ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Lieder (Songs) Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 12/Jun/2015 ] "Songs and performances are good company, each with an element of novelty" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine July 2004 |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Mass in A flat D.678 (with Mendelssohn - Psalm 42) Anna Korondi (soprano) Anke Vondung (mezzo-soprano) Andreas Karasiak (tenor) / RIAS-Kammerchor / Orchestre des Champs elysaes / Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Aug/2018 ] The Mass in A flat is one of the most lyrical that Schubert composed. It is also one of the most ambitious (Schubert noted at the top of his manuscript 'missa solemnis'), in terms of its instrumental forces, as well as the number and arrangement of... |
SCHUTZ
Italian Madrigals SWV 1 - 19 Cantus Colln / Konrad Junghanel (cond) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Cantus C011n has done Schutz proud yet again: let us hope that more will follow." (Gramophone) |
JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK
Sweelinck: Psalms & Magnificat Cappella Amsterdam, Daniel Reuss [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] Composer, organist, organ builder and teacher of international renown, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was known in his own time as the 'Orpheus of Amsterdam'. Among his significant contributions to Franco-Flemish polyphony, one finds both psalms in French... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Dir Kunst der Fuge Davitt Moroney (harpsichord) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] Davitt Moroney plays a harpsichord by John Phillips, 1980, after Ruckers, 1646, Blanchet, 1756 and Taskin,1780. |
VIVALDI
Cello Concertos Roel Dieltiens (cello) / Ensemble Explorations [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 3/Jun/2013 ] "One-to-a-part transparency and articulation can't overcome the stifling reverberation of a Belgian church. Dieltiens, forward of the strings, plays indulgently, but with heartfelt passion." (BBC Music) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Mass in C minor / Masonic Funeral Music in C minor Christiane Oelze, Jennifer Larmore, Scott Weir, Peter Kooy / La Chapelle Royale, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 12/Jun/2015 ] "The most gentle rendition of this work that I've ever heard…" (Fanfare) |
LASSUS / PALESTRINA / ASHEWELL
La Quinta Essentia Huelgas Ensemble / Paul Van Nevel (conductor) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Jan/2014 ] "Huelgas Ensemble here produce a really amazing range of sounds, full and rich and yet wonderfully translucent. There can be few better ways to introduce oneself to the music of Thomas Ashewell. Paul van Nevel and his singers mine his expressive... |
BELA BARTOK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bartok: Sonatas for solo violin / Sonatas for violin and piano Isabelle Faust (violin), Ewa Kupiec, Florent Boffard (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 20/May/2010 ] Gramophone Magazine Young Artist of the Year(1997) - "I would strongly urge you to purchase this superb disc, even if you already own recordings of both works." (Gramophone) |
KURTAG / KODALY / VERESS
Cello Sonatas Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) Alexandre Tharaud (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Altogether an intelligently laid-out disc, with interesting repertoire and magnificent playing and recording." BBC Music Magazine - March 2002 Performance***** Sound***** |
JOSEPH HAYDN / GEORG MATTHIAS MONN
Haydn/Monn: Cello Concertos Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) / Freiburger Barockorchester, Petra Müllejans [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 30/Jun/2014 ] "a sense of seemingly effortless bravura to [Queyras'] playing, as well as superb technical control and intelligence. an extremely attractive proposition." (International Record Review) |
ANONYMOUS
The Elfin Knight: Ballads & Dances from Renaissance England Joel Frederiksen (coloratura basso profondo) / Ensemble Phoenix Munich [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Aug/2018 ] "the lion's share of the singing goes to Frederiksen, whose rich, clear bass seems capable of an almost infinite degree of tonal shading. His diction is impeccable, as is his taste" International Record Review |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Choral Works (Lieder) Op. 41, 48, 59, 88, & 100 RIAS Kammerchor, Hans-Christoph Rademann [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Aug/2018 ] "This is first-class singing, captured in equally first-rate sound (from Berlin's Jesus-Christus-Kirche)-and if you want to fall in love with Mendelssohn's choral writing, this is where it will happen. Highly recommended!" 10/10 Classics Today |
