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ARVO PART
Pärt: Credo (LP) Kalle Randalu (piano), Estonian National Male Choir, Ellerhein Girls' Choir, Ellerhein Alumni Choir, Estonian Festival Orchestra [ Alpha Classics / 2 LP - due 24/Apr/2026 ] Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra pay tribute to Arvo Pärt, who celebrates his 90th birthday in 2025. The Estonian composer has been part of Paavo Järvi's life since childhood: "Arvo was my sister's and my father's supercool friend. He... |
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JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn 2032, Vol.15 : La Reine (LP) Giovanni Antonini, Kammerorchester Basel [ Alpha Classics / 2 LP - due 8/May/2026 ] The fifteenth volume of the Haydn2032 cycle is entitled 'La Reine'. One might think that this nickname refers to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, queen of numerous territories, but in fact the monarch honoured by the popular title of Symphony no.85... |
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EMMERICH KALMAN / FRANZ LEHAR / PAUL ABRAHAM
Magische Töne Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Hungarian State Opera Orchestra [ Sony Classical / CD - due 10/Apr/2026 ] With Magische Töne, Jonas Kaufmann returns to the world of operetta and late‑Romantic opera, presenting a collection of some of the genre's most beautiful and beloved melodies. Recorded in Budapest with the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra under the... |
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CHOPIN
Chopin: Return to Warsaw Martin Stadtfeld (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 3/Apr/2026 ] |
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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY / FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos (LP) Nathan Milstein (violin) / Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / LP - due 26/Aug/2026 ] "This recording has a sweetness, warmth and seemingly effortless virtuosity that produce deeply satisfying results." International Record Review |
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GAO PING / WOJCIECH KILAR / ANTHONY RITCHIE / JACK BODY / etc
Adrianna Lis: Rozmowa / Dialogue Adrianna Lis (flute) / Sarah Watkins (piano) [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 10/Jun/2012 ] "Modern virtuoso music for flute from Poland and NZ" |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Il Campanello di Notte (complete opera recorded in 1983) Agnes Baltsa, Enzo Dara, Biancamaria Casoni, Angelo Romero / Wiener Symphoniker, Gary Bertini [ Sony RCA Classical Opera / CD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "One of Donizetti's most charming short operas, with a Don Pasquale-like plot, and gorgeously performed by Agnes Baltsa and Enzo Dara, this is a nice way of spending 55 minutes." BBC Music |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Symphony No 3 / Kindertotenlieder Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano) / Wiener Sangerknaben, Wiener Staatsoper Damenchor, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel [ Sony Classical / 2 CD Box Set - released 16/Feb/1992 ] Original recording from 1986/1987 |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Aleksandra Kurzak - Desire Aleksandra Kurzak (soprano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 29/May/2020 ] The incredible soprano Aleksandra Kurzak presents 'Desire', her first solo album on Sony Classical! With this new release, Kurzak ventures into heavier territory, as she reveals both the new roles she is already singing and those she is working on. |
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VALENTIN SILESTROV
Silvestrov: Forgotten Word I Wished To Say Alexei Lubimov (piano) with Viktoriia Vitrenko (soprano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 1/Apr/2024 ] "Alexei Lubimov's poised performances always bring clarity and balance to Silvestrov's music, enabling this carefully crafted and proportioned post-tonal style to simply speak for itself." Gramophone |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Complete opera recorded in 1967) Alfred Deller, Peter Pears, Thomas Hemsley,Owen Brannigan, Josephine Veasey, Robert Tear / London Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Britten [ Decca Records / 2 CD Box Set - released 2/Jan/2002 ] "...Britten again proves himself an ideal interpreter of his own music." *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide |
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SIR MICHAEL TIPPETT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tippett: String Quartet No.2 / The Heart's Assurance / Boyhood's End / Songs for Ariel (with Seiber: Quartetto lirico) Amadeus Quartet / Sir Peter Pears (tenor) / Noel Mewton-Wood, Benjamin Britten piano) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 2/Feb/2003 ] EMI has issued numerous, and excellent, single-disc releases. One offers another view of three of the song-cycles ("Boyhood's End", "The Heart's Assurance" and "Songs for Ariel"). The tenor is Peter Pears. (ClassicalSource) |
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GILBERT and SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: Princess Ida Ambrosian Opera Chorus with Frank Gorshin, Nan Christie, Laurence Dale, Anne Collins & others [ BBC / Umbrella DVD / DVD - released 10/Aug/2014 ] Music by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and a host of stars including Frank Gorshin, Bernard Dickerson, Anne Collins and Claire Powell. 114 minutes. For more than 100 years the operas of Gilbert & Sullivan have played to... |
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GILBERT and SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: Patience & The Sorcerer [2 DVDs] Ambrosian Opera Chorus with Sandra Dugdale, Donald Adams, Derek Hammond-Stroud, John Fryatt, Clive Revill, David Kernan & Nana Christie [ BBC / Umbrella DVD / DVD - released 10/Aug/2014 ] For more than 100 years the operas of Gilbert & Sullivan have played to packed audiences around the world. These two names have become synonymous with classic light opera - music that is timeless and tuneful lyrics that are witty, scathing and memorable. |
