GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Complete Organ Concertos Christian Schmitt (organ) Charlotte Balzereit (harp) / Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Nicol Matt [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 22/Jan/2021 ] The first complete recording of the Breitkopf Urtext Edition of the organ concertos of George Frideric Handel. Handel's organ concertos enjoy a wide popularity, they are brilliant concert pieces, in which the organ plays a joyous, "worldly" part. |
ALOYS SCHMITT
Schmitt: Piano Concertos / Rondeau brilliant Howard Shelley (piano) / Ulster Orchestra / Howard Shelley [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 84 / CD - released 1/Jul/2022 ] Great Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 84. Composer and conductor, pianist and pedagogue: Aloys Schmitt (1788-1866) was respected by his peers and largely forgotten by posterity. As so often in this series, the three works recorded here will have... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Symphonies & Serenades Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "This is an unfailingly warm-hearted, full-blooded Brahmsian sound and seems to represent a genuine attempt at redirecting the modern symphony orchestra towards the sort of sound-mix Brahms himself is likely to have heard." MusicWeb |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Symphonies Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra / Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland / Jaap van Zweden [ BRILLIANT CLASSICS / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2011 ] "here's not a weak link here: every performance is full of life and sections that can be problematic are triumphantly successful...van Zweden is consistently inspiring and imaginative." (International Record Review) |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Harp Concertos Charlotte Balzereit, Giselle Herbert, Jutta Zoff, Jana Bouskova, Roberta Alessandrini, etc (harps) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, etc [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 4/Dec/2020 ] The harp is an ancient instrument, with origins in the antiquity of perhaps many civilisations, and the modern orchestral harp is the culmination of a long evolution in form and technology. |
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina (complete opera recorded in 1978) Dimiter Petrov, Todor Kostov, Nicola Ghiuselev / Sofia National Opera Orchestra, Atanas Margaritov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Sep/2011 ] Khovanschina occupied the composer during 1872, as Boris was being 'adjusted' to suit the theatre authorities ahead of the premier. |
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride (complete opera) Ekaterina Kudriavchenko, Arkady Mishenkin, Vladislav Verestnikov / Sveshnikov Russian Academic Choir & Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Andrey Chistiakov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] 100% Russian feast - An all-Russian cast in this very Russian opera of Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the finest Russian opera composers (and still neglected in this field). |
CARL MARIA von WEBER
Weber: Symphonies, Overtures & Concertos Emma Johnson (clarinet) Peter Rösel (piano) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, English Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Neville Marriner [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 26/Aug/2013 ] Carl Maria von Weber is a name that is often cited with regard to the bridge between Classicism and Romanticism, and yet how many works of his is it possible to name? |
FRITZ BRUN
Brun: Complete Orchestral Works Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Adriano [ Brilliant Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2019 ] "...if you have yet to explore the music of this Swiss master, this release affords a very reasonably priced way of immersing yourself into the gorgeous musical world of Fritz Brun." Fanfare |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Concertos, Salzburg Divertimenti and Haffner Serenade Hungarian Chamber Orchestra, Kristóf Baráti / Amati Chamber Orchestra, Gil Sharon / Kammerorchestra 'C.P.E. Bach', Hartmut Haenchen [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "..Baráti is out of the top drawer. With intensity of sound, unbridled athleticism and searing leaps into the stratosphere which send a tingle down the spine" (Gramophone) |
SMETANA
Ma Vlast: complete orchestral works Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra / Theodore Kuchar [ Brilliant Clasics / 3 CD - released 20/Nov/2008 ] "The performances are of a superfine brilliance, energy and affection, making it invidious to single out this or that special success or the individual triumphs of wind, brass or strings… beautifully caught in Brilliant's ambient but sharply focused... |
CARL NIELSEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Nielsen: Complete Symphonies [3 CD set] Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD - released 20/Jul/2012 ] Half a bar of Carl Nielsen and you know it's him - a characteristic of great composers down the ages, to be sure, but one peculiarly concentrated around nationalist composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nationalist, not necessarily... |
RACHMANINOV / SCHUMANN / LISZT / SCHUBERT / CHOPIN / DEBUSSY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Klara Wuertz Plays Romantic Piano Klara Wuertz (piano) / National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Oct/2008 ] Through her many recordings for Brilliant Classics Hungarian/Dutch pianist Klára Würtz established herself firmly as one of the more exciting pianists of the younger generation. Her playing radiates with energy, brilliance and warmth, not only laying... |
