|
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov Edition: Complete works [Symphonies, chamber, concertos, operas, songs, choral & instrumental] Joan Rodgers (soprano) Sergei Leiferkus (baritone) Nikolai Lugansky (piano) Earl Wild (piano) Garrick Ohlsson (piano) and many more [ Brilliant Classics / 29 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2008 ] Here is the most complete collection of Rachmaninoff 's output ever assembled on disc: from the piano concertos and preludes of worldwide affection and esteem to his many songs and three operas. |
|
HANDEL / VERDI / BELINNI / MOZART / ROSSINI
A Portrait [3 CD set] Joan Sutherland (Soprano) with various orchestras & conductors [ Regis Records / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Mar/2012 ] "In her own time there was a tendency to take Sutherland for granted, so consistent were her high standards of technique, musicianship and, yes, acting. Her total command of the stage was always formidable." (Gramophone) |
|
DONNACHA DENNEHY
Elastic Harmonic / Glamour Sleeper / Junk Box Fraud, and other works Joanna McGregor (piano) / Crash Ensemble / Gavin Maloney [ NMC / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] "Dennehy likes to imbue his pieces with an urban energy and drive them with the punchy impact of a rock band. He also likes and air of derangement, as if to suggest both a breaching of conventional boundaries and Jean Tinguely-like disintegration." |
|
J. S. BACH
Cantatas: The complete box-set [56 CD set] Joanne Lunn, Gillian Keith, Magdalena Kozena, Paul Agnew, Sara Mingardo, etc / Monteverdi Choir. English Baroque Soloists. John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 56 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2013 ] For the first time on one label the complete live recordings from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, in an elegant box reflecting the quality of the original series packaging. |
|
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Complete Secular Cantatas Joanne Lunn, Robin Blaze, Carolyn Sampson, Katsuhiko Nakashima, Hiroya Aoki, Makoto Sakurada, etc / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / 10 CD Box Set - released 6/Dec/2019 ] "The SACD sound is near ideal for such music, needing as it does to balance the intimate with a sense of public rejoicing. It catches the colours of the distinctive solo voices on display." MusicWeb |
|
RODRIGO
Complete Guitar Music [3 CD set] Ignacio Rodes, Marco Socías, Carlos Pérez, Carles Trepat (guitars) [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/May/2010 ] Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-99) composed for the guitar for over 75 years. Over his long and productive life he produced some of the best loved music ever written for the instrument - Concierto de Aranjuez and the Fantasia para un gentilhombre. His output... |
|
J. S. BACH / FREDERICK DELIUS / MAURICE RAVEL / JOHN RUTTER etc
Classical Tranquility John Rutter, Manchester Camerata [ Collegium / CD - released 3/Nov/2023 ] John Rutter writes… Tranquillity is a state of mind. You might be more likely to describe a favourite countryside scene rather than a person as 'tranquil', but you are really describing the effect it has on you. You feel calm, serene, still, at... |
|
MENDELSSOHN
Music for organ [2 CD set] John Scott (organ of St Pauls) [ Hyperion Dyad / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2012 ] 'Excellent performances. The Hyperion recording engineers have done a marvellous job in capturing the many nuances of the powerful five-manual instrument in the cathedral' (Soundscapes) |
|
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walkure (complete opera recorded in 2011) Jonas Kaufmann, Nina Stemme, Rene Pape / Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, Valery Gergiev [ Mariinsky SACD / 4 Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] "Act I has Jonas Kaufmann's heroic, poetic Siegmund at the peak of his powers, partnering a limpid, youthful-sounding Sieglinde in Anja Kampe - a dream pair of Wälsung twins for our time, and one to compare with the greatest on disc." (Sunday Times) |
|
J. S. BACH
