GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Belshazzar (complete opera recorded in 2008) BLU-RAY Festival Aix-en-Provence / Kenneth Taylor, Rosemary Joshua, Bejun Mehta / Rene Jacobs (cond) [ Harmonia Mundi Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Sep/2011 ] "the dramatic essence of the story...comes over in a striking semi-expressionist fashion. There's a strong set of central performances." (BBC Music - Blu-Ray Choice August 2011) |
HANDEL
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Mark Morris Dance Group [ Bel Air Classiques / Harmonia Mundi Distibution Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 29/Nov/2015 ] "the set-piece dances are often architecturally symmetrical and always strikingly beautiful…anyone fond of Handel's masterpiece should see this" (Gramophone) |
LALANDE / CHIEN / COLIN / ANONYMOUS / etc
Les Funérailles Royales de Louis XIV BLU-RAY + DVD Céline Scheen, Lucile Richardot, Samuel Boden, Marc Mauillon, Christian Immler / Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon [ Harmonia Mundi Blu-ray + DVD / 2 Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 23/Feb/2018 ] The funeral of Louis XIV mirrored his reign: grandiose and filled with pathos. Raphaël Pichon has chosen the setting of the Chapelle Royale in Versailles, built 'for the use' of the Sun King, to present a musical reconstruction of the event, with... |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2015) DVD + Blu-ray Theatre de Caen / Cyril Auvity, Hannah Morrison, Paul Agnew / Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew [ Harmonia Mundi DVD + Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 1/Dec/2017 ] "Cyril Auvity's tremulous and emphatic singing of the title-role has unstinting dramatic commitment: the shadowy silhouettes of the obbligato instrumentalists in 'Possente spirto' appear as if the underworld is conjured to do Orfeo's bidding)." |
RICHARD WAGNER
Der Fliegende Hollander [The Flying Dutchman] (complete opera recorded in 2016) DVD + BLU-RAY Teatro Real Madrid / Samuel Youn, Ingela Brimberg, Kwangchul Youn, Nikolai Schukoff / Àlex Ollé (cond) [ Harmonia Mundi DVD + Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 1/Mar/2018 ] "it's an impressive and engaging show." Gramophone |
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Piazzolla: Nuevo Tango! [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD - released 1/Oct/2020 ] A century closer to immortality. "The music of Buenos Aires" is how Astor Piazzolla characterised his own work, informed by years of study first with Alberto Ginastera in Argentina, and later with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. By bringing together... |
Beethoven Alive!
[ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 24/Jan/2020 ] Beethoven the classic, the revolutionary, the visionary. This selection is a trip that reveals the multiple genius of one of the greatest composers of all time. You will be delighted with some masterpieces of his repertoire as well as with rare... |
Aaro Sukura & Local Dimension
Acoustic Ghanaian Highlife [ Harmonia Mundi / CD ] |
BUXTEHUDE / HASSLER / PRAETORIUS / SCHEIDEMANN
Splendour: Organ Music & Vocal Works Il Canto Di Orfeo / Kei Koito (organ) [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Aug/2017 ] The album by Kei Koito features famous and well known baroque and pre-baroque music by composers such as Buxtehude, Praetorius, Scheidt, Scheidemann, and others |
VIVALDI
Concert for the Prince of Poland The Academy of Ancient Music / Andrew Manze [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Sep/2007 ] "This is a delightful, well-conceived programme, executed with refinement of taste and technique." Gramophone |
JOHN TAVENER
Tavener: Eternity's Sunrise Academy of Ancient Music / Goodwin, Manze, Rozario, Gooding, Tavener [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Jan/2014 ] Tavener's work touches the heart like that of few composers. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti Grossi Op. 6 Andrew Manze (violin / director) / Academy of Ancient Music [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 7/Jul/2017 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1700-1760) |
HANDEL
12 Solo Sonatas Op 1 Academy of Anciet Music / Richard Egarr [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2009 ] Handel wrote the solo sonatas of Opus 1 for the professional musicians of his London opera orchestra.They demand considerable skill and stamina both from the soloist and the continuo. Prominent bass parts give the sonatas a contrapuntal strength and... |
JOHANN JOSEPH FUX
Fux: Ave Regina Accentus Austria, Thomas Wimmer [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 4/Aug/2017 ] "It is good to see this release showcasing some of the material [Fux] provided for the Imperial Court Chapel...The music is well constructed...but don't expect it to change your life." Gramophone |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Sonata no.3 & Fantasien op.116 Adam Laloum (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Oct/2021 ] After his recent Schubert album, Adam Laloum pays a visit to Brahms: the young prodigy of the early 1850s immediately established himself as the worthy heir of Beethoven and Schumann with his dazzling Sonata no.3. Almost forty years later, we find... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Piano Sonata D.958 & 894 Adam Laloum (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] Barely two years separate the monumental Sonata in G (October 1826) from its sister in C minor (September 1828), the first of a trilogy composed on the threshold of death, which was to win the struggle a few weeks later. Two years - and a whole... |
GABRIEL FAURE
Faure: Messe de Requiem Opus 48 / Messe des Pecheurs de Villerville Agnes Mellon, Peter Kooy, La Chapelle Royale, Ensemble Musique Oblique, Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 29/Sep/2008 ] 'Filled with refined sensibility, the performance expresses Fauré's personal concept of death 'as a happy deliverance, as aspiration towards the happiness of the hereafter.' - American Record Guide |
BOCCHERINI
Stabat Mater / Symphonies Agnas Mellon (soprano) / Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 20/May/2011 ] 'A quite exceptionally fine disc, which I firmly recommend to anyone with an interest in Boccherini.' (Gramophone) |
TELEMANN
Orchestral Suites Akadamie Fur Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 3/Jun/2013 ] "This set can hardly fail to entertain. That is first and foremost the merit of the composer who apparently had a sharp eye for his environment and the idiosyncrasies and weaknesses of human beings." (MusicWeb Aug 2013) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 30/Apr/2020 ] Perfect Synthesis. Bach's exploration of the Italian concerto grosso took the principles of instrumental 'rivalry' to the point of paroxysm, bringing to the form an unprecedented harmonic and contrapuntal refinement. |