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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: A Vaughan Williams Anthology [8 CD set] Joan Rodgers (sop) Christopher Maltman (bar) Jennifer Pike (violin) / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmon [ Naxos / 8 CD Box Set - released 8/Apr/2022 ] Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of Britain's most illustrious composers, and this specially curated selection of works demonstrates the sheer breadth of his achievement. |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Piano Concerto / Johnson Over Jordan Suite Joanna MacGregor, piano / English Chamber Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / Steuart Bedford, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 29/May/2005 ] "This is probably the finest version of the Britten Piano Concerto available, notwithstanding Britten's own justly revered rendition with Sviatoslav Richter on Decca" |
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CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO
Shakespeare Overtures Volume 1 Joel Marangella (oboe) / Jay Harrison (cor anglais) / Ashley Arbuckle (violin) / Michael Goldschlager (cello) / West Australian Symphony Orchestra [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2010 ] The art of Shakespeare was a recurring fascination for Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In addition to two operas and numerous settings of songs and sonnets, he wrote 11 Shakespeare Overtures which here receive their first ever complete... |
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CORIGLIANO
A Dylan Thomas Trilogy John Tessier (tenor) Thomas Allen (baritone) / Nashville Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Leonard Slatkin [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] Fern Hill is a blithe poem, yet touched by darkness; time finally holds the poet "green and dying" … Poem in October begins in Thomas's seafront town: the poet, marking his birthday, climbs to a high hill, where he reflects on his youth and mulls his... |
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KENNETH FUCHS
Canticle to the Sun / United Artists / etc Timothy Jones (french horn) / London Symphony Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos / CD - released 31/Dec/2007 ] "An American's salute to the LSO who again impress in his engaging music." (Gramophone) |
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VERDI
Rigoletto (highlights from the opera) Jozef Abel, tenor / Alida Ferrarini, soprano / Alzbeta Michalkova, contralto / Slovak Philharmonic Chorus / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Alexande [ Naxos Opera Classics / CD - released 8/Mar/2004 ] "Eduard Turmagian gives...a lucidly thought-through performance, dramatically sensitive...This recording of Rigoletto is astonishing value" - Gramophone |
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VERDI
Rigoletto (Complete opera) Jozef Abel (tenor) Alida Ferrarini (soprano) Alzbeta Michalkova (contralto) / Slovak Philharmonic Chorus / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rahbari [ Naxos Opera Classics / CD - released 8/Mar/2004 ] "Eduard Turmagian gives...a lucidly thought-through performance, dramatically sensitive...This recording of Rigoletto is astonishing value" - Gramophone |
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LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Bernstein: Mass Jubilant Sykes (baritone) / Morgan State University Choir / Peabody Children's Chorus / Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / 2 CD - released 15/Aug/2009 ] "It's all fabulously recorded with a glittering impact that never turns unduly aggressive. The multi-textural layering in the climactic Dona Nobis Pacem comes across as both musically and physically overwhelming." (10/10 ClassicsToday) |
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MANOLIS KALOMIRIS
Complete Songs Julia Souglakou (soprano) / Eva Kotamanidou (narrator) / Russian State Symphonic Capella / Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra / Byron Fidetzis [ Naxos Greek Classics / CD - released 27/Jan/2011 ] Manolis Kalomiris is honoured as the father of Greek national music. The inspired orchestration of Kalomiris's Piano Rhapsody No. 1 by Gabriel Pierné moved Byron Fidetzis to orchestrate the second of these, sub-titled Song of the Night. The versatile... |
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KAMRAN INCE
Symphony No. 2 ‘Fall of Constantinople’ / Concerto for Orchestra, Turkish Instruments and Voices / Piano Concerto / Infrared Only Kamran Ince (piano) / Bilkent Youth Chorus / Bilkent Symphony Orchestra / Kamran Ince / Isin Metin [ Naxos / CD - released 22/Sep/2011 ] The result is music of intoxication and intimacy, violence and tenderness. |
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JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Violin Concerto (with works by Halvorsen, Sinding & Svendsen) Dong-Suk Kang (violin) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Leaper [ Naxos / CD ] "Even if it were at full price it would feature quite high in the current lists." Penguin Guide |
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BO LINDE
Linde: Violin Concerto / Cello Concerto Karen Gomyo (violin) / Maria Kliegel (cello) / Gavle Symphony Orchestra / Petter Sundkvist (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 12/Mar/2006 ] Rosette [highest rating] - Penguin Stereo Guide - "Two romantic-dramatic concertos full of explosive action and searing sunny lyricism. I don't buy the suggestion that Linde is a neo-classicist. Not to be misse" (Bargain of the Month MusicWeb Feb 2006) |
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KALMAN
Csardasfurstin (Die) (The Gypsy Princess) (Complete operetta) Karl-Michael Ebner (tenor) Mojca Erdmann (soprano) Heinz Holecek (bass) Yvonne Kenny (soprano) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Richard Bonynge [ Naxos Opera Classics SACD / 2 SACD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] Kálmán's great contribution to the musical language of Viennese operetta was to bring to it the brilliant colours, the heady rhythms and the dynamic energy of his native Hungary - not just as an imitator, like so many other composers, but as one who... |
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DANIEL-FRANCOIS AUBER
Auber: Overtures, Vol. 6 [Incls 'L'Ambassadrice' & 'Le Dieu et la Bayadère' ] Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, Dario Salvi [ Naxos / CD - released 19/Apr/2024 ] Auber's overtures were once as popular as those by Rossini and Suppé, with no less a figure than Tchaikovsky commenting on the 'elegant clarity of his harmonisation, his delightful and striking melodies … and beautiful instrumentation.' Full evidence... |
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KEVIN PUTTS
Putts: The City / Marimba Concerto / Moonlight Katherine Needleman (oboe) Ji Su Jung (marimba) / Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 24/Feb/2023 ] 'This collection of recordings is especially meaningful for me because it charts my growth as an orchestral composer from my years as a student - when the Marimba Concerto was composed - to more mature work such as Moonlight.' |
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MAHLER
Kindertotenlier / Symphony No 4 (Rec 1945-49) Kathleen Ferrier (contralto) / Vienna Symphony Orchestra / Bruno Walter [ Naxos Historical Great Singers / CD - released 20/Aug/2008 ] The English contralto Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953) had a brief but glorious decade of music-making before being cruelly struck down in her prime with cancer. |
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GEORGE GERSHWIN
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue / Piano Concerto / An American in Paris Kathryn Selby (piano) / Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Richard Hayman (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2005 ] "Kathryn Selby makes a strong showing in the Gershwin Concerto" - Fanfare |
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ROBERT ALDRIDGE
Elmer Gantry (complete opera) Keith Phares / Patricia Riseley / Vale Rideout / Florentine Opera Company / Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra / William Boggs [ Naxos American Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 26/Oct/2011 ] |
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REINHOLD GLIERE
Gliere: Symphony No. 2 / The Zaporozhy Cossacks Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Keith Clark [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] "This is still by far the best rendition of this symphony, even as of late 2002. This masterfully orchestrated symphony couldn't be more Russian, romantic sounding, as is the accompanying symphonic poem honoring the heroism of the Cossacks." |