PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto / Sérénade mélancolique / Valse-Scherzo Joshua Bell (violin) Midori (violin) / The Cleveland Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 23/Apr/2012 ] "Bell's is a masterly performance full of flair, Ashkenazy's contribution adds considerably to the performance." Gramophone |
JOAQUIN RODRIGO
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez / Fantasía para un gentilhombre (with de Falla - 'Three Cornered Hat' excerpts) Carlos Bonell (guitar), Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] "Carlos Bonell plays the cadenza of the Adagio of the Concierto de Aranjuez most sensitively, and the weight of the orchestral contribution is judged to a nicety throughout." (Gramophone) |
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Liebesträume & other works Jorge Bolet (piano) [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 1/Dec/2014 ] "Bolet's Liszt is renowned for its aristocratic refinement: rather than youthful flashy fingers, we get masterful lyrical poise. The Cuban-American's Die Forelle remains unchanging." (BBC Music) |
SCHUMANN / BEETHOVEN / MOZART / MUSSORGSKY / BRAHMS / etc
Piano Encores (Incls Liebestraum No 3 & Rondo 'Alla Turca') Martha Argerich, Alexis Weissenberg, Emil Gilels, Christoph Eschenbach, Wilhelm Kempff, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] An inexpensive introduction to the world's most favourite piano pieces. |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 / Symphony No 9 Peter Jablonski (piano) Cristina Ortiz (piano) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "this kind of plain-spoken Shostakovich could make a good benchmark library choice" (Gramophone on the symphony) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos 8 "Pathétique", 14 "Moonlight" & 23 "Appassionata" Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] "All too rarely does one come across a record of popular, titled Beethoven sonatas which is as musically aware and as musically responsible as this" (Gramophone) |
RALF VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Symphony No. 5 in D major / Fantasia on Greensleeves Iona Brown (violin) / Academy Of St Martin In The Fields, Neville Marriner / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Roger Norrington [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] A delightful disc from Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, neatly encompassing four of Vaughan Williams' most enduringly popular orchestral works. |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Goldberg Variations Andrei Gavrilov (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] "Gavrilov's actual performance demonstrates, intermittently, that virtuosity and warmth of feeling are cause for celebration rather than apology. He can also be temperate and finely controlled." (Gramophone) |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites: Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic provide performances of "utmost polish and sophistication" in a recording that ..."can be recommended without reservation." (Gramophone) |
TCHAIKOVSKY
The Nutcracker [complete ballet] / Entr'acte & Waltz and Polonaise (from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Semyon Bychkov [ Decca Virtuoso / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi Opera Choruses (Incls 'Anvil Chorus' & Grand March from Aida) Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 30/Aug/2014 ] |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Opera Arias Renée Fleming, José Carreras, Domenico Trimarchi, Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, etc [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 23/Apr/2012 ] Spend a lovely time revelling in the wealth of magnificent Puccini recordings. |
DUPRÉ / SAINT-SAËNS / CHARPENTIER / VIERNE
French Virtuoso Organ Music Gillian Weir, at the Hradetzky organ in The Royal Northern College of Music [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] "it is great to have this exciting, technically demanding and imaginative recording in my library once again." MusicWeb |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Gloria / Stabat Mater / Organ Concert Peter Hurford (organ) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National De France, Charles Dutoit [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "Powerful performance, especially of the Organ Concerto. Vivid recording, fine contributions from the Radio France Choir, and muscular conducting from Charles Dutoit." (BBC Music) |
HENRYK GORECKI
Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" Joanna kozlowska (soprano) / Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazimierz Kord [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] Gorecki's third symphony caused a sensation in 1992 when it became a worldwide commercial and critical success, selling more than a million copies. |
FRITZ KREISLER & OTHERS
Violin Favourites & Virtuoso Showpieces Joshua Bell (violin) / Samuel Sanders (piano) / Paul Coker (piano) [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 11/Jun/2006 ] "As readily shown by the opening Praeludium & Allegro, Joshua Bell refuses to treat this music as trivial, and there is a total absence of schmalz... the recording is completely realistic." The Penguin Guide to Comoact Discs 2002 |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Cello Suites 1 - 6 Lynn Harrell (cello) [ Decca Virtuoso / 2 CD - released 25/Jul/2016 ] ''so quietly confidential that he seems only to be allowing us to eavesdrop on his private musings'' (Gramophone) |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No 5 / Serenade for Strings Philharmonia Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] |
VIRTUOSO VIOLIN
Virtuoso Violin (Paganini, Wieniawski, Elgar, Sarasate, Hubay, Suk) Ruggiero Ricci (violin) Louis Persinger (piano) Ernest Lush (piano) [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 15/Dec/2000 ] A 2-CD set (3LPs) which formed some of Ruggiero Ricci's earliest Decca recordings. |
SAINT-SAENS / SIBELIUS / SARASATE / KHACHATURIAN / TCHAIKOVSKY
Virtuoso Violin Concertos Ruggiero Ricci (violin) with various orchestras and conductors [ SBS Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2010 ] Ruggiero Ricci is in his element in these virtuoso concertos and showpieces. All the recordings were made in a five-year period from 1956 (Khachaturian) to 1961 (Tchaikovsky). |