TRADITIONAL
Spirituals Barbara Conrad (mezzo) / Convent Avenue Concert Choir, New England Symphonic Ensemble, Gregory Hopkins [ Naxos / CD - released 4/Apr/1997 ] When asked to personalize an introduction to this recording, the soloist, Barbara Conrad reflected: Imagine a small southwestern rural black community, rich-red soil, beautiful fields of cotton, corn, potatoes, and such clear blue skies, and hot sun. |
JOHN RUTTER
Rutter: Psalmfest Elizabeth Cragg (soprano), Pascal Charbonneau (tenor) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, St Albans Cathedral Choir and Abbey Girls Choir, Andrew Lucas [ Naxos / CD - released 15/May/2016 ] The psalms of David have been a source of inspiration to composers for centuries, each text forming a poetic shape the equivalent of a gothic arch, and expressing a broad range of timeless emotions. Recorded here for the first time in its complete... |
PALESTRINA /GABRIELI / BANCHIERI / MONTEVERDI / etc
Caravaggio: Music Of His Time Scola Cantorium of Oxford, Choir of Radio Svizzera, Lugano, London SO Brass, The Scolars Baroque Ensemble, etc [ Naxos Arts and Music / CD - released 3/Jun/2002 ] Includes 20 page booklet with notes and chronology |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: L'Enfant et les sortileges (complete opera) / Sheherazade Julie Boulianne / Genevieve Despres / Kirsten Gunlogson / Chattanooga Boys Choir / Nashville Symphony Orchestra / Alastair Willis [ Naxos Opera Classics / CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] "raucous humour with heartfelt tenderness... Julie Boulianne's child has wide-eyed wonder... She can be heard in grown-up, and decidedly seductive mode in the accompanying Shéhérazade." BBC Music |
HENRYK GORECKI
Gorecki: Symphony No.2 'Copernican' / Beatus Vir Zofia Kilanowicz, soprano / Andrzej Dobber, baritone / Polish Radio Choir / Silesian Phil Choi [ Naxos / CD - released 15/May/2001 ] " Antoni Wit has an admirable track record with Naxos, and this recording is another win for him. The sound is excellent: very focused and rich." (10/9 ClassicsToday 2001) |
LENNOX BERKELEY
Berkeley: Sacred Choral Music Choir of St. John's College Cambridge, Christopher Robinson [ Naxos English Choral Music / CD - released 17/Aug/2003 ] "This is an impressive collection which merits repeated hearings. The choir sounds well and boasts fine soloists." Gramophone |
JOHN IRELAND
Ireland: My Song is Love Unknown Lincoln Cathedral Choir, Aric Prentice [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Dec/2012 ] "Here's an excellent idea: a whole CD of John Ireland's church music, which tends to be scattered piecemeal in anthologies. The impression it makes is very positive...the tutti singing is convincingly uninhibited." (BBC Music) |
JOHANN SIMON MAYR
Mayr: Saffo (complete opera) Markus Schäfer, Andrea Lauren Brown / Concerto de Bassus, Simon Mayr Choir, Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Franz Hauk [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 31/Dec/2015 ] No one did more to combine in his operas the innovations of the Viennese classical composers, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, with the Italian ideal of bel canto than Johann Simon Mayr, the Bavarian composer who rose to fame in Italy. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Abide With Me And Other Favourite Hymns Marlowe Brass Ensemble / The Choir Of St George'S Chapel Windsor Castle / Tim Byram-Wigfield [ Naxos / CD - released 29/Sep/2007 ] Vernacular hymns, etymologically songs of praise, are a particular feature of the worship of the Protestant Reformation, assuming various forms over the centuries, as Christian beliefs and practices have undergone changes. The German hymns of Martin... |
IGOR MARKEVITCH
