Albéric
MAGNARD
(1865-1914) Cello Sonata in A major Op. 20 (1910) [27:04] En
Dieu, mon espérance et mon Espée pour ma Défense for piano (1888)
[5:24] Trois pièces for piano, Op. 1 (1887-88) [10:17] Promenades
for piano, Op. 7 (1893) [27:52] 
Alain Meunier (cello) Philippe Guilhon-Herbert (piano) rec. no details
given
HORTUS 085 [70:37] [RB]
Strenuous
drama married with burnished and noble lyricism.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav
MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony 1, Symphony 5 Adagietto
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Till
Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche 
Boston SO/Erich Leinsdorf rec. 1962/3
ICA CLASSICS ICAD5051 
[78:00] [CH]
An
astonishingly complete, all-embracing vision of Mahler 1, a brilliant
rapscallion of a Till and a gorgeous Adagietto.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav MAHLER
(1860-1911) Symphony 2
Charlotte Margiono (soprano) Jard van Nes (alto) Ch & O Staatskapelle
Dresden/Bernard Haitink rec. 1995
PROFIL EDITION PH07040 [33:16 + 53:11] [MC]
In
my experience nothing beats this remarkable Haitink account.
Gustav
MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony 7
Bamberg SO/Jonathan Nott rec. 2011
TUDOR 
7176
[79:50] [DMcC]
Nott
has missed the heart of the work.
Gustav
MAHLER (1860-1911)
Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit Felix
MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Duette
Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône, Jeune Choeur/Samuel Coquard,
Nina Uhari (piano) rec. 2011
PARSIPHONIE PAR 001 [29:11] [GF]
A
disc for lovers of youthful voices.
Gustav
MAHLER (1860-1911)
Das Lied von der Erde
Věra Soukupová (contralto); Vilém Přibyl (tenor)
Czech PO/Václav Neumann rec. 1971
RADIOSERVIS CR04382 [56:03] Píseň o Zemi (Song
of the Earth)
Marta Krásová (alto); Beno Blachut (tenor) Prague
National Theatre O/Karel Šejna rec. 1960
SPOLEČNOST BENO BLACHUTA SBB0010402 [55:19] [DM]
An
intelligent, persuasive performance from Neumann; a crude and unmemorable
one from Šejna.
Benedetto
MARCELLO (1686-1739)
Piano Sonatas
Andrea Bacchetti (piano) rec. 2010
RCA RED SEAL 88697 814662 [55:14] [Byz]
Bacchetti's
near-perfect playing matched with the beauty of Marcello's sonatas.
Louis
MARCHAND (1669-1732) Suites
Jean Philippe RAMEAU (1683-1764) Suite
Christophe Rousset (harpsichord) rec 2011
EDITIONS AMBRONAY AMY032 [58:25] [JV]
The
harpsichord and the suites by Marchand are the main attractions.
Felix
MENDELSSON (1809-1847) Symphonies 3
& 4 Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Masonic Funeral Music
Boston SO/Charles Munch rec. 1958-59
ICA CLASSICS ICAD5039 [73:15]
[JW]
These
Mendelssohn performances are terrific.
Felix
MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Piano Trio No.1 in D minor Op.49 (1839) [29:25] Piano Trio No.2 in C
minor Op.66 (1845) [29:19] Robert SCHUMANN
(1810-1856)
Clavierstücke in canonischer form Op.56 (1845) arr. Theodor Kirchner
1880s [28:27]
Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch rec. 2011,
NIMBUS NI 5875 [77:14] [OL]
Good
quality readings.
Felix
MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Duette see
MAHLER
Gustav
MERKEL (1827-1885) Organ Works Vol. 3
Halgeir Schiager (organ) rec. 2006
SIMAX PSC1275 [76:56] [Byz]
A
tantalising glimpse of Merkel … leaves the listener eager to get hold
of volume 4!
Olivier
MESSIAEN (1908-1992) Visions de l'Amen
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) En
blanc et noir
Ralph van Raat, Håkon Austbø (piano) rec. 2010
NAXOS 8.572472 [62:39] [DM]
Impressive,
well-presented performances; just a little short on fervour and insight.
Scott
MILLER
(with Carla REES ) Devices and Desires
Carla
Rees (quarter tone C flute) Scott Miller (electronics) rec. 2011
RARESCALE RECORDS RR004 [55:56] [Byz]
Rees
constantly amazes with her arsenal of techniques, sheer concentration
and stamina.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Claudio MONTEVERDI
(1567-1643)
Missa In illo tempore
Odhecaton/Paolo Da Col rec. 2011
RICERCAR RIC322 [64:35] [JV]
I
strongly urge you to purchase this disc.
Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Le Nozze Di Figaro
Luca
Pisaroni, Isabel Rey, Ludovic Tézier, Barbara Frittoli, Marina Comporata,
Ch & O Teatro Real, Madrid/Jesús López-Cobos rec. 2009
TEATRO REAL TR97001BD 
[205:00] [RJF]
Satisfactory cast and pedestrian conducting limit the impact of spectacular
sets and complete score.
Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto 17, Concerto for two pianos, Sonata for two pianos
Alfred Brendel (piano) Walter Klien (piano II) Vienna State Opera O/Paul
Angerer
REGIS RRC1388 [76:31] [Byz]
Little
value in this disc for Mozart fans.
Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Masonic Funeral
Music see MENDELSSON
Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Symphony 29 see
SCHUBERT
Claudio
MONTEVERDI (1567-1643) L'Incoronazione
di Poppea
Birgitte Christensen, Jacek Laszczkowski, Norwegian Ntl Opera O/Alessandro
De Marchi rec. 2010
EUROARTS
2058928 [180:00] [JPo]
A
production trying too hard to be controversial in an interesting twist
on filmed opera from Norway.
Modest
MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881) Pictures at an Exhibition see
Günter
Wand
Jesper
NORDIN (b. 1971) Pendants I-III,
Undercurrents, Surfaces scintillantes, Cri du berger,
the aisle
Benjamin Caray (cello) Gageego/Pierre-André Valade rec. 2011
PHONO
SUECIA PSCD 192 [73.46] [PCG]
Unusual
and interesting music, but its purpose remains unclear.
Nicolò
PAGANINI (1782-1840)
String Quartets 1-3
Amati Ens rec. 2011
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94287 [58:03] [Byz]
Warm,
cosy, supremely melodic, eschewing all vulgarity.
Francis
POULENC (1899-1963) Organ Concerto Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Symphony 3
Thomas Trotter (organ) Auckland PO/Arvo Volmer rec. 2010
ATOLL ACD116 [58:15] [ST]
Characteristic,
occasionally creepy, rich and full. Very convincing.
Sergei
RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Symphony 2
Kirov Opera O/Valery Gergiev rec. 1999
NEWTON CLASSICS 8802082 [59:25] [JQ]
A
welcome reissue of Gergiev’s first traversal of Rachmaninov’s
Second.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Serge RACHMANINOFF
(1873-1973)
Moments musicaux Op.16 (1896) [27:33] Études-tableaux
Op.33 (1911) [23:35] Variations on a theme of Corelli Op.42
(1931) [17:45]
Xiayin Wang (piano) rec. 2011, 2012
CHANDOS CHAN 10724 [69:18] [NB]
A
disc of exceptional quality.
Jean
Philippe RAMEAU (1683-1764) Suite see
MARCHAND
John
RAMSAY (b.1931) String Quartets 1-4
Fitzwilliam String Qt rec. 2010/1
METIER MSV 28528 [38:32 + 48:29] [Byz]
The
intellectual grounding of these quartets makes their instant approachability
all the more gladdening.
Einojuhani
RAUTAVAARA (b. 1928) Cello Concerto 2, Percussion
Concerto
Truls Mørk (cello) Colin Currie (percussion) Helsinki PO/John Storgårds
rec. 2011
ONDINE ODE 1178-2 [70:31] [HC]
A
superb addition to Ondine's survey of Rautavaara's large and varied
output.
Maurice
RAVEL (1875-1937) Piano Trio, Alborada del
gracioso Kees OLTHUIS (b. 1940)
Voyage à l’horizon … Seul …
Trio Suleika rec. 2010
COBRA 0034 [57.47] [PCG]
Nobody
who cares about the future of classical music should overlook the Olthuis.
Maurice
RAVEL (1875-1937) La valse, Boléro
see DEBUSSY
Gioachino
ROSSINI (1792-1868) Il barbiere di
Siviglia
Dmitry Korchak (tenor) Luca Salsi (baritone) Ch & O Teatro Reggio
di Parma/Andrea Battistoni rec. 2011
ARTHAUS MUSIK
108 042 [170:00] [RJF]
A
provincial performance featuring some new voices in an imaginative production
with few way-out idiosyncrasies.
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for alphabetical listings by composer:
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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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