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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4, 5, 6 Arctic Philharmonic, Christian Lindberg [ BIS2178 / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 25/Nov/2016 ] Tchaikovsky's final three symphonies form an emotional roller-coaster ride with the most desperate lows (the first movement of the Fourth) and hectic highs (the Finale of the Fifth) before arriving at the resigned lament that is the closing Adagio of... |
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PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 / Swan Lake Ballet Suite Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, Christian Lindberg [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Sep/2013 ] Lindberg's enjoyable interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Fifth is offset by a stylish and elegant approach to the suite from Swan Lake. The Arctic Philharmonic produces some really refined playing. |
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HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ BIBER
The Rosary Sonatas (with Muffat - Sonata in D) Ariadne Daskalakis (baroque violin) / Ensemble Vintage Köln [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 20/Aug/2015 ] "Likely to become my benchmark for these highly inventive sonatas, especially for those who enjoy intensely emotional playing." (MusicWeb Oct 2015) |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Music for Violin I Ariadne Daskalakis (violin), Die Kölner Akademie / Michael Alexander Willens, Paolo Giacometti (fortepiano) [ BIS SACD / CD - released 9/Aug/2019 ] Violin music isn't what one normally associates with Franz Schubert, but he did in fact receive his first violin lessons as a young boy from his father. At the age of 11 he was accepted as a member of the choir of the imperial court chapel, and as... |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Music for Violin II Ariadne Daskalakis (violin), Paolo Giacometti (fortepiano) [ BIS SACD / SACD - released 4/Dec/2020 ] Ariadne Daskalakis completes her survey of Schubert's works for the violin. Performed on period instruments. |
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KALEVI AHO
Aho: Timpani & Piano Concertos Ari-Pekka Mäenpää (timpani), Sonja Fräki (piano), Turku Philharmonic Orchestra [ BIS SACD / CD - released 10/May/2018 ] Hugely productive, Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) has composed close to 30 concertos to date. These include works for traditional solo instruments - piano, violin, cello … - but also more unusual ones, such as the theremin or accordion. One project of Aho's is... |
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FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Totentanz / Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat major / Piano Concerto No.2 in A major Arnaldo Cohen (piano) / Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra / John Neschling [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jun/2007 ] A mercurial performer, conductor and composer, Franz Liszt epitomizes the Romantic genius, and his chosen instrument, the piano, was the emblematic instrument of the Romantic era. This disc brings together the composer's three mature works for piano... |
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C. P. E. BACH
Bach, (C.P.E.) - Instrumental Theatre of Effects Arte dei Suonatori, Marcin Świątkiewicz (harpsichord, pianoforte, conductor) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 5/Apr/2024 ] Subversive music by C.P.E. Bach that surprises, moves and speaks to us |
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HANDEL
ConcertI Grossi Op. 6 Arte Dei Suonatori / Martin Gester [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "This Polish ensemble, little recorded so far, plays them splendidly - 16 technically assured period strings, coloured by harpsichord or organ continuo and a pretty active archlute." BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 ***** |
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GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
Telemann: Ouvertures pittoresques Arte dei Suonatori, Martin Gester [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2013 ] ""Arte dei Suonatori play [these pieces] with neatness, clarity and buoyant tone. Their fine ensemble spirit is much in evidence and the music's good-hearted energy draws (great) interpretative vim from Martin Gester" Gramophone |
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AMIR MAHYAR TAFRESHIPOUR
Tafreshipour: The Doll behind the Curtain Athelas Sinfonietta, Eirik Haukaas Ødegaard [ BIS SACD / CD - released 3/Feb/2023 ] Based on the short story by the same name by Sadeq Hedayat (1903-51), Iran's first modernist writer, The Doll behind the Curtain is an opera from Iranian-Danish composer Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour and librettist Dominic Power. It explores themes of... |
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NIKOS SKALKOTTAS
Skalkottas: Sinfonietta, Concerto and Suite Georgios Demertzis (violin), Vassilis Varvaresos (piano), Eleftherios Venizelos, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, Byron Fidetzis [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] A disc of previously unrecorded works by the great Greek modernist |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
La Spagna - Variations on a Spanish Theme Atrium Musicæ de Madrid / Gregorio Paniagua [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] Setting off on a sonic journey through Europe, Gregorio Paniagua and his acclaimed ensemble Atrium Musicæ de Madrid took the famous theme known as La Spagna, used widely by composers across Europe for several centuries, as the starting point in their... |
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion Benjamin Bruns, Christian Immler, Carolyn Sampson, Damien Guillon, etc / Bach Collegium Japan chorus & orchestra / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "The musicians convey it with infectious zeal...Generic early music politesse is relegated to the shadows" Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Choral |
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J. S. BACH
Bach: Motets Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2010 ] "The performance is, as you'd now expect from [Suzuki's] Collegium, excellent. Voices range from delicate soloists to a splendidly light and transparent 18-strong chorus." (BBC Music Award WINNER 2011 Choral) |
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J. S. BACH
Bach: Overtures (Four Orchestral Suites) Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 1/Aug/2005 ] "These performances are magnificent, and offering two SACDs for the price of one makes them a good deal too. Suzuki does more than just play the music very well: he evokes its purpose, social milieu, and lavishness of content in such a way that... |
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J. S. BACH / MARCO GIOSEPPE PERANDA
Lutheran Masses Volume 2 Hana Blažiková, Joanne Lun, Aki Matsui, Peter Kooij, Robin Blaze, Dominik Wörner / Bach Collegium Japan, Maasaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Dec/2015 ] The two Lutheran Masses recorded here make extensive use of earlier compositions by Bach and include reworkings of arias and choruses from cantatas, but each of the four masses also has its own unmistakable artistic profile |
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J. S. BACH
Secular Cantatas Vol III [BWV 173a, 202 "Wedding", 36c, 524] Joanne Lunn (soprano), Hiroya Aoki (counter-tenor), Makoto Sakurada (tenor) & Roderick Williams (baritone) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ Bis SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Aug/2013 ] Although two of the works on this disc were composed for weddings, they are completely different in character. Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten is a charming and gracious garland of recitatives and arias for soprano solo in which Spring, Flora, Apollo... |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Image of Melancholy Barokksolistene / Bjarte Eike, artistic director & violin Berit Norbakken Solset, soprano; Jon Balke, organ / soundscapes; Milos Valent, viola and voc [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Jan/2014 ] Joined by the soprano Berit Norbakken Solset and by the jazz pianist Jon Balke, Eike and his ensemble have created an intensely atmospheric and highly suggestive disc, which richly lives up to its motto - 'Melancholy is the pleasure of being sad.' |
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GLAZUNOV
Symphonies 4 & 8 BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Oct/2003 ] "Strongly characterized and distinctively Russian themes … beautifully and sensitively played … what a fine orchestra this is. There could be no better introduction to Glazunov's symphonic world" (Classical Music Web) |