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FROMENTAL HALEVY
Halevy: La Reine de Chypre [The Queen of Cyprus] Véronique Gens, Cyrille Dubois, Étienne Dupuis / Flemish Radio Choir & Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Hervé Niquet [ Bru Zane Ediciones Singulares / 2 CD/Book - released 20/Sep/2018 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD 2019 WINNER - Opera |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Hungarian Dances and the Hungarian Tradition Adrienn Miksch (soprano) János Bándi (tenor) Ferenc SzecsĹ‘di (violin) / Szilvia Elek, István Kassai (fortepiano and piano) [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 10/Mar/2023 ] Brahms had long been immersed in the folk traditions and spirit of Hungary's musical repertoire, not least through the famous violinist Ede Reményi, for whom he played as piano accompanist. Brahms employed melodies that he had heard, as well as those... |
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Wei Li
Classical Chinese Opera & Folk Songs [ Arc / CD - released 1/Aug/2013 ] Enchanting and beautiful Chinese traditional and opera songs full of Eastern mystique and fascination presented by famous Chinese soprano Wei Li. Accompanied on traditional Chinese instruments. |
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RICHARD STRAUSS / WAGNER / BEETHOVEN
Hans Knappertsbusch: The Opera Edition Wiener Philharmoniker, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Hans Knappertsbusch, with Kirsten Flagstad, Martti Talvela, Hans Hotter, George London, etc [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 19 CD Box Set - released 11/Feb/2022 ] A priceless collection of Hans Knappertsbusch's opera recordings made for Universal Music, including the legendary live Parsifal performances of both 1951 and 1962, the Vienna studio Die Meistersinger of 1950-51, the Munich Fidelio of 1961, etc. |
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RICHARD STRAUSS / BRUCKNER / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / WAGNER / etc
Hans Knappertsbusch: The Orchestral Edition Wiener Philharmoniker, Münchener Philharmoniker, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Hans Knappertsbusch, with Sir Clifford Curzon (piano) [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 18 CD Box Set - released 11/Feb/2022 ] Gathered together for the first time on Universal Music labels, including several first CD releases on Decca, is the orchestral legacy of an inimitable genius of the podium: Hans Knappertsbusch. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 Op. 67 (LP) Wiener Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle [ Warner Classics Vinyl / LP - released 22/Mar/2024 ] The nine Beethoven Symphonies are considered to be one of the greatest musical testaments of all time and are a key staple in every conductor's repertoire. Simon Rattle performed the complete cycle with the Wiener Philharmoniker in live concerts,... |
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HANDEL / RAMEAU / VIVALDI / CAMPRA / PURCELL / etc
The Enchanted Island (complete opera recorded in 2012) Metropolitan Opera / Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels, Danielle de Niese, Placido Domingo / William Christie (cond) [ Virgin Classics DVD / 2 DVD - released 19/Oct/2012 ] "The singing from Danielle de Niese, David Daniels and Joyce DiDonato is stellar...William Christie conducts magisterially." (The Observer) |
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FERRUCCIO BUSONI
Busoni: Piano Music, Vol. 13 Wolf Harden [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Nov/2024 ] The final volume in this acclaimed series of Busoni's piano music focuses on beginnings and endings. Early works and transcriptions are featured, plus a substantial body of music that Busoni wrote for his multivolume Klavierübung ('Piano Exercise').... |
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LOUIS VIERNE
Vierne: Complete Organ Music Wolfgang Rübsam (organ) [ Brilliant Classics / 8 CD Box Set - released 11/Mar/2022 ] Organ works account for only 17 of Vierne's 62 opus numbers, and yet no one would now question his status as the organ's greatest symphonist after Franck and Widor. |
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Written by Genevieve Helsby
My First Classical Music Book [ Naxos / CD/Book - released 2/Feb/2009 ] This is a delightfully colourful introduction to classical music, aimed to fire the imagination of young children aged 5-7 years. Readers are asked to think about the different places in which we might hear music, whether it is in a concert hall, or... |
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HEINRICH SCHUTZ
