PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (complete ballet recorded in 2011) BLU-RAY Amsterdam Music Theatre / Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, James Stout / Ermanno Florio [ Arthaus Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] Choreographers Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling created a Nutcracker for the children and adults of today. It is more dynamic and exciting, and less sweet than usual. |
Fairport Convention & Matthew's Southern Comfort
Live in Maidstone 1970 (The Soundtrack From Tony Palmer's Film) [ Tony Palmer / CD - released 14/Jun/2010 ] |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream (recorded live at Shakespeare's Globe, August 2013) Globe / John Light, Pearce Quigley, Michelle Terry, Luke Thompson, Matthew Tennyson / Dominic Dromgoole (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Aug/2014 ] Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius - but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia… When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods. |
FRANCIS POTT
Pott: At First Light / Word Joseph Spooner (Cello) Christian Wilson (Organ) / Commotio, Matthew Berry [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jul/2020 ] "Every now and then you hear a new work and feel that excitement, the knowledge that here is a piece that is going to become part of the landscape." Gramophone Editor's Choice Sept 2020 . |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Magnificat & Christmas Cantata 63: Reconstruction of Bach's first Christmas Vespers in Leipzig Julia Doyle, Joanne Lunn, Clare Wilkinson, Nicholas Mulroy, Matthew Brook / Dunedin Consort, John Butt [ Linn SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 16/Oct/2015 ] 'This is a beautifully paced, exhilaratingly executed performance' (Choral & Song Choice BBC Music Christmas 2015) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart Momentum - 1785 Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Truscott (violin), Joel Hunter (viola), Frank-Michael Guthmann (cello) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 28/May/2021 ] 'Socially distanced they may have been but the camaraderie that was so evident in their groundbreaking Beethoven cycle with Leif Ove Andsnes is, if anything, even more apparent here.' Gramophone Recording of the Month June 2021 |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Messiah (Complete oratorio) Lucy Crowe (soprano), Alex Potter (counter-tenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The English Concert & Choir, John Nelson [ Erato CDs + DVD / 3 CD/DVD - released 24/Nov/2023 ] The American conductor John Nelson, especially famed for his interpretations of Berlioz, conducted Handel's most celebrated oratorio at Coventry Cathedral in the heart of England in November 2022. |
Matthew Marshall
Brighter Than Blue [ Rattle Records / CD - released 20/Nov/2020 ] This new album by classical guitarist Matthew Marshall features world premiere recordings of music written by New Zealand composers. Primarily an album of duos, the album starts with Philip Norman's six-part Tense Melodies for guitar and flute... |
MATTHEW MARSHALL
Fragments Matthew Marshall (guitar) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] This wonderful album of music written specifically for classical guitar by some of New Zealand's finest composers features classical guitarist Matthew Marshall in a set of recordings made by Radio New Zealand producers and engineers, 1993 - 1995. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Royal Ballet: Pas de deux The Royal Ballet / Sarah Lamb, Mara Galeazzi, Tamara Rojo, Carlos Acosta, Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova, Matthew Golding, Roberta Marquez, etc [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Nov/2018 ] This unique collection celebrates the pas de deux: the 'steps for two' or partner dances so central to ballets both modern and classical. It brings together 16 exceptional pas de deux from The Royal Ballet's unequalled repertory. |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (complete ballet recorded in 2019) BLU-RAY Royal Ballet / Yasmine Naghdi, Matthew Ball, Valentino Zucchetti / Pavel Sorokin (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 28/May/2021 ] Kenneth MacMillan's passionate choreography for Romeo and Juliet shows The Royal Ballet at its dramatic finest. Sergey Prokofiev's famously evocative score is the driver for some of the most ardent pas de deux and powerful set pieces in ballet... |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: L'Enfance du Christ Yann Beuron, Karen Cargill, William Dazeley, Matthew Rose & Peter Rose, LSO & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis [ Alto / 2 CD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] Disc of the Year: Financial Times & New York Times "Beuron, probably today's finest lyric tenor, gives the performance an essential idiomatic core in his narration ... [Tenebrae are] dramatically alert and glowing as stained glass, the angelic... |
ANTHONY RITCHIE
