TRADITIONAL
One Hundred Days Away Evergreen Ensemble [ ABC Classics / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] One Hundred Days Away, is a haunting album focusing on songs and tunes that are linked to the sea, a nostalgia for 'home', or the struggle to settle in unfamiliar lands. |
ISAAC ALBENIZ
Albeniz: Piano Music, Vol. 3 - 6 Danzas espanolas / 6 Pequenos valses / 6 Mazurkas de salon Guillermo Gonzalez (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2009 ] "This is a great CD that explores some impressive music that is technically superb in both the sound quality and the performance. González succeeds in making these pieces both moving and attractive." (MusicWeb May 2009) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Songs of Love and Death Hedwig Fassbender (mezzo-soprano) Hilko Dumno (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 15/Dec/2007 ] "Fassbender is an understanding, sympathetic and, above all, straightforward guide to this music. The recording… deserves hearing for both its interesting juxtaposition of repertoire and the unaffected sincerity of the performances…" (Gramophone) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / FRANZ LISZT
Liszt / Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Transcription) Konstantin Scherbakov (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 14/Dec/2004 ] "This is a magnificent disc and listening to it is a truly uplifting experience." MusicWeb, October 2004 |
DONIZETTI / MOZART / LEONCAVALLO / VERDI / etc
Baritone Arias Lado Ataneli (baritone) / Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, Lodovico Zocche [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Sep/2011 ] "The breath control is impressive: he can elide the phrases of 'Vision fugitive' in Hérodiade with the breadth of past masters and the long-sustained final note is evidently a trademark." Gramophone |
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY
Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau / Sinfonietta New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Aug/2009 ] "James Judd… galvanises the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra into playing this challenging score with sensitivity and a good deal of virtuosity." BBC Music |
JOHANNES BRAHMS / ROBERT SCHUMANN / GUSTAV MAHLER
Renée Fleming - Lieder (Brahms, Schumann, Mahler) Renée Fleming (soprano) Hartmut Höll (piano) [ Decca / CD - released 21/Jun/2019 ] Four-time Grammy winning soprano Renée Fleming presents her first full-length Lieder album for almost two decades. |
GEORGE & IRA GERSHWIN
Gershwin: Porgy & Bess (complete opera from the Metropolitan) Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Latonia Moore, Golda Schultz, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine / David Robertson (cond) [ Warner Classics Metropolitan Opera / 3 CD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] "Authoritative and gripping ... The magnificent bass-baritone Eric Owens gives one of the finest performances of his distinguished career … The sumptuously voiced soprano Angel Blue is radiant." New York Times |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart Arias Sara Macliver (soprano) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sebastian Lang-Lessing [ ABC Classics / CD - released 15/Feb/2016 ] Stunning Australian soprano Sara Macliver presents an album of classic Mozart arias, showcasing her amazing talent in an extradionary range of roles. Recorded with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra under Sebastian Lang-Lessing and containing several... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
United Strings of Europe: In Motion United Strings of Europe, Amalia Hall (violin) / Julian Azkoul (director), Franck Fontcouberte (conductor) [ BIS / CD - released 6/Nov/2020 ] The streets of eighteenth-century Madrid; a contaminated test-bombing site in Australia and a song from El Salvador provide some of the subject matter for this album by the United Strings of Europe (USE). Formed in 2012 by students at London's... |
EDWARD ELGAR / ANTHONY PAYNE
Elgar/Payne: Symphony No 3 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Paul Daniel [ Naxos / CD - released 15/Sep/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) -- Rosette (Highest Rating)- Penguin Stereo Guide |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Die Schopfung [The Creation] Christina Landshamer (sop), Maximilian Schmitt (ten) Rudolf Rosen (bar) / Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe [ PHI / 2 CD - released 16/Oct/2015 ] "[the music] bursts from the speakers with the same combination of vigour, technical accomplishment and, above all, unforced pleasure in Haydn's cornucopian invention that should make even the most dedicated Creation admirer listen with fresh ears." |
