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SIBELIUS
Symphony No 2 / Pohjola's Daughter / The Oceanides Hallé, Sir Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 6/May/2013 ] "under Elder, [Pohjola's Daughter is] a primal folktale rather than an urbane fantasy...[in the Symphony] Elder's elemental strength, relieved by a sense of light and space and the Halle's intense playing, help to make this highly recommendable." (BBC Mus |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 5 & 8 Halle Orchestra, Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 10/Mar/2013 ] 'I cannot think of another conductor around today better equipped to conduct this score than Sir Mark and he didn't disappoint.'[Seen and Heard International] |
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SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No 7 "Leningrad" Halle Orchestra, Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 1/Aug/2014 ] "Elder and the Hallé uncover the sense of despair and surreal absurdity even in the "triumph" of the finale; and while the march is properly violent, many of the solos are played with touching poignancy." (Times) |
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COLIN MATTHEWS
The Debussy Preludes - 24 Preludes for piano orchestrated by Colin Matthews Halle Orchestra, Mark Elder [ Halle / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2010 ] "Debussy's atmospheric piano pieces have been not so much orchestrated as re-imagined by Colin Matthews...much has been gained...in shimmering effects" The Telegraph, 20th August 2010 **** |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 1 'A Sea Symphony' Katherine Broderick (soprano) Roderick Williams (baritone) / Halle Choir, Youth Choir & Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 6/Nov/2015 ] "The superbly honed choral and orchestral contribution surely testifies to many hours of painstaking preparation." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Orchestral) |
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HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / John Osborn, Mariangela Sicilia, Maurizio Muraro, Michèle Losier / Sir Mark Elder (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 5/May/2018 ] "Osborn has all the vocal verve and dash to make the devil-may-care sculptor the constant centre of attention. Mariangela Sicilia uses her fearless, technically brilliant vocalism to sustain his beloved Teresa's vibrant personality…a musical treat" |
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ELGAR
Alphabicycle Order / Horn Concerto Henry Goodman (narrator) Richard Watkins (horn) / Halle Youth Choir & Orchestra / Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 1/Nov/2008 ] "Alphabicycle Order might not be Matthews's most serious work but it is an extraordinarily accomplished one. Brilliantly diverse in its musical language. Alphabicycle Order is a textbook example of how to write for diverse forces in a meaningful,... |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Oda (Alone) complete score of the silent film Irina Mataeva (sop) Anna Kiknadze (mezzo) Dmitry Voropaev (tenor) / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Mark Fitz-Gerald [ Naxos Film Music Classics / CD - released 19/Jan/2008 ] Set in late 1920s Leningrad and then in the Altai Mountains in Russian Mongolia, Shostakovich's second film ODNA (ALONE) features a dazzling score for a huge orchestra including a banda (8 brass band instruments), theremin, (Shostakovich was one of... |
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Antonín DvoĆák, Emmerich Kálmán, Franz Lehár, Franz Liszt etc
La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland Isabel Bayrakdarian (soprano), Mark Fewer (violin), Juan-Miguel Hernandez (viola) [ Avie / CD - released 20/May/2022 ] Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has travelled far and wide, as an international opera star and an Armenian who was born in Lebanon, immigrated to Canada, and is now settled in southern California. Her life is a journey that informs her new recording... |
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HANDEL / VIVALDI / PURCELL
Dido's Lament - Famous Baroque Arias John-Mark Ainsley / Gillian Fisher / Michael George / James Bowman / Robert King / King's Consort [ ALTO / CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] Essential Baroque arias with period instrument accompaniment |
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ARAM KHACHATURIAN
