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Alphabetical Listing

PART 6
Misc. A-L

[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]

 

Sir Thomas Allen Great Operatic Arias Vol. 2 Works by Mozart, Verdi & Weill Sir Thomas Allen (baritone) Philharmonia O/David Parry rec. 2007 CHANDOS OPERA IN ENGLISH CHAN3155 [76.23] [RJF]

This collection does full justice to the finest lyric baritone Britain has produced since the Second World War ... see Full Review

Victoria de los Angeles - Spanish Songs Victoria de los Angeles (soprano) Gerald Moore (piano) Renata Tarragó (guitar) rec 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953 ADD NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI 7947 [79.22] [M M-B]

A good and enjoyable historical document of the more popular side of one of the greatest sopranos of the post-war period ... see Full Review

Baroque Europe Amarillis rec. 1998-2003 AMBROISIE AM143 [4 CDs] [JV]

Interesting repertoire, but inconsistent performances and debatable scoring make it impossible to recommend this set ... see Full Review

The Battle of Killiecrankie Music by James OSWALD (1711-1769), Alexander MUNRO (fl.1732) and Hamish MOORE La Nef/Sylvain Bergeron rec. 2007 ATMA CLASSIQUE ACD22510 [62.47][GH] 

Very enjoyable ... well worth investigating and as I am off to Scotland I shall take it with me ... see Full Review

The Essential Julian Bream rec. 1959-90 BMG-RCA RED SEAL 88697 214422 [67:29 + 77:01] [JW]

All pretty much self-selecting classics from the Bream canon ... see Full Review

The British Double Bass Includes Gordon JACOB (1895-1984) A Little Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra Elizabeth MACONCHY (1907-1994) Music for Double Bass and Piano Thomas PITFIELD (1903-1999) Sonatina Lennox BERKELEY (1903-1989) Introduction and Allegro David ELLIS (b. 1933) Sonata for Unaccompanied Double Bass Alan BUSH (1900-1995) Meditation and Scherzo John McCABE (b. 1939) Pueblo for Solo Double Bass Elisabeth LUTYENS (1906-1983) The Tides of Time Leon Bosch (double bass) Sung-Suk Kang (piano); I Musicanti MERIDIAN CDE84550 [79:13] [JW]

Full marks to all involved in this enterprise. Bosch should be encouraged in his quest ... see Full Review

The Essential Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé (soprano) BMG-RCA RED SEAL 88697214402 [73.46 + 75.30][RJF]

Caballé’s superb singing skills across the diverse repertoire she encompassed ... see Full Review

Maria Callas: Puccini Heroines & Lyric Arias Philharmonia O/Tullio Serafin rec. 1954 NAXOS 8.111275 [69.13] [RH]

Don’t be put off. If you can get beyond the infamous wobble there is much else in here as well ... see Full Review

The Essential José Carreras José Carreras (tenor) rec. 1983 – 1999 SONY CLASSICAL 88697214412 [76:19 + 65:03][GF]

Mainly for Carreras fans ... see Full Review

Cinema Classics 2007 – Classical Music Made Famous In Films Various orchestras and conductors NAXOS 8.556834 [70:56][SA]

I cannot think of a better, cheaper and more accessible way to introduce some fabulous music to the masses ... see Full Review

The Concert Français Ensemble Battistin rec. 2004-6 ABC CLASSICS 4766181 [66:43] The Concert Spirituel Sara Macliver (soprano); Ensemble Battistin rec. 2004-6 ABC CLASSICS 4766182 [56:51][JV]

Interesting programmes with fine music which is hardly known ... see Full Review

Concert Gems for Violoncello Ashley Sandor Sidon (cello) rec. 2007 MSR CLASSICS MS1247 [67:58][JW]

A sensitive, accomplished player but a greater sense of involvement and colour is needed ... see Full Review

Courbet: les musiques Various composers and artists NAÏVE V5118 [77:00 + 70:18][GPu]

A disappointingly pointless miscellany of bits and pieces which neither throws light on the great French painter nor, conversely, suggests that the music of his time is much illuminated by implied analogies with his work … see Full Review

