VASKS / WEILL
Violin Concertos Anthony Marwood, violin / Academy of St. Martin in the Field [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Nov/2005 ] 'Anthony Marwood has championed the Vasks over a number of years and delivers a wonderfully moving and intense performance of the solo part. The strings of the ASMF are responsive partners … Their colleagues in the wind, brass and percussion... |
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 ***** |
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 |
ARTHUR BLISS / WILLIAM WALTON
Bliss / Walton: Violin Concertos Lorraine McAslan (violin) / BBC Concert Orchestra, Martin Yates [ Dutton Epoch SACD / CD - released 20/Feb/2018 ] "McAslan's response to the solo part's Heifetz-satisfying technical demands is as fine as her bombproof tuning and warm, not over-sumptuous tone and expression." BBC Music |
PAUL TORTELIER
Paul Tortelier - Hommage to (Double Concerto, Suite in D minor & Offrande) Arto Noras, Maud Martin Tortelier, Paul Tortelier, BBC Ph. Yan Pascal Tortelier [ Chandos Historical / CD - released 15/Jan/2001 ] Paul Tortelier and his family all feature on this unique disc, masterminded by his violinist and conductor son Yan Pascal, released on the tenth anniversary of the death of Paul Tortelier. |
ARNOLD BAX
Bax: Piano Works, Vol. 4-Music for 2 Pianos Ashley Wass, Martin Roscoe (pianos) [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Oct/2007 ] "If you know orchestral Bax you will have the measure of these scores. They are just as colourful and seductive and come across with so much life and sparkle that even the anti-Bax brigade must succumb to their manifold charms. Of course the success... |
JEAN-MICHEL DAMASE
Symphonie / Piano & Flute Concertos Ashley Wass (piano) Anna Noakes (flute) / BBC Concert Orchestra, Martin Yates [ Dutton / CD - released 20/Sep/2014 ] Why don't we know about French composer Jean- Michel Damase who died in 2013 at the age of 85? Martin Yates' exploration of Damase's music for Dutton Epoch is a triumph, revealing an appealing composer in the vein of Poulenc and Honegger. Ashley Wass... |
SCHUBERT
'Trout' Quintet / Adadio & Rondo Concertante Academy of St martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble [ Chandos / CD - released 14/Oct/2002 ] The Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was created in 1967 to perform the larger chamber works-from quintets to octets-with players who customarily work together, instead of the usual string quartet with additional guests. |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Orchestral Suites Nos. 1-4, BWV1066-1069 William Bennett (flute), Thurston Dart (continuo) / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner [ Decca / CD - released 2/Feb/2004 ] Originally recorded in 1970 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Music for London: Music for a historial city Band of the Welsh Guards / Harlow Chorus / Band of the Army Air Corps / Sara Stowe & Martin Souter [ Britannia / Gift of Music / CD - released 20/Jun/2011 ] A musical tour of London's sights, with an atmospheric piece of music for every one. A fine reminder of a great city, from band music for changing the guard to Lloyd Webber in theatre land, and from soaring church music to popular songs from the East... |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Gurrelieder Barbara Haveman, Claudia Mahnke, Brandon Jovanovich, Gerhard Siegel, Thomas Bauer, Johannes Martin Kränzle (speaker) / Kartäuserkantorei Köln [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 25/Jul/2015 ] "Excellent performances throughout from orchestra, soloists and choruses - rarely have the lush textures of Schoenberg's late-Romantic cantata sounded this fresh." (Gramophone Award WINNER 2016 - Choral) |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Gloria in D, RV589 (with Bach - Magnificat in D BWV243) Barbara Hendricks, Ann Murray, Jean Rigby, Uwe Heilmann / Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields / Sir Neville Marriner [ Warner Classics Inspiration / CD - released 1/Jun/2018 ] "Barbara Hendricks and Ann Murray are the admirably paired soloists in Vivaldi's Gloria; both bring beauty of line and a feeling of élan. Hendricks and Murray recur in Bach's Magnificat along with Jean Rigby, Uwe Heillman and Jorma Hynninen" MusWeb |
W. A. MOZART / ANTONIO ROSETTI
Die Schonsten Horn Konzerte (Best-Loved Horn Concertos) Barry Tuckwell (horn) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner / English Chamber Orchestra, Barry Tuckwell [ Warner Classics Inspiration / CD - released 13/Jun/2014 ] "The Academy strings sound very fresh and dance beautifully in the allegros... this reissue can be strongly recommended on all counts." - Gramophone on the Mozart |
MICHAEL HAYDN
Horn Concerto / 6 Minuets / Duo Concertante / netc Barry Tuckwell (horn) Simon Preston (organ) / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Feb/2012 ] "The neatest of orchestral playing informs these performances: alert strings, restrained wind, and enterprising harpsichord" (Gramophone) |
ARNOLD BAX
Octet / String Quintet / Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Harp, and String Quartet / etc Margaret Fingerhut (piano) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Oct/2010 ] In Memoriam, originally subtitle 'An Irish Elegy', is scored for cor anglais, harp and string quartet. The music is announced, bard-like, by the harp, with a repeated spread chordal motif; the cor anglais immediately sounds the folk-like main theme,... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (complete opera recorded live in 2008) Bayreuth Festival / Michael Volle, Klaus Florian Vogt, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Anne Schwanewilms / Philippe Jordan (cond) [ Deutsche DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Jun/2019 ] "The performances of the cast are of a high standard dramatically and mostly musically. Volle now paces himself well and Lehmkuhl is a magical and unclichéd Magdalene." Gramophone |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Canticles I-V Ben Johnson (tenor) James Baillieu (piano), Christopher Ainslie (countertenor), Benedict Nelson (baritone), Martin Owen (horn) & Lucy Wakeford (harp) [ Signum / CD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] As part of the celebration Britten's Centenary in 2013, this new recording presents Britten's five Canticles, performed by tenor Ben Johnson with James Baillieu accompanying. |
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore
Dear Companion [ Sub Pop Records / CD - released 15/Mar/2010 ] 'Dear Companion' explores the musician's ties to the place they love and aims to draw attention to the problem of Mountaintop Removal coal mining (MTR) and its impact on the people and heritage of central Appalachia. |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (with works by Mozart, Schubert & MacMillan) Nicola Benedetti (violin) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, James MacMillan [ Decca / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] "Sparkling, poetic playing that confirms Benedetti's formidable talent. From Ayrshire, written for her by MacMillan… prompts Benedetti to some passionate playing, inspired by melodic lines geared to show off her special qualities." Gramophone |
Benny Carter, Oscar Peterson, with Joe Pass, Dave Young & Martin Drew
Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson [ Original Jazz Classics / CD - released 3/Oct/1995 ] What would in any other instance be a potent Jazz at the Philharmonic meeting of the minds, the pairing of Oscar Peterson and Benny Carter in the studio turns out to be a neat and trim session of mutual respect between these two titans of American... |