ISAAC ALBENIZ
Albeniz: Piano Music Vol 1 [Incls Iberia, books 1-4 (complete)] Guillermo Gonzalez (piano) Helen Gonzalez (piano) [ Naxos Spanish Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2000 ] "I was sufficiently impressed with González'[s] interpretation of Iberia that even those who have heard it performed by other pianists will not want to pass by his recording." Examiner.com |
AMY BEACH
Quartet for Strings, Op. 89; Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 34; Pastorale, Op. 151; etc Ambache (with Gabrielle Lester (violin), Helen Keen (flute ) and Diana Ambache (piano) [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 28/Nov/2003 ] Penguin Stereo Guide (Rosette Recording) - 'Amy Beach's music inhabits conservative rather than progressive ground, a universe or two removed from American contemporaries like Ives. Nevertheless it is fine work, and it's good to welcome this... |
LUDWIG van BEEHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 'Choral' Ann-Helen Moen (soprano), Marianne Beate Kielland (alto), llan Clayton (tenor), Neal Davies (bass), Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] " Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan have given us an historically informed recording of the Beethoven Ninth that conveys the drama, humanity, and transformative release of this incomparable work." Fanfare |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (The Valkyries) (complete opera recorded live in 1941) Astrid Varnay / Helen Traubel / Lauritz Melchior / Kerstin Thorborg / Friedrich Schorr / Alexander Kipnis / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / Erich Leins [ Naxos Great Opera Performances / 3 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] Saturday 6th December 1941 was a momentous afternoon in the history of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, The opera - Die Walkure - was well enough known to the theatre and radio audiences that day, but this particular performance was eagerly... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Ann-Helen Moen (soprano), Roxana Constantinescu (mezzo-soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 9/Feb/2018 ] "All performers are in superb form and recorded with pristine clarity and balance. This is a must-listen - a different Beethoven comes forth with sublime beauty and insights beyond the symphony." (Nicholas Butler) |
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
Szmanowski: Stabat Mater & Harnasie Lucy Crowe, Pamela Helen Stephen & Gabor Bretz / BBC Symphony Chorus & BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 8/Oct/2013 ] "Lucy Crowe especially has a beautifully clean and pure voice and makes the most ethereal sound in this gorgeous music. Her partnership with Pamela Helen Stephen is a joy to hear." (Musicweb) |
BARTOK / R. STRAUSS / PUCCINI / BEETHOVEN / WAGNER
Birgit Nilsson: The Great Live Recordings [1953-1976] Birgit Nilsson, with, Regina Resnik, Leonie Rysanek, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jon Vickers, Helen Donath, Walter Berry, etc [ Sony Classics / 31 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2018 ] "Many of these live recordings have been remastered, mostly very adequately, from radio broadcasts, and include samples at least of all her major roles...The casts for some of these performances are the stuff of legend now." The Guardian |
J. S. BACH
St Matthew Passion, BWV244 [First version Leipzig 1727] Charles Daniels, Peter Harvey, Bethany Seymour, Helen Neeves, Sally Bruce-Payne, Nancy Cole, Matthew Brook / Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Peter Seymour [ Signum / 2 CD Box Set - released 25/May/2015 ] "Nancy Cole, a very promising young singer...a musical and coherent performance...some fine singing by many of the singers and lovely playing especially by the strings." (Early Music Review) |
WILLIAM BYRD
The Honour of William Byrd Chelys Consort of Viols, Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano) [ BIS / CD - released 7/Jul/2023 ] Instrumental and vocal music from the late Renaissance. |
GEORG TINTNER
Tintner: Violin Sonata / Variations on a Theme of Chopin / Piano Sonata / Trauermusik Cho-Liang Lin (violin) / Helen Huang (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 15/May/2007 ] The Austrian-born Georg Tintner achieved fame as a conductor but considered himself a 'composer who conducts', with an ambition 'to write beautiful music'. His early works are tonal and Romantically influenced, while later music - notably the Violin... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: The Bells Op 35 / The Rock Op 7 Ivan Choupenitch (tenor) / Helen Field (soprano) / Oleg Melnikov (bass) / RTE Philharmonic Choir. Choupenitch, Alexander Anissimov [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Apr/2002 ] "Budget or no, these are Bells you ought to hear." |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: Creation Mass Susan Gritton (soprano), Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo-soprano), Mark Padmore (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (baritone) / Collegium Musicum 90, Richard Hickox [ Chaconne / CD ] "The Creation Mass is no less resplendent or searching than, say, the Nelson Mass or the Harmoniemesse, a glorious affirmation of Haydn's reverent, optimistic yet by no means naive faith. Even by Haydn's standards, the work is startling in its... |
J. S. BACH
Missa (1733) Emiko Iiyama, Helen Watts, Kurt Equiluz, Rotraud Hansmann, Max van Egmond / Wiener Sängerknaben, Chorus Viennensis, Concentus musicus Wien, Nikolaus H [ Warner Das Alte Werk / CD - released 1/Jun/2009 ] "admirable performance and excellent recording … all Bach-lovers must know Harnoncourt's style by now; the buoyant flow of the opening Kyrie, for example, the springy rhythms and lightness of touch." (Gramophone) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Messiah (Complete Oratorio) Helen Donath, Anna Reynolds, Stuart Burrows, Donald McIntyre, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Richter [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD ] Recorded: 1972-11-07 Recording Venue: Brent Town Hall, Wembley, London |
J. S. BACH
Bach: St Matthew Passion [highlights] Elly Ameling, Julia Hamari, Helen Watts, Peter Pears, Fritz Wunderlich, Walter Berry, Tom Krause / Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Karl Munchinger [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 20/Nov/2011 ] 'Many will be glad to hear Peter Pears's superb performance of the Evangelist' Gramophone, March 1965 |
J. S. BACH
Elly Ameling - Bach Edition Elly Ameling (soprano) with Hermann Prey, Helen Watts, Peter Pears, Marga Höffgen, Fritz Wunderlich ,Werner Krenn, etc [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 20 CD Box Set - released 21/Apr/2023 ] Compiled here for the first time are all of Elly Ameling's Bach recordings for both Decca and Philips: an 'original jackets' treasury of Cantatas, Passions and oratorios which would make a first-rate introduction to the composer's sacred music. |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphonies Nos 3, 4 & 5 Helen Donath (soprano) / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Eliahu Inbal [ Brilliant Classics / 15 CD - released 18/Aug/2005 ] "A highly recommendable issue for impecunious Mahler fans." (MusicWeb April 2003 Bargaibn of the Month) |
GERSHWIN / RAVEL
Piano Concertos Helen Grimaud (piano) / Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman [ Warner Classics The Erato Story / CD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] "Those who do take the plunge will be rewarded by one of the most vivid and detailed concerto recordings I've ever heard. The balance between piano and orchestra is close to ideal, the soundstage spacious and realistic, the bass deep and well defined |
ERNESTO HALFFTER
Piano Music Guillermo Gonzalez (piano) / Helen Gonzalez (piano) [ Naxos Spanish Classics / 2 CD - released 5/Sep/2006 ] Halffter's piano works, which he began writing when only thirteen, span his entire career and reflect not only the influence of Scarlatti, but that of the Spanish Renaissance, Stravinsky, Ravel, with whom he studied extensively, and the French... |