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Gabriela Montero (piano) Baroque
- Music by Alejandro SANZ (b.1968),
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741), Johann
PACHELBEL (1653-1706), Georg Frideric
HANDEL (1685-1759), Gabriela MONTERO,
Tomaso ALBINONI (1671-1750) and Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) 
Gabriela Montero (piano) rec. 2007
EMI CLASSICS 5148382 [52:39][JW]
Enjoyable
and unusual fare ... see Full Review
Misa
Pastorela de Callosa de Segura
Camerata Amicitia; Coro de la Fundación Pajares Salinas/Balbina
Serna Huertas rec. 2006
RTVE MUSICA 65270
[42:43] [GPu]
Both
a valuable document and very pleasant listening, strongly recommended
to the musically curious … see Full
Review
Music for Tudor Kings: Henry
VII & Henry VIII
Hilliard Ensemble, New London Consort/Phil Pickett
ALTO ALC1015 [77:15][MG]
Well
balanced performances illuminate an area still
not well represented on disc … see Full
Review
Musical
Kaleidoscope: Volume
2 rec.
various locations, 1946-1956 GUILD LIGHT
MUSIC GLCD 5140 [78:18] [JS]
A
few enjoyable and memorable pieces but all
too many merely ordinary. ... see Full
Review
Odyssey
Includes Joaquin TURINA
(1882-1949) Sevillana Carlo DOMENICONI
(b. 1947) Koyunbaba Nikita KOSHKIN
(b. 1956) Merlin’s Dream Yuquijiro
YOCOH Sakura Alejandro Nunez ALLAUCA
(b 1943) Koribeni No. 2
Alexander-Sergei Ramirez (guitar) rec. March 2003
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4742082 [ZT]
An
entertaining, diverse programme, coupled with outstanding musicianship
and technical mastery … see Full
Review
The Organ of Buckingham
Palace Ballroom Music by Johann Sebastian
BACH (1685-1750, Ralph VAUGHAN
WILLIAMS (1872-1958), Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
(1809-1847), Théodore DUBOIS (1837-1924)
and Noel RAWSTHORNE (b.1929)
Joseph Nolan (organ) rec. 2006
SIGNUM SIGCD114 [48.24][CB]
Reducing
the first recording of such an important instrument to commercially
acceptable gift-shop fodder ... see Full
Review
Organ
Fireworks XII Dietrich
BUXTEHUDE (c.1637–1707) Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne,
Prelude and Fugue Petr EBEN (1929–2007) Hommage à Buxtehude Niels
Wilhelm GADE (1817–1890) Tone Piece Joseph
RHEINBERGER (1839–1901) Fantasia on ‘Tonus Peregrinus’ Louis VIERNE (1870–1937) Carillon de Westminste Marcel
DUPRÉ (1886–1971) Prelude and Fugue Johannes
BRAHMS (1833–1897) Academic Festival Overture (arr.
Lemare) Sigfrid KARG-ELERT (1877–1933) Passacaglia
and Fugue on B.A.C.H. Christopher
Herrick
rec. 2007 Hyperion CDA67612 [BW]
Another
excellent recording in this excellent series
... see Full
Review
Luciano
Pavarotti - The
EMI Recordings EMI
CLASSICS 5 13937 2
[7 CDs: 62:32 + 30:28 + 64:32 + 35:32 + 76:46
+ 48:36 + 39:13]
[GF][ST]
Pavarotti’s
many admirers will need no encouragement but
it should also be of interest to a larger
public.[GF] Fascinating and always entertaining
… any lover of Pavarotti’s remarkable voice
should have it [ST]... see Full
Review
Paysages
Jules
MASSENET (1842-1912) Scènes
Alsaciennes (1881) [23:20] Gustave
CHARPENTIER (1860-1956) Impressions
d’Italie (1891) [35:58] Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Suite
Algérienne Op 60 (1879) [18:13]
Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice/Marco Guidarini
rec. March 2007, Diacosme Hall, Nice, France.