Don Quixote in Spanish Music Joaquin RODRIGO (1901-1999) Ausencias de Dulcinea Jose Garcia ROMAN (b.1945) La resurreccion de Don Quijote Francesco Asenjo BARBIERI (1823-1894) Don Quijote Jorge Fernandez GUERRA (b.1952) Tres momentos de Don Quichotte Gerardo GOMBAU (1906-1971) Don Quijote velando las armas Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid/Jose Ramon Encinar rec. 2005 NAXOS 8.570260 [66:12][IB]

A very enthusiastic welcome and a fascinating companion disc to DG’s “Quijotes”. Go and buy ... see Full Review

Duos for Violin and Cello Zoltan KODALY (1882-1967) Duo for violin and cello Op.7 (1914) [26:29] Justus Johann Friedrich DOTZAUER (1783-1860) Duo for violin and cello Op.124 (1830s) [12:05] Reinhold GLIERE (1875-1956) Huit morceaux Op.39 (1909): No.1 Prelude [2:28]; No.3 Berceuse [2:32]; No.4 Canzonetta [1:36]; No.7 Scherzo [2:52] Niccolò PAGANINI (1782-1840) Duetto No.1 for violin and cello (c.1801-04) [8:35] Adrien Francois SERVAIS (1807-1866) and Joseph GHYS (1801-1848) Variations brillantes sur 'God save the King' Op.38 (c.1835) [10:51] Rudens Turku (violin) Wen-Sinn Yang (cello) rec. St Dunstan’s Church, Mayfield, Sussex, June 2007 AVIE AV 2124 [68:09] [JW]

Kodaly, the strongest meat and around it satellites of virtuosity and sentiment ... see Full Review

Fantasy Bohuslav MARTINŮ (1890–1959) Sonatina for two violins and piano Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975) (arr. Lev Atovmyan) Three Violin Duets Darius MILHAUD (1892–1974) Sonata for two violins and piano Isang YUN (1917–1995) Sonatina for two violins, Pezzo Fantastioso Angela & Jennifer Chun (violins), Nelson Padgett (piano) rec. 1998 HARMONIA MUNDI HMU907444 [59:45] [BBr]

A real mixed bag recital but it works despite the disparity of musical language and styles ... see Full Review

Flute - Greatest Works Various composers and artists rec. 1975-1995 BERLIN CLASSICS 0012872BC [72:00 + 70:48][CR] 

An interesting introduction to the flute’s repertoire ... see Full Review

Flute Music Emmanuel Pahud, Juliette Hurel (flute) Eric Lesage, Hélène Couvert (piano) rec. 1993-2001 NAÏVE V5128 [4 CDs: 245:00] [CR]

Unusual repertoire showing many aspects of the flute … excellent and highly enjoyable playing ... see Full Review

From Jewish Life – Music for Cello and Orchestra Ernest BLOCH (1880-1959) Schelomo – Hebraic Rhapsody (1916) [21:45] Prayer – from the suite From Jewish Life (1924) arr. cello & strings; orch. Jonathan Aasgaard [4:56] David DIAMOND (1915-2005) Kaddish for cello and orchestra [11:13] Gerard SCHWARZ (b.1947) In Memoriam for cello and string orchestra (2005) [8:33] Max BRUCH (1838-1920) Kol Nidrei – Adagio on Hebrew Melodies Op.47 for cello and orchestra (1880) [11:18] Jonathan Aasgaard (cello) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Gerard Schwarz rec. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 31 October 2005 AVIE AV2149 [58:10] [JW]

Gravitas and eloquence in performances of stature ... see Full Review

Great Movie Themes Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Carl Davis NAXOS 8.570505 [70:22][SA]

Many delights ... see Full Review

Guitar Music of Chile - José Antonio Escobar Music by Javier CONTRERAS (b. 1983), Horacio SALINAS (b. 1951), Antonio RESTUCCI (b. 1956), Juan Antonio SÁNCHEZ (b. 1965), Javier CONTRERAS, Violeta PARRA (1917 – 1967) and Juan Antonio SÁNCHEZ José Antonio Escobar (guitar) rec. 2006 NAXOS 8.570341 [70:43][GF]

