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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Piano Concerto no.2 & Symphony no.1, Ouverture "Melusine" Kristian Bezuidenhout, Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 19/Apr/2019 ] Mendelssohn's first symphonic work scored for full orchestra, the Symphony op. 11 in C minor paved the way for even greater examples of the genre he was soon to produce. The concert overture Die schöne Melusine and the sparkling Piano Concerto No. 2... |
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CARLO GESUALDO
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri Quinto & Sesto Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 5/May/2023 ] those who have thought of Gesualdo as a one-trick pony ('Moro lasso' and all that …) now have more than six hours' evidence to the contrary." Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Early Music |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
N'espérez plus mes yeux… Airs sérieux & à boire Vol.3 Les Arts Florissants, William Christie [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 30/Apr/2021 ] With this third volume of Airs sérieux et à boire, the ensemble Les Arts Florissants return to this genre whose refinement had marked the French musical landscape for over a hundred years. By turns gallant, earthy, or spiritual, these vocal... |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Late Piano Sonatas, Opp. 101,109 & 111 Nikolai Lugansky (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 13/Nov/2020 ] "His performances have exceptional force, clarity and intensity. As such, these ever-astonishing late sonatas sound startlingly new, as if one were hearing them for the first time" Sunday Times |
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JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Piano Sonatas [Nos 32, 40, 49, 50] Paul Lewis (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 15/Apr/2018 ] "Paul Lewis has finally turned his attention to Haydn. Hurray for that, for it's a superb fit; it's also clear that he has absorbed the experience of working with Alfred Brendel as a young man, and the results are nothing if not personal." Gramophone |
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JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos.20, 34, 51 & 52 Paul Lewis (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 10/Sep/2021 ] In 2018, Paul Lewis embarked on an exploration of one of the richest bodies of work of the Classical era: the keyboard sonatas of Haydn. For his second volume, the British pianist tackles some of the most remarkable pieces in this vast oeuvre: the... |
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GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Telemann: Italian Opera Arias Nuria Rial (soprano) / Kammerorchester Basel, Julia Schroder [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 14/Nov/2011 ] "Rial's enchanting recital with the Basel Chamber Orchestra comprises high-quality arias...the orchestral performance is beautifully poised to support Rial's serene soprano?" BBC |
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JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: Die Schopfung [The Creation sung in German] Simone Kermes, Dorothee Mields, Steve Daviislim / Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble / Thomas Hengelbrock [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 30/May/2008 ] "Thomas Hengelbrock directs a clear and unfussy reading. He has an excellent grasp of each of the different elements of the score, which he communicates extremely well to his forces and thence to the listener." MusicWeb |
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LISZT / WAGNER / BERLIOZ
Sirenes Stéphanie d'Oustrac (mezzo) Pascal Jourdan (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2019 ] "The French singer's gleaming bright mezzo brings soprano overtones to this music, and she is especially compelling in Berlioz's anguished "Ah! Sans amour, s'en aller sur la mer" in Sur les lagunes, and skittish and playful in Villanelle" SundayTimes |
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BEETHOVEN / RIES / PUNTO / DANZI
Horn and Piano: A Cor Basse Recital Teunis van der Zwart (horn), Alexander Melnikov (paino) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Jan/2022 ] "van der Zwart exploits the disruptive contrasts between registers, and between stopped and open notes, as vividly as I've ever heard...A winner, and not only for horn fanciers." Gramophone Editor's Choice March 2022 |
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OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Gimeno [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/Jun/2024 ] "Where Gimeno makes the piece his own is in the complex rhythmic games of the three 'Turangalîla' movements, coolly coordinating them with a species of late Debussian sensuality that Boulez might have recognised, had he not deplored the piece" Gramop |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet & Seven Romances of Alexander Blok Trio Wanderer / Ekatarina Semenchuk (mezzo-soprano), Catherine Montier (violin), Christophe Gaugué (viola) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Oct/2020 ] "The individual members of Trio Wanderer capture the cycle's contrasting moods of despair, passion, violence, mystery and gentle lyricism with playing of magnetic power and imagination." BBC Music Five Stars - Chamber Choice. Dec 2020 |
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CESAR FRANCK
Franck: Piano Trio & Quintet, Violin Sonata - Louis Vierne: Piano Quintet Trio Wanderer & Vierne Quintette [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 26/May/2023 ] The Trio Wanderer follows up its multi-award-winning Schumann set with an exploration of the fascinating world of César Franck. The gulf between his youthful trios and the prodigious works of his maturity reveals a fundamental turning point in the... |
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PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Piano Sonatas opp.37 & 80 Vadym Kholodenko (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Jun/2021 ] "[Op. 37] whatever can be done to bring out the sonata's beauty and variety, along with genuine feeling, Kholodenko does it. this disc came as one of the nicest surprises of the year, and I can warmly recommended it as a first choice for the Grande |
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SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 6 / Visions Fugitives Vadym Kholodenko (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 5/Jun/2020 ] Following up on his acclaimed recordings of Prokofiev's piano concertos, Vadym Kholodenko offers more music by his favorite composer. The solo works assembled here reveal several facets of Prokofiev. He was an outstanding melodist - a 'classicist' on... |
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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Gran Partita - Wind Serenades K. 361 & 375 Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/May/2021 ] "For those wanting the music played on the kinds of instruments that Mozart himself knew, this beautifully recorded new version sweeps the field." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2021 |
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J.S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Triple Concerto BWV1044; Harpsichord Cto. BWV 1052 Akademie far Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] "the gestures bold and the virtuosity glittering." - International Record Review |
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ANTONIO VIVALDI / JEAN-FERY REBEL
Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni [The Four Seasons] / Rebel: Les Eléments Midori Seiler (solo violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "..[Midori Seiler] and the Berliners have simply insisted on taking nothing for granted...the sheer flair of this new release dazzles as much as it delights." BBC Music |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.4 & 8 (with Mehul: Symphony No. 1 & Cherubini: Lodoiska Overture) Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 9/Sep/2022 ] The least famous of Beethoven's symphonies? Yet these two works are genuine tours de force: the composer takes the listener on a journey whose destination never seems to be known in advance, one brimming over with structural innovations subtly... |
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PAUL WRANITZKY
Wranitzky: Symphonies Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2022 ] Bernhard Forck leads Akamus in a spirited showcase of the Moravian-born composer's gifts as an orchestrator, featuring the overture to Oberon, the 'Grande Symphonie caractéristique pour la Paix avec la République francaise', and the 'Tempest' Symphony. |