ARIEL RAMIREZ
Ramirez: Misa Criolla / Navidad en Verano / Navidad Nuestra José Carreras (tenor) / Coral Salvé de Laredo, Sociedad Coral de Bilbao, José Luis Ocejo, Damián Sanchez [ Philips / Decca / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] "Ramirez' Creole Mass is a daring fusion of Catholic liturgy and Latin American folk music. This particular performance is made even better by the presence of José Carreras as lead singer. Carreras seems to have a personal feeling for this music and... |
MAURICE RAVEL / HECTOR BERLIOZ
Ravel: Sheherazade / Berlioz: Les Nuits d'ete / with a recital of French songs (rec 1963) Regine Crespin (soprano) / Suisse Romande Orchestra / Ernest Ansermet [ Decca Originals / CD - released 20/Aug/2006 ] "Crespin is right inside these songs and ravel's magically sensuous music emerges with striking spontaneity. She is superbly supported by Ansermet who, aided by the Decca engineers, weaves a fine tonal web round the voice." (Penguin Guide Rosette) |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
The Vivaldi Album Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Decca / CD - released 25/Oct/1999 ] "Bartoli tackles her discoveries with infectious glee, enjoying too the beguiling instrumental palette of Il Giardino Armonico, whose pair of flageolets, duetting over muted violins and pizzicato violas and cellos, calm the torments of love" Gramopho |
ALLEGRI / PALESTRINA
Allegri: Miserere / Palestrina: Stabat Mater; Magnificat primi toni; etc The Choir of King's College, Cambridge / Sir David Willcocks [ Decca Legends / CD - released 1/Nov/2002 ] "The famous 1963 King's performance of Allegri's Miserere, with its equally arresting treble solo so beautifully and securely sung by Roy Goodman, is now reissued, impressively remastered in Decca's Legends series." *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo... |
MOZART / SCHUBERT / BEETHOVEN / WAGNER
Jonas Kaufmann Sings Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven & Wagner Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) / Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Claudio Abbado [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 11/Sep/2009 ] "His beautiful phrasing and controlled singing in the "Winterstürme" shows why he has become the most sought-after tenor of his generation, and is a highlight of this exciting new release." Gramophone Awards 2010 Finalist - Recital |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Late Quartets Opus 95, 127, 130-133, 135 Takacs Quartet [ Decca Records / 3 CD Box Set - released 12/Dec/2004 ] "Excellent recordings too: sonorous, and with well-judged sense of four-voices-in-one. It doesn't feel all risky to say that this is probably the finest modern set of these great quartets." (BBC) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: War Requiem (plus Rehearsal sequences bonus) (Rec 1963) Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) Peter Pears (tenor) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) / London Symphony & chorus, Benjamin Britten, with Simon Preston [ Decca Originals / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2006 ] 1001 Classical Recordings you must hear before you die (1951 - present). "This superb recording, definitive in so many ways, speaks to us as powerfully today as it ever did" (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month Sept 2006) |
GUSTAV HOLST
Holst: The Planets Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Charles Dutoit [ Decca Records / CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "an highly successful version, both rich and brilliant, and recorded with an opulence to outshine almost all rivals. *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo. |
MANUEL de FALLA
Falla: El sombrero de tres picos (The Three Cornered Hat) / El Amor Brujo / etc Teresa Berganza (soprano) Marina de Gabarin (mezzo-soprano) / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet [ Decca Legends / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] During the war, Falla wrote a pantomime ballet titled El Corregidor y la Molinera ('The Magistrate and the Miller's Wife') based on a novella by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, was at the 1917 premiere.... |