TALENT
DOM 2929 106 [77:46] [JS]
For
a combination of good craftsmanship with real
inspiration one has to go no further than
the Saint-Saëns ... see
Full Review
In Perfect
Peace Göteborg
Brass Band/Dr Nicholas Childs rec. 2005-7
DOYEN DOYCD233 [63:19][TP]
A
distinctive sound that we will not hear again
... see Full
Review
Michael Rabin (violin)
Henryk
WIENIAWSKI (1835-1880)
Violin
Concerto No 2 in D minor Op.22 (1870) [23:49]
¹ Moto Perpetuo Op.11 [3:18] ² Niccolò
PAGANINI (1782-1840) Violin Concerto
No. 1 in D major, Op.6 (c. 1817-1818) [29:13]
¹ Camille SAINT-SAËNS
(1835-1921) Introduction et Rondo capriccioso
(1863) [9:37] ² Grigoras
DINICU (1889 – 1949) Hora Staccato
(1906) arranged Jascha Heifetz [1:55]
² Pablo de SARASATE
(1844-1908) Zigeunerweisen – Gypsy Airs
Op.20 (1878) [9:24] ²
Michael Rabin (violin) Philharmonia Orchestra/Eugene
Goossens ¹ Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra/Felix
Slatkin ² rec. Studio No.1, Abbey Road, London,
May 1960 (Concertos) and Samuel Goldwyn Studios,
Hollywood, September 1959 (remainder)
MEDICI MM023-2 [77:56] [JW]
Fireworks
lit with sensitive panache … you cannot fail
to be won over by Rabin’s assured brilliance
... see Full Review
Romances
for Saxophone and Orchestra Joanna
BRUZDOWICZ Largo
for soprano saxophone and string orchestra
(1991) [3:58] David
MORGAN Three Vignettes
for alto saxophone and string orchestra
(2005) [27:35] Subaram
RAMAN (b. 1986) Aria
for alto saxophone and string orchestra [8:11]
Wojciech KILAR
(b.1932) Vocalise (1997) [4:24]
Heitor VILLA-LOBOS
(1887-1959) Bachianas Brasileiras No.
5 (Aria only) for saxophone and
cellos [6:54] Alan
HOVHANESS (1911-2000) Concerto
for saxophone and string orchestra op. 344
(1980) [24:31] James
LEATHERBARROW Don Quixote in
Love for soprano saxophone and orchestra
(2004) [9:58] Eugene
BOZZA (1905-1991) Aria (1936)
[4:47]
Greg Banaszak (soprano and alto saxophones)
Beethoven Academy Orchestra/Piotr Borkowski
rec. 7-9 July 2006, Krakow Concert Hall, DDD
CENTAUR CRC
2889-90 [49:59 + 39:16]
[RB]
Melodic
tonal music for saxophone and orchestra ...
see Full
Review
Andrés Segovia - 1950s American
Recordings Volume 3
Includes works by Jean-Delphin
ALARD (1815–1888) Francisco
TÁRREGA (1852–1909) Isaac
ALBENIZ (1860–1909) Julián
AGUIRRE (1868–1924) Joaquín
MALATS (1872–1912) Manuel
PONCE (1882–1948) Oscar
ESPLÁ (1886–1976)
Andrés Segovia (guitar) rec. 1952-6
NAXOS 8.111091 [GF]
I
can’t imagine anything on this disc more idiomatically played ...
see Full Review
Joseph Schmidt (tenor)
Arias and Songs (1929-1936 recordings)
Joseph Schmidt (tenor) rec. 1929–1936
NAXOS 8.111318-19 [79:21 + 79:27][GF]
Joseph
Schmidt may not be a name in the same carat
as Caruso, Gigli, Melchior but his art is
on their level ... see Full
Review
Sonate
e Concerti – Chamber Music of the 18th
Century William
CORBETT (1680-1748) Sonata Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Sonata Gottfried
FINGER (c.1660-1730) Sonata Antonio
VIVALDI (1678-1741) Concerto
attrib.
Johann Joachim QUANTZ ? (1697-1773)
Concerto Johann
Christian BACH (1735-1782) Quintet Tomaso
Giovanni Albinoni (1671-1751)
Concerto
Leipziger Bach-Collegium/Ludwig Güttler rec. 2007
CARUS 83.415 [58:33] [BW]
Thoroughly
enjoyable music in stimulating performances
to please all but hardened trumpet-haters
... see Full
Review
Trombone
Concertos by Leopold
MOZART (1719-1787), Christian
GOUINGUENÉ (b. 1941), Johann
Michael HAYDN (1737-1806) and Alexandre
GUILMANT (1837-1911)
Armin Rosin (trombone); Kammerorchester/Philippe
Entremont rec. 1976-9
WARNER APEX 2564617932 [53:50][JS]
Worth
having for the Guilmant and Michael Haydn ... see Full
Review
Unrivaled! Legendary
Musicians in rare film footage with sound
Emanuel Feuermann (cello), Josef Hofmann (piano), Mindru Katz (piano),
Felix Weingartner conducts the Paris Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Marian Anderson (contralto),
Art Tatum (piano), George Gershwin (piano)
CEMBAL D’AMOUR DVD123 
[58:25][JW]
Inquisitive,
visually minded souls should seek out these films ... see Full
Review
BOOK
REVIEWS
Michael
William BALFE A
Unique Victorian Composer Basil Walsh Publ.
Irish Allied Press ISBN 978 0 7165 2947 7 pp.296 £32.75/33.25/33.75 postage
paid
When
I picked up this book I felt that I already knew a lot about
Balfe. How wrong I was. ... see Full
Review
Alun HODDINOTT
- A Source Book
compiled
by Stewart R. Craggs ISBN 978-0-7546-0895-0
ASHGATE October 2007 248pp £55 [JF][RB]
A
sturdy and reliable foundation for the future
of Hoddinott’s music in the years to come
... see Full
Review
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