The Hurt Locker (Blu-ray)
[ Roadshow Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/Jul/2010 ] Iraq. Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy, and every object could be a deadly bomb. |
The Railway Man (Blu-ray)
[ DreamWorks Home Entertainment Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 28/May/2014 ] Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Stellan Skarsgard star in The Railway Man, a war drama adapted from Eric Lomax's memoirs about his experiences in a POW camp. |
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Blu-ray)
[ 20th Century Fox Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 22/Jul/2015 ] Check in again for more love and laughter as new arrival Richard Gere joins an all-star ensemble cast - including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Dev Patel. Returning for this heartwarming sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel! |
Water for Elephants (Blu-ray)
[ 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 12/Oct/2011 ] A veterinary student abandons his studies after his parents are killed, and joins a traveling circus as their vet. |
JOHN KANDER / FRED EBB
Kander/Ebb: Chicago: The Musical Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton / 1997 Broadway Cast [ RCA Records / CD - released 28/Jan/1997 ] CHICAGO: THE MUSICAL won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show. |
CHARLES GOUNOD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gounod: Symphonies 1 & 2, Faust Ballet Music Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conducted by Sir Neville Marriner [ Philips / CD - released 1/Dec/1998 ] Recorded: 1997 Recording Venue: Henry Wood Hall, London |
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 |
Al Bowlly, Jack Buchanan, Carroll Gibbons, Lew Stone, Jack Payne, Ambrose & his Orchestra, etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Pennies From Heaven [2 CD set] 48 Original Recordings featured in the BBC TV series [ Australian Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Jul/2014 ] Turn back the hands of time with this wonderful new double album of your favourite originals. 48 timeless pieces all featured on the soundtrack to the popular BBC television series. |
BACH / CHOPIN / DEBUSSY / PROKOFIEV / STRAVINSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Alexis Weissenberg Alexis Weissenberg (piano) [ EMI / BMG / Philips / Sony / Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2000 ] In 1947, Weissenberg made his New York City debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and George Szell in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 and with Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy, with which Weissenberg won the Leventritt... |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus / Salve Regina / etc Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor) / Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer [ ABC Classics / CD - released 9/Jun/2000 ] "Yet another superb disc from the honey-toned countertenor Andreas Scholl, partnered here by a fine baroque ensemble from Australia. Voluptuously packaged" Recording of the Month - Gramophone Magazine (October 2000 |
VERDI / BELLINI / MASSENET / PUCCINI / DONIZETTI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Angela Gheorghiu - Arias Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) / Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino, John Mauceri [ Decca / CD - released 8/Aug/1996 ] "Gheorghiu displays her Verdian skills, her formidable technique and expressive power pushed to their limits but ultimately convincing." BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ***** |
MASCAGNI / MASSENET / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Duets & Arias Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) Roberto Alagna (tenor) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Richard Armstrong [ EMI Music / CD - released 1/Dec/2000 ] An ideal gift - a delightful collection of opera duets |
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) |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Offenbach: Arias and Scenes Anne Sophie von Otter (soprano) / Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 15/Oct/2002 ] Recording of the Month: Gramophone Magazine (March 2003) GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2003 - recital |
CHOPIN / GRIEG / TCHAIKOVSKY / SCHUMANN / SAINT-SAENS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Artur Rubinstein II Artur Rubinstein (piano) / RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Symphony of the Air [ Philips / RCA / 2 CD - released 9/Oct/2006 ] Few soloists have owned composers as definitively as Artur Rubinstein could claim |
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) |
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 |
FRANZ LISZT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Liszt: Dante Symphony / Dante Sonata Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor) [ Teldec / CD - released 1/Jun/1994 ] Recording location: Schauspielhaus Berlin, Live Recording February 1992 [Symphony], Neues Schloß Bayreuth, July 1989/August 1993 |
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 |
IRVING BERLIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Berlin: Annie Get Your Gun Bernadette Peters & Tom Wopat / 1998 New Broadway Cast [ EMI Angel Broadway / CD - released 1/Aug/1999 ] "Bernadette Peters may be thirty years too old to play Annie Oakley but you wouldn't know it on this CD. She is in peak vocal condition, making the most of every lyric." Musicals101 |
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) |
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. |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS / CLAUDE DEBUSSY / JACQUES IBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: A Hi-Fi Spectacular Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch [ RCA Victor Living Stereo / CD - released 6/Dec/1993 ] "..the real value of this disc lies in the Debussy. This has to be one of the most sensitive of all La mers, fluent and fluid with a real francophile feel to the dancing rhythms - this is a real Frenchman's response to the sea" MusicWeb |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Britten: Serenade / Our Hunting Fathers Ian Bostridge (tenor) with Marie Luise Neunecker (horn) / Britten Sinfonia, Daniel Harding [ EMI Classics / CD - released 22/Apr/2013 ] Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. |
