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Alphabetical Listing

PART 5
S-Z

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]


Superbudget £5.99 or less Budget £6-7.99 Medium £8-10.99 Full price £11+
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Heinrich Kaspar SCHMID (1874-1953) Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano Op.114; Sonata for Flute and Piano Op.106; Allegretto for Clarinet and Piano Op.34/2; Sonata for Viola and Piano Op.111; Capriccio for Flute and Piano Op.34/4 Nils Mönkemeyer; Johannes Zurl; Pirmin Grehl; Nicholas Rimmer rec. 2007/8 CPO 777 391-2 [79:58] [GD]

Perhaps Schmid is due a revival for its melodic fluency and formal coherency, if slightly lacking in invention and adventure. Worth a listen though ... see Full Review 

Arnold SCHOENBERG (1874–1951) "Of Dragonflies and Moonbeams" Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, Pierrot Lunaire Alison Wells (mezzo); Firebird rec. 2007 UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE UHR 020011007 [60:37] [JS]

Total involvement, but lack of sheer beauty of vocal tone can be a problem… see Full Review 

Franz SCHUBERT (1797–1828) The Symphonies Staatskapelle Dresden/Herbert Blomstedt rec. 1982-1984 BERLIN CLASSICS 0300037BC [4CD: 251:41] [DC]

Consistent high standard endowed with clarity and impact.… see Full Review 

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (1943) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko rec. 2009. DDD NAXOS 8.572392 [61:57] [JQ] [BBr]

A powerful, stirring performance of this dark, brooding symphony [JQ] A real success [BBr] ... see Full Review

Jean SIBELIUS (1865–1957) The Sibelius Edition - Volume 10 – Piano Music II - Original works and piano transcriptions (1905-1931) Folke Gräsbeck (piano) rec. 1996-2009 BIS BIS-CD-1927-29 [5 CDs: 5:46:17] [RB]

Discoveries are there to be made and there's some delight too among the workaday and the scholarship

Constantin SILVESTRI (1913-1969) Three Pieces for Strings see Silvestri

Bedrich SMETANA (1824-1884) Pno Trio G min. Bohuslav MARTINŮ (1890-1959) Piano Trio 1 Petr EBEN (1929-2007) Piano Trio Florestan Trio, rec. 2008 HYPERION CDA67730 [57:14] [DC]

Marvellous playing. ... see Full Review

Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899) Die Fledermaus (Highlights) Regina Resnik, Patrice Munsel, Paula Lenchner (sop.), Risë Stevens (mezzo), Jan Peerce, James Melton, Johnny Silver (ten.), Robert Merrill, (bar.), Robert Shaw Chorale/Robert Shaw, RCA Victor Orch./Fritz Reiner, rec. 1950 PRISTINE AUDIO PACO 037 [59.19] [MM-B]

1950s Fledermaus in English ... see Full Review

Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Enoch Arden - A melodrama for piano and speaker after Alfred Lord Tennyson Op 38 David Ripley (speaker); Chad R Bowles (piano) rec. 2006 JRI RECORDINGS J127 [78:51] [JS]

Gripping throughout ... see Full Review 

Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Metamorphosen, Tod und Verklärung Staatskapelle Dresden/Herbert Blomstedt rec. 1987/89 DAL SEGNO DSPRCD050 [51:09 + 68:10] [NB]

Versions to return to with pleasure

Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme see STRAVINSKY

Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Pulcinella Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme NFM Wroclaw PO/Jacek Kaspszyk rec. 2008 DUX 0764 [62:34] [JS]

Interesting and imaginative, well played and recorded but neither performance really matches the best of earlier versions

Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Le Sacre du Printemps Silvestre REVUELTAS (1899-1940) La noche de los mayas Simón Bolívar Youth O of Venezuela/Gustavo Dudamel rec. 2010 DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8775 [64:07] [JQ]

A disc with that rare “Wow!” factor

Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681–1767) Matthäus Passion Collegium Vocale der Schlägler Musikseminare; Barockorchester München/Rupert Gottfried Frieberger rec. 1985? CHRISTOPHORUS CHE 0150-2 [117:34] [MS]

A creditable, persuasive yet less than perfect recording of Telemann's 1730 Matthew Passion

Ludwig THUILLE (1861-1907) Chamber Works: Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet in Bb major; Trio for Violin, Viola and Piano in Eb major; Piano Quintet in G minor; Piano Quintet in Eb London Concord Ensemble; The Falk Quartet; Tomer Lev (piano) rec. 2002-04 CHAMPS HILL RECORDS CHRCD 001-002 [65:44 + 62.17] [GH]

A fine double album which will leave you pondering why musical history plays such tricks

Boris TISCHENKO (b. 1939) Violin Concerto 1, Concerto for Cello, Seventeen Wind Instruments, Percussion and Harmonium, Op. 23 (1963) [26:20] Soundtrack to the Motion Picture Suzdal (1964) [12:07] Viktor Liberman (violin); Mstislav Rostropovich (cello); Valentina Kozyreva (soprano); Anatoly Manukhov (tenor) Leningrad Chamber Orchestra/Edward Serov (Violin Concerto); Members of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/ Igor Blazhkov (Cello Concerto); Kirov Opera Chamber Orchestra/Igor Blazhkov (Suzdal) rec. 1966-77 NORTHERN FLOWERS NF/PMA9967 [64:02] [WH]

Three interesting and challenging works from an eminent Russian contemporary composer

Tomás Luis de VICTORIA (1548-1611) Lamentations for Maundy Thursday; Lamentations for Good Friday; Lamentations for Holy Saturday; Juan Gutiérrez de PADILLA (c.1590-1664) Lamentations for Maundy Thursday The Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips GIMELL GDGIM 043 [64:08] [JW]

A definitive statement about the Lamentations ... see Full Review 

Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959) Bachianas Brasileiras 9 see Chormusik des 20. Jahrhunderts II

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Richard WAGNER (1813–1883)
Lohengrin
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) Anja Harteros (soprano) Ch & O Bayerische Staatsoper/Kent Nagano rec. 2009 DECCA 0743387 [2 DVDs: 207:00] [ST]

Marvellous singing and intelligent stagecraft

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Sir William WALTON (1902-1983) Symphony 1 see Sir Adrian Boult

Martin WESLEY-SMITH (b.1945) Merry-Go-Round - chamber music: db; Merry-Go-Round; Snark-Hunting; Oom Pah Pah; fin/début Australia Ensemble with Timothy Constable rec. 2002/05 TALL POPPIES TP200 [71:18] [JW]

The performances match virtuosity with narrative flair and have been very finely recorded ... see Full Review 

John WILLIAMS (b. 1932) Music of America SONY 88697 70636 2 [186:08] [RB]

Five three disc bargain price sets each of which celebrates independence, political and artistic, and offers a substantial slice of each composer’s music in golden age reissues

Eugčne YSAŸE (1858-1931) Passion Ysa˙e - Six Sonatas for Solo Violin Rachel Kolly d’Alba (violin), rec. 2008 WARNER CLASSICS 2564 68385-5 [67:38] [DC]

Very impressive, but under pressure from the competition ... 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]


 



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