JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Schumann-Introduction and Concert-Allegro) Idil Biret, Jeno Jando (pianos) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Antoni Wit (conductor) [ Naxos Super Budget Series / CD - released 30/Jun/2008 ] "Jeno Jando and his Polish colleagues strike me as getting the balance just about right" - Classic CD |
ANTONIN DVOARK / ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Dvorak/Glazunov: Violin Concertos Ilya Kaler (violin) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Camilla Kolchinsky [ Naxos / CD ] "Kaler's playing of these Romantic sweetly-tuned works is excellent" BBC Music Magazine "Ilya Kaler has great romantic warmth and natural Slavonic feeling....In short this is first class in every way" Penguin Guide |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schumann: Der Rose Pilgerfahrt Op112 Inga Nielesn (sop) Deon van der Walt (tenor) Annemarie Moller (mezzo) / Danish National Radio Symphony & Choir, Gustav Kuhn [ Chandos / CD - released 30/Sep/2007 ] "The chorus and orchestra are first rate and the recording sponsored by Danish Radio, is full-bodied and atmospheric. A valuable rarity." (Penguin Stereo Guide) |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Violin concerto / Verklärte Nacht [Transfigured Night] Isabelle Faust (violin) / Daniel Harding, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, A. Tamestit & J-G. Queyras [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] "Faust brings a fabulous range of colour and expressive nuance to this music, and Daniel Harding matches her understanding in the way he teases out the wiry orchestral textures around her violin lines." The Guardian Five Stars |
BELA BARTOK
Bartok: Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Jul/2013 ] BBC Music Magazine Awards 2014 Concerto Finalist / GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
SEBASTIAN FAGERLUND
Fagerlund: Stonework Ismo Eskelinen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor) [ BIS / CD - released 23/Feb/2018 ] Sebastian Fagerlund has been described as 'a composer who commandingly bridges tradition and modernity' (Klassik-Heute.de) while his music is 'modern and unorthodox, opulent and strange, masterfully composed and orchestrated'... |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 9 & 10 BLU-RAY Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (HR-Sinfonieorchester), Paavo Järvi [ C Major Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 25/Jun/2015 ] "No previous instalment in Paavo Järvi's Mahler cycle prepared me for the raw passion of this Ninth." Gramophone |
EDUARD TUBIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tubin: Symphonies Nos 3 & 8 Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi [ BIS / CD - released 2/Feb/1987 ] Recorded September 16-19, 1986 at the Berwald Hall, Stockholm, Sweden |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Saint-Saens: Complete Works for Cello and Orchestra Johannes Moser (cello) / Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR / Fabrice Bollon [ Hanssler / CD - released 1/Mar/2009 ] "Hearing the two concertos in succession brings it home how much more inspired the First is, with its thrillingly dramatic opening. Moser plays it with overwhelming passion, while firmly controlling tempo and intonation." Gramophone Magazine, January... |
GRIEG / MOSZKOWSKI
Piano Concertos Joseph Moog (piano) / Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken Kaiserslautern, Nicholas Milton [ Onyx Classics / CD - released 10/Jul/2015 ] "The disc would be worth having for the Moszkowski alone, but the Grieg acquires a freshness and new momentum in the clarity, panache and melodic warmth that Moog brings to it." (Daily Telegraph) |
DVORAK
Alfred (complete opera) Jörg Sabrowski, Tilmann Unger, Ferdinand von Bothmer, Petra Froese / Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Heiko Mathias Förster [ Arco Diva / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2015 ] "Heiko Matthias Förster deserves praise for revealing the vitality of the piece." (Gramophone) |
SCHUMANN / BRAHMS / SIBELIUS / SCHUBERT / J. STRAUSS / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Excellence: The Artistry of Karita Mattila Karita Mattila (soprano) with Ilmo Ranta (piano) / Turku Philharmonic Orchestra / Finnish Radio Symphony [ Ondine / CD - released 29/Jan/2005 ] "Mattila's singing is spectacular" - Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Lohengrin (Complete opera with libretto ) Karl Ridderbusch, James King, Gundula Janowitz, Thomas Stewart / Bavarian Radio Chorus,Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 6/Sep/2003 ] "Gundula Janowitz is an ideally innocent, vulnerable Elsa - far more so than Sharon Sweet for Davis, while Thomas Stewart and Gwyneth Jones as Telramund and Ortrud make a formidable pair of villains." (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) |
SIR EDWARD ELGAR
The Best of Elgar (Incls 'Nimrod' variation & 'Pomp and Circumstance' March Nos 1 & 4) Maria Kliegel (cello) Dong-Suk Kang (violin) / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / etc [ Naxos / CD - released 10/May/2008 ] Edward Elgar was arguably the leading English composer of his generation and a significant figure among late Romantic European musicians. Born in the West of England in 1857, the son of a piano-tuner and owner of a music shop, he earned his earlier... |
EDOUARD LALO / CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole / Cello Concerto / Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto No. 1 Kyung Wha Chung (violin) Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal,Charles Dutoit / Lynn Harrell (cello) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca Ovation / CD - released 12/Oct/1993 ] Original recordings from 1981 and 1986 (Lalo Cello) |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Sacred Choral Works Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 26/Jan/2024 ] "These utterly fearless unaccompanied singers bring precision to the most complex textures while retaining a palpable grasp of the music's emotional heart, imbuing it with an engaging sense of wonder." Five Stars BBC Music Recording of the Month |
BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN
Zimmermann: Violin Concerto, Photoptosis, Die Soldaten Vocal Symphony Leila Josefowicz (violin), Anu Komsi (soprano), Jeni Packalen (soprano), Hilary Summers (contralto), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu [ Ondine / CD - released 8/Feb/2019 ] "An outstanding release, in terms both of music and performance and, indeed, recorded sound." MusicWeb |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 9 Leipzig Radio Choir / Dresden Opera Chorus / Staatskapelle Dresden. Herbert Blomstedt [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "Highlights of this cycle are many: a grand and glorious Eroica, a lithe and lyrical Second and Fourth, a pellucid Sixth with luminous wind playing, an exciting Ninth (with) a marvelously well sung finale." (ClassicsToday 10/10) |