Markevitch: Complete Orchestral Works Volume 7 - Piano Concerto / Cantate / Icare Martyn van den Hoek (piano) / Nienke Oostenrijk (soprano) / Netherlands Concert Choir / Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra / Christopher Lyndon-Gee [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Mar/2011 ] "Icare is arguably Markevitch's masterpiece, one of the great ballets of the 20th century. If you don't know Markevitch the composer, this is probably the best place to start." (ClassicsToday 10/10 Jan 2011) |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berioz: Cantatas: Herminie, La Mort de Sardanapale, La Mort d'Orphee Michele Lagrange (soprano) Beatrice Uria-Monzon (mezzo) Daniel Galvez-Vallejo (tenor) / Pas-de-Calais North Regional Choir / Jean-Claude Casadesus [ Naxos / CD - released 25/Sep/2006 ] "Berlioz's youthful Cantatas are brimful with wild passion and energy that shaped his larger-than-life adventures in his early days as struggling composer. Jean-Claude Casadesus and dramatic soprano Michele Lagrange give a suitably full blooded... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: St.Matthew Passion Jozef Mukk, Istvan Gati, Judit Nemeth, Ibolya Verebits / Hungarian Festival Choir, Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, Gerza Oberfrank [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set ] "A refreshingly lithe and young sounding Evangelist, Jósef Mukk, leads a team of Hungarian soloists with fresh clear voices" Penguin Guide |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
A Ceremony Of Carols / Friday Afternoons / Three Two-part songs New London Children's Choir, Ronald Corp [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2012 ] "Ronald Corp directs bright, refreshing performances of a delightful collection of Britten choral pieces... A splendid bargain." - The Penguin Guide |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (Complete Opera recorded in June 2009) BLU-RAY Opéra Comique, Paris / Anna Caterina Antonacci, Andrew Richards, Nicolas Cavallier, Monteverdi Choir / John Eliot Gardiner (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 14/May/2021 ] On 3 June 1975, the day after the 33rd performance of Carmen - indicating limited success as the receipts were meagre - he died from a heart attack, at the age of 36, like Mozart. |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies, Nos. 2 'To October' & 15 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2012 ] These two hugely contrasting symphonies come from the opposite ends of Shostakovich's life and career. The Second Symphony was written to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik October Revolution. Its advanced idiom of experimental... |
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN
Scriabin: Piano Concerto / Prometheus Konstantin Scherbakov (piano) / Russian State TV and Radio Choir / Moscow Symphony Orchestra / Igor Golovschin [ Naxos / CD - released 10/May/2008 ] "This budget-priced production from the composer's compatriots certainly holds its own against all comers. Konstantin Scherbakov plays the concerto with steel and sensitivity in equal measure, and he's particularly successful in knitting together the... |
JOHN STAINER
Stainer: Crucifixion (The) Simon Bailey (bass) / Stephen Farr (organ) / James Gilchrist (tenor) / Clare College Choir, Cambridge / Tim Brown (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Jun/2005 ] "Lovers of English choral music will relish this highly attractive release" - MusicWeb June 2005 |
MICHAEL HAYDN
Haydn: Missa Sancti Nicolai Tolentini St Albans Cathedral Girls Choir, Lawes Baroque Players, Tom Winpenny [ Naxos / CD - released 4/Dec/2020 ] Michael Haydn's colourful and inventive music is uplifting and expressive in equal measure, but his music has been eclipsed by that of his elder brother Joseph, and by Mozart. Sacred music is central to Michael Haydn's oeuvre and was considered by... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Motets / Ave Maria / Psalm XIII St Bride's Choir / Robert Jones with Matthew Morley, organ [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Jun/2008 ] Brahms was to write choral music throughout his life, the earliest published work being the Ave Maria dating from 1858, a gentle work for female voices with discreet organ accompaniment. |
WILLIAM WALTON
Walton: Choral Music: Missa Brevis AEC Coronation Te Deum AEC Magnificat / etc St. Johh's Choir / Christopher Whitton (organ) / Christopher Robinson [ Naxos English Choral Music / CD - released 8/Mar/2002 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2002 - Choral |