New Zealand Poets in Song Anna Leese (soprano) Matthew Leese (piano) [ Ode Records / CD - released 20/Oct/2008 ] New Zealand Poets In Song is the latest release featuring the music of Anthony Ritchie. The songs on this recording span 26 years, and signify many happy collaborations between Anthony Ritchie and various New Zealand poets. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Don Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, John Del Carlo / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophone Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 26/May/2011 ] A red hot ticket at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010/2011 was Donizetti's comic gem, Don Pasquale, with Anna Netrebko reviving Norina, the part that made her a star in New York. |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: Don Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 2010) Metropolitan Opera / Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, John Del Carlo / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophone DVD / DVD - released 26/May/2011 ] A red hot ticket at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010/2011 was Donizetti's comic gem, Don Pasquale, with Anna Netrebko reviving Norina, the part that made her a star in New York. |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
St Nicolas / Hymn to St Cecilia Anthony Rolf Johnson (tenor) Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best (conductor) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 1/Nov/2009 ] "A fresh and atmospheric account of Britten's colourful cantata" Penguin Guide |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil, Op 37 ('Vespers') Corydon Singers / Matthew Best [ Hyperion 30 / CD - released 1/Sep/2010 ] 'A memorable version of Rachmaninov's masterpiece, most beautifully sung and balanced, with rich and varied tone, and some outstanding soloists... buy this album immediately' (Musical Opinion) |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb / A Wedding Anthem / Festival te Deum / A Boy was Born Corydon Singers, Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 17/Nov/2007 ] 'This beautifully made record deserves the widest circulation. The sound these choirs make is of great beauty, and is captured in a flawless recording full of atmosphere and warmth' (The Monthly Guide to Recorded Music) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom Opus 31 Peter Scorer (deacon) / Corydon Singers / Matthew Best (conductor) [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Dec/1995 ] 'Outstanding. A performance that is at once perceptive, sympathetic and finely sung' (Gramophone) |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress (Complete opera recorded in 2010) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Miah Persson, Topi Lehtipuu, Matthew Rose / Vladimir Jurowski (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Apr/2012 ] "It is hard to imagine a Tom Rakewell who looks the part better than the lanky, almost adolescent Topi Lehtipuu, his wide-eyed innocence an open invitation to corruption, and he sings the role with elegance." (Gramophone) |
Jack Dejohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison
In Movement [ ECM / CD - released 6/May/2016 ] There is a lot of history concentrated in Jack DeJohnette's adventurous new trio. Fifty years ago, as a guest with John Coltrane's group, Jack DeJohnette played with the fathers of Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, and the program of In Movement... |
ANTONIN DVORAK
The Dvorak Album Jan Vogler (cello). Chad Hoopes (violin), Matthew Lipman (viola), Juho Pohjonen (Piano), Tiffany Poon (piano), Kevin Zhu (violin) [ Sony Classics / CD - released 23/Aug/2022 ] "The choice of pieces here gives us a nice array of Dvořák chamber repertoire...selections like the Dumky are well-worth the listen." TheClassicReview |
GERALD FINZI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Finzie: Dies Natalis / Intimations of Immortality John Mark Ainsley (tenor) / Corydon Singers / Corydon Orchestra / Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 10/Feb/2015 ] Gerald Finzi likened the creative artist to a 'coral reef insect, building his reef out of the transitory world around him and making a solid structure to last long after his own fragile and uncertain life'. 'Fragile' and 'uncertain' are the key... |
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Gershwin in Hollywood - Live at the Royal Albert Hall The John Wilson Orchestra, with Louise Dearman & Matthew Ford [ Warner classics / CD - released 28/Apr/2016 ] The John Wilson Orchestra follow up their acclaimed Cole Porter in Hollywood album with this tribute to America's iconic songsmith team - the Brothers Gershwin - and their successes for the silver screen. |
AMY BEACH / FLORENCE PRICE / SAMUEL BARBER
American Quintets Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, with Matthew Rose (bass) [ Chandos / CD - released 28/May/2021 ] "The hit, undoubtedly, is the premiere recording of Price's structurally lopsided but endearing A minor Quintet...And the icing on the cake? The Collective's vigour and warmth." BBC Music Magazine Awards 2022 Shortlisted - Chamber |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 [German Requiem] (with works by Schutz) Katharine Fuge (soprano), Matthew Brook (bass) / Monteverdi Choir / Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / CD - released 20/May/2012 ] "You know you're in safe hands with the Monteverdis and the pitch-perfect top A at 2'04''...absolutely confirms it...a minutely considered, dramatic and, in places, aptly disturbing performance." (Gramophone Editor's Choice May 2012) |
Matthew A. Felton
Reflection (Piano Solos) [ CD - released 2/Dec/1999 ] |
SIR JOHN TAVENER
