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J. S. BACH
Trinitatis: Bach Cantatas Le Banquet Céleste, Damien Guillon [ Alpha / CD - released 5/May/2023 ] "Deeply engaging and moving performances of three Bach cantatas result in 'an exceptional and original release'." Gramophone Editor's Choice May 2023 |
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Theodora, HWV 60 Louise Alder; Arcangelo; Jonathan Cohen; Adam Plachetka; Tim Mead; Stuart Jackson; Anna Stéphany [ Alpha Classics / 3 CD - released 23/Feb/2024 ] Among Handel's seventeen English oratorios, Theodora (1750) is unique. The story is not taken from the Bible, it is set in the Christian era, there is no national triumph and it does not end in joy. |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 [on period instruments] Mahler Academy Orchestra, Philipp von Steinaecker [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 21/Jun/2024 ] "Fascinating, then, with the punchy extremes of the inner movements really hitting home." Gramophone |
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Martin Helmchen
Schumann: Novelletten & Gesänge der Frühe [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] Schumann was twenty-eight years old when he composed in 1838 a cycle of eight pieces for piano, the Novelletten (Novelettes) op.21. This impressive, highly virtuosic set was dedicated to the pianist Adolf von Henselt, whose spectacular playing and... |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 Martin Helmchen (piano) / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Andrew Manze [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 13/Dec/2019 ] As the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth approaches, and following a much admired version of the Diabelli Variations (Alpha 386 - Gramophone Editor's Choice), Martin Helmchen has decided to record his complete piano concertos... |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Sonata 3 op.5 / Variations on a theme by Paganini Nelson Goerner (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 25/Oct/2019 ] "he doesn't detonate the instrument in an effort to accommodate the occasionally overblown writing but has mastered its details so thoroughly that, for all the breadth and heft of the musical ideas, the piece sounds proportionate to the piano" Gramop |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Creation Nicolas Altstaedt, Lockenhaus Artists [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Jul/2022 ] Forty years have passed since Gidon Kremer created a little musical oasis in the Austrian town of Lockenhaus in 1981. The violinist's open-minded attitude has left its mark on this event, which has become a must in the concert calendar, and the... |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss: Burleske / Serenade / Tod und Verklärung Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Mikko Franck; Nelson Goerner [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 13/Aug/2021 ] "Goerner opens with blistering energy...Mikko Franck and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France offer dramatic and characterful support." Gramophone |
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WIDMANN / RAVEL / CPE BACH / KODALY / LECLAIR etc
Sol & Pat Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Sol Gabetta (cello) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Oct/2021 ] "The beauty of this programme - quite aside from the players' crazed spontaneity - is that it revolves around two duo masterpieces: Ravel's Sonata in A minor...and Zoltán Kodály's Duo, Op. 7." Gramophone Editor's Choice Jan 2022 |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT / EUGÈNE YSAŸE / IVAN WYSCHNEGRADSKY / ANDRZEY PANUFNIK
Exile Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Thomas Kaufmann, Camerata Bern [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 24/Jan/2025 ] This programme brings together composers who, for the most part, were compelled to flee their homeland. |
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BELA BARTOK / FRANCIS POULENC / MAURICE RAVEL
Deux: Music for Violin & Piano Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Polina Leschenko (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 10/Apr/2018 ] "Every reading here works like a dream; no doubt in part because the three main works' Hungarian folk roots are a perfect partner to her own Moldovan folk heritage." Gramophone Editor's Choice Feb 2018 |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: String Quintets K. 515 & 516 Quatuor Van Kuijk; Adrien La Marca [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "Time and again, they seem to me to catch this music exactly where it speaks most powerfully: balanced perfectly - poignantly - between laughter and tears." Gramophone Editor's Choice Awards Issue 2020 |
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FLORENCE PRICE / HARRY BURLEIGH / BARRETT STRONG / NORMAN WHITFIELD / BAPTISTE TROTIGNON / etc
Because Reginald Mobley (counter-tenor) Baptiste Trotignon (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 26/May/2023 ] Grammy Awards 66th Awards (2024) Nominee - Best Classical Solo Vocal Album |
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BERLIOZ / DUPARC / KOECHLIN / DEBUSSY / RAVEL / BRITTEN
Reflet Sandrine Piau (soprano), Orchestre Victor Hugo, Jean-Francois Verdier [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 15/Mar/2024 ] "It almost goes without saying that the performances are magnificent...Warmly supported by the Orchestre Victor Hugo under Jean-François Verdier and captured in glowing sound, Piau has created another sublime album." 5/5 BBC Music Magazine |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Mozart y Mambo: Cuban Dances Sarah Willis (horn), Havana Lyceum Orchestra, José Antonio Méndez Padrón [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 9/Sep/2022 ] Following the phenomenal success of the first Mozart y Mambo album, Sarah Willis returns to Cuba not only to record two more Mozart horn concertos but also to create a landmark original work that takes its place in Cuban music history. In Mozart y... |
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Sarah Willis (horn), Havana Lyceum Orchestra; José Antonio Méndez Padrón
Mozart y Mambo: La Bella Cubana [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Sep/2023 ] "My dream of recording all four of the Mozart horn concertos has been fulfilled at last. Little did I know that this long-held dream would come true in Cuba of all places and with a Cuban orchestra! I have learned so much about Cuban music and how to... |
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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Francesca Da Ramini Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi (cond) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 13/Nov/2020 ] Paavo Järvi, Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich since October 2019, here launches a complete recording of Tchaikovsky's symphonies, the first in both his rich discography and that of the Swiss orchestra: 'When I... |
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ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 27/Jan/2023 ] "Järvi's new account of Symphony No. 7 shows the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in peak condition. Tempos never drag. The orchestral sound is detailed and expansive, woodwind expressive, brass white-hot. Colours are rich, tenderness offsetting majesty." |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Symphonies Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi [ Alpha Classics / 4 CD - released 7/Jun/2024 ] "I don't think Mendelssohn gets the attention he deserves," said Paavo Järvi at the start of the 2020 -2021 season. |
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Various Artists
Viva! 30 ans d'art choral [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 25/Feb/2022 ] The Fondation Bettencourt Schueller is celebrating thirty years of commitment to choral singing. To mark the occasion, it has decided to bring together nineteen excerpts from recordings made by ensembles it has supported since 1989, thanks to the... |