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CHARLES-VALENTIN ALKAN
Alkan Edition [Piano, Organ & Chamber Music] Costantino Mastroprimiano, Mark Viner, Laurent Martin, Alan Weiss, Alessandro Deljavan, Costantino Mastroprimiano (pianos) / Trio Alkan, Kevin Bowyer [ Brilliant Classics / 13 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2018 ] "Two major pluses are the excellent contextual essay and the budget price. It's a steal." BBC Music |
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FRANCO CAVALLONE
Cavallone: Music For Guitar Cristiano Porqueddu (guitar) [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2021 ] Franco Cavallone (1957) is one of today's most prolific and successful composers for the guitar. He himself studied the guitar with Bruno Mattioli, a pupil of Alirio Diaz, Leo Brouwer and Angelo Gilardino. He won several international competitions,... |
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DIMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1 (Nos. 1-5) Cuarteto Casals [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2024 ] After being subjected to public attacks by the Soviet regime in the mid-1930s, Shostakovich sought new avenues of self-expression by turning to chamber music, and the string quartet became for him the perfect medium for private confession. To launch... |
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ANDRE PARFENOV
Parfenov: Bandoneon-Story Iuliana Münch, André Parfenov, Omar Massa [ Naxos / CD - released 6/Dec/2024 ] After being subjected to public attacks by the Soviet regime in the mid-1930s, Shostakovich sought new avenues of self-expression by turning to chamber music, and the string quartet became for him the perfect medium for private confession. To launch... |
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ANTONIO SALIERI
Salieri: Tarare Cyrille Dubois, Jean-Sebastian Bou, Karine Deshayes / Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset [ Aparte / 3 CD - released 2/Aug/2019 ] "Salieri shows great skill in carrying the drama forwards…Gluck is a constant presence…Dubois makes a first-rate Tarare…Deshayes is a passionate Astasie" Gramophone Editor's Choice August 2019 |
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DEBUSSY / RAVEL / ELGAR / SUK / BRUCKNER / etc
Libor Pesek: The Gold Collection [4 CD set] Michaela Fukačová (cello) Eva Děpoltová (soprano) / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Pesek, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pesek [ Supraphon / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2013 ] To mark Libor Pešek's eightieth birthday, Supraphon presents a representative selection of large orchestral recordings he made from 1981 to 1989. Compositions by Josef Suk, who has occupied a privileged position in Pešek's career, are featured... |
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JACK HEGGIE
Heggie: Great Scott (complete opera recorded in 2015) Dallas Opera / Joyce DiDonato, Ailyn Perez, Frederica von Stade, Anthony Roth Costanzo / Patrick Summers (cond) [ Erato / Warner Classics DVD / DVD - released 12/Mar/2021 ] WQXR, the USA's leading classical music radio station, welcomed as a "deeply moving and musically brilliant work" that "should enter the standard repertory just as Heggie's two previous masterpieces - Dead Man Walking and Moby-Dick - already have". |
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HANDEL / BEETHOVEN / BACH / VERDI / ROSSINI / DELIBES / GOUNOD / etc/
Joan Sutherland: Oratorios & Recitals Dame Joan Sutherland, with Sir Peter Pears, Marilyn Horne, Kenneth McKellar, Barry Tuckwell, Richard Bonynge and others [ Decca / 37 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/2024 ] The first set comprises Sutherland's complete Recitals and Oratorio recordings for Decca, ranging from the 1959 operatic recital recorded in Paris, with Nello Santi (has Verdi's "Santo di patria" ever rung out with greater thrill?). |
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MOZART / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / SCHUBERT / etc
Lili Kraus: The Complete Parlophone, Ducretet- Thomson & Discophiles Français recordings [1933-1958] Lili Kraus (piano), with Willi Boskovsky (violin) Gilbert Coursier (horn) Francois Etienne (clarinet) [ Erato / Warner Classics / 31 CD Box Set - released 1/Feb/2015 ] While the outstanding reputation of the Hungarian-born pianist Lili Kraus was built on a comparatively narrow repertoire of Viennese classics (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert), her experience as a musician and as a human being was of... |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: The Great Edition Daniel Adni, Martha Argerich, Wayner Marshall, Marie-Claire Alain, Emmanuel Pahud, Maxim Vengerov, Victoria de los Angeles, Janet Baker, Sabine Meyer [ Warner Classics / 40 CD Box Set - released 