GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Complete Organ Concertos Christian Schmitt (organ) Charlotte Balzereit (harp) / Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Nicol Matt [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 22/Jan/2021 ] The first complete recording of the Breitkopf Urtext Edition of the organ concertos of George Frideric Handel. Handel's organ concertos enjoy a wide popularity, they are brilliant concert pieces, in which the organ plays a joyous, "worldly" part. |
ALOYS SCHMITT
Schmitt: Piano Concertos / Rondeau brilliant Howard Shelley (piano) / Ulster Orchestra / Howard Shelley [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 84 / CD - released 1/Jul/2022 ] Great Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 84. Composer and conductor, pianist and pedagogue: Aloys Schmitt (1788-1866) was respected by his peers and largely forgotten by posterity. As so often in this series, the three works recorded here will have... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Symphonies & Serenades Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "This is an unfailingly warm-hearted, full-blooded Brahmsian sound and seems to represent a genuine attempt at redirecting the modern symphony orchestra towards the sort of sound-mix Brahms himself is likely to have heard." MusicWeb |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Symphonies Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra / Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland / Jaap van Zweden [ BRILLIANT CLASSICS / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2011 ] "here's not a weak link here: every performance is full of life and sections that can be problematic are triumphantly successful...van Zweden is consistently inspiring and imaginative." (International Record Review) |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Harp Concertos Charlotte Balzereit, Giselle Herbert, Jutta Zoff, Jana Bouskova, Roberta Alessandrini, etc (harps) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, etc [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 4/Dec/2020 ] The harp is an ancient instrument, with origins in the antiquity of perhaps many civilisations, and the modern orchestral harp is the culmination of a long evolution in form and technology. |
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina (complete opera recorded in 1978) Dimiter Petrov, Todor Kostov, Nicola Ghiuselev / Sofia National Opera Orchestra, Atanas Margaritov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Sep/2011 ] Khovanschina occupied the composer during 1872, as Boris was being 'adjusted' to suit the theatre authorities ahead of the premier. |
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride (complete opera) Ekaterina Kudriavchenko, Arkady Mishenkin, Vladislav Verestnikov / Sveshnikov Russian Academic Choir & Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Andrey Chistiakov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] 100% Russian feast - An all-Russian cast in this very Russian opera of Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the finest Russian opera composers (and still neglected in this field). |
CARL MARIA von WEBER
Weber: Symphonies, Overtures & Concertos Emma Johnson (clarinet) Peter Rösel (piano) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, English Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Neville Marriner [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 26/Aug/2013 ] Carl Maria von Weber is a name that is often cited with regard to the bridge between Classicism and Romanticism, and yet how many works of his is it possible to name? |
FRITZ BRUN
Brun: Complete Orchestral Works Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Adriano [ Brilliant Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2019 ] "...if you have yet to explore the music of this Swiss master, this release affords a very reasonably priced way of immersing yourself into the gorgeous musical world of Fritz Brun." Fanfare |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Concertos, Salzburg Divertimenti and Haffner Serenade Hungarian Chamber Orchestra, Kristóf Baráti / Amati Chamber Orchestra, Gil Sharon / Kammerorchestra 'C.P.E. Bach', Hartmut Haenchen [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "..Baráti is out of the top drawer. With intensity of sound, unbridled athleticism and searing leaps into the stratosphere which send a tingle down the spine" (Gramophone) |