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Alphabetical Listing

PART 2
A-B

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]
[Recommended recordings]

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Leroy ANDERSON (1908-1975) Orchestral Music - Volume 3 BBC Concert Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.559357 [61:49][IL]

Leroy Anderson hits in uninhibited performances full of joie de vivre ... see Full Review

Johann Christian BACH (1735-1782) Symphonies etc. The Academy of Ancient Music/Simon Standage rec. 1993 CHANDOS mp3 CHAN0540 LOSSLESS  CHAN0540W Reissued with all details as above: CHANDOS CD CHAN0713X mp3 CHAN0713 LOSSLESS CHAN0713W [65:10][BW]

Stylish performances of music by the greatest immediate predecessor of Mozart ... see Full Review

Johann Christoph BACH (1642-1703) Fürchte dich nicht see JS BACH

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Oboe d’Amore Concertos see TELEMANN

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Fugues from the “Well-Tempered Clavier” (arr. Emanuel Aloys Förster and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) Emerson String Quartet rec. 2007 DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4777458 [57:17][DC] 

Gorgeous playing, wonderful music, but more of a supplement than a Bach staple ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas BWV 62, 45, 192 & 140 Publick Musick Orchestra and Choir/Thomas Folan rec. 2005 MUSICA OMNIA MO0204 [79:43][JV] 

Despite the good potential these performances have too many loose ends and lack consistency ... See Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Violin Concertos 1 & 2, Concerto for Two Violins Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Violin Concerto 5 Jascha Heifetz (violin) Los Angeles PO/Alfred Wallenstein rec. 1946-53 NAXOS 8.111288 [70:50] [JW]

Heifetz admirers will welcome their reappearance in good transfers ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations Sergey Schepkin (piano) rec. 1995 ONGAKU 024-107 [71:53] [DC]

A very enjoyable journey ... see Full Review

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas with Violoncello Piccolo Chœur de Chambre Accentus/Laurence Equilbey & Ensemble Baroque de Limoges/Christophe Coin rec. 1995 NAÏVE VOIX BAROQUE E8918 [62:20][BW]

Not Bach’s best-known music but strongly recommended ... see Full Review

Gold Berg/Mine Variations Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations Jukka TIENSUU (b. 1948) Erz Denis Patković (accordion) rec. 2007 HÄNSSLER CLASSIC CD98.527 [74:47] [DC]

Enhanced Goldberg: maybe not for everyone, but surprisingly good ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage Volume 25: Cantatas for the Fifth Sunday after Easter (Rogate); Cantatas for the Sunday after Ascension Day (Exaudi) Johann Christoph BACH (1642-1703) Fürchte dich nicht The Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists/Sir John Eliot Gardiner. rec. 2000 SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG144 [55:10 + 52:40][JQ]

Another impressive issue in this important series ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (ca. 1720) Christian Tetzlaff (violin) rec. St. George’s, Brandon Hill, Bristol, March, November 1993 VIRGIN CLASSICS 5 22034 2 [62:04 + 66:33] [DC]

Like having a fine painting on your wall to inspire and refresh your soul. ... see Full Review

Wilhelm Friedemann BACH (1710-1784) Keyboard Works - 2 Julia Brown (harpsichord) rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.570530 [74:07][JV]

WF Bach's unmistakable qualities are to the fore in these fine interpretations ... see Full Review

Judith BAILEY (b. 1941) Instrumental music Davey Chamber Ensemble rec. 2007 METIER MSVCD92101 [77:24][DC]

A well-performed programme of some highly intriguing music ... see Full Review

Sir Granville BANTOCK (1868-1946) Overture to a Greek Tragedy: Oedipus at Colonus (1911) [15:40] * Josef HOLBROOKE (1878-1958) The Birds of Rhiannon Op. 87 (1923) [15:50] Cyril ROOTHAM (1875-1938) Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1932) [30:57] * Philharmonia Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite; London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vernon Handley rec. January 1979, Kingsway Hall (Holbrooke); September 1976, Henry Wood Hall (Rootham, Bantock). ADD LYRITA SRCD.269 [62.30] [BW]

I dismissed this recording thirty years ago; don’t make the same mistake ... ... see Full Review

Samuel BARBER (1910-1981) Adagio; Knoxville - Summer of 1915; Violin Concerto; Overture to the School for Scandal; Essay for Orchestra No. 1; Medea's Dance of Vengeance Various artists rec. 1986-94 EMI CLASSICS AMERICAN CLASSICS 2066252 [79:43][BBr] 

A good and interesting anthology ... see Full Review

Sir Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 London Philharmonic Orchestra/Bryden Thomson rec. 1987 CHANDOS mp3 CHAN8906 [76:39][BW] 

Recommendable, but not in preference to Lloyd Jones (Naxos) or Handley’s rival Chandos versions ... see Full Review