Tavener: The Protecting Veil Matthew Barley (cello), Sukhvinder 'Pinky' Singh (tabla), Olwyn Fouéré, Julie Christie (speakers), Sinfonietta Rīga [ Signum / CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "I suspect those who come across the work for the first time via this latest release, will not find another performance out there which would give them quite the same feeling of intensity and spiritual uplift." MusicWeb |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty: A Gothic Romance Directed & Choreographed by Matthew Bourne [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 4/Oct/2013 ] With his fresh, fun take on "Sleeping Beauty," choreographer Matthew Bourne has breathed life into an old classic-and likely awakened a legion of new ballet fans. |
Matthew Goody
Needles and Plastic: Flying Nun Records, 1981-88 [ Auckland University Press / Book - released 11/Nov/2022 ] Needles and Plastic is a fully illustrated account of Flying Nun, the bands and the songs from 1981-1988 - the critical early years, when the label was based in Christchurch and getting records pressed in New Zealand. |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Reflections Matthew Jones (violin and viola) & Annabel Thwaite (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Aug/2014 ] "There isn't a single dud item here...Jones's playing of both instruments enthrals. His viola tone is different from the turbocharged massiveness of many of today's soloists; instead he searches out the instrument's capacity for gentle light and shad |
HERBERT HOWELLS
Howells: Piano Music, Vol. 1 [Incls Harlequin Dreaming & Summer Idyls] Matthew Schellhorn (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jul/2020 ] With this album, Matthew Schellhorn sheds new light on Herbert Howells as a truly significant 20th-century composer for the piano. From the charming Summer Idyls, written before the composer began studies at the Royal College of Music, to the mature... |
JENNIFER HIGDON
Higdon: Duo Duel / Concerto for Orchestra Matthew Strauss, Svet Stoyanov (percussion) / Houston Symphony, Robert Spano [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 18/Aug/2023 ] Pulitzer Prize- and three-time GRAMMY award-winning composer, Jennifer Higdon, continues to write what the Chicago Sun-Times describes as music "both modern and timeless". |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL, arr. Paul Mills
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel's Young Messiah Matthew Ward, Cynthia Clawson, First Baptist Church, Norkolk, Virginia, Young Messiah Orchestra, with Barry McGuire (narrator) [ WLIW / CD - released 11/Nov/2006 ] THE YOUNG MESSIAH gives Handel's choral masterpiece an exciting modern interpretation - predominantly gospel in tone, and also integrating soul. |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini:Norma (complete opera recorded in 2017) Metropolitan Opera / Joyce DiDonato, Sondra Radvanovsky, Joseph Calleja, Matthew Rose / Carlo Rizzi (cond) [ Erato DVD / 2 DVD - released 15/Nov/2018 ] In the Met's 2017-18 season, powerhouse soprano Sondra Radvanovsky tackled one of opera's most fearsome roles, the title druid priestess of Bellini's Norma, who wrestles with love and betrayal before making the ultimate sacrifice on a funeral pyre. |
VINCENZO BELLINI
Bellini:Norma (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Joyce DiDonato, Sondra Radvanovsky, Joseph Calleja, Matthew Rose / Carlo Rizzi (cond) [ Erato Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Nov/2018 ] To open the Met's 2017-18 season, powerhouse soprano Sondra Radvanovsky tackled one of opera's most fearsome roles, the title druid priestess of Bellini's Norma, who wrestles with love and betrayal before making the ultimate sacrifice on a funeral... |
STEPHEN WILKINSON
The Sunlight On the Garden Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Clare Wilkinson (mezzo-soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass) [ Signum / CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] One of the UK's leading choral directors for over 50 years, Stephen Wilkinson MBE has led both professional and amateur choirs across Europe, and is particularly renowned for his work with the BBC Northern Singers and the William Byrd Singers of... |
MEL BROOKS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brooks: The Producers Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick / Original Broadway Cast Recording [ Sony Classical / CD - released 1/Jan/2001 ] The Producers is a musical with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, and a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. It is adapted from Brooks's 1967 film of the same name. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos & Sinfonia Concertante Rachel Barton Pine (violin) / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, with Matthew Lipman (viola) [ Avie / 2 CD - released 18/Apr/2015 ] "there is much to enjoy in Barton Pine's sensitive, finely honed performances, especially of Nos. 4 & 5 (plenty of temperament in the latter's 'Turkish' eruption). With a nod to period performance, she articulates crisply and uses vibrato modestly." |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Ballets - Swan Lake / The Nutcracker / Sleeping Beauty (recorded 2015 - 2017) Royal Ballet / Natalia Osipova, Matthew Golding, Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov, Lauren Cuthbertson, Federico Bonelli, etc [ Opus Arte DVD / 3 DVD Box Set - released 12/Dec/2018 ] This special collection includes three Royal Ballet performances of Tchaikovsky's beloved masterpieces: Anthony Dowell's majestic production of Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty in its detailed re-creation by Monica.Mason, and the classic 'Nutcracker'. |