Khachaturian: Violin Concerto in D minor (with Shostakovich - Quartets) James Ehnes (violin) Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mark Wigglesworth / Ehnes Quartet [ Onyx / CD - released 10/May/2014 ] "Ehnes' urgent and energetic finale [of the Khachaturian] is full of gypsy spirit and freshness without feeling too sweet-toothed...This rather unusual mix of concerto and chamber music only serves to increase the desirability of this release." (MW) |
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STRAVINSKY
Octet / L’Histoire du Soldat Jan Opalach (narrator) / Eastman Wind Ensemble & Eastman Virtuosi, Mark Scatterday [ Avie / CD - released 1/Apr/2013 ] "Avie has recorded them in an intimate, dryish space at the Eastman School of Music in New York, recalling the atmosphere on the old Robert Craft Stravinsky discs, but the playing is more sharply focused than one recalls from that era." [The Sunday... |
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LENNOX BERKELEY
Ruth Op. 50 (complete opera) Jean Rigby (mezzo-soprano) Mark Tucker (tenor) Yvonne Kenny (soprano) Claire Rutter (soprano) Roderick Williams (baritone) / Joyful Company of Singers [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 3/May/2005 ] Premiere recording of Sir Lennox Berkeley's opera Ruth. |
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Acis and Galatea (complete opera) Jeremy Budd, Grace Davidson, Stuart Young, Mark Dobell / The Sixteen, Harry Christophers [ Coro / 2 CD - released 10/Nov/2019 ] "As is not uncommon in Acis, honours here are stolen by the splendidly virile but not entirely unsympathetic Polyphemus of Stuart Young, while the pure cantabile lines of Grace Davidsons's sweetly vulnerable Galatea also give much pleasure." Opera |
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SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No.14 Op.135 for soprano, bass and chamber orchestra Joan Rodgers (soprano) John Tomlinson (bass) / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Mark Wigglesworth [ BIS / CD - released 10/Apr/2005 ] "Mark Wigglesworth delivers an exceptionally coherent interpretation supported by fine and idiomatic singing from both soloists...compelling...shattering." - Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music (Oct 2001) |
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GABRIEL FAURE
The Complete Songs of Fauré, Vol. 4 John Mark Ainsley, Iestyn Davies, Lorna Anderson, John Chest / Malcolm Martineau (piano) [ Signum / CD - released 9/Jul/2021 ] "Chest performs Fauré's final four-song cycle, L'horizon chimérique (1921), with the kind of elegance and cool passion this music demands: a fitting close to an excellent series." The Guardian |
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BRITTEN
Billy Budd (complete opera recorded in 2010) John Mark Ainsley / Jacques Imbrailo / Phillip Ens / Glyndebourne Chorus / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Mark Elder [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 8/Aug/2011 ] "[Elder paces] the developing tragedy with airily lyrical detail and brooding, ominous power. John Mark Ainsley' s plangent, dark-toned tenor and intense diction show us a more neurotic Vere than usual, ridden with doubts and anxieties" (The Times) |
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POULENC
Complete Songs Vol. 3 John Mark Ainsley / Lorna Anderson / Sarah Fox / Jonathan Lemalu / Lisa Milne / Malcolm Martineau [ Signum / CD - released 20/Jan/2012 ] "Martineau's apparently limitless wisdom about the musicians, the music, and indeed the piano continues at full stretch. The uneasy postlude to 'Voyage', frmo Calligrammes, makes for one of his most breathtaking moments, but the level of intensity is... |
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J.S. BACH
St John Passion [complete oratorio recorded in 1996] John Mark Ainsley / Stephen Richardson / Catherine Bott / Michael Chance / Paul Agnew / Stephen Varcoe / Choir Of King'S College, Cambridge [ Brilliant Classics Musica Sacra / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] 'There are fine contributions especially from Stephen Varcoe, and an exceptionally immediate and affecting 'Es ist vollbracht' from Michael Chance.' Gramophone |
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BEETHOVEN
Lieder und Gesange John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Iain Burnside (piano) [ Signum / CD - released 20/Jul/2009 ] "...well worth hearing, especially in committed, sensitive performances such as these. Excellent sound and booklet notes complete the attractions of this welcome disc." (MusicWeb June 2009) |