TRADITIONAL
Stille Nacht - German Christmas Carols RIAS Kammerchor / Uwe Gronostay [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] "a very classy alternative to Carols from Kings." The Independent on Sunday |
POULENC
Poulenc: Figure Humaine/Motets RIAS Kammerchor / Marcus Creed [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 3/Jun/2013 ] |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Secular Choral Songs RIAS-Kammerchor / Marcus Creed (director) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] "These are wonderful performances--well-blended, secure in intonation, full of light and shade." - American Record Guide |
CASPAR KITTEL
Arias & Cantatas Schola Cantorum Basiliensis / Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2010 ] Caspar Kittel (1603-1639) was a German musician who trained in Italy and returned to work at the Dresden Court, deputizing for his colleague Heinrich Schütz when the latter spent a period in Denmark. |
J.C. BACH / BUXTEHUDE / ROVETTA / SCGUTZ/ ERIEBACH
German Baroque Cantatas Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor) / Concerto di Viole / Basel Consort [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] Editor's choice Gramophone - The Times (London) Classical CDs of the Year 1998 - "Expressively versatile though Scholl unquestionably can be, it is perhaps in the sphere of elegy and plaint that his art can be heard to strongest advantage...this is... |
PURCELL
Odes for the Feast Day of Saint Cecilia (Incl Hail! bright Cecilia) / Te Deum / Funeral for Queen Mary Susan Hamilton (soprano) Siri Thornhill (soprano) Robin Blaze (countertenor) Mark Padmore (tenor) / Collegium Vocale, Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 10/Jul/2014 ] "These are beautiful performances...invigoratingly sculpted by Herreweghe...Indeed, the new disc deserves the blessing of Cecilia herself." - Classical Insites |
BROSCHI / GALUPPI / GIACOMELI / HASSE / PORPORA
Arias for Farinelli Vivica Genaux (mezzo-soprano) / Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Rene Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] "While Vivica Genaux has all the virtupsity needed to negotiate the intricately embellished lines in these songs, she knows, too, how to use ornamentation for expressive effect. Strongly recommended." ***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Concerti Grossi Op. 6 Andrew Manze (violin / director) / Academy of Ancient Music [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 7/Jul/2017 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1700-1760) |
GABRIEL FAURE
Faure: Messe de Requiem Opus 48 / Messe des Pecheurs de Villerville Agnes Mellon, Peter Kooy, La Chapelle Royale, Ensemble Musique Oblique, Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 29/Sep/2008 ] 'Filled with refined sensibility, the performance expresses Fauré's personal concept of death 'as a happy deliverance, as aspiration towards the happiness of the hereafter.' - American Record Guide |
BOCCHERINI
Stabat Mater / Symphonies Agnas Mellon (soprano) / Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 20/May/2011 ] 'A quite exceptionally fine disc, which I firmly recommend to anyone with an interest in Boccherini.' (Gramophone) |
TELEMANN
Orchestral Suites Akadamie Fur Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 3/Jun/2013 ] "This set can hardly fail to entertain. That is first and foremost the merit of the composer who apparently had a sharp eye for his environment and the idiosyncrasies and weaknesses of human beings." (MusicWeb Aug 2013) |
JANACEK
Piano Works Alain Planes (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2010 ] "There is poetry aplenty, but he is not afraid of the music's dark heart." (BBC Music) |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: Piano Sonatas Alain Planès (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] "Planès is a lively and sensitive guide to these delightful works." - BBC Music Magazine |
CHOPIN
Preludes Op 28 / Mazurkas, Op 41 / etc Alain Planes (piano, 1906 Steinway) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] Perhaps the most ambiguous and enigmatic of all Chopin's works |
SCRIABIN