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PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (complete ballet recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Amsterdam Music Theatre / Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, James Stout / Ermanno Florio [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] Choreographers Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling created a Nutcracker for the children and adults of today. It is more dynamic and exciting, and less sweet than usual. |
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TRADITIONAL
A Family Christmas Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli, Virginia Bocelli [ Classics & Jazz UK / CD - released 21/Oct/2022 ] This holiday season, internationally renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli is teaming up with his 24-year-old son Matteo Bocelli and 10-year-old daughter Virginia Bocelli for their first ever album together, A Family Christmas. |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Parsifal (complete opera recorded at the Bayreuth Festival in 2023) Andreas Schager, Elīna Garanča, Georg Zeppenfeld / Bayreuther Festspielorchester, Bayreuther Festspielchor, Pablo Heras-Casado [ Deutsche Grammophon / 4 CD Box Set - released 5/Jul/2024 ] The acclaimed new production of Wagner's final opera "Parsifal" is "a musical godsend" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). The successful partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and the Bayreuth Festival continues, and what was started with the 2015... |
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GRAUN / HANDEL / PERTI / PORPORA / ORLANDINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Agrippina Opera Arias Ann Hallenberg (mezzo) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Riccardo Minasi [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2016 ] "there's an equally dazzling vengeance aria by Orlandini, in which Riccardo Minasi's orchestra, Il Pomo d'Oro, really lets fly. Hallenberg is as convincing in these as she is in the more reflective numbers...very classily done" (The Guardian) |
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BERLIOZ / BELLINI / DONIZETTI / DVORAK / GOUNOD / MOZART / PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Anna Netrebko - Opera Arias Anna Netrebko (soprano) / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda [ Deutsche Grammophon First Choice / CD - released 15/Mar/2012 ] "This solo recital, conducted by an old colleague from the Kirov, Gianandea Noseda, makes a fine portrait of a lovely singer." (Gramophone) |
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BIZET / RACHMANINOV / SARASATE / RAVEL / de FALLA / BRAHMS
New Year's Concert 1997 (recorded in 2007) Anne Sofie von Otter, Bryn Terfel, Roberto Alagna, Gil Shaham, Mikhail Pletnev / Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 10/Jul/2008 ] The Berliner Philharmoniker's annual New Year's Eve concert is one of the highlights in the calendar of every classical music fan. The program of the New Year's Eve Concert 1997 bore the title "Dances of Life, Love, and Death", and was meant as a... |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS / CLARA SCHUMANN
Brahms: Double Concerto & Clara Schumann: Piano Trio Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Pablo Fernandez (cello), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Manfred Honeck, Lambert Orkis (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 4/Nov/2022 ] An aristocrat of the string world is united with one of its most exciting newcomers - this is the first joint album by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Pablo Ferrández. |
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GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
Pergolesi: Il Prigionier Superbo / La Serva Padrona (complete operas recorded 2009 & 2011) Antonio Lozano, Maria Rodrìguez Cusì, Marina de Liso, Alessandra Marianelli, Carlo Lepore / Accademia Barocca de I Virtuosi Italiani, Corrado Rovaris [ Arthaus DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Nov/2012 ] "Marianelli is a sharp-witted, pert-voiced Serpina...Lepore is a suitably blustery Uberto, the playing of Accademia Barocca is exemplary, with some particularly splendid trumpet playing" International Record Review |
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WILHELM STENHAMMAR
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Stenhammar: Piano Concerto No. 2 In D Minor / Serenade In F / Ballad Janos Solyom (piano) Ingvar Wixell (baritone) / Münchner Philharmoniker, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester, Stig Westerberg [ EMI Classics / CD - released 10/Aug/1994 ] Stenhammar the conductor and pianist was a leading figure in the musical life of Sweden and Scandinavia, but in his role as composer he struggled with self-doubt, feeling that his knowledge of musical theory was insufficient. |
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ANTHONY RITCHIE
Ritchie: Survivors Aquarius Choir, Marc Michael de Smet [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 5/Sep/2018 ] Moving a cappella settings of contemporary poems - music composed by Anthony Ritchie and performed by the superb Aquarius Choir of Belgium. |
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GRIEG / SIBELIUS / STENHAMMAR / ALFVEN / SJOBERG
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Diamonds in the Snow Barbara Bonney (soprano) Antonio Pappano (piano) [ Decca Records / CD - released 12/Oct/2000 ] Gramophone Magazine 2000 Winner - Vocal |
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RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci (Complete Opera with full libretto) Barbara Frittoli, Jose Cura, Carlos Alvarez, Simon Keenlyside / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / CD - released 10/Mar/2000 ] 'The recording is rich, spacious and brilliant with glorious orchestral playing, making one marvel at the beauty and subtlety of Leoncavallo's orchestration.' A Key Recording, from The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs. (I Pagliacci) |
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GEORGES BIZET
