PERGOLESI / SCARLATTI / CLERAMBAULT / RAMEAU
Orfeo(s): French and Italian Cantatas Sunhae Im (soprano) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Jun/2015 ] "Im avoids triviality by investing her phrases with an appropriate urgency...The playing, mostly one-to-a-part, is exquisite; so is the singing." (Gramophone) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart Edition [10 CD set incls 'Prague' Symphony and the Requiem] Collegium Aurem, Jos van Immerseel, Jaap Schroeder, Franzjosef Maier, Mozart Trio Salzburg / etc [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / 10 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2013 ] This Collection of Mozart fetaures some of the leading period-instrument ensembles and spans the oeuvre of Mozart's works. Included excellent readings of the 'Prague' Symphony and the Requiem! |
HEINRICH SCHUTZ
Schutz: Opus Ultimum, Schwanengesang Collegium Vocale Gent, Concerto Palatino, Philippe Herreweghe (Direction) [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] "You take away from the performance the overwhelming impression of an old man preparing to meet his God in a mood of philosophical calm, yet still filled with a sense of wonder at creation" Guardian |
J. S. BACH
Advent & Christmas Cantatas (3 CD set) Dorothee Blotzky-Mields, Vasilijka Jezovsek, Sarah Connolly, Mark Padmore, Peter Kooy / Collegium Vocale / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Herreweghe Bach Edition / 3 CD - released 10/Oct/2010 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1700-1760) - "A glistening new account of the Magnificat is joined by outstanding Christmas Cantatas" Editor's Choice (Gramophone December 2003) |
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
Telemann: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott Concerto Melante [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 26/May/2017 ] The Concerto "Melante" ensemble (the name is an anagram of "Telemann") has already earned high praise for its first CD, "Spirituosa," of works by Telemann: "Whoever thinks they know Telemann should buy this CD so that their knowledge is decidedly... |
GIOVANNI GABRILEI
Sonate e Canzoni "per concertar con ;'organo' concerto Palatino, Bruce Dickery, Charles Toet [ Harmonia Mundi musique d'abord / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] |
NINO ROTA
Rota: La Strada & Il Gattopardo [The Leopard] (film scores) Concerto Soiree, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Joseph Pons, with Benedetto Lupo (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Aug/2018 ] This CD offers total immersion in the filmic and musical universe of Nino Rota, one of the greatest composers in the history of the cinema. "La strada" and "The Leopard" (with its unforgettable ball scene) are probably Rota's most famous scores,... |
FRANCOIS COUPERIN
Couperin, Francois - Lecons de Tanabres pour le Mercredy (plus works by Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell) Concerto Vocale, Rena Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 24/Jun/2004 ] 'There is perhaps nothing in all of 17th century French music that has the power to move the listener as deeply as the Leçons de Ténèbres by François Couperin.' RENE JACOBS |
CHARPENTIER
Salve Regina / Motets Concerto Vocale / RenAC Jacobs-director [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 1/Aug/2001 ] Beautiful settings for voice |
CHARPENTIER
Lecons de Tenebres du Jeudy Sainct Concerto Vocale / Rene Jacobs (director) [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 14/Jul/2001 ] Leçons de Ténèbres - a specifically French genre |
CHARPENTIER
Lecons de Tenebres du Mercredy Sainct Concerto Vocale / Rene Jacobs (director) [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 1/Feb/2015 ] "Recorded over 30 years ago Rene Jacobs's singers have a disembodied quality that sounds a touch dated. His scrupulous, sensitive shaping of Charpentier's dark-hued 'lessons', however, remains timeless." BBC Music Magazine, Awards Issue 2015 **** |
Concerto Vocale/Junghanel
Couperin: Lecons De Tenebres [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 12/Jul/2004 ] |
Connolly/Henschel/Herreweghe
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 4/Sep/2006 ] |
BARBER / CARTER / LAURIDSEN / O'REGAN / TRADITIONAL / etc
A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert Conspirare / The Company of Voices [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Jun/2012 ] This CD captures the exquisite sound of Conspirare's Company of Voices, as heard and seen on national television in the US. In this one-hour concert contemporary music blends seamlessly with classical favourites, taking the listener on a journey of... |
HOWELLS / WHITACRE / GRANTHAM / PIZZETTI
Requiem Conspirare / The Company of Voices [ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] "The perfect, and perfectly lovely, unity of Conspirare's choral tone was not entirely welcome. But they're not bland: their care for words and expression guards against that, as does their alertness to changes of mood, whether by movement or... |
TARIK O'REGAN
Threshold of Night: Music for strings and voices Conspirare / The Company of Voices [ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] A selection of new works by the young British composer Tarik O'Regan, here given their premiere recording. Written since his move to New York, these compositions reflect the cultural plurality of today's urban environment. Here is an art that seeks... |
BRAHMS
String Quintet No. 2 in G major / Clarinet Quintet in B minor Gerard Causse, Michel Portal / Melos Quartet [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 14/May/2001 ] |
ARRIAGA
String Quartets Cuarteto Casals [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Feb/2004 ] At the age of only 18 years, Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806 - 1826) composed these three string quartets judged by his contemporaries as outstanding in terms of originality and elegance. They basically form his reputation as a composer. |
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Vol2. "Revelations" op.18 no.2 / op.59 nos. 2 & 3 / opp. 74 & 132 Cuarteto Casals [ Harmonia Mundi / 3 CD Box Set - released 15/Mar/2019 ] "their style, with its wide dynamic extremes, fierce rhythms and intense expressiveness, seems to me profoundly Beethovenian." Sunday Times |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Art of Fugue Cuarteto Casals [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 9/Jun/2023 ] Notated on four staves, as though intended for some unspecified set of instruments (or even voices? or keyboard?), these thirteen erudite contrapuncti, four canons, and an unfinished triple fugue-incorporating the letters of Bach's name-are often... |