - 1995) Tripartita,
Musica per archi see Musica
Fennica
Florent
SCHMITT (1870-1957) Psalm 47, La Tragédie
de Salome 
Andrea
Guiot (soprano); Gaston Litaize (organ) French Ntl Radio O & Ch/Jean
Martinon rec. 1972 HIGH
DEFINITION TAPE TRANSFERS HDCD 191 [54:39] [RB]
If
you favour the hyper-ventilating ecstatic approach don’t
miss this ... see Full Review
Florent
SCHMITT (1870-1958) Suite en rocaille see French
Flute Chamber Music
Alfred
SCHNITTKE (1934-1998) Piano
Trio see SHOSTAKOVICH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String
Quartets 8 & 15 Busch
String
Qt
rec. 1938 PRISTINE
AUDIO
XR PACM066 [65:53] [BW]
Performances
still among the very best in miraculous re-masterings ... see Full
Review
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Part-Songs
Vol. 2 Sibylla
Rubens, Silke Schwarz (sopranos); Regina Jakobi, Ingeborg Danz,
Hildegard Wiedmann (altos); Markus Schäfer, Marcus Ullmann
(tenors); Thomas E Bauer, Markus Flaig, Marcus Schmidl (basses);
Ulrich Elsenlohr (piano) rec. 2008 NAXOS
8.570962 [67:17] [JS]
An
entertaining exploration of some of the lesser known parts of Schubert’s
output … see Full Review
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Die
schöne Müllerin James
Gilchrist (tenor); Anna Tilbrook (piano)
rec. 2009 ORCHID
CLASSICS
ORC100006 [65:32] [JQ]
A
version of Die schöne Müllerin that is well worth hearing
... see Full Review
Franz
SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828) Piano Works For Four
Hands Fantasy, 3 Marches Militaires, Divertissement ŕ la
Hongroise Ykeda
Duo rec. 2009 LONTANO
2564 69074-4 [72:18] [OL]
No
tension, no momentum, no variety... see Full
Review
Robert
SCHUMANN
(1810-1856)
Symphonies 1-4
Royal PO/Grzegorz Nowak rec. 2008/9
ORCHID CLASSICS ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA RPOSP014 [68.50 + 64.30]
[CF]
Good
but if only Nowak had gone all the way and trusted the composer more.
... see Full Review
Robert
SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Symphonies 1 & 2,
Piano Concerto, Cello Concerto Dinu
Lipatti (piano); Maurice Gendron (cello) O Suisse Romande/Ernest
Ansermet rec. 1950-66 DECCA
ELOQUENCE 480 0078 [69:26 + 74:08] [DC]
A
welcome addition to the Decca Ansermet Legacy ... see Full
Review
Reinhard
SCHWARZ-SCHILLING (1904-1985) Intro. & Fugue, Symphony,
Sinfonia diatonica Weimar
Staatskapelle/Jose Serebrier rec. 2007 NAXOS
8.570435 [65:40] [RB]
Attractive
if not utterly compelling works ... see Full
Review
Rodion
SHCHEDRIN
(b. 1932) The
Sealed Angel (1988) [54:42]
Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge/Geoffrey Webber Choir
of King’s College, London/David Trendell Clare Wills (oboe) rec. 2008,
DELPHIAN
DCD34067 [54:42]
[EM]
Sung
with tremendous conviction. One of those works that has the power to
uplift, calm and soothe … see Full
Review
Cyril
SCOTT
(1879-1970)
Piano Trio No.1 (1920) [33:48] Trio - for clarinet in B flat, cello
and piano (1955) [18:04] Clarinet Quintet (1951, revised 1953) [13:13]
Piano Trio No.2 (published 1951) [10:08] Cornish Boat Song (1931)
[3:00] + ‘free’ Web track Little Folk Dance
Robert Plane, (clarinet); Mia Cooper (violin); David Adams (viola) The
Gould Piano Trio: Lucy Gould (violin) Alice Neary (cello) Benjamin Frith
(piano) rec. 2009 DDD
CHANDOS CHAN 10575 [78:47]
[JF]
This is an extremely important addition to
the corpus of Cyril Scott’s recorded music ... see Full
Review
Robert
SHECHTMAN (1939-2002) Moons
and Ancestors Paul
Austin (horn); Gregory Crowell (organ) Christina Fong (amplified
violin)
Ethnoeccentric OGREOGRESS
PRODUCTIONS 884502163056 [62.52] [GH]
Something
for those of you fascinated by the little-known and underrated
... see Full Review
Howard
SHORE
(b.1946)
9pm [3:17], Midnight [2:45], 3am [3:14], 6am [2:30] (from After Hours)
(1985) Espresso [3:14] Macchiato [3:59] Robusta [2:39] Unknown Track
8 [5:07] Decaf [5:12] Instant [5:19] Turkish Cream and Sugar [2:41]
Heaven (from Heaven) (1987) [4:10]
Orchestra/Howard Shore rec. details not given. DDD
HOWE RECORDS HWR 1003 [44:12]