Arnold BAX (1883-1953) CD 1 [59:55] Folk-Tale (1918) [9:20] Sonata for cello and piano (1923) [34:25] Sonatina for cello and piano (1933) [16:04] CD 2 [45:44] Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Legend-Sonata for cello and piano (1943) [25:53] Gordon JACOB (1895-1984) Divertimento for solo cello (1955) [12:04] Elegy for cello and piano (1959) [7:41] Florence Hooton (cello); Wilfred Parry (piano) rec.1958/59 ADD. Mono. LYRITA REAM.2104 [59:55 + 45:44][JF]

There is a magic about these recordings ... see Full Review

Luke BEDFORD (b. 1978) Or Voit Tout En Aventure see COLE

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Sonatas Nos. 9, 23 & 32 Vassily Primakov (piano) rec. 2006 BRIDGE 9251 [64:47][TH]

On the whole an enjoyable Beethoven recital ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) The Piano Sonatas: Vol.VI Piano Sonatas Nos. 22-26 András Schiff (piano) rec. 2006 ECM NEW SERIES 1947 [76:46][DC]

The best for a long time to come ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Streichquartette op. 135 (transcr. string orchestra) see SCHUBERT

Lennox BERKELEY (1903-1989) Piano Concerto in B flat, op. 29 (1947) [26:13] Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, op. 30 (1948) [32:17] David Wilde (piano, op. 29) New Philharmonia Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite (op. 29) Garth Beckett and Boyd McDonald (pianos, op. 30) London Philharmonic Orchestra/Norman Del Mar (op. 30) LYRITA SRCD.250 [58:33] [BB]

The gentler French influences combined with sweep and drama ... see Full Review

Anna BON DI VENEZIA (c.1740-1767?) Six Sonatas for Harpsichord Barbara Harbach (harpsichord) rec. 1998 MSR CLASSICS MS1241 [64:45][GPu]

Inventive music, played with assurance and imagination in good sound ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH York BOWEN (1884–1961) Music for Viola Lawrence Power (viola); Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano) rec. 2007 HYPERION CDA67651/2 [61:39 + 60:55][MC]

Power goes from strength to strength in this collection of Bowen’s viola music ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Violin Concerto Joseph JOACHIM (1831-1907) Violin Concerto No. 2 Christian Tetzlaff (violin); Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard rec. 2006-7 VIRGIN CLASSICS 5021092 [78:25][JW]

My choice goes to Tetzlaff despite some reservations ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Violin Concerto Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Violin Concerto 3 Leonid Kogan (violin) Boston SO/Pierre Monteux (Brahms) New York PO/Dimitri Mitropoulos (Mozart) rec. live 1958 DOREMI DHR7900 [63:48] [JW]

Kogan admirers should hear the Brahms for its collaborative excellence ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Early Piano Works Volume 1 Sonata 2, Schumann Variationen, Ballades Hardy Rittner (fortepiano) rec. 2007 MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG904 1494-6 [66:53] [DC]

Close your eyes, and imagine yourself in 1854 ... see Full Review

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Britten Abroad Susan Gritton (soprano); Mark Padmore (tenor); Iain Burnside (piano) rec. 2006 SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD122 [73:50][JF]

The singing and the playing are superb … a fine production ... see Full Review

Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Songs Include Winter Words, Four Burns Songs, Who are these Children? Daniel Norman (tenor) Christopher Gould (piano) rec. 2005 BIS BIS-CD-1510 [68:11] [JF]

The Burns Songs are masterly and Ca’ the Yowes brings the house down ... see Full Review

Frantisek Xaver BRIXI (1732–1771) Missa di Gloria, Organ Concerto 1 Christoph Hammer (organ); Concerto Vocale München; Monteverdi-Orchester München/Wolfgang Kelber rec. 1993 HÄNSSLER PROFIL PH06029 [60.32] [RH]

No masterpieces but a fascinating glimpse into the mid-18th century Czech world ... see Full Review

Mikhail BRONNER (b. 1952) The Seasons see PIAZZOLLA

Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony 5 Netherlands RPO/Jaap van Zweden rec. 2007 EXTON OVCL00305 [41:12 + 37:52] [TH]

You will find more convincing versions elsewhere ... see Full Review

Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (c.1637-1707) Suites and Variations Colin Booth (harpsichord) rec. Westbury Sub Mendip, May 2007 SOUNDBOARD SBCD207 [77:39] [GPu]

Good playing of striking music – shame that Buxtehude’s masterpiece is abridged … see Full Review

Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (1637-1707) Solo Cantatas Barbara Christina Steude (soprano) Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner rec. 2006 CARUS 83.192 [66:09]
Dietrich BUXTEHUDE
(1637-1707)
Choral & Dialogue Cantatas Capella Angelica Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner rec. 2007 CARUS 83.193 [75:01]

A most rewarding journey for the listener ... 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]
[Recommended recordings]


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