Piano Sonatas 2, 3 & 9 Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2014 ] "There is no better guide to Russia's most mysterious composer than this pianist...These Sonatas and exquisite trifles are played with poise and grace." (BBC Music Five Stars) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Etudes-Tableaux / etc Alexander Melnikov (piano), Elena Brilova (soprano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] "This stunning disc is finely recorded and makes you look forward to a further balance of songs and piano music from both these remarkable artists." Gramophone Magazine, April 2008 |
JOHN DOWLAND
Dowland: Lute Songs, Lute Solos Alfred Deller (counter-tenor) / Robert Spencer (lute) / The Consort of Six [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2012 ] Alfred Deller's Dowland has become part of our history. The most legendary of English countertenors distilled the very essence of the melancholy of the 17th century English song in general and of the composer of the Lachrimae in particular. |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Music For A While Alfred Deller (counter tenor), Wieland Kuijken (bass viol), William Christie (harpsichord) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] During the 1970s Alfred Deller recorded for Harmonia Mundi some fifty recordings as soloist, with the Consort or with chorus and orchestra Director of the Académie de Musique Anglaise. |
KRIEGER / HAMMERSCHMID / HAGEN / ALBERT / GORNER
German Baroque Songs (Lieder Baroques Allemands) Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor) with Markus Märkl, Karl Ernst Schröder & Alix Verzier [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2010 ] "Scholl's voice is a marvel: secure in pitch, its sustaining power projects a feeling of ease that eludes many countertenors, who often sound merely like men who have mastered falsetto. If anything, Scholl has a slightly feminine cast, exemplified in... |
HAYDN
Piano Concertos Andreas Staier (pianoforte), Freiburger Barockorchester [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] "If you like your Haydn decorated, this sparkling disc could prove ideal. Now comes a splendid period-instrument recording that reinvests these wonderfully inventive pieces with a real sense of novelty" (Gramophone) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Am Stein-vis-a-vis Andreas Staier, Christine Schornsheim (Stein-vis-a-vis) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] Nearly 80 years after the invention of the fortepiano, the harpsichord was by no means relegated to antique status. On the contrary, the two instruments cohabited throughout the 18th century, to the point where several makers strove to combine them... |
W. A. MOZART
Sonatas, Variations and a Fantasy Andreas Staier (pianoforte) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2012 ] Released for the first time in 2003 and 2005, this two-CD set combines two Mozart recordings in which Andreas Staier raises the questions of ornamentation and improvisation with a hefty dose of impishness in his interpretative options (as in 'his'... |
GIOVANNI ANTONIO PANDOLFI
Complete Violin Sonatas Andrew Manze (violin) Richard Egarr (keyboard) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] "Strongly recommended." - Gramophone Magazine Early Music Award (1999) |
BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op 123 Rosa Mannion (sop) Birgit Remmert (alto) James Taylor (tenor) Cornelius Hauptmann (bass) / La Chapelle Royale / Champs-Elysees / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2010 ] 'Philippe Herreweghe has the measure of this stubborn masterpiece...No-one has ever got it quite right - until now.' - Classic CD |
KRIEGER / HAMMERSCHMID / DEDEKIND / ALBERT / ERLEBACH / KINDERMANN
German Baroque Lieder Annette Dasch (soprano) / Members of Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Annette Dasch is a young German soprano who is picking off the formative stage-posts of professional opportunity with a special interest in period performance. This surprisingly esoteric debut disc of 17th century German song draws on this penchant... |
ANONYMOUS
La Bele Marie (Songs of the Virgin from 13th Century France) Anonymous 4 [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 12/Jun/2015 ] "Anonymous 4 cast a spell difficult to resist."-The Times, London |
LANDINI
The Second Circle Anonymous 4 [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Jan/2014 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (pre 1700) - "Anonymous 4 sing with their trademark celestial tone, their voices blending and intertwining like choirs of seraphim." - EARLY MUSIC AMERICA |