PRINCE ALBERT
Music of Albert: Prince of Saxe. Coburg and Gotha Purcell Consort of Voices, Grayston Burgess [ Australian SBS Decca Eloquence / CD - released 10/Jul/2015 ] " I strongly recommend this record, and not only for Musical Quizzes" (Gramophone) |
CORNYSH / RICHAFORT / ANONYMOUS
The Tudors: To Entertain a King - Music for Henry VIII and his Court Purcell Consort of Voices, Musica Reservata, Michael Morrow & Grayston Burgess [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Nov/2015 ] "The songs … are very good music indeed, and anyone who has not yet come across Pastime with good company, or I am a jolly foster should make their acquaintance forthwith, for their tunes are full of vigour." (Gramophone) |
RICHARD MILLS
Mills: Orchestral Works (Incls Aeolian Caprices & Soundscapes for Percussion & Orchestra) Queensland Symphony Orchestra / Richard Mills & Werner Andreas Albert [ ABC Australian Eloquence / CD - released 8/Jul/2005 ] One of Australia's leading composers, the music of Richard Mills weaves a rich tapestry of colour. His operas, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Batavia have won him an array of accolades and his orchestral music is some of the most enduring of our... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Favourite Piano Sonatas (incls "Moonlight") Radu Lupu (piano) [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 5/Mar/2000 ] "full of absorbing and inspired pianism" (Classics Today) |
FRANZ LEHAR
Lehar: Die Lustige Witwe [The Merry widow] (highlights in English) Joan Sutherland, John Brecknock, Francis Egerton, Regina Resnik, John Fryatt / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Turn of the century Paris provides the glittering setting for this operetta, first performed in Vienna in 1905 and here given by a cast lead by Joan Sutherland and also featuring John Brecknock, Valerie Masterson and Werner Krenn. |
VERDI
Verdi - La Traviata (Highlights from the complete opera) Giacomo Aragall, Virgilio Carbonari, Mirella Fiorentini, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Pilar Lorengar / Orchestra of the Deutsche Opera Berlin, Lorin Maaz [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Classic recordings now available at a budget price |
PUCCINI
Tosca (highlights from the complete opera) Renata Tebaldi, Monaco del Monaco, George London / St Cecilia, Rome, Francesco Molinari-Pradel [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 16/Nov/2014 ] Highlights from the classic recording |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Oboe Concertos / Concerto grossi / Concerto a due cori / Orchestral music (Rec 1965-1981) Roger Lord (oboe) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Neville Marriner [ Australian Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Jun/2009 ] "Stylish performances of attractive music at a giveaway price." (MusicWeb June 2009) |
SCHUBERT
Rosamunde (complete incidental music) Rohanzig Yachmi (contralto) / Vienna State Opera Chorus / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Munchinger [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Feb/2011 ] "glows with an affectionate warmth... one of Munchinger's very best records... the VPO is at its magnificent best" (Penguin Guide) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Complete Symphonies (plus Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition & Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet) Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edo de Waart [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 4 CD Box Set - released 5/Aug/2018 ] A newly compiled, generous 4CD collection of high-octane Russian orchestral masterpieces, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the firebrand musicianship of Dutch maestro Edo de Waart. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
handel: Water Music Suites Nos. 1-3, HWV348-350 / Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV351 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum, Bernard Haitink [ Australian Philips Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2011 ] These are unashamedly old-fashioned, but beautifully clear performances of these timeless masterpieces. They were recorded in the famed 'old' Concertgebouw and the sound of the winds especially - horn (track 3) and oboe (track 2) - is beautifully... |
MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition (with works by Ravel & Debussy) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "this is one of Decca's ripely brilliant Concertgebouw recordings, very full and powerful, and that comes out strikingly in the Mussorgsky" (Gramophone) |
SCHUBERT
Symphony No. 8 / Rosamunde [excerpts] Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Pierre Monteux [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Nov/2015 ] "beautiful performances […] the playing [of the Vienna Philharmonic] is distinguished by the lovely string tone and the sensitive woodwind playing"(Gramophone) |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Trois Nocturnes / La Mer / Images for Orchestra Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Women's Voices of the Collegium Musicum, Eduard van Beinum [ Australian Decca SBS Eloquence / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] Beinum was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, where he received his first violin and piano lessons at an early age. He joined the Arnhem Orchestra as a violinist in 1918. His grandfather was conductor of a military band. His father played the double bass... |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: Overtures & Choruses [2 CD set] Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & various orchestras, Isidore Godfrey, Royston Nash, Sir Charles Mackerras, James Walker & Sir Malcolm Sargent [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2010 ] "This is a marvellous and well-presented double disc compilation consisting of all of Sullivan's overtures as well as popular choruses from a wide variety of the most well known operettas." (Bargain of the Month MusicWeb Feb 2011) |
LALO
Symphonie Espagnole / Namouna [excerpts] / etc (with music by Chabrier) Ruggiero Ricci (violin) / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2011 ] It used to be fashionable to include the music of Lalo in concert in the mid-20th century. At the start of the 21st century, however, his works has fallen completely into neglect, in France as much as elsewhere. This is a cruel injustice for music... |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI / GIOVANNI BOTTESINI
Rossini: Sonate a quattro / Bottesini: Gran Duo Concertante Salvatore Accardo (violin) / I Musici [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 16/Oct/2016 ] In the summer of 1804 while on a summer holiday in the village of Conventello near Ravenna, Rossini, then aged twelve, composed his six Sonate a quattro for two violins, cello and double-bass. Many years later, the composer wrote on the front of the... |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos Salvatore Accardo (violin) / London Philharmonic, Charles Dutoit [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 16/Oct/2016 ] "[Accardo] applies his characteristically lithe, fresh style here to the concertos of Mendelssohn … Accardo's technique is secure and his playing, imbued with the classical spirit, undoubtedly gives pleasure" Gramophone |
PUCCINi / DONIZETTI / VERDI / MEYERBEER / WAGNER / FLOWTOW
The Art of Sandor Konya Sandor Konya (tenor) with various conductors [ SBS Deutsche Grammophon Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] 'Konya has a fine voice, a very beautiful, firm, pure tenor [in the Wagner songs] … The voice also sounds well in the seven Verdi songs … Konya does have a feeling for line, for joining note to note, and the sheer sound of his manly voice is a pleasu |
LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS
The Last Night of the Proms: Land of Hope & Glory Sarah Walker (mezzo) Sir Thomas Allen (baritone) / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Roger Norrington [ Australian SBS Decca Eloquence / CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "A great collection of British favourites that are just right for any time of the year, very well recorded and performed … and at a great price too! You won't be disappointed." (MusicWeb June 2008) |