PART 4
M-R

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

Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony 3 Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) La Mer Lucretia West (mezzo) Kölner Domchor, Cologne RSO/Dimitri Mitropoulos rec. 1960 ICA CLASSICS ICAC 5021 [73:45 + 44:30] [JQ]

The first official release of Mitropoulos’s mighty vision of Mahler’s Third.

Bohuslav MARTINÜ (1890-1959) The Six Symphonies BBC Symphony Orchestra/Jiri Belohlávek rec. 2009 – 2010, ONYX 4061 [3 CDs: 61.47 + 64.14 + 56.06] [DBi][RB]

Authentic performances decently recorded. [DBi] This set shows that his music has all the necessary stamina and allure.[RB]

Etienne MÉHUL (1763-1817) La Legende de Joseph en Egypte Laurence Dale (tenor) Frédéric Vassar (baritone) Natalie Dessay (soprano) Le Conseil Régional de Picardie et L’Orchestre “Le Sinfonietta”/Claude Bardon DISQUES DOM DOM11012 [96:00] [JS]

Fills an important gap.

Darius MILHAUD (1892-1974) Le boeuf sur le toit, La création du monde Orch de théâtre des Champs Elysées/Darius Milhaud rec. 1956 EDITIONS ANDRÉ CHARLIN SLC17 [31:38] [DC]

The genuine article, but at a price.

Ludwig MINKUS (1826-1917) La Bayadère Altynai Asylmuratova, Irek Mukhamedov, Royal Opera House O/John Lanchbery rec. 1991 ARTHAUS MUSIK 107 257 [123:00] [RMay]

Derek Bailey’s direction is utterly sympathetic to this attractively exotic production. 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-91) Piano Concertos 20 & 27 Mitsuko Uchida (piano and director) Cleveland O rec. 2010 DECCA 4782596 [65:46] [PBW]

An outstanding CD by one of the greatest Mozart players of our time, beautifully recorded.

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Violin Concerti 2, 3 & 5 Vadim Repin (violin) Wiener Kammerorch/Yehudi Menuhin rec. 1997 WARNER APEX 2564 67301-7 [75:41] [LW]

Fine accounts of these concertos at budget price.

The Great Mass - A ballet by Uwe Scholz Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Great Mass in C minor, Adagio and Fugue in C minor, Ave verum corpus György KURTÁG (b. 1926) Játékok, Bach Transcriptions Thomas JAHN (b. 1940) Orte und Zeiten, Tempi e Luoghi Arvo PäRT (b. 1935) Credo Leipzig Ballet Ch of Leipzig Op/Stefan Bilz Gewandhausorch Leipzig/Balázs Kocsár rec. 2005 EUROARTS 2054604 [130:00] [MMB]

I was captivated by this, totally absorbed by the congenial combination of music and movement.

Krzysztof PENDERECKI (b.1933) Symphony 4 Polish Sinfonia Iuventus O/Krzysztof Penderecki rec. 2010 DUX 0822 [30:48] [MS]

A convincing and broad yet focused account of Penderecki's descriptive and emotionally rich fourth symphony appears to compete successfully with that from the Naxos cycle.

Ildebrando PIZZETTI (1880-1968) String Quartets 1 & 2 Lajtha Qt rec. 1995 NAXOS 8.570876 [65:25] [NB]

One is grateful of the opportunity to hear such rare but interesting repertoire whilst at the same time realizing that it has more to offer than the current performance might suggest.

Ildebrando PIZZETTI (1880-1968) String Quartets 1 & 2 Lajtha Quartet rec. 1995 NAXOS 8.570876 [65:25] [RB]

Two grown-up and opulently complex melodic string quartets.

Serge PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Romeo and Juliet suite Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Romeo and Juliet ] BBC Welsh SO/Tadaki Otaka rec. 1991 NIMBUS NI 5306 [61:00] [RB]

A good intelligent pairing, steady of pulse, grippingly recorded and totally committed.

Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) Preludes and Melodies Alessio Bax (piano) rec. 2010 SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD264 [77.06] [RBe]

A glorious recital.

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH David RAKSIN (1912-2004) Laura, Forever Amber & The Bad and the Beautiful Suites New PO/David Raksin rec. 1975 SONY RCA RED SEAL 88967 812682 [46:58] [IL]

Glorious film music. Not to be missed. 

Ottorino RESPIGHI (1879-1936) Aria for strings, Violin Concerto, Suite for Strings, Rossiniana: Suite for orchestra Laura Marzadori (violin) Ch O of New York “Ottorini Respighi”/Salvatore Di Vittorio rec. 2010 NAXOS 8.572332 [77:32] [CH]

Mainly for Respighi completists.

Ottorino RESPIGHI (1879-1936) Trittico Botticelliano, Three Chorales of J.S. Bach, The Pines of Rome Beethoven O Bonn/Stefan Blunier rec. live, 2010 MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM 93716776 [56:00] [WK]

Variable performances of three Respighi works, two well-known and one a rarity. 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Ludomir ROZYCKI (1883-1953) Ballade, Piano Concerto 1 Krystyna Makowska-Lawrynowicz, Polish Radio and TV SO in Cracow/Szymon Kawalla; Andrzej Straszynski rec. 1984/90 ACTE PREALABLE AP0217 [42:11] [RB]

I liked this music a great deal and hope that there will be much more Rozycki.

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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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