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PAGANINI / SARASATE / VIVALDI / KREISLER / SAINT-SAËNS / BACH / etc
Ruggiero Ricci - Complete American Decca Recordings Ruggiero Ricci (violin) with Leon Pommers, Brooks Smith (piano) / Stradivarius Chamber Orchestra / Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Max Rudolf [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 9 CD Box Set - released 29/Oct/2021 ] "His hand has never been surer, his tone never more beautiful than in these enchanting performances, which are aglow with spontaneity, wit, and sheer delight … a classic matching of interpreter and material." Stereo Review |
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J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Cantatas BWV71, BWV76 & BWV10 Ruth Holton, Knut Schoch, Sytse Buwalda, Bas Ramselaar / Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] The Bach's Cantatas have secured their place in the canon of human creations of eternal value. In no other oeuvre one finds the expression of all universal human emotions, from utter grief to extatic joy, from turbulant drama to serene... |
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CHOPIN / LISZT / SAINT-SAENS / SCHUMANN / VILLA-LOBOS / BARTÓK / etc
Ruth Slenczynska - Complete American Decca Recordings Ruth Slenczynska (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Eloquence / 10 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2020 ] A debut on CD for the American Decca legacy of Ruth Slenczynska, a prodigious Romantic-age keyboard lioness. 'Slenczynska has technique to burn, has it under complete control, and uses it with masculine vigour and shrewd musicianship' HighFidelity |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Complete Secular Choral Works Ruth Ziesak, Angelika Kirchschlager, Christoph Prégardien, Robert Holl / Wiener Concert-Verein, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Erwin Ortner, with András Sch [ Warner Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 19/Mar/2021 ] A voyage of discovery through a lesser-known area of Schubert's rich and prolific output, this collection comprises seven themed CDs: Transience; Love; Eternity; Heroism; Nature; Celebrations, and Circle of Friends. |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Russian Orthodox Choral Music Rybin Male Choir, Dumka Choir, Yurlov Academic Choir [ Brilliant Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 22/Jan/2021 ] A history of Russian Orthodox sacred music from the 'Moscow Baroque' to the present day, including many rare and long unavailable recordings. |
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CARL ORFF
Carmina Burana (recorded 31 December 2004 at the Philharmonie Berlin) BLU-RAY Sally Matthews (soprano) / Lawrence Brownlee (tenor) / Christian Gerhaher (baritone) / Berliner Philharmoniker / Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 22/Dec/2010 ] Simon Rattle is a musical force of nature and the interaction between his unique, varied musical gifts and the great performing traditions of the Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the most exciting features of our present cultural life. |
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Deidamia (Recorded live at the De Nederlandse Opera, March & April 2012) Sally Matthews, Veronica Cangemi, Olga Pasichnyk / Concerto Köln, Ivor Bolton (conductor) & David Alden (director) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Feb/2013 ] DNO presents a new production of Händel's last Italian opera, Deidamia, staged by the American David Alden. No known literary source has been linked directly to this opera, which is set at the time of the Trojan War. After an oracle has predicted the... |
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LEOS JANACEK
Janacek: The Makropulos Case (complete opera recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Salzburg Festival / Angela Denoke, Raymond Very, Peter Hoare, Jurgita Adamonyte, Johan Reuter / Esa-Pekka Salonen (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2017 ] "The vocal performances are nearly all compelling. The men - Janacek's usual weak and neurotic bunch - are entirely believable...Both the lead and female roles are remarkably complete." (BBC Music) |
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HANS WERNER HENZE
Hans Werner Henze: The Bassarids (Complete Opera) BLU-RAY Salzburg Festival / Sean Panikkar, Russell Braun, Willard White, Nikolai Schukoff / Vienna Philharmonic, Kent Nagano [ Arthaus Musik Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 11/Oct/2019 ] The opera, inspired by Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae, is as seductive as it is topical: When Dionysus - is he a charlatan? is he a demigod? - bursts into the intact world of ancient Thebes, he plunges a city into chaos. In stark contrast to his... |
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BERLIOZ
Keeping Score - Revealing Classical Music - Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique (includes concert performance) The San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony DVD / DVD - released 20/Jan/2010 ] Classical music expert Michael Tilson Thomas headlines this documentary examination of composer Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. As an added bonus, the program features a full concert performance of the work by The San Francisco Symphony. ~... |
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HECTOR BERLIOZ
Keeping Score - Revealing Classical Music - Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique (includes concert performance) BLU-RAY The San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony Bluray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Feb/2015 ] Following the success of the enlightening first series of Keeping Score, MTT and SFS return with three further programmes that combine one-hour documentaries with live concert performances. The new programmes explore the music and stories behind the... |
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CHARLES IVES
Keeping Score - Revealing Classical Music - Ives's Holiday Symphony (includes concert performance) The San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony / DVD - released 15/Oct/2010 ] Coming of age at the dawn of the twentieth century, Charles Ives saw the halcyon days of his youth fading fast. Not willing to let them go, he invented a striking new musical language to enshrine the feelings and ideals of a simpler time. |
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CHARLES IVES
Keeping Score - Revealing Classical Music - Ives's Holiday Symphony (includes concert performance) BLU-RAY The San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Feb/2015 ] Coming of age at the dawn of the twentieth century, Charles Ives saw the halcyon days of his youth fading fast. Not willing to let them go, he invented a striking new musical language to enshrine the feelings and ideals of a simpler time. |
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MAHLER
Keeping Score - Revealing classical music - Mahler: origins and legacy BLU-RAY The San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Dec/2015 ] "Tilson Thomas presents Mahler as embracing both [Jewish and Christian roots] as part of a universal musical and moral outlook...overall, Tilson Thomas and his associates bring Mahler's music to life in a way that makes even the novice appreciate its... |
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SHOSTAKOVICH
Keeping Score - Revealing Classical Music - Shostakovich's Symphony No 5 (includes concert performance) The San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony DVD / DVD - released 20/Jan/2010 ] Classical music historian Michael Tilson Thomas hosts this unusual glimpse into the life and work of seminal Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, which rests on an unusual historical footnote. As an added bonus, the program includes a full-length... |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Keeping Score - Revealing Classical Music - Shostakovich's Symphony No 5 (includes concert performance) BLU-RAY The San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony Bly-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Feb/2015 ] Following the success of the enlightening first series of Keeping Score, MTT and SFS return with three further programmes that combine one-hour documentaries with live concert performances. The new programmes explore the music and stories behind the... |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Keeping Score - Revealing classical music - Mahler: origins and legacy The San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas [ San Francisco Symphony DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Dec/2011 ] "...overall, Tilson Thomas and his associates bring Mahler's music to life in a way that makes even the novice appreciate its astounding unity within diversity." (BBC Music) |
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HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS
Villa-Lobos: Complete Symphonies São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Isaac Karabtchevsky [ Naxos / 6 CD Box Set - released 13/Nov/2020 ] Villa-Lobos's symphonies well reflect the composer's status as the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music, from the early works that challenge European traditions through to his twelfth and final symphony |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven Révolution Vol. II Symphonies 6 to 9 Sara Gouzy, Salome Fischer, Mingjie Lei, Manuel Walser / Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox / 3 CD Box Set - released 25/Feb/2022 ] "This is a very special release...Savall's may well have just become my favourite period-instrument Beethoven cycle of them all." Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Orchestral |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 1-9 / Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / On Wenlock Edge; etc (7 CD set) Sarah Chang (violin) Ian Bostridge (tenor) / London Philharmonic Orchestra. Bernard Haitink [ Warner Classics Budget Boxes / 7 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2013 ] Building a Library - First Choice - May 2002 |