A Bach Notebook for Trumpet Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (trumpet) Daniel-Ben Pienaar (piano) [ Linn SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/Jan/2013 ] Jonathan Freeman-Attwood's 'A Bach Notebook for Trumpet' is a celebration of the music of the famous Johann Sebastian and ten other lesser-known Bachs, re-imagined for the combination of trumpet and piano. |
|
BRUCKNER / BRAHMS / TCHAIKOVSKY / MUSSORGSKY
Gunter Wand Edition [5 CD set] Jorge Bolet (piano) / NDR Sinfonieorchester, Gunter Wand [ Hanssler Profil / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2013 ] North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gunter Wand |
|
CESAR FRANCK
Franck: Complete Organ & Harmonium Works Joris Verdin (organ/harmonian) [ Ricercar / 5 CD Box Set - released 13/May/2022 ] César Franck gradually abandoned his career as a virtuoso pianist as he completed his training under various Parisian masters, one of whom was the organist François Benoist. Franck then served as organist in various important Parisian churches. |
|
BEETHOVEN
Violin Sonatas [4 CD set] Josef Suk (violin) Jan Panenka (piano) [ Supraphon / 4 CD Box Set - released 10/Mar/2012 ] |
|
DEBUSSY / DVORAK / JANACEK / BRAHMS / SCHUBERT / SUK / etc
Early Recordings [6 CD set] Josef Suk (violin) with various orchestras & accompanists [ Supraphon / 6 CD Box Set - released 10/Mar/2012 ] On the morning on 7 July 2011 the agencies brought the sad news that one of the legends of 20th century music had passed away. Josef Suk ranks among the most accomplished violinists of the epoch. When he launched his artistic career, he was gifted... |
|
CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR
Widor: The Complete Organ Works Joseph Nolan (organ) [ Signum / 9 CD Box Set - released 25/Oct/2019 ] Charles-Marie Widor was born to the organ. Raised in a family of organ-makers, he showed early talent for the instrument and would later come to embody all its might and splendour. His life heavily intertwined with that of the great French organ... |
|
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Agrippina (complete opera) Joyce DiDonato, Elsa Benoit, Biagio Pizzuti, Franco Fagioli, Andrea Mastroni, Jakub Józef OrliĆski / l Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Classics / 3 CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel's Venetian masterpiece." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Opera |
|
OSCAR BROWN Jr / JOHN ADAMS / SAMUEL BARBER / BILLY TAYLOR / SANDY DENNY
Julia Bullock - Walking in the Dark Julia Bullock (singer) & Christian Reif (piano) [ Nonesuch Records / CD - released 9/Dec/2023 ] "The tracks for voice and piano are a highlight. Bullock's performance of 'City Called Heaven', a traditional Black spiritual in an arrangement by Hall Johnson, is quite something." BBC Music Magazine January 2023 Choral & Song Choice |
|
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Les États D'ame [24 Preludes / Sonata No 2] Julien Brocal (piano) [ Rubicon Classics / CD - released 20/Jan/2016 ] "this young French pianist says them with complete naturalness, for there is nothing contrived or attention-seeking about his approach to such well-known repertoire." BBC Music Award WINNER 2018 - Jury Award - Newcomer |
|
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral' - Ode to Freedom June Anderson, Sarah Walker, Klaus König & Jan-Hendrik Rootering / Various orchestras, Leonard Bernstein [ EuroArts / Medici Arts DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2016 ] The historic concert in celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989: re-issued with new packaging, now available at midprice! Leonard Bernstein spontaneously accepted an invitation to conduct a performance to celebrate freedom.Adding to the... |
|
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No.9 "Ode an die Freiheit" (LP) June Anderson, Sarah Walker, Klaus Konig, Jan-Hendrik Bootering / Various orchestras, Leonard Bernstein [ Deutsche Grammophon LP / 2 LP - released 27/Sep/2019 ] Bernstein's legendary Beethoven performance "Ode to Freedom" (Symphony No. 9) with a special orchestra formed by members from both German States and the four Occupation Powers, celebrating the fall of Berlin Wall. |