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JOHN DOWLAND / HENRY PURCELL
Songs of Passion Lea Desandre (mezzo) Thomas Dunford (lute), with with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor) [ Erato / CD - released 10/Sep/2025 ] With Songs of Passion, a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell - English composers born nearly a century apart - mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and Ensemble Jupiter have created a companion... |
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JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein (complete operetta recorded in 2005) Les Musiciens du Louvre / Felicity Lott, Sandrine Piau, Yann Beuron, Franck Leguérinel, Eric Huchet / Marc Minkowski (cond) [ Erato DVD / 2 DVD - released 6/Dec/2005 ] Best Opera Recording went to Offenbach's 'La Grande Duchesse De Gerolstein' in 2005's Diapason d'Or Awards held in Paris. |
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DEBUSSY / DUPARC / FAURE / RAVEL
Secrets: French Songs Marianne Crebassa (mezzo), Fazil Say (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 1/Feb/2018 ] "Fin de siècle song from Duparc to late Fauré forms the basis of this impressive recital, Crebassa's tone and shading ideal in this repertoire, well matched throughout by pianist Fazıl Say." Gramophone Award WINNER 2018 - Solo Vocal |
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DEBUSSY / DUPARC / FAURE / RAVEL
Marianne Crebassa - Séguedilles Marianne Crebassa (mezzo), Orchestre et Choeur du National du Capitole de Toulouse, Ben Glassberg; Thibaut Garcia (guitar), Alphonse Cemin (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 22/Oct/2021 ] Marianne Crebassa's new album celebrates her French-Spanish roots: centered around French composers taking inspiration from Spain and Spanish composers searching for new ideas in France. |
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EDWARD ELGAR / ERNEST CHAUSSON / VICTORIN JONCIERES
Mer(s): Songs by Elgar, Chausson & Joncieres Marie Nicole-Lemieux (contralto) / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Paul Daniel [ Erato Classics / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] "Lemieux is on imperious form in Sea Pictures. Her rich contralto sits easily in Elgar's writing…She is magnificent [in the Chausson], completely at home in the fleshy vocal lines of Maurice Bouchor's poetry to crown a really impressive disc" Gramoph |
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HECTOR BERLIOZ /, MAURICE RAVEL / CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Berlioz: Les Nuits D'ete / Ravel: Shéhérazade / Saint-Saens: Mélodies Persanes Marie Nicole-Lemieux (contralto) / Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Kazuki Yamada [ Erato / CD - released 29/Sep/2023 ] "Lemieux is an inimitable performer, a real personality who delivers with an engaging commitment to text. These qualities come across vividly in this new recording of French song-cycles that are not really song-cycles." - Gramophone |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
L'encyclopédie de l'orgue - Complete Edition (46 CD Set) Marie-Claire Alain, Maurice Duruflé, etc [ Erato / CD Box Set - released 17/Apr/2026 ] Initiated by the visionary musicologist, composer, organist Olivier Alain - brother of Marie-Claire Alain -, this monumental "Encyclopédie de l'orgue" series presents an unparalleled panorama of the organ repertoire. It offers a detailed exploration... |
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ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schoenberg - Kaiserwalzer and Other Transcriptions (Reger, Strauss, Sioly & others) Markus Schafe (tenor) / Soloists of the Opera National de Lyon [ Erato Elatus / CD - released 7/Jun/2003 ] Recorded at the Opéra National de Lyon from 20-22 April 1994 |
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CLARKE / BACH / MOZART / HAYDN / ALBINONI / MARCELLO
A Portrait Maurice Andre (trumpet) with Jan Parker-Smith, Alfred Mitterhofer (organ), the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Erato / Warner Classics Inspiration / CD - released 10/Feb/2015 ] "(These recordings serve, not only,) as an index of the trumpeter's fabulous chops, but also his sense of fantasy and imagination, his concern for colour, and his spurning of velocity and virtuosity for their own sakes." (MusicWeb) |
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ALBINONI / CALDARA / GASPARTINI / VIVALDI
Venezia - Opera arias of the Serenissima Max Emanuel Cencic (countertenor) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Riccardo Minasi [ Erato Classics / CD - released 15/Feb/2013 ] "If the Vivaldi items here seem generic, they are undoubtedly show stoppers. Yet it is the slow arias from forgotten operas by Giovanni Porta and Francesco Gasparini that show Cencic's plush, beautifully integrated timbre and yearning, soulful... |