[BBr]
Thanks,
but no thanks … see Full Review
Dmitri
SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Piano
Trios 1 & 2 Alfred SCHNITTKE (1934-1998) Piano
Trio Kempf
Trio rec. 2004 BIS
BIS-SACD-1482 
[69:33] [MS]
An
appealing pairing of three different yet comparably searing trios …
see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphony
11 Netherlands
RPO/Mark Wigglesworth rec. 2006 BIS
BIS-SACD-1583 [63:41] [DM]
A
deeply satisfying performance and an unrivalled recording ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Dmitri
SHOSTAKOVICH
(1906 – 1975)
CD 1 Sonata for Cello and Piano Op.40 (1934) [27:12] Sonata for Cello
and Piano Op.147 (1975) [31:25] CD 2 Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat Op.107
(1959) [29:35] Cello Concerto No.2 Op.126 (1966) [32:44]
Viviane Spanoghe (cello); André de Groote (piano) Sofia Soloists Symphony
Orchestra/Emil Tabakov rec. 1984/1992/ 2008
TALENT DOM 3810 12-13 [58:37 + 62:19]
[NB]
Powerful,
humane and utterly compelling ... see Full
Review
Dmitri
SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-
1975) Piano Concerto 1 see MATHIEU
Jean
SIBELIUS (1865-1957) The Sound of Sibelius Lahti
SO/Osmo Vänskä rec. 2006-7 BIS
BISSACD1645 [78:13] [DM]
A
very worthwhile release indeed ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957) Violin
Concerto, Three Humoresques Serge PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Violin
Concerto 1 Vilde
Frang (violin)
WDR SO Köln/Thomas Søndergård
rec. 2009 EMI
CLASSICS
6844132 [63:56] [RB]
A
rare purity and spun silver … see Full
Review
Paul
SPICER Come
out Lazar (Shorter choral works) Chapel
Ch Selwyn College, Cambridge/Sarah MacDonald
rec. 2008 REGENT
REGCD280 [63:59] [EM]
Superb
performances combining passion with ability … interesting
and accessible music ... see Full
Review
Louis
SPOHR
(1784-1859)
Overture: Das befreite Deutschland, Symphonies
4 & 5
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana/Howard Shelley rec. 2007
HYPERION CDA67622 [78:00]
[RB]
Pleasing
symphonies from Spohr … they deserve your attention... see
Full Review
Lewis
SPRATLAN (b.
1940) In
Memoriam, Streaming, The
Amherst College Choral Society/Jonathan Hirsch, The Valley
Festival O/Lewis Spratlan rec. 1993/2004 NAVONA
NV5810 [68:31] [CR]
An
ambitious project, which has appeal ... see Full
Review
Sir
John STAINER (1840-1901) The
Crucifixion Andrew
Kennedy (tenor); Neal Davies (bass); Darius Battiwalla (organ)
Huddersfield Choral Society/Joseph Cullen
rec. 2009 SIGNUM
CLASSICS
SIGCD176 [62:09] [JQ]
A
fine and convincing account of Stainer’s sincere and durable
Passion piece. ... see Full
Review
Wilhelm
STENHAMMAR (1871-1927) Piano Concertos 1 & 2 Seta
Tanyel (piano) Helsingborg SO/Andrew Manze rec. 2008. The Romantic
Piano Concerto series, Vol. 49 HYPERION
CDA67750 [75:16] [CF]
An
outstanding achievement ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Richard
STRAUSS (1864-1949) Eine Alpensinfonie,
Op. 64 (1911-1915)
London SO/Bernard Haitink rec. 2008
LSO LIVE
LSO0689 [50:20]
[DM]
A
magnificent achievement all-round and, quite possibly, the performance
of a lifetime ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Vier
letzte Lieder, Arias from Ariadne auf Naxos, Capriccio & Arabella Lisa
Della Casa (soprano)
Vienna PO/Karl Böhm, Heinrich Hollreiser, Rudolf Moralt
rec. 1952-4 NAXOS
8.111347 [67:21] [RMo]
A
magnificent souvenir of perhaps the greatest Strauss soprano ever
... see Full Review
Richard
STRAUSS (1864-1949) Don Quixote, Also Sprach
Zarathustra Alwin
Bauer (cello) Paul Schroer (viola) Cologne RSO/Dimitri Mitropoulos
rec. 1959 MEDICI
MASTERS MM035-2 [75:16] [JW]
Fulsome
command and direction ... see Full
Review
Richard
STRAUSS (1864-1949) Till
Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Don Juan Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Symphony 36,
Overtures BBC
SO, London PO, Glyndebourne Festival O/Fritz Busch
rec. 1934-6 GUILD
GHCD2356 [68:49] [JW]
Exciting
documents of Busch’s direct and unsentimental approach ...