GEORGE LLOYD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Lloyd: A Symphonic Mass Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Brighton Festival Chorus, George Lloyd [ Albany / CD - released 2/Feb/1993 ] "And finally, another important choral work from this century, perhaps George Lloyd's best work yet: varied in color, elegiac and triumphant, introspective, and celebratory all at the same time" Fanfare |
SIR MICHAEL TIPPETT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tippett: String Quartets Nos. 1 - 4 (recorded in 1990) The Britten Quartet [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] In his String Quartets, the most challenging and complicated musical form,Tippett draws inspiration from the late quartetsof Beethoven, particularly in hisfugal writing, and the intricate and complex textures of the 4 voices. |
PAUL GILSON / AUGUST de BOECK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: De Boeck: Symphony In G / Gilson: De Zee BRTN Philharmonic Orchestra Brussels, Karl-Anton Rickenbacher [ Discover / CD - released 10/Feb/1993 ] "It's not easy to find Paul Gilson's music. However, the search is worth it. His music is terrific in its color, rhythms and tonal beauty." Review |
BRITTEN / STANFORD / QUILTER / VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / WARLOCK / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Silent Noon - English Songs Bryn Terfel (bass-Baritone) Malcolm Martineau (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD ] "The singer's dynamic range is quite superb. He can float his voice delicately and effortlessly like a seagull on a thermal as in Gurney's Sleep and Parry's Love is a bable. Where necessary he can build up with an organic power akin to a volcano... |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Arias from Der Fliegende Hollander / Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg / etc Bryn Terfel (baritone) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 6/Apr/2002 ] "This disc is only of extracts, but already it is clear that Terfel is going to be an outstanding Wagnerian bass-baritone of his generation, His tone colour is rich and full in the nest tradition, his declamation vivid and lively." Five Stars BBC |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Opera and Oratorio Arias (Judas Maccabaeus, Dettingen Te Deum, Serse +) Bryn Terfel (baritone) / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 19/Jun/2000 ] "The singing here incorporates a good deal of embellishment, some of it of Sir Charles Mackerras's devising. He is an excellent conductor for Terfel, sharing with him an appreciation of the zest in Handel." Gramophone |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Under The Stars: Music from the shows Bryn Terfel (bass) Renee Fleming (soprano) with the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera conducted by Paul Gemignani [ Decca Records / CD - released 24/Mar/2003 ] Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel are two of the world's most popular classical stars. Their first CD together is Under The Stars, a feast of great songs from recent musical theatre. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bryn Terfel - Simple Gifts (Incl 'I'll walk beside you' & 'How great thou art') Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone) with Aled Jones (tenor) and John Williams (guitar) / London Voices / London Symphony Orchestra / Barry Wordsworth [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 18/Oct/2005 ] As one of the most acclaimed opera singers of our time, Bryn Terfel dedicates his golden voice to a program that celebrates the simple beauty of melody and song, making the album a must-have for every Terfel fan and a serene and inspiring gift for... |
BACH / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / CHOPIN / LISZT / SCHUBERT / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Byron Janis I Byron Janis (piano) [ Philips / BMG / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2000 ] "This is a fine installment of this important collection of 20th-century pianists." Arkivmusic |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza Joseph Calleja (tenor) / BBC Concert Orchestra, Steven Mercurio [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 23/Aug/2012 ] "It's an unashamedly populist collection, Calleja rolling the Rs of "Granada" and "Arrivederci, Roma" with obvious relish in arrangements replete with castanets and trilling mandolins." (The Independent) |
HOWARD HANSON
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Hanson: Symphonies Nos 3 & 6 / Fantasy variations on a theme of Youth Carol Rosenberger (piano) / Seattle Symphony Orchestra, New York Chamber Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz [ DELOS / CD - released 11/Oct/1990 ] Hanson created another reflective tribute to a previous generation in his 1951 Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Youth. The work, written for piano and string orchestra, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the founding of Northwestern University,... |
ALESSANDRO STRADELLA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Stradella: San Giovanni Battista (Oratorio in two parts) Catherine Bott, Christine Batty, Gerard Lesne / Les musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski [ Erato / CD - released 1/May/1992 ] Penguin Stereo Guide Rosette Recording |
AGOSTINO STEFFANI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Steffani: Mission (Deluxe Hardcover Edition) Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / I Barocchisti, Diego Fasolis, with Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor) [ Decca Classics / CD/Book - released 4/Oct/2012 ] "Bartoli leaps around the vocal ladder with customary gusto and a rather too vigorous vibrato. The pleasures are subtler when the music is simpler and the voice quieter" (The Times) |
ROSSINI / SCHUBERT / MOZART & OTHERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cecilia Bartoli - A Portrait Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo) [ Decca DVD / DVD - released 19/Apr/2014 ] The original documentary film on the early life of Cecilia Bartoli as well as a concert recording at the Savoy Hotel. Other performers featured include Lesley Schatzberger (basset clarinet), András Schiff (piano), and, Charles Spencer (piano) |