DVORAK / GRIEG / BRAHMS
Dvorak / Grieg / Brahms: Music for Piano, Four hands Claire Chevallier, Jos Van Immerseel (piano Bechstein 1870) [ Alpha / CD - released 1/Apr/2017 ] Jos van Immerseel and Claire Chevallier have enjoyed a close collaboration for many years now. Like Jos van Immerseel, Claire Chevallier loves period pianos; like him, she is a researcher and possesses her own collection of keyboard... |
BIZET / CAPUA / DONIZETTI / OFFENBACH / etc
Les Contre-Tenors [The Counter Tenors] Dominique Visse, Andreas Scholl, Pascal Bertin (countertenors) [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] Three countertenors having fun, back in 1995, hot on the heels of the original Three Tenors! Dominique Visse, Andreas Scholl, Pascal Bertin: three distinctive and outstanding voices are showcased singing pieces they would not normally perform but... |
J. S. BACH
Bach - Small Gifts Dorothee Oberlinger (recorder/director), Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor) Ensemble 1700 [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Dec/2017 ] "Andreas Scholl, voice fresh and unblemished as ever, and recorder player/director Dorothee Oberlinger are in their element...Oberlinger's small, Cologne-based chamber ensemble plays with lithe precision, each musician a soloist. |
ERIC WHITACRE / FINZI / MENDELSSOHN / PURCELL / WEELKES / etc
The Lover's Ghost: A selection of European & American Choral Music Coro, Mark Griffiths [ Dal Segno / CD - released 19/Apr/2015 ] Coro was formed in September 2000 as a London-based chamber choir for young professionals. Under the direction of Mark Griffiths, Coro competed against 45 choirs from around the world to become the first Western European choir to win the Grand Prix... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Fever Pitch Marin Alsop (leader), String Fever [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jul/2012 ] Founded by Marin Alsop in 1981, String Fever was hailed for its remarkable versatility and unique blend of pop, jazz and classical repertoire. |
WAGNER / MENDELSSOHN / MOZART / STAINER / CLARKE / etc
World Of Wedding Music Kiri te Kanawa, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland / Choir of King's College, Choir of St Johns [ Decca / CD ] Everything you need for a perfect wedding |
FREDERIC CHOPIN / LEOPOLD GODOWSKY
Chopin/Godowsky: Etudes Boris Berezovsky (piano) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 31/Oct/2005 ] Rec. live at the Maltings, Snape, Suffolk, 19-20/4/2005 |
CARL ORFF
Orff: Carmina Burana Janice Harsanyi (soprano) Rudolf Petrak (tenor) / Columbia Symphony Orchestra / The Philadelphia Orchestra / Eugene Ormandy [ Sony Essential Classics / CD - released 7/Dec/2001 ] Rosette (highest rating) Penguin Stereo Guide |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Masterpieces Collection - Australian Classics Various orchestras & performers from the vast ABC catalogue [ ABC Classics / CD - released 1/Dec/2019 ] ABC Classics and the Art Gallery of New South Wales present a new collection of albums bringing together culture from through the ages. From nineteenth-century visions of grandeur in Epic Classics to the sacred tradition in Divine Classics. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (with Elgar: Enigma Variations) BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult [ ICA Classics / CD - released 30/Jun/2011 ] "this Brahms 1 is superbly paced: hard-driven yet flexible, virile yet richly expressive. The opening's 6/8 - relentless, tragic - has, rightly, the same pulse as the ensuing allegro (where Boult, unusually, observes the repeat). In Elgar, Boult... |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 2 / Souvenir de Florence (sextet) Borodin Quartet, with with Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) & Genrikh Talalyan (viola) [ Alto / CD - released 20/Jun/2015 ] "Both their earlier recordings (as here) are unassailable recommendations. Look no further" (Penguin Guide) |
PAUL HINDEMITH
Hindemith: Sonatas for flute, horns and organ Bryan Keith (flute) Bedrich Tyšlar, Jozef Havlík, Zdeněk Divolný, Zdeněk Tylšar (horns) Ivan Sokol (organ) [ Point Classics / CD - released 6/Sep/1996 ] with Piano - Kristian Karena (tracks: 1-3), Peter Toperczer (tracks: 4-7) |
VERDI / PUCCINI / DONIZETTI / MASCAGNI / ROSSINI
Italian Opera Choruses Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Lamberto Gardelli [ EMI Studio / CD - released 25/Jan/1995 ] 11 masterpieces from Italian opera. |
J. S. BACH
