MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger




Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

Alphabetical Listing

PART 2
A-B

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]

Superbudget £5.99 or less Budget £6-7.99 Medium £8-10.99 Full price £11+
Download

 

Leroy ANDERSON (1908-1975) Orchestral Music - Volume 3 BBC Concert Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.559357 [61:49][IL]

Leroy Anderson hits in uninhibited performances full of joie de vivre ... see Full Review

Johann Christian BACH (1735-1782) Symphonies etc. The Academy of Ancient Music/Simon Standage rec. 1993 CHANDOS mp3 CHAN0540 LOSSLESS  CHAN0540W Reissued with all details as above: CHANDOS CD CHAN0713X mp3 CHAN0713 LOSSLESS CHAN0713W [65:10][BW]

Stylish performances of music by the greatest immediate predecessor of Mozart ... see Full Review

Johann Christoph BACH (1642-1703) Fürchte dich nicht see JS BACH

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Oboe d’Amore Concertos see TELEMANN

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Fugues from the “Well-Tempered Clavier” (arr. Emanuel Aloys Förster and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Emerson String Quartet rec. 2007 DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4777458 [57:17][DC] 

Gorgeous playing, wonderful music, but more of a supplement than a Bach staple ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas BWV 62, 45, 192 & 140 Publick Musick Orchestra and Choir/Thomas Folan rec. 2005 MUSICA OMNIA MO0204 [79:43][JV] 

Despite the good potential these performances have too many loose ends and lack consistency ... See Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Violin Concertos 1 & 2, Concerto for Two Violins Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Violin Concerto 5 Jascha Heifetz (violin) Los Angeles PO/Alfred Wallenstein rec. 1946-53 NAXOS 8.111288 [70:50] [JW]

Heifetz admirers will welcome their reappearance in good transfers ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations Sergey Schepkin (piano) rec. 1995 ONGAKU 024-107 [71:53] [DC]

A very enjoyable journey ... see Full Review

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas with Violoncello Piccolo Chœur de Chambre Accentus/Laurence Equilbey & Ensemble Baroque de Limoges/Christophe Coin rec. 1995 NAÏVE VOIX BAROQUE E8918 [62:20][BW]

Not Bach’s best-known music but strongly recommended ... see Full Review

Gold Berg/Mine Variations Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations Jukka TIENSUU (b. 1948) Erz Denis Patković (accordion) rec. 2007 HÄNSSLER CLASSIC CD98.527 [74:47] [DC]

Enhanced Goldberg: maybe not for everyone, but surprisingly good ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage Volume 25: Cantatas for the Fifth Sunday after Easter (Rogate); Cantatas for the Sunday after Ascension Day (Exaudi) Johann Christoph BACH (1642-1703) Fürchte dich nicht The Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists/Sir John Eliot Gardiner. rec. 2000 SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG144 [55:10 + 52:40][JQ]

Another impressive issue in this important series ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (ca. 1720) Christian Tetzlaff (violin) rec. St. George’s, Brandon Hill, Bristol, March, November 1993 VIRGIN CLASSICS 5 22034 2 [62:04 + 66:33] [DC]

Like having a fine painting on your wall to inspire and refresh your soul. ... see Full Review

Wilhelm Friedemann BACH (1710-1784) Keyboard Works - 2 Julia Brown (harpsichord) rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.570530 [74:07][JV]

WF Bach's unmistakable qualities are to the fore in these fine interpretations ... see Full Review

Judith BAILEY (b. 1941) Instrumental music Davey Chamber Ensemble rec. 2007 METIER MSVCD92101 [77:24][DC]

A well-performed programme of some highly intriguing music ... see Full Review

Sir Granville BANTOCK (1868-1946) Overture to a Greek Tragedy: Oedipus at Colonus (1911) [15:40] * Josef HOLBROOKE (1878-1958) The Birds of Rhiannon Op. 87 (1923) [15:50] Cyril ROOTHAM (1875-1938) Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1932) [30:57] * Philharmonia Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite; London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley rec. January 1979, Kingsway Hall (Holbrooke); September 1976, Henry Wood Hall (Rootham, Bantock). ADD LYRITA SRCD.269 [62.30] [BW]

I dismissed this recording thirty years ago; don’t make the same mistake ... ... see Full Review

Samuel BARBER (1910-1981) Adagio; Knoxville - Summer of 1915; Violin Concerto; Overture to the School for Scandal; Essay for Orchestra No. 1; Medea's Dance of Vengeance Various artists rec. 1986-94 EMI CLASSICS AMERICAN CLASSICS 2066252 [79:43][BBr] 

A good and interesting anthology ... see Full Review

Sir Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 London Philharmonic Orchestra/Bryden Thomson rec. 1987 CHANDOS mp3 CHAN8906 [76:39][BW] 

Recommendable, but not in preference to Lloyd Jones (Naxos) or Handley’s rival Chandos versions ... see Full Review

