EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Complete Works for Wind Quintet (Incls 'Harmony Music' & 'six Promenades') Athena Ensemble [ Chandos 241 / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2006 ] 'These bubbly versions [10 Pieces for Wind] by the Athena Ensemble, the only ones in the catalogue, are highly recommended at bargain price.' The Observer |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Piano Music, Vol. 6 Barry Douglas (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Dec/2022 ] This sixth volume in Barry Douglas's acclaimed Schubert series features two major works. The Sonata in A minor, D 845 was completed in 1825, just before Schubert started work on his 'great' Symphony in C major. As in so much of his later writing,... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Piano Works Vol.5 Barry Douglas (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Oct/2020 ] For his fifth volume of Schubert's piano works, Barry Douglas turns to a contrasting pair of sonatas composed in the 1820s. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Works for Solo Piano, Vol.4 Barry Douglas (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 31/May/2019 ] Barry Douglas's critically acclaimed series of Schubert's piano works reaches its fourth instalment. For this recording, Douglas has chosen to present three piano sonatas from the middle of Schubert's short life: No. 5 (D 537) and No. 11 (D 575),... |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Plus One (with Rachmaninov: Six Moments musicaux) Barry Douglas (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] Tchaikovsky's Grande Sonate, or 'Grand Sonata' (Bolshaya Sonata), in G major was dedicated to Karl Klindworth, a pupil of Liszt, and first performed at a private hearing, on 21 October 1879, by Nikolay Rubinstein, founder of the Moscow Conservatory.... |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Orchestral Works BBC Concert Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Dec/2022 ] When we recorded this album, in March 2022, no-one could have imagined that it would be Bramwell Tovey's last recording. Chandos Records would like to dedicate this recording to the memory of Bramwell Tovey, with whom the company had collaborated for... |
ERIC COATES
Coates: Orchestral Works, Volume 3 [Incls 'Three Men Suite' & 'Dam Busters March'] BBC Philharmonic, John Wilson [ Chandos / CD - released 30/Jun/2023 ] "The BBC Philharmonic plays with buoyancy and style. The booklet notes are invaluable: a slice of British history compressed into a few well chosen words." Guardian |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 12 & 15 BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 24/Mar/2023 ] "Another terrific release from this source." Gramophone |
HENRI DUTILLEUX
Dutilleux: L'Arbre des songes / Timbres, espace, mouvement / etc Martyn Hill (tenor), Neal Davies (baritone), Olivier Charlier (violin) / BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Feb/1996 ] "In the Violin Concerto (1985) Tortelier again favours a symphonic approach, and very effective it is too, with a soloist who's authoritative without being overly selfassertive." Gramophone |
PAUL BEN-HAIM
Ben-Haim: Music of Israel Claudia Barainsky (soprano), John Bradbury (clarinet), BBC Philharmonic, Omer Meir Wellber [ Chandos / CD - released 30/Oct/2020 ] "Altogether, a very worthwhile and rewarding release" Gramophone |
BACH / GABRIELI / MacMILLAN / SCHUTZ / WILLIAMS / PARK
Revoiced Corvus Consort, Ferio Saxophone Quartet, Freddie Crowley [ Chandos / CD - released 14/Oct/2022 ] "The combination of small-scale choir and saxophone quartet is a surprising one, though it would take a particularly crabbed purist not to deny its effectiveness." Gramophone |
SIR ARTHUR BLISS
Bliss: Mary of Magdala Dame Sarah Connolly (Mezzo-soprano), James Platt (Bass), BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] Bliss composed The Enchantress in 1951, the year of his sixtieth birthday, for Kathleen Ferrier. The text is a free adaptation of the Second Idyll of Theocritus, made by Henry Reed, and well suited to Bliss's love of classical Greek... |
FRANZ SCHMIDT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schmidt - Symphony No. 2 in E flat major Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Feb/1989 ] "Their sound is glorious and Chandos advocate it to us with all its damask lustre and density without rendering it opaque." MusicWeb |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
An introduction to Shostakovich (Incls 'Piano Concerto No 2' & 'Symphony No 5') Dmitri Shostakovich Jnr (piano) / I Musici de Montreal / Scottish National Orchestra / Neeme Jarvi / Maxim Shostakovich [ Chandos Intro / CD - released 1/Aug/2006 ] 'Neeme Järvi's understanding of the bleak world inhabited by Shostakovich's symphonies continues to impress. Chandos's sound is superb as always.' American Recird Guide |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Concertos 3 & 4 Francesa Dego (violin), Francesca Leonardi (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Roger Norrington (conductor) [ Chandos / CD - released 21/Sep/2021 ] "These performances capture the very essence of Mozart's Salzburg style best, setting up, meticulously matching and weaving in and out of the solo line with captivating suppleness and alertness." Five Stars BBC Music Recording of the Month Nov 21 |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Concertos, Vol. 2 Francesca Dego (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Roger Norrington [ Chandos / CD - released 14/Oct/2022 ] Following their critically acclaimed first volume of Mozart's violin concertos (CHAN 20234), Francesca Dego and Sir Roger Norrington complete the set, once again with outstanding support from a reduced Royal Scottish National Orchestra. |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: In the Stream of Life [Songs] Gerald Finley (bass-baritone) / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 30/Jan/2017 ] "Finley sings them all with his usual finesse and careful shading, reserving his full power for the few genuinely climactic moments...The subtle, respectful orchestrations wrap around his voice like a glove" Guardian |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN / FRANK BRIDGE
Britten/Bridge: Works for Viola & Piano Hélène Clément (viola), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Alasdair Beatson (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 12/Aug/2022 ] Hélène Clément, violist with the Doric String Quartet, is the current holder of the viola previously owned by both Frank Bridge and Benjamin Britten. Her ambition, quickly formed once she first played this instrument, has been to create a testament... |
SIR RICHARD RODNEY BENNETT
Bennett: Orchestral Works, Volume 2 Howard McGill (saxophone), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, John Wilson [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/Jul/2018 ] The recent partnership of John Wilson and BBC SSO on record reaches this second volume in their invigorating exploration of fascinating orchestral works by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett. Less well known than his widely famous film music (Murder on the... |
ANTOINE REICHA
Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 3 Ivan Ilić (piano) [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Apr/2021 ] For this his third volume of works by Antoine Reicha, the pianist Ivan Ilic turns to one of the composer's most extraordinary works, L'Art de varier, Op. 57. 'The Art of Variation' consists of fifty-seven variations on a theme (that the number of... |