LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Canons and Musical Jokes Cantus Novus Wien / Ensemble Tamanial, Thomas Holmes [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jul/2020 ] One of the least explored areas of Beethoven's compositions is the miscellaneous sequence of canons, early exercises in counterpoint, mature jokes and jeux d'esprit that he wrote over many years. He composed a two-part canon for the composer Hummel... |
VERDI
Il Trovatore (complete opera recorded in 2006) Carl Tanner / Iano Tamar / Zeljko Lucic / Marianne Cornetti / Vienna Symphony / Thomas Rosner [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 27/Sep/2007 ] G - "It has been said that to achieve a successful Trovatore performance one need only gather the five best singers in the world. Carsen hasn't quite that but he has a handful of first class actors who can also sing." (MusicWeb Oct 2007) |
MERIDETH MONK
Atlas (an opera in 3 parts) Carlos Aravalo, Thomas Bogdan, Victoria Boomsma, Janis Brenner, Susan Iadone (voices) / Darryl Kubian (violin) / Wayne Hankin (conductor) [ ECM Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] Recorded June 1992 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123 Carolyn Sampson (sop) Marianne Beate Kielland (alto) Thomas Walker (ten) David Wilson-Johnson (bass) / Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Daniel Reu [ Glossa / CD - released 1/Aug/2017 ] "this is a Missa Solemnis that, for me, really taps into the spirituality of Beethoven's vision. There is depth and insight in every movement, and the overall result is as moving as it is musically impressive." MusicWeb |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Journey to Aldeburgh: Young Britten Chamber Domaine (ensemble); Thomas Kemp (conductor) [ Resonus Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2015 ] Acclaimed ensemble Chamber Domaine with their director Thomas Kemp return to the Resonus label with an exciting programme of early works by Benjamin Britten, including four significant world premieres. Entitled Journey to Aldeburgh, Chamber... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner Duets Cheryl Studer, Gundula Janowitz, Josephine Veasey, Thomas Stewart, Helgar Dernesch, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Peter Hofman, etc [ Australian Deutsche Grammophon SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Mar/2014 ] The recordings are among the finest ever made. The singers are a Who's Who of great names from the sixties, seventies and eighties - Fischer-Dieskau, Janowitz, Vickers, Thomas, Price, Kollo… with conductors like Karajan, Kleiber and Jochum directing |
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors / Sebastian: Ballet Suite Chet Allen / Rosemary Kuhlmann / Andrew McKinley / David Aiken / Leon Lishner / Orchestra and Chorus / Thomas Schippers [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 1/Jun/2011 ] "Best of all here is the wonderful conducting of Thomas Schippers, who finds more energy, more poetry and more pathos in Amahl than any other conductor I've heard: in Schippers's hands it is both moving and adorable, and this Naxos transfer by Mark... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Requiem Realisations Elin Manahan Thomas (sop) Christine Rice (mezzo) James Gilchrist (tenor) Christopher Purves (bass) / Choir Of Kings College Cambridge, Academy of Anci [ Kings College Cambridge / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 8/Apr/2013 ] "The standard of the performance is high, so long as you want a liturgical version, one that might be used at a service...This is an educative set, and it is interesting to listen to the alternative versions." (BBC Music) |
VARIOUS
Silent Night at Saint Thomas The Choir of Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Ave, New York [ CD - released 30/Sep/2007 ] |
HOIBY / SOWERBY / NESWICK / ROREM / FRIEDELL / DIRKSEN
Great Cathedral Anthems Vol.11 The Choir of St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York, USA / Judith Hancock [ Priory / CD - released 21/Aug/2006 ] The Choir of St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Ode for St Cecilia's Day, Te Deum & other choral works Jeni Bern (soprano), Susan Bisatt (soprano), Thomas Guthrie (bass), Ian Honeyman (tenor) / Orchestra of the Golden Age, Choir of the Golden Age, Rober [ Naxos / CD - released 5/May/1995 ] "The vocal soloists are especially fine ... highly respectable performances." American Record Guide |
DVORAK / MARTINU
Cello Concertos Christian Poltera (cello) / Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Thomas Dausgaard [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 15/Feb/2016 ] ChrisBorn in Zurich, cellist Christian Poltéra was a pupil of Nancy Chumachenco and Boris Pergamenschikov before studying with Heinrich Schiff in Salzburg and Vienna. Since replacing Yo-Yo Ma performing the Elgar concerto with the Tonhalle Orchestra... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem [German Requiem], Op. 45 Christiane Libor (soprano) & Thomas E. Bauer (baritone) / Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] "This is a choir-led performance of the German Requiem...the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir...is always here the centre of gravity, creating the music's existential continuum and arising to sombre unexpected splendour...Wit seems to hold back emotionally |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, [German Requiem] Op. 45 BLU-RAY AUDIO ONLY Christiane Libor (soprano) & Thomas E. Bauer (baritone) / Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit [ Naxos Blu-Ray Audio / Blu-ray Disc - released 25/Apr/2015 ] The longest work in Brahms's entire oeuvre, A German Requiem was almost certainly triggered by the death of his mother, although it also seems likely that the tragic loss of his friend Robert Schumann, some years earlier, added to its depth and... |
MAHLER (ARR. ERWIN STEIN)
Symphony No. 4 Christiane Oelze (soprano) / Thomas-Christian-Ensemble [ MDG / CD - released 19/Mar/2006 ] "The one version that comes closest to capturing the logic of the transcription and the gloriousness of the original symphony. Real understanding, conviction and panache" (Recording of the Month MusicWeb Feb 2006) |
CARL ORFF
Orff: Carmina Burana Claire Rutter / Thomas Randel / Markus Eiche / Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Orchestra / Marin Alsop [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Apr/2007 ] The pulsating rhythms, colourful orchestration and dynamic choruses, contrasted with moments of sensuous innocence, have taken Carmina Burana into the world of 'pop classics'. |
BRUCH
Swedish Dances, Op. 63 / Serenade for Strings in C minor / Schon Ellen Claudia Braun (soprano), Thomas Laske (baritone) / Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, George Hanson [ MDG / CD - released 1/Apr/2010 ] Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, George Hanson |
J. S. BACH
Bach: 'Meins Lebens Licht' Cantatas BWV 45 & 198 / Motet BWV 118 Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe (director) / Dorothee Mields (soprano), Alex Potter (alto), Thomas Hobbs (tenor), Peter Kooij (bass) [ PHI / CD - released 26/Mar/2021 ] 'O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, is tailor-made for Herreweghe. No one else peels back those tactile homogeneous phrases with quite such luminosity and deep-seated finesse as Collegium Vocale.' Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Choral |
W. A. MOZART
La Finta Giardinera (complete opera recorded in 1992) CHARLOTTE MARIGONO, THOMAS MOSER, ANTON SCHARINGER, DAWN UPSHAW / CONCENTUS MUSICUS WIEN, Nikolaus Harnoncourt [ Warner Das Alte Werk / 3 CD Box Set - released 26/Oct/2009 ] |