Bach: St Matthew Passion [highlights] Elly Ameling, Julia Hamari, Helen Watts, Peter Pears, Fritz Wunderlich, Walter Berry, Tom Krause / Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Karl Munchinger [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 20/Nov/2011 ] 'Many will be glad to hear Peter Pears's superb performance of the Evangelist' Gramophone, March 1965 |
FERDINAND RIES
Ries: Sonatas for Violin and Piano Vol 2 Eric Grossman (violin) / Susan Kagan (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Feb/2015 ] "Ries's chamber music seems to respond to Grossman's and Kagan's intimate and friendly playing....Kagan's knowledgeable booklet note adds to one's enjoyment. As before, this is unreservedly recommended." Fanfare |
FLOTOW / SCHUBERT / ROSSINI / SAINT-SAENS / VERDI / DONIZETTI / R. STRAUSS
Son Of Movies Go To The Opera Fritz Wunderlich, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Rita Gorr, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda, Janet Baker, Victoria de los Angeles, etc [ EMI / CD - released 2/Feb/1990 ] More favourite classical tracks from classic movies! |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Symphonies Nos 94 "Surprise" & 95 (with Leopold Mozart: "Toy" Symphony) The Hanover Band, Roy Goodman [ Nimbus / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] Recorded, Mastered and Manufactured in England by Nimbus Records Ltd. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Violin Concerto Itzhak Perlman (violin) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini [ EMI Classics / CD - released 15/Nov/1981 ] Originally recorded in 1981 |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: The Ring Des Nibelungen (highlights) James Morris, Eva Marton, Cheryl Studer, Siegfried Jerusalem / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink [ EMI Studio / CD - released 23/Mar/1988 ] Highlights from the classic EMI recording |
HANDEL / J. C. SMITH
Handel: Ouverture in C major, HWV456 / Smith: Six Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 Julian Perkins (harpsichord) [ Chandos Chaconne / CD - released 20/May/2015 ] "The exuberantly stylish Julian Perkins is just the man for the job and tellingly collides the work of master and servant with a Handel keyboard transcription at the start." (Sunday Times) |
LISZT / SCHUMANN / KNUSSEN
Piano Works Kirill Gerstein (piano) [ Myrios / CD - released 12/Aug/2015 ] "Gerstein's fluid playing suits this tender piece (Knussen), with the rondo-like return of the main theme sensitively handled." International Record Review, March 2011 |
TONY BANKS
Banks: Seven - A Suite for Orchestra Tony Banks / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Mike Dixon (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2005 ] "Banks has a genuine melodic gift... The LPO under Mike Dixon play sympathetically and often ardently, and the woodwind relish Simon Hale's many piquant touches of colour." - Ivan March, Gramophone, 05/04 |
HAVERGAL BRIAN
Brian: Symphony No. 18 / Violin Concerto / The Jolly Miller Marat Bisengaliev, violin / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Lionel Friend, conductor [ Marco Polo / CD - released 20/Jun/2005 ] "The violin concerto is a great work and deserves the recognition that it has so long been denied. I can only hope that this present recording does much to remedy this oversight" (MuusicWeb July 2005) |
CILEA / GIODANO / CATALANI / BOITO / ROSSINI / MEYERBEER / DELIBES
Maria Callas - Operatic Arias Maria Callas (soprano) / Orchestra del Teatro Alla Scala, Tullio Serafin [ EMI Music / CD - released 6/Dec/1986 ] 13 arias from a specially recorded recital by Maria Callas |
BELLINI / DONIZETTI / PUCCINI / GIORDANO / MOZART / VERDI
Opera's Greatest Mothers Montserrat Caballe, Fiorenza Cossotto, Leontyne Price, Cornells Kallisch, Zdislawa Donat, etc [ RCA / CD - released 1/Oct/1998 ] Montserrat Caballe and Leontyne Price lead a cast of the world's greatest voices on this album of arias about jealousies, passions, and betrayals! |
W. A. MOZART
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!). |
GUSTAV HOLST / WILLIAM WALTON
Holst: Planets / Walton: Facade New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein / Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, with Vera Zorina (reciter) [ Sony Essential Classics / CD - released 20/May/1996 ] Recorded December 7, 1971 and February 19, 1961. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Classic Kennedy [incls Massenet: Meditation & Gershwin: Preludes] Nigel Kennedy (violin) with various orchestras and accompaniments [ EMI Classics / CD - released 13/Jan/2000 ] Classic Kennedy is an outstanding collection of popular classical and contemporary works plus traditional folk songs uniquely arranged for violin and orchestra. Vivaldi: Presto from Summer (The Four Seasons) feature's on this album. |