Schütz: The Christmas story & other works Yale Schola Cantorum / David Hill [ Hyperion / CD - released 29/Nov/2019 ] Schütz's 'Christmas story' is an absolute delight from beginning to end, its charming tableaux of angels, shepherds and wise men completely belying the composer's old age and constrained circumstances. Here it's the jubilant climax to a programme of... |
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STRAVINSKY / TCHAIKOVSKY / RACHMANINOV
Sir Simon Rattle conducts Stravinsky, Rachmaninov & Tchaikovsky (rec June 2009) BLU-RAY Yefim Bronfman (piano) / Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Sir Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Music Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Feb/2014 ] The famous yearly Berliner Philharmoniker Open-Air concert at the Berlin Waldbühne attended by more than 20,000 people. The atmosphere is unique and unconventionally relaxed. People bring champagne, salmon and caviar, making the Waldbühne a giant... |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms Cycle [Symphonies, Concertos & Overtures] (recorded in 2015) Yefim Bronfman (piano) Julia Fischer (violin) / The Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Most [ Belvedere / BBC Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Nov/2017 ] The Cleveland Orchestra is the aristocrat among American orchestras (The Telegraph) and its conductor, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders sound under... |
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Yehudi Menuhin (violin)
The Menuhin Century - The Violin of the Century [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 1/Apr/2018 ] Re-released in 2016 on the occasion of Yehudi Menuhin's centenary, this film is devoted to the artistic heritage of a personality who ranked among the most extraordinary musicians of his time, even as a child. Menuhin was not a mere musician: he was... |
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BEETHOVEN / MENDELSSOHN / SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / WAGNER / FRANCK / etc
The complete Wilhelm Furtwangler on record Yehudi Menuhin (violin) Edwin Fisher (piano) / Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler [ Warner Classics / 55 CD Box Set - released 24/Sep/2021 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler is a musical titan, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Some would say he is the greatest of all. A supreme, inimitable interpreter of the Austro-German symphonic repertoire, and of Wagner's music dramas. |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphonies / Concertos / German Requiem Yehudi Menuhin (violin) Edwin Fisher (piano) / Stockholm Philharmonic Chorus & Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furt [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 24/Aug/2018 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler saw "a wild, fantastic and even demonic universe" in the symphonies of Brahms. "Music is not something that is invented and constructed," he wrote, "but something that grows, emerging … directly from the hands of nature." |
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JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: The Creation Yeree Suh (soprano), Tilman Lichdi (tenor), Matthias Winckhler (baritone) / Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 19/Nov/2021 ] "The orchestral side of this new recording of Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" brings many other delights, partly because Jordi Savall and his ensemble Le Concert de Nations are vigorous champions of period instruments" Times |
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SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1 / Piano Concerto No. 1 Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) / Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jul/2013 ] "With Sudbin asserting his interpretative personality [in the Concerto], the orchestra and conductor are inspired to match a thrilling performance that stands alongside the greatest." (Daily Telegraph) |
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J. S. BACH
Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites (3LP) Yo Yo Ma (cello) [ Sony Classical / 3 LP - released 20/Sep/2023 ] Sony Classical is proud to announce the release of Yo-Yo Ma's new album Six Evolutions - Bach Cello Suites, his third and final recording of these works. Bach and his Cellos Suites entered Yo-Yo Ma's life when he was four, when he learned the first... |
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J. S. BACH
Yo-Yo Ma: The Bach Project: Cello Suites - Live from Athens Yo-Yo Ma (cello) [ C Major DVD / DVD - released 22/May/2020 ] "In 2018, Yo-Yo Ma began a two-year journey, setting out to perform Johann Sebastian Bach's six suites for solo cello in one sitting, across 36 locations on 6 continents. For Yo-Yo, Bach's 300-hundred-year-old music is one extraordinary example of... |