TELEMANN / LECLAIR / LALANDE / COUPERIN / RAMEAU / etc
French Baroque Music Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Jean-François Paillard, with Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute), Pierre Pierlot (oboe), Maurice Andre (trumpet), etc [ Erato / 14 CD Box Set - released 26/Aug/2022 ] A founding member of Erato, Jean-François Paillard always placed French Baroque music at the heart of his orchestra's repertoire and maintained it in a privileged position despite the growth of musical range and number of concerts. |
GABRIEL FAURE
Fauré Edition - Piano Works, Chamber Music, Orchestral Works & Requiem Jean‐Philippe Collard (piano) Augustin Dumay (violin) Frédéric Lodéon (cello) Michel Debost (flute) Nicolai Gedda (tenor) / Michael Plasson (cond) [ Erato / 12 CD Box Set - released 24/Aug/2018 ] Gabriel Fauré, whose long and influential life spanned the eras of romanticism and early modernism, enriched a diversity of genres with music of proverbial subtlety. |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Flute Concertos Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute) / I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone [ Warner Classics The Erato Story / CD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] Although Vivaldi was a virtuoso violinist and wrote prolifically for that instrument he was able to compose imaginatively and expertly for a wide range of combinations of instruments. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Sonatas for Flute & Harpsichord Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute) Robert Veyron-Lacroix (harpsichord) [ Erato / CD - released 6/Aug/1988 ] Recordings made in 1965 |
MOZART / TARTINI / TELEMANN / C.P.E. & J. S. BACH / MERCADANTE / VIVALDI / etc
Jean-Pierre Rampal: Famous Flute Concertos Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute) with various orchestras & soloists [ Erato / 12 CD Box Set - released 25/Aug/2023 ] Legendary flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal devoted just as much effort to establishing the masterpieces in their rightful place as to unearthing countless works from the baroque, classical and romantic eras. As far as concertos are concerned, cornerstones... |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Canatas / Magnificat BWV243 Jennifer Smith, Anthony Rolf-Johnson, Jose van Dam / Ensemble vocal de Lausanne, Michel Corboz / Scottish Philharmonic Singers, Raymond Leppard [ Erato Collection / CD - released 14/Nov/1995 ] Original recordings from 1979 & 1984 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Cello Sonatas János Starker (cello) & György Sebök (piano) [ Erato / 2 CD - released 15/Feb/2019 ] "The sound is restricted for modern ears, but János Starker and his regular pianist György Sebök play as one, and bring flow, depth and tonal variety to these masterpieces." BBC Music |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jose Cura: Verdi Arias Jose Cura (tenor/conductor) / The Philarmonia Orchestra [ Erato / CD - released 17/Feb/2000 ] "José Cura, the new star in the Tenor sky," wrote the Berliner Morgenpost |
PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO / FRANCESCA CILEA / UMBERTO GIORDANO / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jose Cura: Verismo Jose Cura (tenor/conductor) / The Philarmonia Orchestra [ Erato / CD - released 17/Feb/1999 ] "José Cura, the new star in the Tenor sky," wrote the Berliner Morgenpost recently. |
GIOCOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini Arias Jose Cura (tenor) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Placido Domingo [ Erato / CD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] Original Recording: Air Studios, London, June/July 1997 |
JACK HEGGIE
Heggie: Great Scott (complete opera) Joyce DiDonato, Ailyn Pérez, Frederica von Stade, Nathan Gunn / Orchestra and Chorus of The Dallas Opera, Patrick Summers [ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 25/Jan/2018 ] "[Heggie's] gift for creative partnerships is supreme...The conceit gets DiDonato singing watery pastiche Bellini, scaling coloratura flights, surviving a mad scene and crooning in velvet; all pleasing to hear" Times |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Agrippina (complete opera) Joyce DiDonato, Elsa Benoit, Biagio Pizzuti, Franco Fagioli, Andrea Mastroni, Jakub Józef Orliński / l Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Classics / 3 CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel's Venetian masterpiece." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Opera |
RICHARD STRAUSS / JAKE HEGGIE / CLAUDE DEBUSSY / GUILLAUME LEKEU
Into the Fire: Live at Wigmore Hall Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) / Brentano Quartet [ Erato Classics / CD - released 5/Sep/2018 ] "DiDonato's immaculate voice relishes every vowel sound, Pappano responds with pianistic wit and idiomatic invention. Ad libs and applause are judiciously included. All a delight." The Guardian |
HANDEL / JOMMELLUI / LEO / MONTEVERDI / PURCELL
In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Warner Classics / CD - released 10/Nov/2016 ] "In War & Peace' finds DiDonato back on Baroque ground for the first time in a while, and it's a joyful musical homecoming. ..Drama, as ever with DiDonato, is everything. Ornamentation serves narrative first, ego second." Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 |
IVES / MAHLER / COPLAND / CAVALLI / GLUCK / HANDEL / MYSLIVECEK / etc
Joyce DiDonato - Eden Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) / Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Classics / Warner Classics / CD - released 25/Jan/2022 ] "I'm brought to tearful wonder by the album's close. DiDonato's farewell, 'Ombra mai fù' from Handel's Serse, is a performance so beautiful that it makes your insides ache." Gramophone Editor's Choice March 2022 |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Winterreise Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) Yannick Nézet-Séguin (piano) [ Erato Classics / Warner Classics / CD - released 22/Oct/2021 ] "Her quieter word paintings, ushering in pained memories, can be exquisite. When cold winds arrive, we shiver on cue. And the last song, with the organ-grinder grinding away unheeded on the ice, is as devastating as ever." The Times |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Carmen (complete opera with full libretto) Julia Migenes Johnson, Placido Domingo, Ruggiero Raimondi, Faith Esham / National Orchestra of France, Lorin Maazel [ Erato / CD - released 1/May/1984 ] "Carmen is sung here by Julia Migenes Johnson. Her Habanera is wonderfully shapely and sexy, in a quite light flirty manner. In Act 4 she and Placido Domingo (as Don José) give us a wonderfully dramatic climax to the opera." (MusicWeb) |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (Complete Opera recorded in 1984) Julia Migenes, Placido Domingo, Ruggero Raimondi / National Orchestra of France, Lorin Maazel [ Warner Erato Classics Home of Opera / 2 CD - released 20/May/2016 ] "Maazel's buoyant lightness and edgy rhythmic energy are suitably Gallic, and his principals are visually and vocally compelling." (Gramophone) |
TRADITIONAL / CARESANA / ROSSI / GIRAMO / LEGRENZI / etc
Alla Napoletana L'arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar, with Vincenzo Capezzuto (counter-tenor), João Fernandes (bass), Zachary Wilder (tenor), etc [ Erato Classics / 2 CD - released 29/Oct/2021 ] Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata and eight guest singers explore the musical highways and byways of Naples, the most intoxicating and idiosyncratic of Italy's large cities. Alla Napoletana, a double album, expresses the city's mercurial personality. |
LUIGI ROSSI
Rossi: La Lyra d'Orfeo / Arpa Davidica L'arpeggiata, Véronique Gens (soprano), Philippe Jaroussky, Jakub Józef Orliński (counter-tenors), Christina Pluhar (theorbo), Christina Pluhar (harp) [ Erato / Warner Classics / 3 CD/Book - released 22/Nov/2019 ] The latest album from Christina Pluhar and her instrumental ensemble L'Arpeggiata sheds new light on the chamber cantatas of 17th century Italian composer, Luigi Rossi. |