JEAN SIBELIUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Sibelius: Complete Symphonic Poems [3 CD set] Maria Jõgeva (soprano) / Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Vassily Sinaisky [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD - released 20/Mar/2012 ] A complete recording of these immensely enjoyable and popular works by the great Russian conductor Vassily Sinaisky and the Moscow State Symphonic Orchestra in its full glory. |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Jazz and Ballet Suites / Film Music for Hamlet and The Gadfly National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Theodore Kuchar [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 14/Aug/2005 ] "Bargain basement prices for this three CD set from Brilliant but the performances are anything but bargain basement. Crisp, clean, vital and engaged they are consistently bracing though the repertoire, it's true, demands nothing less." |
MIKHAIL IVANOVICH GLINKA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Glinka: Ivan Susanin [A Life for the Tsar] (complete opera recorded in 1986) Nicola Ghiuselev, Elena Stoyanova, Hristina Angelakova / Sofia National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Ivan Marinov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Sep/2011 ] "In the title role we hear one of the foremost basses of the second half of the 20th century, Nicola Ghiuselev. ...he gives a rounded and deeply moving portrait of the folk hero Ivan Susanin." MusicWeb |
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Glazunov: Symphonies [complete] Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev (conductor) [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 10/Jan/2013 ] A close friend of Rimsky‐Korsakov who helped to complete many of Borodin's works and who later became Director of the St Petersburg Conservatory, Glazunov is one of those composers whose name repeatedly crops us but whose music still remains... |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorák: Cello Concerto / Silent Woods / Serenade Petr Nouzovský (cello) / Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice|Stanislav Vav?inek [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 25/Feb/2022 ] Antonin Dvořaìk (1841-1904) was a great synthesist, ingeniously combining arguably incongruent strains: folk music with refined classical forms, romantic extroversion with instrumental austerity and national Czech character with worldwide appeal. |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Complete Ballets [Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker] Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicolae Moldoveanu, Barry Wordsworth & David Maninov [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 22/Jan/2021 ] All three ballets by Tchaikovsky in one release! Tchaikovsky's ballets, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, are by far the most popular ballet music ever written, and count among the master's most famous works. |
BEDRICH SMETANA
Smetana Collection Stamitz Quartet, Joachim Trio, Roberto Plano (piano), Antonin Kubalek (piano) Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Theodore Kuchar [ Brilliant Classics / 8 CD - released 1/May/2023 ] Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer born in Bohemia and later became a national symbol of Czech culture. Smetana's musical style was influenced by Czech folk music, classical traditions and romanticism. He is best known for his cycle of six... |
ARVO PART
Part: The Collection Ulster Orchestra, Hungarian State Opera, Leeds Cathedral Choir, Elora Festival Singers, Benjamin Hudson (violin, viola) Jurgen Kruse (piano), etc [ Brilliant Classics / 9 CD Box Set - released 17/Dec/2021 ] The most comprehensive collection ever issued of Arvo Pärt's music, surveying the full range of an output from one of the most distinctive voices in late 20th-century music. |
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Kashchey the Immortal (complete opera) Alexander Arkhipov, Irina Zhurina, Nina Terentieva, Vladislav Verestnikov / Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra & Yurlov Academic Choir, Andrey Chistiakov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / CD - released 22/Jul/2013 ] By 1901 Nikolai Rimsky‐Korsakov had already been a professor at the St Petersburg Conservatory for thirty years and had achieved considerable renown as a composer. |
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Oboe Concertos Andrius Puskunigis|Vincent Bernhardt|Klaip?da Chamber Orchestra [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 15/Jul/2022 ] This album presents the corpus of oboe concertos by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), of which unfortunately few original works have survived. The composer, however, was particularly fond of thisinstrument and learned to play it from his teacher,... |
CARL ORFF
Carmina Burana Ann Archibald (soprano), John Graham-Hall (tenor) Peter Sidhom (baritone) / London, Royal Choral Society & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Cooke [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 1/Apr/2010 ] Carl Orff was born into a distinguished Bavarian military family, and after composing songs in his childhood took up studies at the Munich Academy of Music. His early music shows the influence of Debussy, but this was soon cast off in favour of... |
JOHN W. DUARTE
Duarte: Orchestral and Concertante Works for Guitar, Vol. 2 Nicola Montella (guitar I), Antonio De Innocentis (guitar II), The Belfort Chamber Orchestra, Gian Luigi Zampieri (conductor) [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 1/Aug/2023 ] John W. Duarte was born in Sheffield, England on 2 October 1919. His father was a Scottish soldier, who died in 1919, and he was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents. He started playing the ukulele, but soon moved to the guitar at the age... |
BERLIOZ
Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 / Herminie - Scène lyrique (cantata) Aurelia Legay (soprano) / Les Musiciens du Louvre & Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Marc Minkowski [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 20/Aug/2009 ] Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique of 1830 was his direct response to hearing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the first time. |
GRIEG
