TONY BANKS
Banks: Seven - A Suite for Orchestra Tony Banks / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Mike Dixon (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2005 ] "Banks has a genuine melodic gift... The LPO under Mike Dixon play sympathetically and often ardently, and the woodwind relish Simon Hale's many piquant touches of colour." - Ivan March, Gramophone, 05/04 |
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / MOZART / HANDEL / VERDI / ROSSINI / KHACHATURIAN / etc
Classics for Pleasure Volume 2 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult / John Ogdon (piano) / Barry Tuckwell (horn) / etc [ EMI Classics for Pleasure / CD - released 2/Feb/1983 ] The perfect introduction to the classics from the vast EMI catalogue |
EDWARD ELGAR / ARTHUR BLISS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Elgar: Violin Concerto / Bliss: Theme and Cadenza / Introduction & Allegro Alfredo Campoli (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adian Boult, Arthur Bliss [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Feb/2000 ] One of the most significant violinists in gramophone history, Alfredo Campoli enjoyed tremendous success in the 1930s as a purveyor of light music, both in concerts with his own salon orchestra and on Decca. Edward Elgar dedicated his Violin... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Keyboard Concertos Nos 1, 3, 4, 5 & 7 Andras Schiff, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Olli Mustonen, Alicia de Larrocha, pianos, London Symphony Orchestra. Deutsche Kamerphilharmonie / etc [ Decca ABC Eloquence / CD - released 1/May/2005 ] 'Mustonen is typically dynamic and Alicia de Larrocha's interpretation is strongly controlled but obviously heartfelt' Sydney Star Observer |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Arthur Rubinstein (piano) / New Symphony Orchestra of London / Symphony of the Air [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] "The result is wonderfully exciting. This is a really superb account of this lovely music." (Gramophone) |
J.S. BACH
A Bach Christmas: Magnificat, BWV 243a / Cantata: Christen, atzet diesen Tag / etc Catherine Bott & Elizabeth Scholl (sopranos) Christopher Robson (countertenor) Paul Agnew & Andrew King (tenors) / New London Consort / Philip Pickett [ ABC Philips Eloquence / CD - released 1/Dec/2005 ] "Marvellous life-enhancing music ... can be enjoyed at any time of the year, not just at Christmas" (MusicWeb Feb 2006) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN / RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
A Boy was Born Choir of King's College, Cambridge. London Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Cleobury. [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] 'For multitudes of listeners… these performances… have become the representative interpretations… reproduced here in vibrant if occasionally saturated sonics.' Classics Today (Britten) |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Stabat Mater / Gloria / Litanies à la Vierge noire Catherine Dubosc (soprano), Westminster Singers, City Of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox [ Erato Classics Red Line / CD - released 25/Oct/2018 ] "French soprano Catherine Dubosc sings with Gallic nobility and passion, but the affecting sincerity of her interpretation raises her above ethnicity to sublimity." AllMusic.com |
GUSTAV HOLST
Holst: The Planets London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis [ LSO Live / CD - released 5/May/2003 ] |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell [ Warner Original Jacket recordings / CD - released 15/Feb/2018 ] "Fischer-Dieskau's scarifying projection of the two military horror stories to the exquisite control they jointly bring to Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen... one of the most sensitive and touching accounts of a Mahler song I have ever heard" Gramopho |
LUCIANO BERIO
Berio: Sinfonia / Ekphrasis Göteborgs Symfoniker & London Voices, Peter Eötvös [ Deutsche Grammophon 20th Century / CD - released 4/Jun/2012 ] |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Classic Hauser Hauser, London Symphony Orchestra [ Sony Classical / CD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] This stunning album includes beautiful performances of some of the most iconic classical works including Tchaikovsky's masterpiece 'Swan Lake', Puccini's incredibly emotional aria 'Nessun Dorma' and Barber's remarkable 'Adagio for Strings'. |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto No 2 (with Bruch - Violin Concerto No. 1) Itzhak Perlman (violin) / London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn [ Warner Classics Itzhak Perlman Edition / CD - released 20/Nov/2015 ] Many violinists have recorded the pairing of the Mendelssohn and Bruch concertos, but Itzhak Perlman, with his lustrous tone, romantically soaring line and unfailing sense of poetry, ensures that his interpretations are both inimitable and irreplaceable |
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI
Wieniawski: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Itzhak Perlman (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa [ Warner Classics Itzhak Perlman Edition / CD - released 20/Feb/2019 ] Henryk Wieniawski's concertos offer a distinctively Slavonic take on Paganini's virtuosic innovations. One of the most important violinists of the nineteenth century, he was born in Poland and travelled widely, but became especially influential in... |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss (R.): Orchestral Lieder / Metamorphosen Gundula Janowitz (soprano) / Academy Of London, Richard Stamp [ Erato Classics Redline / CD - released 15/Oct/2018 ] "Janowitz's voice is inherently light...her relatively uncomplicated, 'classical' approach, brings dividends of its own in terms of clarity of expression and phrasing. And then, there is the sheer elation of that extraordinary, golden high register" |
ROSSINI
Arias Jennifer Larmore (mezzo soprano) / London Voices / English Chamber Orchestra [ Teldec Apex / CD - released 20/Aug/2007 ] Now reissued at a special price! |
VIVALDI
The Best of Vivaldi Volume 1 Kako Nishizaki (violin), Capella Istropolitana, Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, Wasa Baroque Ensemble, and many more [ Naxos Best Of / CD - released 18/Feb/2008 ] Classic Vivaldi recordings drawn from the vast Naxos catalogue. |
GEORGE GERSHWIN / COLE PORTER / IRVING BERLIN
Kiss Me Kate - The Best of Broadway Musical Kiri te Kanawa, Kim Criswell, Thomas Hampson, Chris Groenendaal / Ambrosian Chorus, London Sinfonietta, John McClinn [ Warner Classics Inspiration / CD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] Brought together here are 20 of the loveliest songs from great musicals by songwriting legends George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin - bursting with irresistible groove and infectious swing. |
WAGNER
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Complete opera) Kirsten Flagstad, Claire Watson, George London / Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Heritage Masters / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] It took a lot of effort for legendary producer John Culshaw to convince the powers-that-be at Decca that a state-of-the-art studio Ring should be recorded. With artists such as Kirsten Flagstad and George London in the cast, the recording of Die... |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi;The Four Seasons Gidon Kremer (violin) / London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Galleria / CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] Classic recording of one of the greatest and most popular of classical compositions. |