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HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été / Harold en Italie Michael Spyres (baritenor), Timothy Ridout (viola) / Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, John Nelson [ Erato Classics / CD - released 25/Nov/2022 ] Continuing Warner Classics' multiple-award-winning Berlioz cycle (Les Troyens, La Damnation de Faust) with conductor John Nelson and the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg. |
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LULLY / HANDEL / VIVALDI / VINCI / PORPORA / SARRO / HASSE / etc
Michael Spyres - Contra-Tenor Michael Spyres (tenor) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Francesco Corti [ Warner / Erato / CD - released 21/Apr/2023 ] "Michael Spyres's now famous range coupled with his superb sense of drama and glorious technique singles him out - once again - as one of the finest opera singers before us today. " Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Voice & Ensemble |
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HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust Michael Spyres, Joyce DiDonato, Nicolas Courjal, Alexandre Duhamel / Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, John Nelson [ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 22/Nov/2019 ] "The most dramatic piece that Berlioz ever wrote," is how conductor John Nelson describes La Damnation de Faust. The composer designated this thrilling hybrid of oratorio and opera a 'légende dramatique'. Following in the triumphant footsteps of Les... |
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MEHUL / ROSSINI / BEETHOVEN / WEBER / MEYERBEER / WAGNER / etc
Michael Spyres - In the Shadows Michael Spyres (tenor) / Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset [ Warner / Erato / CD - released 8/Mar/2024 ] "this is another fine, fascinating album from an unusually interesting and intelligent artist, handsomely recorded." Gramophone Award Finalist 2024 - Voice & Ensemble |
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NANCARROW / GERSHWIN / BEACH / JOPLIN / BERNSTEIN / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Four Piano Blues - American Piano Music Michel Legrand (piano) [ Erato / CD - released 24/Feb/1994 ] Legrand composed more than two hundred film and television scores. He won three Oscars and five Grammys. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris from age 11, working with, among others, Nadia Boulanger and graduated with top honors as both a... |
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SCARLATTI / RACHMANINOV / BEETHOVEN / TCHAIKOVSKY / SCRIABIN / etc
Mikhail Pletnev - The Erato Recordings 1988 - 2001 Mikhail Pletnev (piano/conductor), with Michael Collins (clarinet) [ Erato / Warner Classics / 16 CD Box Set - released 22/Aug/2025 ] Mikhail Pletnev, a virtuoso pianist of the Russian school, rose to global fame after winning the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. Known for his formidable technique and deep musical insight, this collection of his Erato recordings... |
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VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini: La Sonnambula (complete opera recorded in 2007) Natalie Dessay, Francesco Meli, Carlo Colombara, Sara Mingardo / Lyon Opera, Evelino Pidò [ Erato / Warner Classics Home of Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2017 ] "The sound is splendid, deriving from live concert performances as well as some mopping up - I suppose - without an audience. Presentation is first-class and all in all this must now be regarded as the recommended version." (MusicWeb March 2008) |
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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart Concert Arias Natalie Dessay (soprano) / Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon, Theodor Gulschbauer [ Erato Classics Premium / CD - released 20/Mar/2010 ] Recorded when she was barely 30 this is one of Natalie Dessay's greatest ever recordings, comprising 8 of Mozart's concert arias for high soprano (up to G above high C!). |
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HANDEL / VIVALDI / BONONCINI / CALDARA etc
Nathalie Stutzmann - Contralto Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto & conductor) / Orfeo 55 [ Erato / Warner Classics / CD - released 15/Jan/2021 ] "Stutzmann's conducting of her Orfeo 55 is of a piece with her singing: full-blooded but invariably stylish and well executed." Opera |
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SCARLATTI / CAVALLI / PAISIELLO / CALDARA / MARCELLO / HANDEL
Quella Fiamma - Arie Antiche Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto/musical direction), Shai Kribus (oboe), Patrick Langot (cello), Marie-Domitille Murez (harp) & Miguel Rincòn (theorbo) [ Erato / Warner Classics / CD - released 15/Nov/2017 ] "One has to admire Parisotti's taste, as well as (not for the first time) Stutzmann's rich, win-dark voice, noble emotional articulation and, when required, flashing virtuosity. Some of these arias are simply ravishing in her hands" Gramophone |