GLASS / BARBER / TOWER
The American Virtuoso Paul Barnes (solo piano) [ Orange Mountain Music / CD - released 5/Jun/2008 ] The American Virtuoso presents a recital by American pianist Paul Barnes. Orange Mountain Music releases this new disc of virtuosic piano music by American composers including the world premiere recording of Barnes' transcription of Philip Glass'... |
VIVALDI / BIGAGLIA / GASPERINI / ANONYMOUS
Anonimo Venexian Inês d'Avena (recorder) Claudio Ribeiro (harpsichord [solo]) [ Ramee / CD - released 20/Mar/2020 ] "this is another compelling performance of repertoire of high quality. Ms d'Avena produces a beautiful tone, her playing is strongly gestural and based on a thorough knowledge of musical rhetorics." MusicWeb Recommended |
PURCELL
Anthems and Services Vol 6 Nicholas Witcomb (solo treble) James Bowman (countertenor) Rogers Covey-Crump (high tenor) Paul Agnew (tenor) / Choir of New College, Oxford / King [ Hyperion / CD - released 26/Jan/2008 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (pre 1700) - 'No fewer than five first recordings in this ... Fans of Purcell will find this disc, Iike the others in the series, indispensable' (Fanfare, USA) |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
The Best Of Puccini Miriam Gauci (solo soprano), Alexander Rahbari (conductor), Thomas Harper (solo tenor), Michael Halasz (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jun/1997 ] From 'In quelle trine morbide' from Manon Lascaut, to 'Nessun Dorma' from Turandot this is an excellent selection of Puccini classics |
JAMES DILLON
Book of Elements (I-V) Noriko Kawai (piano solo) [ NMC / 2 CD - released 15/Oct/2005 ] Gramophone Magazine Award Finalist 2005 - Contemporary |
LEONARDO BALADA
Caprichos Nos. 2, 3 & 4 Andrés Cárdenes (solo violin) / Jeffrey Turner (double bass) / Pittsburgh Sinfonietta / Lawrence Loh [ Naxos Spanish Classics / CD - released 13/Mar/2011 ] "A contemporary Spanish voice that ably blends modernity and the past without compromise.... If proof were required that significant Spanish, post-Rodrigo compositional life exists, and that it is influenced by, though not obsessed with Spain's past,... |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Nocturnes (with Ravel: Sheherazade) Ulster Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier, with Linda DFinnie (mezzo) & Colin Fleming (solo flute) [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Feb/1990 ] 'What a glorious instrument the Ulster Orchestra is in Torteliers hands - eloquent principals in every section and supple consummate ensemble in this most subtle and flexible of repertoire…' American Record Guide |
DECODING SKIN
Decoding Skin (works by Paul Whitty, Xenakis, Finnissy & Feldman) Philip Howard (solo piano) [ Divine Art / CD - released 20/Jun/2008 ] "A fine début, with the many repertoire challenges within eloquently and skilfully met... Philip Howard plays to his strengths on this auspicious recorded début… this striking... programme augurs well for Philip Howard's future"(Gramophone) |
DEBBIE WISEMAN
Different Voices Hayley Westenra (solo voice) Stephen Fry (narrator) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Debbie Wiseman [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Nov/2008 ] '"How about composing a new Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra?" suggested Ian Maclay, the General Manager of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I've always loved composing for full symphony orchestra, so this was a challenge that simply had to be... |
SIR EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: The Music Makers / The Spirit of England Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Staples (solo tenor), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Nov/2018 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Choral |
GERALD FINZI
Grand Fantasia & Toccata / Eclogue / Nocturne / etc. Rodney Friend (solo violin) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult (conductor, Peter Katin (piano) New Philharmonia Orchestra, Vernon Handley (co [ Lyrita / CD - released 12/Apr/2007 ] "Superb sound and Diana McVeagh's astute notes cap a mandatory purchase for lovers of the English muse, and of course for Finzi lovers in particular." (MusicWeb Recording of the Month Oct 2007) |
HANDEL
Organ Concertos, Op. 4 Nos. 1-6, HWV289-294 Ottavio Dantone (solo organ & conductor), Stefano Montanari (violin) & Marco Frezzato (cello) / Accademia Bizantina [ Decca L'Oiseau Lyre / CD - released 13/Apr/2009 ] "…Handel's organ concertos… benefit from strong gestures and an overall brightness of approach that reaches out to the listener. Ottavio Dantone and Accademia Bizantina achieved these with ease, first of all by using a six-stop chamber organ with more bit |
Mungo's Hi-Fi (Featuring Eek-a-Mouse, Solo Banton & Ruben da Silva)
Hire and Removal Refix / Kung Fu Know How (12" Single) [ Scrub a Dub / 12in - released 4/May/2012 ] |
PHILIP GLASS
Music from 'The Hours' Michael Riesman (solo piano) [ Orange Mountain Music / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] Philip Glass' score for Stephen Daldry's film "The Hours" contains some of the most emotional, lyrical and haunting music Glass has produced. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Il Cembalo Transalpino Sophie Yates (solo harpsichord) [ Chandos Chaconne / CD - released 3/May/2019 ] All the music in this programme comes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and most of it was collected by its founder, Richard, Seventh Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion (1745 - 1816). A polymath, lover of music, amateur composer and... |
STEVE REICH
Kuniko Plays Reich: Electric Counterpoint, Six Marimbas and Vermont Counterpoint (arranged for tape and percussion solo) Kuniko (solo marimba and vibraphone) [ Linn / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Dec/2011 ] "All these studio works involve vast amounts of pre-recording to refine their pleasing results, none more so than Six Marimbas Counterpoint which involves five pre-recorded tracks behind a solo line. It's a hypnotic and strangely calming experience."... |
PHILIP GLASS
La Belle Et La Bête (The Beauty and the Beast) Michael Riesman (solo piano) [ Orange Mountain Music / CD - released 10/Sep/2015 ] Following the recent successful albums of his transcriptions of music by Philip Glass, pianist Michael Riesman presents a new album of solo transcriptions and arrangements from Philip Glass's opera Beauty and the Beast. In Glass's music, the power of... |
JEAN-MARIE LECLAIR
Leclair: Violin Concertos Fabio Biondi (solo violin & direction) / Europa Galante [ Glossa / CD - released 10/Jul/2017 ] "All in all, Leclair couldn't have been displayed in a more warmly faithful light." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice, July 2017 |
MANU MARTIN
Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra Susan Lim & Christina Teenz Tan (creators) Tedd Joelson (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Fagen / London Voices / Matthieu Eymard (solo voic [ Signum / CD - released 2/Apr/2021 ] Armonico Consort return to Signum with a collection of Handel arias, performed by leading counter-tenor William Towers. A noted soloist in both opera and oratorio, the programme is taken from roles which Towers has sung across his career in various... |
PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
Maxwell Davies: Linguae Ignis / Vesalii Icones / Fantasia on a Ground and Two Pavans Vittorio Ceccanti (solo cello) / Contempoartensemble / Mauro Ceccanti [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2011 ] "Vesalii Icones is one of Peter Maxwell Davies's supreme achievements." (The Guardian) |