Arnold BAX (1883-1953) CD 1 [59:55] Folk-Tale (1918) [9:20] Sonata for cello and piano (1923) [34:25] Sonatina for cello and piano (1933) [16:04] CD 2 [45:44] Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Legend-Sonata for cello and piano (1943) [25:53] Gordon JACOB (1895-1984) Divertimento for solo cello (1955) [12:04] Elegy for cello and piano (1959) [7:41] Florence Hooton (cello); Wilfred Parry (piano) rec.1958/59 ADD. Mono. LYRITA REAM.2104 [59:55 + 45:44][JF]

There is a magic about these recordings ... see Full Review

Luke BEDFORD (b. 1978) Or Voit Tout En Aventure see COLE

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Sonatas Nos. 9, 23 & 32 Vassily Primakov (piano) rec. 2006 BRIDGE 9251 [64:47][TH]

On the whole an enjoyable Beethoven recital ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) The Piano Sonatas: Vol.VI Piano Sonatas Nos. 22-26 András Schiff (piano) rec. 2006 ECM NEW SERIES 1947 [76:46][DC]

The best for a long time to come ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Streichquartette op. 135 (transcr. string orchestra) see SCHUBERT

Lennox BERKELEY (1903-1989) Piano Concerto in B flat, op. 29 (1947) [26:13] Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, op. 30 (1948) [32:17] David Wilde (piano, op. 29) New Philharmonia Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite (op. 29) Garth Beckett and Boyd McDonald (pianos, op. 30) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Norman Del Mar (op. 30) LYRITA SRCD.250 [58:33] [BB]

The gentler French influences combined with sweep and drama ... see Full Review

Anna BON DI VENEZIA (c.1740-1767?) Six Sonatas for Harpsichord Barbara Harbach (harpsichord) rec. 1998 MSR CLASSICS MS1241 [64:45][GPu]

Inventive music, played with assurance and imagination in good sound ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH York BOWEN (1884–1961) Music for Viola Lawrence Power (viola); Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano) rec. 2007 HYPERION CDA67651/2 [61:39 + 60:55][MC]

Power goes from strength to strength in this collection of Bowen’s viola music ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Violin Concerto Joseph JOACHIM (1831-1907) Violin Concerto No. 2 Christian Tetzlaff (violin); Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard rec. 2006-7 VIRGIN CLASSICS 5021092 [78:25][JW]

My choice goes to Tetzlaff despite some reservations ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Violin Concerto Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Violin Concerto 3 Leonid Kogan (violin) Boston SO/Pierre Monteux (Brahms) New York PO/Dimitri Mitropoulos (Mozart) rec. live 1958 DOREMI DHR7900 [63:48] [JW]

Kogan admirers should hear the Brahms for its collaborative excellence ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Early Piano Works Volume 1 Sonata 2, Schumann Variationen, Ballades Hardy Rittner (fortepiano) rec. 2007 MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG904 1494-6 [66:53] [DC]

Close your eyes, and imagine yourself in 1854 ... see Full Review

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Britten Abroad Susan Gritton (soprano); Mark Padmore (tenor); Iain Burnside (piano) rec. 2006 SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD122 [73:50][JF]

The singing and the playing are superb … a fine production ... see Full Review

Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Songs Include Winter Words, Four Burns Songs, Who are these Children? Daniel Norman (tenor) Christopher Gould (piano) rec. 2005 BIS BIS-CD-1510 [68:11] [JF]

The Burns Songs are masterly and Ca’ the Yowes brings the house down ... see Full Review

Frantisek Xaver BRIXI (1732–1771) Missa di Gloria, Organ Concerto 1 Christoph Hammer (organ); Concerto Vocale München; Monteverdi-Orchester München/Wolfgang Kelber rec. 1993 HÄNSSLER PROFIL PH06029 [60.32] [RH]

No masterpieces but a fascinating glimpse into the mid-18th century Czech world ... see Full Review

Mikhail BRONNER (b. 1952) The Seasons see PIAZZOLLA

Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony 5 Netherlands RPO/Jaap van Zweden rec. 2007 EXTON OVCL00305 [41:12 + 37:52] [TH]

You will find more convincing versions elsewhere ... see Full Review

Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (c.1637-1707) Suites and Variations Colin Booth (harpsichord) rec. Westbury Sub Mendip, May 2007 SOUNDBOARD SBCD207 [77:39] [GPu]

Good playing of striking music – shame that Buxtehude’s masterpiece is abridged … see Full Review

Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (1637-1707) Solo Cantatas Barbara Christina Steude (soprano) Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner rec. 2006 CARUS 83.192 [66:09]
Dietrich BUXTEHUDE
(1637-1707)
Choral & Dialogue Cantatas Capella Angelica Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner rec. 2007 CARUS 83.193 [75:01]

A most rewarding journey for the listener ... 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]


I



EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.