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Monday August 21st 147 reviews completed so far this month

Today's reviews (pdf) Reviews from the last week Download surveys This month's reviews Last month's reviews

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Serenades Nos 1 & 2 - Gävle Symphony Orchestra/Jaime Martín rec. 2015 ONDINE ODE1291-2 [72:33] [DHu] Refreshing and well-recorded accounts of the serenades that, if nothing else, win on sheer charm.

Ferruccio BUSONI (1866-1924) Orchestral Works - John Bradbury (clarinet) Nelson Goerner (piano) BBC Philharmonic/Neeme Järvi rec. 2001/4 CHANDOS CHAN241-57 [69:54 + 64:34] [RB] This is first class value for money - no compromise, premium price music-making at 2-4-1 pricing.

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963) Complete String Quartets - Juilliard String Qt rec. 1995-97 WERGO WER69602 [3 CDs: 189:25] [SG] Stylish and persuasive readings. For those coming to these works for the first time, the Juilliards get my enthusiastic endorsement.

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Die Zauberflöte - Martin Summer, Yasmin Özkan, Martin Piskorski, Fatma Said, Till von Orlowsky, Theresa Zisser, Sascha Emanuel Kramer, O & Ch dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Milan/Ádám Fischer rec. 2016 C MAJOR 740504 Blu-ray [173 mins] [MC] A captivating production.

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Joby TALBOT (b. 1971) Path of Miracles Owain PARK (b. 1993) Footsteps - Fellows of the NYOGB, Tenebrae/Nigel Short rec. 2005/16 SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD471 [79:22] [JQ] Tenebrae’s 15^th anniversary marked with a reissue of Joby Talbot’s astonishing Path of Miracles.

Sir William WALTON (1902-83) Troilus and Cressida - Richard Lewis, Peter Pears (tenors) Magda Laszlo (soprano) Covent Garden Ch & O/Sir Malcolm Sargent rec. 1954 PRISTINE AUDIO PACO138 [61.16 + 77.11] [PCG] Perhaps chiefly of historic interest as a document, especially to those who know the opera in one of its other incarnations.

Christopher WOOD (b.1945) Requiem - Rebecca Bottone (soprano) Clare McCaldin (alto) Ed Lyon (tenor) Nicholas Garrett (bass) L’Inviti Sinfonia & Singers/Paul Brough rec. 2012 ORCHID CLASSICS ORC100068 [60.55] [GH] I can’t find much in the work that is striking and makes me want to listen to it again.

Il Cembalo di Partenope Catalina Vicens (harpsichord) rec. 2015 CARPE DIEM RECORDS CD-16312 [66:35] [JV] Instrument, music and performance are a happy combination here.

Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum 2016 DANACORD DACOCD789 [78:31] [JF] A delight from end to end.

El Ruiseñor Andaluz - Un hommage musical à Federico Garcia Lorca Benjamin Valette (guitar) Ens Chronochromie/Jean-Michel Hasler rec. 2011 AD VITAM AV120515 [57:53] [RB] French musicians resonantly deliver this unusual Lorca anthology.

Other reviews
The Flood The Lyre Ensemble LYRE-OF-UR 002 [49.19] [EML] It’s all a little too “fluffy” and lacking in rigour for me.

NEW & RECENT ARTICLES

[New] Second Thoughts and Short Reviews: Summer 2017 Part 2 by Brian Wilson and Dan Morgan

George Frederick Bristow – America’s First Great Classical Composer by Andrew Hartman

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MusicWeb - The International Web Site - Founder: Len Mullenger [UK], Founding Editor: Rob Barnett [UK], Regular Reviewers (April 2016): Steve Arloff [UK], Stephen Barber [UK], Terry Barfoot [UK], David Barker [New Zealand], Rob Barnett [UK], Nick Barnard [UK], Dave Billinge [UK], Philip Borg-Wheeler [UK], Marc Bridle [UK], Colin Clarke [UK], Dominy Clements [Netherlands], Michael Cookson [UK], Hubert Culot [Belgium], Robert Farr [UK], Göran Forsling [Sweden], John France [UK], Paul C Godfrey [UK], Stephen Greenbank [UK], Michael Greenhalgh [UK], Nigel Harris [UK], William Hedley [France], Gary Higginson [UK], Christopher Howell [Italy], Des Hutchinson [Australia], Neil Horner [UK], Richard Kraus [USA], William Kreindler [USA], Ian Lace [UK], Oleg Ledeniov [USA], Jens Laursen [USA], Em Marshall-Luck [UK], Bruce McCollum [USA], Rob Maynard [UK], Ralph Moore [UK], Dan Morgan [UK], Margarida Mota-Bull [UK], Gwyn Parry-Jones [UK], Tully Potter [UK], Glyn Pursglove [UK], John Quinn [UK], Brian Reinhart [USA], Marc Rochester [UK], Curtis Rogers [UK], Stuart Sillitoe [UK], Bob Stevenson [UK], Simon Thompson [UK], Steve Vasta [USA], Johan van Veen [Netherlands], Raymond Walker [UK], Jonathan Welsh [UK], Roy Westbrook [UK], John Whitmore [UK], Michael Wilkinson [UK], Brian Wilson [UK], Jonathan Woolf [UK] Leslie Wright [USA]. A complete list of contributors can be seen here

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