see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Cleveland
O, Chciago SO, Ensemble Intercontemporain/Pierre
Boulez rec. 1980-96 DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON
477 8730 [6 CDs: 364:22] [DC]
Plenty
of marvels for all in this little box ... see Full
Review
Igor
STRAVINSKY
(1882-1971) Orchestral Miniatures
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra rec. 1995
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9089 [65:49]
[RB]
Concise
and pungent Stravinsky you are the poorer for not knowing. ... see Full
Review
Igor
STRAVINSKY
(1882-1971) Concerto in E flat - Dumbarton Oaks see Celebrating
Bach
Thomas
TALLIS (c.1505 – 1585) Thomas
Tallis's Secret Garden
Ensemble Européene William Byrd/Graham O'Reilly rec. 2009, DDD
PASSACAILLE 963 [70.21]
[RH]
An
interested experiment, recording Tallis's pieces as if they were vocal
chamber music ... see Full
Review
Sergei
Ivanovich TANEYEV (1856-1915) Violin
Sonata,
Theme and Variations & other piano music Ivan
Peshkov (violin); Olga Solovieva (piano)
rec. 2005/8 NAXOS
8.557804 [74:21] [WK]
A
fine new recording of the Violin Sonata and almost all the solo
piano music … exemplary playing ... see Full
Review
John
TAVERNER (c.1490-1545) Missa Corona Spinea,
O splendor glorie Ch
St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh/Duncan Ferguson rec. 2009 DELPHIAN
DCD34023 [58:10] [BW]
A
strong contender, even in the face of illustrious competition ...
see Full Review
Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Symphony
5,
Eight Stokowski encores Leopold
Stokowski and his Symphony Orchestra
rec. 1947-55 PRISTINE
AUDIO
XR PASC188 [74:03] [JW]
This
well conceived act of restoration certainly gets my vote ... see Full
Review
Pyotr
Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) The Nutcracker, English
Dance for Act II Herman Severin
LŘVENSKIOLD (1815-1870) La Sylphide Ambrosian
Singers/John McCarthy, LSO/André Previn, Phil. O/John Lanchbery,
Copenhagen PO/Ole Schmidt rec. 1972-82 EMI
CLASSICS 9 67694 2 [72:03 + 75:03] [DM]
A
welcome reminder of Previn's halcyon days with the LSO ... see Full
Review
Georg
Philipp TELEMANN (1681
- 1767) Darmstadt
Overtures Frans
Brüggen, Jeannette van Wingerden (recorder) Concentus Musicus
Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt 1966/78 DAS
ALTE WERK
2564 69052-3 [73:15 + 75:24] [JV]
Although
these recordings are more than 30 years old they still sound very
fresh ... see Full
Review
Georg
Philipp TELEMANN (1681
- 1767) Six
Cantatas Maria
Jonas (soprano), Klaus Mertens (bass) Les Amis de Philippe/Ludger
Rémy
rec. 2007 CPO
777297-2 [77:57] [JV]
Musical
expression of the ideas of the Enlightenment - interesting and
musically rewarding ... see Full
Review
Simeon
TEN HOLT (b.1923) Canto
Ostinato Assia
Cunego (harp) rec. 2007 ETCETERA
KTC1398 [72:25] [DC]
A
beautiful disc, and deserving of 100% success ... see Full
Review
Marcel
TOURNIER (1879-1951) Suite see French
Flute Chamber Music
Moishei
VAINBERG
(Mieczyslaw
WEINBERG) (1919-1996)Works for Violin and Piano - Volume 1 Violin
Sonata No.4 Op.39 (1947) [19:58] Violin Sonata No.5 Op.53 (1953) [22:59]
Three Pieces for Violin and Piano (1934) [13:26]
Stefan Kirpal (violin)
Andreas Kirpal (piano) rec. August 2007,
CPO 777 456-2 [57:27]
[JW]
Rich
characterisation in this finely recorded recital … confidence and authority
... see Full Review
Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
The Wasps: Aristophanic suite (1909) [26:05] Piano Concerto in
C (1926-30) [27:39] English Folk Song Suite (1923) (orch. Gordon
Jacob) [9:17] The Running Set (1933) [6:36]
Ashley Wass (piano) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/James Judd
rec. 2009.
