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TCHAIKOVSKY / SHOSTAKOVICH / SCHNITTKE
Russian Chamber Music Borodin Quartet [ Warner Classics / 8 CD - released 21/Aug/2020 ] Established in Moscow in 1945, and still performing today, the Borodin Quartet sustains a distinctive tradition in the interpretation of Russian chamber music. |
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BEETHOVEN
String Quartets [complete on 8 CDs] Borodin Quartet [ Chandos / 8 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2012 ] "Anyone who doesn't know these masterpieces should, and anyone who does will welcome this eight-disc set by the revered Borodin Quartet…" (Observer) |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphony No 10 / Passacaglia from 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons [ Deutsche Grammophon Shostakovich Under Stalin's Shadow / CD - released 12/Sep/2015 ] "Powerful and beautifully crafted, this recording - the first from the relationship between DG and the Boston Symphony under Nelsons - is a hugely impressive sign of just what this ensemble/maestro partnership may go on to achieve." Gramophone WINNER |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies; Concertos; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, with Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Yuja Wang (piano), Thomas Rolfs (trumpet), Baiba Skride (violin) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 19 CD Box Set - released 18/Jul/2025 ] The Boston Symphony Orchestra and their music director Andris Nelsons announce their upcoming album, on which they present their acclaimed Shostakovich symphony cycle to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer's death in 1975. . |
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ANONYMOUS
Carmina Burana - A Medieval Collection Catherine Bott, Andrew King. Michael George & others / New London Consort / Philip Pickett [ Decca Eloquence / 4 CD Box Set - released 5/Oct/2019 ] 'Highly committed, well prepared performances. Special, even exaggerated care has been taken with the expression of the words… It is vividly coloured, and certainly more entertaining than the blurred grey of scholarly caution' Early Music magazine |
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JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann [The Tales of Hoffmann] (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Bregenz Festival / Daniel Johansson, Kerstin Avemo, Mandy Fredrich, Rachel Frenkel, Michael Volle / Johannes Debus (cond) [ C Major BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Aug/2016 ] "Johansson's big-voice Hoffmann lacks a genuine pianissimo but phrases elegantly…Fredrich and Frenkel are nicely stylish…playing and choral singing are both excellent" (Gramophone) |
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CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS / SERGEI PROKOFIEV / BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals / Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Britten-Pears Orchestra, Marin Alsop (conductor & narrator) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] "I still find good recordings of children's music like this new one on Naxos quite special...this may be the ideal recording in many ways. I thoroughly recommend this totally enjoyable recording." MusicWeb |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Late String Quartets Brodsky Quartet [ Chandos / 3 CD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "There is no shortage of outstanding recordings of these summits of the quartet repertory... they certainly have their own distinctive virtues...Technically, these performances are immaculate" Guardian |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: String Quartets [complete] (recorded 2016) Brodsky Quartet [ Chandos / 6 CD Box Set - released 16/Oct/2016 ] This new box set with the Brodsky Quartet features Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets at a special price. |
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SHOSTAKOVICH
String Quartets [complete] Brodsky Quartet [ Teldec Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 27/Oct/2003 ] "If you do not presently own a version of these quartets, then the Brodsky would be a very good one as a first set." (Bargain of the Month MusicWeb January 2004) |
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Burton
Story Of British Classical [ Naxos Educational / 2 CD - released 28/Aug/2006 ] |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Late String Quartets (LP) Busch Quartet [ Warner Classics Vinyl / 3 LP - released 1/Jun/2020 ] "Anyone can take a few bars at random and find playing which is a model of style and full of insight … When you listen to the Busch, they always seem for the moment to have found the true and only path." The Gramophone |
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TRADITIONAL
The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album The Cambridge Singers with Stephen Varcoe (baritone); The City of London Sinfonia; directed by John Rutter [ Collegium / CD - released 20/Nov/2003 ] "Rutter has become the musical equivalent of Dickens, synonymous with the season of Christmas." Guardian |
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CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Selva morale e spirituale (complete) Cantus Calln / Junghanel [ Harmonia Mundi Heritage / 3 CD - released 20/Aug/2015 ] Gramophone Award Winner 2002: Baroque vocal - "This set is a remarkable achievement. Anybody at all interested in Monteverdi's music will want to own it." |
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GEOFFREY BUSH
A Christmas Cantata Cardiff Polyphonic Choir and Orchestra [ Saydisc / CD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] The highly regarded Cardiff Polyphonic Choir and Orchestra perform the first commercial recording of Geoffrey Bush's beautiful work "A Christmas Cantata". This popular work features well-known carols in a setting for choir with string orchestra and... |
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THOMAS TALLIS
Tallis: Gaude gloriosa The Cardinall's Musick / Andrew Carwood (director) [ Hyperion / CD - released 10/Aug/2005 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER - Early Music GOLDBERG MAGAZINE 50 DISCS OF THE DECADE |
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WILLIAM BYRD
Byrd Edition Vol 10: Laudibus in sanctis The Cardinall's Musick / Andrew Carwood [ Hyperion / CD - released 23/Nov/2006 ] 'If, according to Burney, the Mannheim orchestra of 1772 was 'an army of Generals', the Cardinall's Musick of 2006 is surely 'an exaltation of larks'... Performances of exquisite perfection' (International Record Review) |
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LUDWIG MINKUS
Minkus: La Bayadère (complete ballet recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY The Royal Ballet / Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov, Natalia Osipova / Boris Gruzin (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 21/Feb/2020 ] "A very enjoyable release with a great deal to offer even if you already own another version." MusicWeb April 2020 |
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PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / DELIBES / ADAM / TALBOT / etc
The Royal Ballet - The Collection Carlos Acosta, Tamara Rojo, Edward Watson, Mara Galeazzi, Alina Cojocaru, Marianela Nunez, Darcey Bussell, Wayne McGregor [ Opus Arte Royal Opera House Collection DVD / 15 DVD Box Set - released 10/Nov/2016 ] Celebrating 60 years since the Royal Ballet was awarded its Royal Charter, this magnificent 15-disc collection brings together 22 ballets spanning a decade of dance. |