VERDI / PUCCINI / BIZET / WAGNER / LEONCAVALLO
The Best of the 3 Tenors Placido Domingo / Luciano Pavarotti / Jose Carreras / various conductors [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] Here they are! The greatest tenor lineup in the world in a special programme of popular tenor arias and duets. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano sonatas 10, 11, 16 / Fantasia K475 / Rondo K511 Alicia de Larrocha (piano) [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Dec/2012 ] "She is sharply responsive, to the variety of mood and texture in the opening variations of K331..her fine shading and shaping of detail in the Adagio variation where, as at other points on this disc, she adds her own discreet ornamentation in... |
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) |
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 7/Nov/2011 ] "This 1989 performance of the Hungarian Rhapsodies that Liszt (and his assistants) orchestrated has stunning sonics; Mehta conjures highly idiomatic performances out of the Israel Phil." BBC Music |
ALBENIZ / GRANADOS
Spanish Guitar Music John Williams (guitar) [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 17/Jun/2011 ] While he is admired for his performances of the standard works for the guitar, John Williams has explored many different musical traditions outside the classical tradition. |
HANDEL
Messiah (highlights recorded in 1967) Judith Raskin, Florence Kopleff, Richard Lewis, Thomas Paul / Robert Shaw Chorale & Orchestra, Robert Shaw [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Dec/2011 ] Robert Shaw Chorale, Robert Shaw |
JOAQUIN RODRIGO
Rodrigo: Concierto De Aranjuez / Fantasia para un Gentilhombre / etc Julian Bream (guitar) / Chamber Orchestra of Europe, RCA Victor Chamber Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner, Leo Brouwer [ Sony RCA Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Dec/2017 ] "There is Bream's marvellous performance of the solo part, excellent orchestral playing and excellent recording." (Gramophone) |
RAVEL
Bolero / Rapsodie Espagnole / la Valse / etc (rec 1984) L'Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "La valse is high powered with a mannered ending, but I enjoyed the rather sultry performance of the Rapsodie espagnole, while the Alborada is certainly brilliant." (Gramophone) |
W. A. MOZART
Requiem in D minor, K626 / Exsultate, jubilate, K165 - Alleluia / etc Lynne Dawson, Jard van Nes, Keith Lewis, Simon Estes / Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini / with Kathleeen Battle [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "It is a marvellously polished and accomplished performance. The Philharmonia Chorus are in sterling voice; the string playing is immaculate." (Gramophone) |
WAGNER
Orchestral Music (Incls 'Good Friday Music') New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] "Zubin Mehta became the Philharmonic's Music Director in 1978. Mehta's 13-year tenure as the New York Philharmonic's Music Director - during which he conducted more than 1,000 concerts - was the longest in the Orchestra's history." (nyphil.org) |
TCHAIKOVSKY / KHACHATURIAN / PROKOFIEV / ADAM / STRAVINSKY / DELIBES
The Most Beautiful Ballets [incls 'Swan Lake' & 'Romeo & Juliet'] The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Mark Ermler & Barry Wordsworth [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] "..the players have responded with both refinement and red-blooded commitment not just to the conductor but to the free, warm acoustic of All Saints' Church, Tooting." (Gramophone on Swan Lake) |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Swan Lake / Sleeping Beauty / Nutcracker [ballet highlights] Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra for 42 years - from 1938, when he took over from Leopold Stokowski, until 1980. Together Ormandy and the orchestra made numerous critically acclaimed recordings for Columbia... |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Enigma Variations / Pomp & Circumstance Marches (recorded in 1982) Philharmonia orchestra, Andrew Davis [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Dec/2011 ] |
W. A. MOZART
Violin Concertos Nos 4 & 5 / etc Pinchas Zukerman (violin & conductor) / Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] Israeli-born Pinchas Zukerman has kept his face and music before the public for more than four decades with his wide range of activities: he is a world-class violinist, violist, conductor, and administrator. |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Sinfonia Concertante / etc Steven Isserlis (cello) / Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Roger Norrington [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] "Cellist Steven Isserlis's playing is alert, sensitive, and joyous." (Highbeam.com) |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 'Moonlight' No. 21 'Waldstein' & No. 23 'Appassionata' Vladimir Horowitz (piano) [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] Russian-born Vladimir Horowitz was one of the most acclaimed pianists of the modern age, a formidable virtuoso whose inimitable artistry and technique were rooted in the grand Romantic tradition. |
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No 5 (with Schubert - Symphony No. 8 'Unfinished') Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] Recorded digitally by the Vienna Philharmonic during a Japanese concert tour. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Requiem Leontyne Price, Dame Janet Baker, Veriano Luchetti, Jose van Dam / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] "Solti's 1977 Chicago version, with an unusually sensitive and pure-toned quartet of soloists, and with superb choral singing and orchestral playing, has all the ingredients for success." (Penguin Guide) |
EDWARD GRIEG / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Grieg / Schumann: Piano Concertos (Rec 1989) Murray Perahia (piano) / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Murray Perahia's 1987 Schumann and Grieg concertos with Colin Davis remain the most recommendable digitally recorded pairing of these war-horses, and they bloom even more via Sony's Expanded Edition remastering." (ClassicsToday) |
SCOTT JOPLIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jean-Pierre Rampal plays Scott Joplin Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute, piccolo, train whistle), with John Steele Ritter, Shelly Manne & Tommy Johnson [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Dec/1983 ] Mr. Rampal was the first flutist to attain the kind of visibility and presence that previously had gone only to virtuoso pianists and violinists. Mr. Rampal regularly filled the world's largest concert halls, even at times the Hollywood Bowl, for his... |