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Alphabetical Listing

Recommendations

Click for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
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RECORDINGS OF THE MONTH

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas BWV22, 23, 127 & 159 Dorothee Mields (soprano); Matthew White (alto); Jan Kobow (tenor); Peter Kooy (bass) Collegium Vocale Gent/Philippe Herreweghe rec. 2007 HARMONIA MUNDI HMC901998 [63:47] [MC]

This is an outstanding Bach release in all respects ... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Triple concerto Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Double concerto Trio Poseidon, Gothenburg SO/Neeme Järvi rec. 2004/7 CHANDOS CHAN10564 [69:41] [RB]

Artistic insight, poignancy and exciting performance values ... see Full Review 

RECORIDNG OF THE MONTH Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphonies 1-9, Te Deum Vienna SO/Volkmar Andreae rec. 1953 MUSIC & ARTS CD-1227(9) [9 CDs: 527:02] [JW]

Among historic cycles this one now ranks high indeed. ... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Luigi DALLAPICCOLA (1904 – 1975) Partita (1930-32)a [29:01] Dialoghi (1959-60)b [18:57] Quattro Liriche di Antonio Machado (1948, orch. 1964)a [5:50] Three Questions with Two Answers (1962-63) [13:02] Gillian Keith (soprano)a; Paul Watkins (cello)b BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea Noseda rec.2009 CHANDOS CHAN 10561 [67:21] [HC]

One of the finest discs to have come my way recently ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Préludes Books 1 & 2 Roger Woodward (piano) rec. 2007 CELESTIAL HARMONIES 13279-2 [79:43] [DC]

Late news: reviewer lost for words ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Osvaldo GOLIJOV (b. 1960) La Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark Passion) (2000) Soloists Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, Orquesta La Pasión, Members of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela/María Guinand (CD) Robert Spano (DVD) rec. CD: 2007/08; DVD: 2008, Libretto included DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 7461 CD: [53:06 + 31:21] DVD: [87:37] [DM]

Only the stoniest of hearts could fail to be moved ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Jonathan HARVEY (b. 1939) Works for Piano & Flute Florian Hoelscher (pno), Pirmin Grehl (flute) rec. 2007-8 NEOS 10828 [58:11] [CR]

A world-class performance of some magnificent repertoire ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH James MacMILLAN (b. 1959) The Sacrifice Christopher Purves (baritone) Lisa Milne (soprano) Welsh National Opera Ch & O/Anthony Negus rec. 2007 CHANDOS CHAN 10572(2) [55:01 + 76:05] [JQ]

An enthralling, sometimes draining and always compelling experience. ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony 1 Mikhail GLINKA (1804-1857) Ruslan and Ludmila Overture London PO/Klaus Tennstedt rec. 1990/1 BBC LEGENDS BBCL4266-2 [70:41] [DM]

A deeply penetrating, once-in-a-lifetime performance, and it goes straight to the top of my list of recommendations ... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Symphonies 3 & 5 Bergen PO/Andrew Litton rec. 2007 BIS BIS-SACD-1604 [70:15] [DC]

‘Perfect’ symphonic Mendelssohn.... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Clarinet Quintet, String Quartet 15 Nicola Boud (basset clarinet) EDDING Qt rec. 2009 ET'CETERA KTC1401 [61:47] [OL]

Gives me all the music in the best way I can imagine ... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Ned ROREM (b. 1923) On An Echoing Road The Prince Consort rec. 2009 LINN RECORDS CKD342 [56:38] [JQ]

An exceptionally fine single-disc introduction to Ned Rorem’s songs ... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quartets 8 & 15 Busch String Qt rec. 1938 PRISTINE AUDIO XR PACM066 [65:53] [BW]

Performances still among the very best in miraculous re-masterings ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 – 1975) CD 1 Sonata for Cello and Piano Op.40 (1934) [27:12] Sonata for Cello and Piano Op.147 (1975) [31:25] CD 2 Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat Op.107 (1959) [29:35] Cello Concerto No.2 Op.126 (1966) [32:44] Viviane Spanoghe (cello); André de Groote (piano) Sofia Soloists Symphony Orchestra/Emil Tabakov rec. 1984/1992/ 2008 TALENT DOM 3810 12-13 [58:37 + 62:19] [NB]

Powerful, humane and utterly compelling ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphony 11 Netherlands RPO/Mark Wigglesworth rec. 2006 BIS BIS-SACD-1583 [63:41] [DM]

A deeply satisfying performance and an unrivalled recording ... see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957) Violin Concerto, Three Humoresques Serge PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Violin Concerto 1 Vilde Frang (violin) WDR SO Köln/Thomas Søndergård rec. 2009 EMI CLASSICS 6844132 [63:56] [RB]

A rare purity and spun silver … see Full Review 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Tomás Luis de VICTORIA (1548-1611) Lamentations of Jeremiah Juan Gutiérrez de PADILLA (c. 1590-1664) Lamentations for Maundy Thursday The Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips GIMELL CDGIM 043 [64:08] [JQ]

An outstanding release that celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the Gimell label ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Szymon Goldberg Centenary Edition: Vol. 1: Non-Commercial Recordings MUSIC & ARTS CD-1223 [8 CDs: 572:03] [JW]

For me it's a Record of the Year ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH La Voce di Orfeo - Gli amori di Francesco Rasi 1574-1621 Furio Zanasi (baritone); Giulio Casati (narrator) La Chimera/Eduardo Egüez rec. 2009 DDD NAIVE E 8925 [62:36] [JV]

A magnificent recording and an impressive demonstration of recitar cantando ... see Full Review

 

BARGAINS OF THE MONTH

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869) L'Enfance du Christ Jean Rigby (mezzo) Gerald Finley (baritone) St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers, Corydon Singers & O/Matthew Best rec. 1994 HYPERION DYAD CDD22067 [44:04 + 56:48] [SV]

One to love and to cherish … see Full Review 

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Olivier MESSIAEN (1908-1992) Trois Mélodies, Harawi Hetna Regitze Bruun (soprano) Kristoffer Hyldig (piano) rec. 2009 NAXOS 8.572189 [65:19] [DC]

An assault on the senses, but not to be missed … see Full Review  

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64 (1911-1915) London SO/Bernard Haitink rec. 2008 LSO LIVE LSO 0689 [50:20] [DM]

A magnificent achievement all-round and, quite possibly, the performance of a lifetime ... see Full Review

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Vier letzte Lieder, Arias from Ariadne auf Naxos, Capriccio & Arabella Lisa Della Casa (soprano) Vienna PO/Karl Böhm, Heinrich Hollreiser, Rudolf Moralt rec. 1952-4 NAXOS 8.111347 [67:21] [RMo]

A magnificent souvenir of perhaps the greatest Strauss soprano ever ... see Full Review 

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Cleveland O, Chciago SO, Ensemble Intercontemporain/Pierre Boulez rec. 1980-96 DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8730 [6 CDs: 364:22] [DC]

Plenty of marvels for all in this little box ... see Full Review 

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH The Service of Venus and Mars: Music for the Knights of the Garter Gothic Voices/Christopher Page (with Andrew Lawrence-King, medieval harp) rec. 1986 HYPERION HELIOS CDH55290 [49:46] [BW]

The Christophorus is entertaining, the Hyperion an essential purchase ... 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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