Peer Gynt Suites / Lyric Pieces Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mark Ermler / Håkon Austbø (piano) [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 20/May/2015 ] The composer Edvard Grieg was at the forefront of a flourishing of creativity that took place in Scandinavian culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, alongside his contemporaries, Nielsen and Sibelius. His imagination was particularly... |
JOSEF HAYDN
The Complete Symphonies (Rec 1988-98) Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra / Adam Fischer, with Rainer Kachl (violin) [ Brilliant Classics / 33 CD - released 18/Aug/2005 ] "I didn't think I would ever home my sights on a box of all Haydn's symphonies that truly satisfies. Ultimately, I just bow my head to Joseph Haydn's genius and thank the current performers for putting so much energy and perception into this... |
W. A. MOZART
La Betulia liberata, K118 Baltazar Zúñiga, Elena Biscuola, Angela Bucci / Coro e Orchestra dell'Oficina Musicum [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Apr/2013 ] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered one of the most influential composers of all time. The child prodigy would become the author of some of today's best loved instrumental works, and a true king of sung drama. La Betulia liberata KV118/74c, the... |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 / etc Baltic Chamber Orchestra, Emmanuel Leducq-Barôme conductor [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 13/May/2022 ] The centerpiece of this Tchaikovsky program is the famous Serenade for Strings Op.48. It was composed in September and October 1880, freely and without commission. |
FERENC ERKEL
Hunyadi László Beatrix Fodor, Dániel Pataky, Attila Fekete / Honvéd Male Choir, Budapest Studio Choir & Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Domonkos Héja [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2014 ] Ferenc Erkel was one of the foremost romantic composers of Hungary, one might be tempted to call him the Hungarian Verdi. His operas were based on the rich, long and troublesome history of his home country and are the first to be written in Hungarian |
SIBELIUS / NIELSEN / GRIEG / SVENDSEN / STENHAMMAR / ALFVEN
Nordic Symphonies Berliner Sinfonie‐Orchester, Kurt Sanderling / Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Bjarte Engset / etc [ Brilliant Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/2024 ] This generous 10 CD set presents a comprehensive collection of symphonies written by Nordic composers. Their Symphonies hold a unique place in music history, blending lush melodies with the evocative power of nature. |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Complete Symphonies / Symphonic Poems Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester, Kurt Sanderling / Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Vassily Sinaisky [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "Sanderling glories in detail..brings out details that others gloss over or elide. He is not afraid to allow these Northern flowers and trees to bloom at a natural pace. He is no stranger to drama but will not force it unnaturally." MusicWeb |
DONIZETTI
Maria Stuarda (complete opera recorded in 1972) Beverly Sills / Eileen Farrell / Stuart Burrows / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Aldo Ceccato [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2009 ] "Beverly Sills, as Mary Stuart, is in a class of her own. It is her technical prowess as a singer which stays in the mind rather than her characterisation of the unhappy queen.' Gramophone |
DONIZETTI
Anna Bolena (Complete opera) [Recorded in 1973] Beverly Sills, Paul Plishka, Shirley Verrett, Robert Lloyd, Stuart Burrows, Patricia Kern, Robert Tear / Symphony Orchestra / Julius Rudel [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Apr/2009 ] "(Sill's) voice is crystal clear and has considerable warmth...Her incisiveness with words comes as no surprise, her technical accomplishment likewise. There is often a disarming simplicity and youthfulness in her singing." (MusicWeb May 2009) |
BORODIN
Edition [10 CD set includes Symphonies, Chamber Works & Prince Igor] Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra / Moscow Trio / Nikolai Okhotnikov (baritone) / Marco Rapetti (piano) / etc [ Brilliant Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2012 ] "This set remains uniquely valuable for letting us hear so much of the composer's music that is otherwise scarce or simply unobtainable. For that reason, and at Brilliant's price, these recordings are an essential acquisition" |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Edition (Symphonies, Concertos, Chamber, Instrumental & Vocal works) Daniel Barenboim, Cecile Ousset, Karl Leister, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Derek Han, Isabelle Faust, Nash Ensemble, etc [ Brilliant Classics / 58 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2014 ] Brilliant Classics is proud present their Brahms Edition. Now the amazingly varied output by Brahms is there to be enjoyed to its full extent. In excellent recordings on 58 CD's and at an unreasonably low price. |
DOMENICO CIMAROSA
Cimarosa: L'Impresario in Angustie (complete opera recorded in 2017) Camilla Antonini, Lavinia Bini, Paola Cigna, Alejandro Escobar, Luca Gallo, Marco Filippo Romano / Orchestra Bruno Maderna di Forli, Aldo Salvagno [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 1/Nov/2018 ] The Neapolitan Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) was certainly a prolific composer of operas, having more than 80 titles to his name. Though many have only recently enjoyed a revival, they were widely admired in his day. |
W.A. MOZART
Requiem (filmed at St Ignazio Church in Rome) Cecilia Casdia / Mario Malagnini / Orchestra Sinfonica del Festival di Pasqua / Tamas Pal (cond) [ Brilliant Classics / DVD - released 15/Mar/2008 ] G : - |
BEETHOVEN / SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / HENZE / CHOPIN
The Early Recordings [6 CD set] Christoph Eschenbach (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra [ Brilliant Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2010 ] Of appeal to connoisseurs of the piano and to new-music enthusiasts Will receive coverage in the serious musical press. |