NAXOS 8.572304 [69:37]
[CF]
Nothing
cup-of-tea English about this ... see Full
Review
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Falstaff Mariano
Stabile, Pietro Biasini, Vienna State Opera Ballet & Ch,
Vienna PO/Arturo Toscanini
rec. 1937 PRISTINE
AUDIO
PACO035 [56:15
+ 60:06] [MS]
Compelling,
intense yet fluid and sonorous - making the most of Verdi's last opera
by emphasising drama and ensemble … see Full
Review
Giuseppe
VERDI (1813-1901) Requiem Carmen
Giannattasio (sop.), Veronica Simeoni (mezzo), Alexander Timchenko
(ten.), Carlo Colombara (bass), Mikhailovsky Theatre Ch./St Petersburg
PO/Yuri Temirkanov rec. 2009 SIGNUM
CLASSICS SIGCD184 [47:10 + 38:43] [RMo]
An
honest, passionate and very enjoyable, top-second-rank version
... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Tomás Luis de VICTORIA
(1548-1611) Lamentations of Jeremiah Juan
Gutiérrez de PADILLA (c. 1590-1664) Lamentations for
Maundy Thursday
The Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
GIMELL CDGIM 043 [64:08]
[JQ]
An
outstanding release that celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the
Gimell label ... see Full Review
Antonio
VIVALDI (1678
- 1741) Farnace Furio
Zanasi (baritone) Sara Mingardo (contralto) Le concert des Nations/Jordi
Savall
rec. 2001 NAÏVE
OP30471 [3 CDs:
54.49 + 58.32 + 35.56] [RH]
Three
hours of top quality Vivaldi ... see Full
Review
Richard
WAGNER
(1813-1883) Der
Ring des Nibelungen (1869-1876) Albert Dohmen (Wotan); Linda
Watson (Brünnhilde); Soloists
Bayreuth Festspiele Chorus and Orchestra/Christian Thielemann rec. 2008.
OPUS
ARTE OA CD9000B D [14 CDs: 14:50:00]
[TD]
It
is when considering the singers that doubts about the merits of this
recording enter ... see Full
Review
Richard
WAGNER (1813-1883) Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde (orchestral
extracts) see LISZT
Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Götterdämmerung:
Act III, Scene 3 see PURCELL
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786 -
1826) Clarinet concertino, Clarinet concerto 2 see
Phoenix
in Flight
Christopher
WRIGHT (b.
1954) A Vision of Heaven Lesley-Jane
Rogers (soprano); Helena Ruinard (violin); Danielle Perrett
(harp); Simon Lepper (piano); Tim Kipling (alto flute) rec.
2006 DDD MERLIN
CLASSICS MRFD 070914 [73:21] [RB]
Wright
the reflective pastoral visionary ... see Full
Review
Christopher
WRIGHT (b.
1954) Spring
Overture, A Little Light Music, Threnody for Orchestra, Searching,
Idyll for Small Orchestra, Divertimento,Capriccio Burlesque Royal
Ballet Sinfonia/Barry Wordsworth, Gavin Sutherland; Manchester
Sinfonia/Christopher Wright rec. 2007/9 DUTTON
CDLX 7240 [64:11] [RB]
Some
fine light music and other works that are are much, much more ...
see Full Review
Eugène
YSAŸE (1858
- 1931) Sonata for Two Violins, String Trio, Sonata for Solo
Cello Henning
Kraggerud (violin); Bård Monsen (violin); Lars Anders Tomter
(viola); Ole-Eirik Ree (cello) rec. 2007 NAXOS
8.570977 [61:02] [JW]
Authoritative
statements of important chamber repertoire too long neglected ... see
Full Review
Alexander
von ZEMLINSKY (1871-1942) Lieder: Barbara
Bonney (soprano); Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo); Hans Peter
Blochwitz (tenor); Andreas Schmidt (baritone); Cord Garben
(piano) rec. 1988 BRILLIANT
CLASSICS 9009 [72:56 + 67:18] [RB]
An
irresistible package ... see Full
Review
Alexander
von ZEMLINSKY (1871-1942) Lyrische
Symphonie Julia
Varady (soprano) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) Berliner
PO/Lorin Maazel rec. 1981 BRILLIANT
CLASSICS 9120 [43:53] [RB]
If
you are on a tight budget this is self-recommending ... see Full
Review
Mikolaj
ZIELENSKI (17th Century) Offertoria
et Communiones Totius Anni Emma
Kirkby (soprano) Andrzej Bialko (organ) Capella Cracoviensis/Stanislaw
Galonski
rec. 2008 DUX
0681 [54.37] [RH]
A
disc that all lovers of 17th century choral music will
want to have … 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]
[last 5 days] [Recommended
recordings]
EXPLORE
MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL 