Guitar aficionados need to hear Escobar’s absolutely stunning playing of un-hackneyed music  ... see Full Review

Hear My Words Includes works by Parry, Mozart, Stanford & Mendelssohn Eton College Chapel Choir/Ralph Allwood rec. 2006/7 SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD115 [79:00] [JQ]

This is a fine and very enjoyable disc ... see Full Review

Hear, O Heav’ns: Chapel Royal Anthems by John Blow (1649-1708) Henry Purcell (1659-95) Matthew Locke (1622-77)and Pelham Humfrey (?1647-74) Stephen Farr (organ) Christ Church Cathedral Ch, Oxford/Stephen Darlington rec. 1995 NIMBUS NI5454 [74:27] [BW]

A good cross-section of Restoration anthems in decent performances, well recorded ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Heavenly harmonies Music by Thomas TALLIS (c.1505-1585) and William BYRD (1539/40-1623) Stile Antico rec. 2007 HARMONIA MUNDI USA HMU807463 [78:51][MG]

You won’t find a better demonstration of just how beautiful and powerful these pieces are  … see Full Review

He is Risen! William Neil (John Jay Hopkins Memorial Organ) MSR CLASSICS MS1165 [60:26][GMH]

Competently and often robustly performed drawing on a wide range of tonal colours ... see Full Review

Barbara Hendricks - Mélodies Barbara Hendricks (soprano) rec. 1989-95 EMI CLASSICS 5046602 [61:30 + 66:30][GF]

A lot to admire here but beware the limitations in Hendricks’s armoury of colours ... see Full Review

Kaddish Kurt WEILL (1900-1950) Berliner Requiem (1928) [21:39]; Arnold SCHOENBERG (1874-1951) A Survivor from Warsaw for narrator, male choir and orchestra, Op. 46 (1947) [7:41]; Leonard BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) Symphony No. 3 Kaddish (1963, rev. 1977) [42:39] Soloists, Berlin Luzerner Sinfonieorchester (LSO)/John Axelrod rec. 2006 NIMBUS NI 5807 [75:15] [JWi]

Powerful and moving ... see Full Review

Herbert von Karajan: The Legendary Decca Recordings Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan rec. 1959-65 DECCA 4780155 [9 CDs: 76:20 + 74:03 + 74:12 + 72: 20 + 69:18 + 60:15 + 74:03 + 74:48 + 74:40][EMc]

A snapshot of the younger Karajan at the height of his powers ... see Full Review

Das Lochamer Liederbuch: German Popular Songs from the 15th Century Martin Hummel (baritone); Ensemble Dulce Melos rec. 2005 NAXOS 8.557803 [71:20] [GPu]

An attractive sound-world is created in these inventive realisations of some fascinating music from fifteenth-century Nuremberg … see Full Review

Lost Music of Early America - Music of the Moravians Cyndia Sieden, Sharon Baker (soprano), Martin Pearlman (fortepiano) Boston Baroque/Martin Pearlman rec. 1997 TELARC CD80482 [65:26 + 21:54] [JV]

A fascinating sound document of a religious tradition which is hardly known ... see Full Review

Lyrita Classics Michael BALFE (1808-1870) The Bohemian Girl: Galop Sir Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) Variations on an Original Theme ‘Enigma’ Op. 36: X. Dorabella, Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5 in C Op. 39 Frederick DELIUS (1862-1934) A Village Romeo and Juliet: The Walk to the Paradise Garden Percy GRAINGER (1882-1961) Shepherd’s Hey; The Immovable Do Sir Hamilton HARTY (1879-1941) An Irish Symphony: The Fair-Day Peter WARLOCK (1894-1930) Capriol, Suite for full orchestra Lord BERNERS (1883-1950) The Triumph of Neptune: Hornpipe Gustav HOLST (1874-1934) St. Paul’s Suite for strings Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis rec. 1968-78 LYRITA SRCD336 [72.15] [JQ]

The four main works on this disc make it a most rewarding purchase. ... 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]


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