ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorák: Requiem / Biblical Songs / Te Deum Ailyn Pérez, Christianne Stotijn, Michael Spyres, Jan Martínik / Prague Philharmonic Choir, Jirí Belohlávek [ Decca / 2 CD - released 20/Mar/2020 ] This release concludes the series of Jiří Bělohlávek's last recordings of Czech masterworks for Decca Classics before he sadly passed away in 2017 |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Flute Concertos / Symphonies Nos 25, 29, 32, 39 & 40 Hubert Barwahser (flute) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Feb/2020 ] 'The performances are consistently polished and elegant Barwahsers phrasing is unfailingly beautiful' Penguin Guide, 1982 (Flute Concertos) |
André Rieu
Shall We Dance? The Maastricht Concert 2019 [ Universal DVD / DVD - released 27/Mar/2020 ] André Rieu's spectacular 2019 Maastricht Open Air Concert DVD features 28 all-time-favourite songs, his famous Johann Strauss Orchestra & Choir, International Soloists, the Platin Tenors and 300 Dancers. |
ANTON BRUCKNER
Hans Knappertsbusch: The Decca & Westminster Bruckner Recordings Wiener Philharmoniker, Münchener Philharmoniker [No 8], Hans Knappertsbusch [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 4 CD Box Set - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "The consensus as I understand it among those convinced of Kna's wizardry in this music is that we just have to let go of any regrets and enjoy what we have...I am soon under his spell and swept along by his mastery." MusicWeb |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tannhauser (complete opera recorded live in 2019) Bayreuth Festival / Stephen Gould, Lise Davidsen, Elena Zhidkova, Markus Eiche / Valery Gergiev (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/May/2020 ] "In his Bayreuth debut, Valery Gergiev conducts with such verve that at multiple turns it was like hearing the score anew." Limelight |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Serenade / Ballet Music [Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty] Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] Swan Lake was among the Concertgebouw Orchestra's first stereo recordings for Decca. Sessions were taped in February 1961 and the performances and sound engineering are still as vivid as ever - in fact, quite overwhelming. |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 / Violin Concerto Ruggiero Ricci (violin) / Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, Erich Kleiber / New Symphony Orchestra of London, M. Sargent [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] Despite being recorded under 78rpm conditions, in four- or five-minute sections, the Fourth Symphony is marked by a palpable symphonic rigour as well as the edgy brass which lends such intensity to Decca's Paris recordings of Russian music. |
KATY ABBOTT
The Peasant Prince: A Symphonic Tale Cunxin Li (Narrator) / Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Banjamin Northey [ ABC Classics / CD - released 13/Mar/2020 ] The Peasant Prince tells the inspiring story of Li Cunxin, better known as 'Mao's Last Dancer': his childhood and his journey to become one of the world's greatest ballet dancers. |
JOSEPH TAWADROS
Tawadros: Concerto for Oud Joseph Tawadros (oud) / Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey [ ABC Classics / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] Oud virtuoso and composer Joseph Tawadros performs with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductor Benjamin Northey. Recorded live in concert, this album includes the world premiere of Tawadros' Concerto for Oud and Orchestra. |
LEONARDO VINCI
Vinci: Veni, Vidi, Vinci Franco Fagioli (countertenor), Il Pomo d'Oro, Zefira Valova [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 15/May/2020 ] Following up his 'fantastic' (Süddeutsche Zeitung) Handel recital, Franco Fagioli lavishes his 'extraordinary agility and richly upholstered voice' (Gramophone) on Leonardo Vinci, the Neapolitan composer who influenced Handel and many later masters. |
OFFENBACH / BIZET / VERDI / PUCCINI / MOZART / etc
Opera auf Deutsch Fritz Wunderlich, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Ernst Haefliger, Irmgard Seefried, Rita Streich, Sándor Kónya, Ingeborg Hallstein, + [ Deutsche Grammophon / 15 CD Box Set - released 22/Mar/2020 ] This collection is a real treasure trove for opera lovers and tells the astonishing story of an era when all the many municipal opera houses in the German-speaking world performed the standard opera repertoire in the local language only. |
R. STRAUSS / BRAHMS / SCHUBERT / MOZART / HAYDN / WAGNER / etc
The Gundula Janowitz Edition: A Voice of Silver & Gold Gundula Janowitz (soprano) / with Irwin Gage (piano), James King (tenor), Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon / 14 CD Box Set - released 6/Mar/2020 ] This box set celebrates the beloved Gundula Janowitz's clear and honest soprano voice through a selection of her opera, oratorio and Lieder recordings. |
LOUIS LEWANDOWSKI
Lewandowski: 18 Liturgical Psalms Hungarian Radio Choir, Andor Izsák [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] This first complete recording of his 1879 masterwork is conducted by Andor Izsák, who encountered the historic psalm-singing tradition in his youth as organist at Budapest's Great Synagogue in the Dohány-utca. |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Vespro Della Beata Vergine, SV 206 [special edition with DVD] Ann Monoyios, Marinella Pennicchi, Michael Chance, Mark Tucker, Bryn Terfel, Alastair Miles / English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner [ Deutsche Grammophon / Archiv CDs plus DVD / 3 CD/DVD - released 15/May/2020 ] "An atmospheric and distinctive performance beautifully accommodated to its deluxe setting … a gloriously public Vespers, and thoroughly Venetian for that." Gramophone |
Katie Noonan
Sweetest Taboo [ ABC / CD - released 1/May/2020 ] Katie Noonan's 20th studio album sees her revisit the songs that made her fall in love with music. From the first album she ever bought (Crowded House) to her female icons (Annie Lennox, Cyndi Lauper). |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic: Complete Decca Recordings Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta [ Decca / 38 CD Box Set - released 29/May/2020 ] This 38-CD collection provides proof of just how catholic Mehta's tastes were. The foundation of his music making continues to lie in the central European masterworks and he has never lost sight of that tradition. |
Nina Simone
Fodder On My Wings [ Verve / CD - released 3/Apr/2020 ] Recorded in 1982, not long after she moved to Paris, Fodder On My Wings was one of Nina Simone's favourite albums yet has remained one of her most obscure. Over the years, the album has been re-evaluated and has received its due as a significant work... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Symphonies Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg [ Deutsche Grammophon / 5 CD Box Set - released 15/May/2020 ] In 1952, William Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarked on a Beethoven symphony cycle which utilized the new and sonically advantageous process of recording on 35mm film. |
DAVY / LAMBE / CORNYSH / DUNSTABLE / des PRES / etc
The Eton Songbook Purcell Consort of Voices, Elizabethan Consort of Viols, Grayston Burgess [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 14/Feb/2020 ] The first substantial survey of the Eton Choirbooks treasures on record, newly remastered, compiled and reissued on CD for the first time. Copied out between 1490 and 1502, the Eton Choirbook is the most substantial extant source of English... |
BRIAN & ROGER ENO
Mixing Colours Roger Eno & Brian Eno [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 20/Mar/2020 ] In their first collaboration, Brian and Roger Eno present an anthology of sonic inspiration. Mixing Colours invites listeners into a prismatic world of calm and contemplation. |