BENJAMIN BRITTEN / RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
A Boy was Born Choir of King's College, Cambridge. London Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Cleobury. [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 1/Nov/2019 ] 'For multitudes of listeners… these performances… have become the representative interpretations… reproduced here in vibrant if occasionally saturated sonics.' Classics Today (Britten) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Rarities (incls 'Voices for Today' & 'Bottom's Dream') Choir of King's College / John Hahessy (boy alto) / Peter Pears (tenor) / Pamela Bowden (contralto) / Sir Geraint Evans (baritone) [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Jan/2013 ] "Britten's underrated United Nations anthem Voices for Today makes it onto disc at last, together with vintage recordings of artists the composer chose to work with." (BBC Music) |
PARRY / BAIRSTOW / ELGAR / STANFORD / HADLEY
Jerusalem - British Choral Classics Choir of Winchester Cathedral, Waynflete Singers, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. David Hill [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 12/May/2005 ] "In all, this is a nice representation some of the core repertoire of the Anglican Church; but again, these ears would have appreciated much more variety, and dare I say it, mature female voices, especially given the big orchestrations." (MusicWeb... |
RUSSIAN FOLK SONGS
Russian Folk Songs: Songs with orchestra & songs with choir Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone) / Ossipov Russian Folk Orchestra / St.Petersburg Chamber Choir [ ABC Australin Philips Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] This double CD set returns two popular CDs to the catalogue - Hvorostovsky performing songs with orchestra and with choir. Winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World, he has gone on to give great performances in operas by Verdi and is unequalled in... |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Anthems Inia Te Wiata, Robert Tear, Charles Brett, Paul Esswood / Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, George Guest [ Decca Australian SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] "Vibrant readings of some of Purcell's best loved choral works unalloyed by 'authentic' prissiness" (Gramophone) |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Messiah (complete oratorio recorded in 1954) (with Bach: Magnificat) Jennifer Vyvyan, Norma Procter, George Maran, Owen Brannigan, London Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 3 CD Box Set - released 27/Sep/2019 ] "Beautifully engineered sound. Balance is exceptional … excellent singing … really fine choral discipline" High Fidelity (Handel) |
TRADITIONAL
Kenneth Mckellar's Book of Hymns Kenneth McKellar (tenor) & John Turner (organ) / Choir of Paisley Abbey, George McPhee [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Released by popular demand, this collection brings together 21 favourite hymns and sacred songs sung by that most beloved of tenors, Kenneth McKellar |
ANDREA & GIOVANNI GABRIELI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Glory of Venice King's College Choir, Cambridge, Stepen Cleobury / Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Philip Jones [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] With Charles Brett (countertenor), Ian Caddy (bass), Thomas Elias (treble), Richard Farnes (organ), Peter Hall (tenor), William Kendall (tenor), Stephen Layton (organ), John Scott (organ) |
BYRD / CAUSTUN / PURCELL / ALLEGRI
Evensong for Ash Wednesday Ray Goodman (treble) / King's College Choir, Cambridge, Sir David Willcocks [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 11/Sep/2011 ] Roy Goodman's recording of the Allegri Miserere (in David Willcocks's edition, sung in English) was its first, made in March 1963. Although reissued countless times, the complete Argo recording from which it emanates - Evensong for Ash Wednesday -... |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / WILLIAM WALTON
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: British Choral Masterpieces Timothy Byram-Wigfield (organ) Choir of Winchester Cathedral, Waynflete Singers / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. David Hill [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 20/May/2003 ] Superbly recorded, "massive" performances (in the main) of music for choir and orchestra by Vaughan Williams and Walton. The thrilling music here - Old hundredth psalm, Coronation Te Deum and Orb and sceptre - contrast well with the more intimate... |
HERBERT HOWELLS
Howells: Collegium Regale / St Paul's Service (with works by Vaughan Williams) Choir of King's College, Cambridge. Sir David Willcocks [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] Issued following several requests is Sir David Willcocks complete 1966 LP of Howells choral music originally issued on Argo makes its first appearance on CD. Howells contributes his own notes (reprinted from the original LP) in which he outlines the... |
GIBBONS / BYRD / PARRY / PURCELL / etc
Evensong of the Feast of the Translation of Saint Edwards Choir of Westminster Abbey, Simon Preston & William McKinney [ Decca Australian SBS Eloquence / CD - released 20/Jul/2014 ] "Simon Preston's rendering of Widor's organ toccata is brilliant." BBC Music "The recording captures a wide range of tone … An enjoyable record, reaching a very high standard" (Gramophone) |
TRADITIONAL
Christmas at Westminster Abbey Choir of Westminster Abbey, Simon Preston, with Christopher Herrick, organ [ Deutsche Grammophon Eloquence / CD - released 10/Dec/2017 ] "The Choir of Westminster Abbey is on its toes in a lively mixture of old and new, familiar and less so." Gramophone |
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / HOWELLS / WARLOCK / IRELAND / FINZI / etc
Christmas Fantasy Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, David Hill [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] |
NICOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (with Borodin: Polovtsian Dances) Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum [ Philips Australian Eloquence / CD - released 10/Feb/2019 ] "The orchestral playing in this issue of these vivid dances is positively brilliant - the whirling introductory dance is quite breathtaking" Gramophone |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Five Flower Songs & other choral works Elizabethan Singers / London Symphony Chorus / Westminster Cathedral Choir [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Jan/2013 ] "First CD releases of classic accounts of Britten part songs from Louis Halsey's Elizabethan Singers, plus a searing live recording of the Missa Brevis from 1960" (BBC Music) |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Motets & Psalms Gillian Weir (organ) with Felicity Palmer (soprano) / Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Stephen Cleobury [ Decca Australian SBS Eloquence / CD - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Mendelssohn's 'Hear my prayer' (or, in its English adaptation also known as 'O for the wings of a dove') is a much loved piece of 'Victoriana', made famous by, among others, Master Ernest Lough. Often sung by boy sopranos, it is here performed by... |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 Helen Watts (mezzo-soprano) Wandsworth School Boys Choir & Ambrosian Opera Chorus / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ ABC Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Jul/2017 ] "As a combination of top-class recording, orchestral playing and conducting, this is one of the finest recordings I have ever listened to." Gramophone on No 1 |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Elijah, Op. 70 (complete oratorio recorded in 1954) Jacqueline Delman, Norma Procter, George Maran / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir & Hampstead Parish Church Boys' Choir, Josef Krips [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "Boyce sings the part with studied beauty, as indeed do all the other soloists, and the chorus is in excellent form. Josef Krips sets them some rapid tempi here and there, but the result is lively and interesting … plenty of orchestral detail even in... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great' (with Beethoven - Symphony No 4) [recorded 1953-54] Jacqueline Delman, Norma Procter, George Maran / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir & Hampstead Parish Church Boys' Choir, Josef Krips [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "The excellence of the performance is matched by that of the recording; it manages to be very clean and forward. An unreservedly good recording of this piece" (Gramophone on the Schubert) |