16/Feb/2024 ] A child prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn is considered one of Europe's greatest composers. A virtuoso conductor and pianist, he was a respected all-round musician for whom Robert Schumann had great friendship and admiration. |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: The complete piano sonatas, variations, etc Daniel Barenboim (piano) [ Warner Classics / 9 CD Box Set - released 26/Aug/2022 ] "His crispness of detail and clarity of partwriting and texture are everywhere admirable, his sheer nimbleness and dexterity are often a joy." Gramophone |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" [LP] Daniel Barenboim (piano), New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer [ Warner Classics LP / LP - released 16/Jun/2023 ] The German-born conductor Otto Klemperer, a towering figure in the musical history of the 20th century, died at the age of 88 on July 8th 1973, so 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of his death. His complete recordings on Warner Classics catalogue... |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Complete Symphonies & Concertos Daniel Barenboim (piano), New Philharmonia Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 17/Mar/2023 ] The music of Brahms held an important place in Sir John Barbirolli's repertoire, and these recordings of the symphonies, made with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1966 and 1967, stand as one of the peaks of his discography. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas, Cello Sonatas, String Trios, Piano Trios Jacqueline du Pré (cello), Lynn Harrell (cello), Pinchas Zukerman (violin) Itzhak Perlman (violin), Daniel Barenboim (piano) [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 5/Oct/2019 ] "The result is music-making of rare concentration, spontaneity and warmth." (Penguin Guide) |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 9, 19, 20, 21, 23 & 24 (LP) Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor), English Chamber Orchestra [ Warner Classics LP / 4 LP - released 11/Jun/2021 ] Barenboim conducts from the piano, leading the English Chamber Orchestra in performances of breathtaking passion and verve. Mozart's most famous Piano Concertos in the bestselling version from EMI then Warner catalogue since its release in the late... |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Piano Concertos (Recorded 1967 - 1974) Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor), English Chamber Orchestra [ Warner Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 12/Aug/2016 ] "Barenboim is assured and broadly enjoyable in both these concertos, but also perhaps a little idiosyncratic in such a way that we sometimes seem to be invited to listen to him for himself rather than simply to experience Mozart through him."... |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven : The Complete Works [80 CD set] Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, Jacqueline du Pre, Itzhak Perlman, Gautier Capucon, Janet Baker, Andras Schiff, etc [ Warner Classics / 80 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2019 ] Carefully selected from the Warner Classics and Erato catalogues, and complemented by items licensed in from external catalogues, the recordings do full justice to the extraordinary breadth, diversity and depth of Beethoven's oeuvre. |
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CÁRDENAS / DURÁN / FREIRE / GUEVARA / ZYMAN
Flauta Andina - 20th Century Andean Music for Flute and Piano Daniel Velasco (Flute) Ellen R. Sommer (Piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 12/Aug/2022 ] The rich variety of colours and rhythms in South American culture and music are an essential feature of this programme, which focuses largely on music by composers from the Ecuadorian Andes. |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida / La Traviata / Rigoletto (complete operas recorded 2002 - 2006) Royal Opera, Teatro Real, Liceu Opera / Daniela Dessi, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Norah Amsellem, Renata Bruson, Christine Shafer, Marcelo Alvarez, etc [ Opus Arte DVD / 5 DVD Box Set - released 20/Dec/2014 ] "José Antonio Gutiérrez's production is, by definition, ultra-traditional, but everything looks beautiful thanks to Cabanes's feeling for colour - ochres and blues dominate - and perspective." (BBC Music on Aida) |
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JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK
Sweelinck: Complete Harpsichord and Organ Music Daniele Boccaccio [harpsichord / organ] [ Brilliant Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2020 ] Daniele Boccaccio is one of Italy's foremost keyboard players. A scholar as well, he did extensive research into historic sources. He plays 3 different historic organs and a copy of a Flemish harpsichord. |