|
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 / Symphony No 9 Peter Jablonski (piano) Cristina Ortiz (piano) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "this kind of plain-spoken Shostakovich could make a good benchmark library choice" (Gramophone on the symphony) |
|
SCHUMANN / BEETHOVEN / MOZART / MUSSORGSKY / BRAHMS / etc
Piano Encores (Incls Liebestraum No 3 & Rondo 'Alla Turca') Martha Argerich, Alexis Weissenberg, Emil Gilels, Christoph Eschenbach, Wilhelm Kempff, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] An inexpensive introduction to the world's most favourite piano pieces. |
|
RALF VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Symphony No. 5 in D major / Fantasia on Greensleeves Iona Brown (violin) / Academy Of St Martin In The Fields, Neville Marriner / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Roger Norrington [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] A delightful disc from Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, neatly encompassing four of Vaughan Williams' most enduringly popular orchestral works. |
|
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto / Sérénade mélancolique / Valse-Scherzo Joshua Bell (violin) Midori (violin) / The Cleveland Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 23/Apr/2012 ] "Bell's is a masterly performance full of flair, Ashkenazy's contribution adds considerably to the performance." Gramophone |
|
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi Opera Choruses (Incls 'Anvil Chorus' & Grand March from Aida) Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 30/Aug/2014 ] |
|
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Opera Arias Renée Fleming, José Carreras, Domenico Trimarchi, Montserrat Caballé, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, etc [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 23/Apr/2012 ] Spend a lovely time revelling in the wealth of magnificent Puccini recordings. |
|
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Gloria / Stabat Mater / Organ Concert Peter Hurford (organ) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National De France, Charles Dutoit [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "Powerful performance, especially of the Organ Concerto. Vivid recording, fine contributions from the Radio France Choir, and muscular conducting from Charles Dutoit." (BBC Music) |
|
HENRYK GORECKI
Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" Joanna kozlowska (soprano) / Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazimierz Kord [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] Gorecki's third symphony caused a sensation in 1992 when it became a worldwide commercial and critical success, selling more than a million copies. |
|
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Liebesträume & other works Jorge Bolet (piano) [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 1/Dec/2014 ] "Bolet's Liszt is renowned for its aristocratic refinement: rather than youthful flashy fingers, we get masterful lyrical poise. The Cuban-American's Die Forelle remains unchanging." (BBC Music) |
|
J. S. BACH
Bach: Cello Suites 1 - 6 Lynn Harrell (cello) [ Decca Virtuoso / 2 CD - released 25/Jul/2016 ] ''so quietly confidential that he seems only to be allowing us to eavesdrop on his private musings'' (Gramophone) |
|
TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No 5 / Serenade for Strings Philharmonia Orchestra, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] |
|
VIRTUOSO VIOLIN
Virtuoso Violin (Paganini, Wieniawski, Elgar, Sarasate, Hubay, Suk) Ruggiero Ricci (violin) Louis Persinger (piano) Ernest Lush (piano) [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 15/Dec/2000 ] A 2-CD set (3LPs) which formed some of Ruggiero Ricci's earliest Decca recordings. |
|
SAINT-SAENS / SIBELIUS / SARASATE / KHACHATURIAN / TCHAIKOVSKY
Virtuoso Violin Concertos Ruggiero Ricci (violin) with various orchestras and conductors [ SBS Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2010 ] Ruggiero Ricci is in his element in these virtuoso concertos and showpieces. All the recordings were made in a five-year period from 1956 (Khachaturian) to 1961 (Tchaikovsky). |
|
RACHMANINOV
Vespers - All Night Vigil, Op.37 St Petersburg Chamber Choir [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 22/Jan/2015 ] ''The choir itself is excellent, with particularly fine sopranos who can chant high above the others in beautifully pitched thirds; while there is, as ever in Russian church choirs, a splendid bass section that can underpin the textures with... |
|
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture / Francesca da Rimini / Capriccio italien / Romeo & Juliet St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, with St.Petersburg Chamber Choir [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] 1812 - Romeo and Juliet - and more! |
|
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No 4 Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano), Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic], Claudio Abbado [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "this has a gleaming Vienna Philharmonic and a most touching soloist in von Stade" (Five Stars BBC Music) |
|
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos 8 "Pathétique", 14 "Moonlight" & 23 "Appassionata" Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] "All too rarely does one come across a record of popular, titled Beethoven sonatas which is as musically aware and as musically responsible as this" (Gramophone) |
|
J. S. BACH
Bach: Goldberg Variations Andrei Gavrilov (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] "Gavrilov's actual performance demonstrates, intermittently, that virtuosity and warmth of feeling are cause for celebration rather than apology. He can also be temperate and finely controlled." (Gramophone) |
|
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites: Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic provide performances of "utmost polish and sophistication" in a recording that ..."can be recommended without reservation." (Gramophone) |
|
TCHAIKOVSKY
The Nutcracker [complete ballet] / Entr'acte & Waltz and Polonaise (from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Semyon Bychkov [ Decca Virtuoso / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] |
|
DUPRÉ / SAINT-SAËNS / CHARPENTIER / VIERNE
French Virtuoso Organ Music Gillian Weir, at the Hradetzky organ in The Royal Northern College of Music [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] "it is great to have this exciting, technically demanding and imaginative recording in my library once again." MusicWeb |
|
BEETHOVEN / BERLIOZ / SOUSA / STRAUSS / FUCIK / VERDI / etc
Famous Marches Philip Jones Ensemble, Elgar Howarth / Chicago Symphony, Georg Solti / The Band Of The Grenadier Guards, Rodney Bashford / Vienna Philharmonic, Willi [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] From 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' to 'Entry Of The Gladiators' here is a feast to get those marching toes tapping! |
|
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Discover Beethoven Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano), Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Ingrid Haebler (piano), Henryk Szeryng (violin), Bernard Greenhouse (cello), Menahem Pressler (p [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 12/Dec/2019 ] Beethoven was a visionary genius whose trailblazing symphonies, sonatas and concertos paved the way for the Romantic era. |
|
BARTOK / STRAVINSKY / SAINT-SAENS / TCHAIKOVSKY / KODALY / etc
Virtuoso Violin Wolfgang Schneiderhan (violin) & Albert Hirsh (piano) / Tibor Bisztriczky (violin) & Felix Schröder (piano) [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] A violinist who straddled the divide between the old ways and the new was the Viennese virtuoso Wolfgang Eduard Schneiderhan. He was born on 28 May 1915 and beginning violin lessons at five, he polished his technique under Sevcík and Winkler. From... |