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LEONCAVALLO / VERDI / MOZART / DONIZETTI / PUCCINI / HANDEL / LEHAR / etc
THRILLING TENOR - Best Loved Opera Arias Piotr BeczaĆa, János Berkes, John Dickie, Marcello Giordani, Vladimir Grishko, Marcus Haddock, Thomas Harper, Kristjan Johannsson, Torsten Kerl, etc [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] It is only since the bel canto era in the 19th century that the tenor voice really took off as a leading character in operatic roles, often playing the heroic figure against a love-interest soprano and a villain baritone. |
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LEONCAVALLO
Pagliacci (Complete Opera recorded in 1971) Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballe & Sherill Milnes / John Alldis Choir & London Symphony Orchestra, Nello Santi [ Sony Opera House / CD - released 20/Feb/2010 ] "...spine-tingling from start to finish. Nello Santi is...full of fire but excellent at eliciting the subtleties of Leoncavallo's score, especially in tandem with Caballé's supremely artistic Stridono lassù...this is a compelling document of... |
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Various Composers
The Essential Placido Domingo (Opera arias, Folk songs & Perhaps Love) SPECIAL PRICE Placido Domingo (tenor) with Renata Scotto, Bo Skovhus, John Denver, etc [ Legacy Records / 2 CD - released 26/Oct/1993 ] This is a definitive double disc collection of the best known and most loved numbers from operatic star Placido Domingo. |
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W.A. MOZART
Coronation Mass Priti Coles (sop) Anna di Mauro (mezzo) John Dickie (tenor) / Capella Cassovia / Johannes Wildner (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2010 ] "A spirited account." BBC Music Magazine |
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SPORTING GAFFES
Sporting Gaffes on Air: broadcasting blunders Radio Show presented by John Inverdale [ BBC Audio / CD - released 9/Oct/2008 ] A collection of BBC broadcasting sporting blunders. |
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Ralph Towner / John Abercrombie
Five Years Later (180g LP) [ ECM Records / LP - released 22/Sep/2008 ] As part of the story of our listening series this historical title has been mastered from original analog sources and reissued in January 2014. |
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MALCOLM ARNOLD
Arnold: Cello Concerto / Saxophone Concerto / Fantasy for Recorder and String Quartet / etc Raphael Wallfisch (cello) John Turner (recorder) / Northern Chamber Orchestra & Manchester Sinfonia, Richard Howarth & Nicholas Ward [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Sep/2011 ] "The disc is a hands-down winner in the Naxos catalogue and slips nicely into the same rank occupied by Penny's symphonies." (MusicWeb Recording of the Month Sept 2011) |
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ZEMLINSKY
Cello Sonata (with works by Goldmark & Korngold) Raphael Wallfisch (cello) / John York (piano) [ Nimbus / CD - released 1/May/2007 ] The compositions on this disc not only present a wide range of recipes for effective and enjoyable chamber music, they also serve as a study in ethics. Is music for culinary delight or spiritual elevation, food for the body or the soul, stuff for the... |
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Ray Brown / John Clayton / Christian Mcbride
Superbass 2 [ Hybrid SACD ] |
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JOHN MILTON
Paradise Lost (Read by Anton Lesser) [ Naxos Audiobooks / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2009 ] Of Man's First Disobedience, and the Fruit of the Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste Brought Death into the World, and all our woe...' Paradise Lost is the greatest epic poem in the English language. In words remarkable for their richness of rhythm... |
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ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Abridged) John Sessions (narrator) [ Naxos Audio Books / 2 CD - released 20/Aug/2009 ] Both a cracking tale of horror and a deeply audacious account of the human psyche, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has continued to thrill and fascinate since it was first published in 1886. Dr Jekyll wants to rid his soul of evil, and in... |
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FRANZ LEHAR
Lehar: Die Lustige Witwe [The Merry widow] (highlights in English) Joan Sutherland, John Brecknock, Francis Egerton, Regina Resnik, John Fryatt / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Turn of the century Paris provides the glittering setting for this operetta, first performed in Vienna in 1905 and here given by a cast lead by Joan Sutherland and also featuring John Brecknock, Valerie Masterson and Werner Krenn. |
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SCHUMANN / WOLF / DEBUSSY / POULENC
Régine Crespin: Song Recital Régine Crespin (soprano), John Wustman (piano) [ Decca Most Wanted Recitals Vol. 11 / CD - released 16/Oct/2016 ] "Arguably the sexiest of classical female singers, Crespin creamily performs German and French songs, and there are four Italian operatic arias as makeweights. This would seduce anyone." (BBC Music) |
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Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave
Wagner - The Mini-Series [ ViaVision Entertainment / 5 DVD Box Set - released 9/Jun/2011 ] A huge panorama of Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 Revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria to the final triumph at Bayreuth. |
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WORDSWORTH / AUDEN / DONNE / BETJEMAN /LONGFELLOW / etc
The Gift of Poetry Richard Burton, Robert Donat, Alec guinness, John Betjeman, Orson Wells, Paul Robeson (narrators) [ Alto / CD - released 19/Apr/2018 ] Over 78 minutes of sustained quality in favourites, all performed by legendary voices. |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Shakespeare In Music & Words Richard Pasco, Vanessa Redgrave, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Sir John Gielgud, Paul Hardwick, Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming & others [ Decca / 2 CD - released 22/Apr/2016 ] To celebrate 400 years of William Shakespeare, Decca presents a 2 disc set of music inspired by the Bard as well as highlights of his greatest written work. |
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GERALD FINZI
A Finzi Anthology Robert Plane (clarinet), Tim Hugh (cello), Roderick Williams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano), James Gilchrist (tenor), John Mark Ainsley (tenor) [ Naxos / 8 CD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] More than any other composer, Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) has come to embody the lyrical pastoralism so associated with English twentieth-century music. This anthology includes eight critically acclaimed recordings of Finzi's works. The themes of... |
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J.S. BACH
Bach: Cantatas Vol 5: BWV178, BWV136, BWV45; BWV46, BWV101, BWV102 Robin Tyson, Brindley Sherratt, Joanne Lunn, Daniel Taylor / Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists / John Elliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 1/Dec/2008 ] John Eliot Gardiner's choral Pilgrimage exploring the magnificence and grandeur of all of Bach's cantatas continues with this 2CD release, combining cantatas for the eighth and tenth Sunday after Trinity, recorded live in August 2000. |
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Roger Eno & Kate St. John
The Familiar [ Hannibal / All Saints / CD - released 29/Jun/2010 ] |
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ALUN HODDINOTT / S. COLERIDGE-TAYLOR / E.J. MOREAN / GERALD FINZI / etc
British String Concertos Rohan de Saram, Raphael Wallfisch (cello), Yfrah Neaman, John Georgiadis, Rodney Friend (violin), Cecil Aronowitz (viola) / Various orchestras [ Lyrita / 4 CD Box Set - released 25/Jun/2015 ] "this is an historic collection for all sorts of reasons. These recordings will be listened to for many years to come. The heyday of Lyrita was an extraordinarily rich period for British music and for performers who were committed to it." (MusicWeb) |