Georges Bizet Edition Barbara Hendricks, Montserrat Caballe, Maria Callas, Dietrich Discher-Dieskau, Nicolai Gedda, Jonas Kaufmann, Magdalena Kozena, Gautier Capucon, etc [ Warner Classics / 16 CD - released 23/May/2025 ] This collection celebrates the genius of one of France's greatest composers, featuring his most beautiful works performed by world-class artists such as Maria Callas, Barbara Hendricks, June Anderson, Magdalena Kožená, Jonas Kaufmann and Simon Rattle |
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ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 4-9 (The Mature Symphonies) (6-DVD Box Set) Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim [ Unitel Classics DVD / 6 DVD - released 8/Aug/2011 ] "This unforgettable Bruckner cycle sets new standards, and guarantees the Staatskapelle Berlin and their principal conductor "a place in the Bruckner pantheon." Der Tagesspiegel |
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BEETHOVEN / MOZART / SCHUBERT / HAYDN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cecilia Bartoli - Italian Songs Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo) Andreas Schiff (piano) [ Decca / CD - released 2/Feb/1992 ] "Haydn's dramatic scena, Arianna a Naxos, lively with Bartoli's quick response to every fleeting emotion, makes a formidable finale to this finely conceived and enthusiastically realised recital." ClassicalMusic |
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ELGAR, elaborated by ANTHONY PAYNE
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Elgar: Symphony No. 3 BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis [ NMC / CD ] Elgar died in 1934, leaving behind the sketches for a 4-movement symphony; the Elgar family's decision to commission Anthony Payne to realise the sketches has produced an astonishing work of truly Elgarian nobility. |
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PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / ROSSINI / BERNSTEIN / VERDI / BRUCKNER / etc
Antonio Pappano: Complete Symphonic, Concertante & Sacred Music Recordings Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano, with Beatrice Rana, Alexandre Tharaud (piano) Han-Na Chang (cello) Anna Netrebko [ Warner Classics / 27 CD Box Set - released 31/May/2024 ] The collaborative efforts, the mutual emulation and inspiration of Sir Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome have spanned 18 years, led to one of the world's greatest and most versatile virtuoso ensembles and to... |
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GILLIAN WHITEHEAD
Arapatiki Ben Hoadley (bassoon) Stephen de Pledge (piano) with Richard Nunns, Aroha Yates-Smith, Janet Roddick & others [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 10/Dec/2012 ] Smaller-scale Whitehead, all pieces based on a single artistic theme - and featuring solo bassoonist Ben Hoadley. |
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SCHUBERT / BRAHMS / REGER / WARLOCK / STRAUSS / WOLF
Benjamin Appl: Heimat Benjamin Appl (baritone), James Baillieu (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "The voice has a burnished, oaky beauty as well as considerable sweetness (well captured in Sony's natural engineering), while the interpretations are suffused with a gentle intelligence." Gramophone |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABEL: Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (with bonus disc Zander discussing conducting Mahler's 9th) Benjamin Zander / Philharmonia Orchestra [ Telarc Records / 3 CD - released 1/Sep/2001 ] "Zander has been rightly described as one of the most able communicators since Leonard Bernstein." - The Independent (London) |
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JOSEPH LANNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wiener Musik [Music of Vienna] Vol.1 Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Robert Stolz [ Eurodisc / CD - released 3/Dec/1988 ] Robert Stolz was operetta royalty, and his recordings with the Berliner Symphoniker and Wiener Symphoniker document the world of light orchestral music with unique authority. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1, 6 & 8 (recorded 2001) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Claudio Abbado [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] Recorded live at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, February 2001 |
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LIGETI / WAGNER / ELGAR / STRAVINSKY
Sir Simon Rattle & Sol Gabetta (Recorded live at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, 2014) Sol Gabetta (cello) / Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Simon Rattle [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 10/Apr/2017 ] "Rattle's presence can be heard, and felt, in virtually every bar of the score: the way he moulds phrases, nudges details to the fore, bends the line, holds tight to a salient accompanying detail (especially along the lower end of the spectrum) or re |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Strauss, (R.): Metamorphosen / Tod und Verklarung Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 20/Jun/1983 ] Herbert von Karajan is recognised as one of the greatest conductors of the last century and during his career he produced a vast discography of what are still considered some of the greatest recordings ever made. |
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GRANDOS / RODRIGO / NIN / GUASTAVINO / GINASTERA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Canciones amatorias Bernarda Fink (mezzo soprano) Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 23/Jun/2002 ] 'Enthusiasts for song recitals should certainly investigate this disc, which offers one beautiful song after the other, running the gamut from elegant art songs to simple, folk-like tunes' (Fanfare) |
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MOZART / GLUCK / BOITO / BELLINI / VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Boris Christoff - Italian Opera Arias Boris Christoff (bass) with various orchestras and accompanists [ EMI References / CD - released 2/Feb/1995 ] Bass Boris Christoff was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on 18 May 1914 of a Bulgarian father and a Russian mother. The family was very well to do and Boris received the best education available, including a period of study at the University of Sofia. |