GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Jephtha - oratorio in three acts John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Michael George (bass) Catherine Denley (mezzo-soprano) RIA Kammerchor . Akademie fer Alte Musik Berlin. Marcus Creed [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD - released 14/Aug/2005 ] "this new recording, at super budget price, allows us to appreciate a new team of soloists. And for those who do not know this moving work, this new recording is a good place to start exploring." (MusicWeb July 2003) |
GERALD FINZI
Best of Finzi (Incls music from the Cello Concerto & Clarinet Concerto) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Peter Donohoe (piano) Tim Hugh (cello) Robert Plane (clarinet) / Northern Sinfonia / St. John's College Choir, Cambridge [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] Gerald Finzi made an important contribution to British twentieth-century song, choral and orchestral repertoire. His acute awareness of the frailty of existence found its musical expression not only in his song settings, but in the Cello Concerto,... |
PETER WARLOCK
Songs John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Hyperion Helios / CD ] "Whether you collect tenors, English music or simply good singing, don't be without this" (BBC Music) |
ROGER QUILTER
Songs John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Jul/2010 ] John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Malcolm Martineau (piano) |
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Songs (Incls 'On Wenlock Edge' for tenor, piano & string quartet / 10 Blake Songs) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) the Nash Ensemble [ Hyperion / CD - released 20/Sep/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - 'John Mark Ainsley's performance is among his best on record in these austerely beautiful, imaginatively scored settings' - Gramophone |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Highlights from the operettas John Mark Ainsley / Thomas Allen / Rebecca Evans / Felicity Palmer / Richard Suart / Welsh National Opera / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Telarc Classics / CD - released 1/Nov/2005 ] "...this anthology is a delight." -Daily Press (Newport News, VA) |
DEBUSSY
Pelleas and Melisande (Complete Opera in English recorded in 1981) John Tomlinson (bass) Sarah Walker (mezzo) Robert Dean (baritone) / English National Opera / Mark Elder [ Chandos / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Jan/2012 ] This live BBC broadcast of Claude Debussy's ground-breaking opera Pelléas and Mélisande was recorded at the Coliseum in 1981. The unique performance is now available on CD for the first time, as part of Chandos' Opera in English historical series,... |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'Ange de Nisida (complete opera) Joyce El-Khoury, David Junghoon Kim, Laurent Naouri, Vito Priante / Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Sir Mark Elder [ Opera Rara / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2019 ] Opera Rara presents, 179 years after it was written, the world premiere recording of a Donizetti 'lost' masterpiece, restored and brought thrillingly back to life. Written in 1839 for the Theâtre de la Renaissance in Paris, rehearsals started but the... |
FELIX & FANNY MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn, (Felix & Fanny): Vom Himmel hoch, MWV A 22 / Gartenlieder, Op.3 / Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Op.60, MWV D 3 Julia Doyle (soprano) Mark Le Brocq (tenor) Ashley Riches (baritone) / Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players, David Temple [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 23/Feb/2024 ] "There's a wonderful breadth to the sound caught in St Jude-on-the-Hill in Hampstead Garden Suburb by the Chandos team. This new recording is surely the new benchmark." Gramophone |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Partenope, HWV 27 (complete opera) Karina Gauvin, Philippe Jaroussky, John Mark Ainsley, Teresa Iervolino / Il Pomo d'Oro, Riccardo Minasi [ Erato / Virgin Records / 3 CD Box Set - released 5/Nov/2015 ] Handel's sparkling opera Partenope reunites Erato' star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and the captivating Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin, who both made such an impact in the Erato recording of Steffani's rediscovered opera Niobe, released in early... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (complete opera recorded in 2009) Katarina Dalayman / Lars Cleveman / Attila Jun / Andrew Shore / Peter Coleman-Wright / BBC Symphony Chorus / The Halle Orchestra / Mark Elder [ Halle / 5 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/2010 ] "It's the most compelling and best-cast Götterdämmerung on disc since Barenboim's from Bayreuth" Gramophone Awards 2010 WINNER - Opera |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Clovis et Clotilde / Te Deum Katarina Jovanovic (soprano) / Philippe Do (tenor) / Mark Schnaible (bass) / Orchestre National de Lille / Jean-Claude Casadesus [ Naxos / CD - released 27/Jan/2011 ] "There are many moments to cherish, notably Clotilde's prayer, starting on an exquisitely delicate pianissimo." Gramophone Magazine, February 2011 |
JOSEPH HOLBROOKE
Holbrooke:Violin Concerto 'The Grasshopper' (Violin Sonata No. 2), Op. 59 / Violin Sonata No. 1 ('Sonatina'), Op. 6a / Horn Trio in D (original versio Kerenza Peacock (violin) / Mark Smith (horn) / Robert Stevenson (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2011 ] "All the performances are of a high standard, often brilliant and imaginative, and I was particularly impressed with Kerenza Peacock's lithe, elegant violin-playing and her easy conquest of the virtuoso demands of The Grasshopper" (Gramophone) |
ANTONIN DVORAK / HARRY BURLEIGH / MICHAEL BeckERMAN / JOSEPH HOROWITZ
DVOŘÁK'S PROPHECY - Film 1: Dvořák's New World Symphony - A Lens on the American Experience of Race Kevin Deas, PostClassical Ensemble, Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Mark Clague, Lorenzo Candelaria, Kehembe Eichelberger, JoAnn Falletta, Matthew Franke [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 12/Nov/2021 ] DVOŘÁK'S PROPHECY A New Narrative for American Classical Music A PostClassical Ensemble 'More than Music' film series. Written and produced by Joseph Horowitz Visual presentation by Peter Bogdanoff |
Kevin Mark Trail
The Knight [ CD - released 31/Oct/2014 ] |
PURCELL
The Complete Odes and Welcome Songs James Bowman (countertenor) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Michael George (bass) Gillian Fisher (soprano) / The King's Consort / Robert King [ Hyperion Purcell Complete Edition / 8 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2010 ] 'Every disc is such a treasure-house of wonderful invention that the whole set must be an irresistable temptation' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide) |
PURCELL
Dido and Aeneas / Indian Queen (complete operas) Catherine Bott, Emma Kirkby, John Mark Ainsley, David Thomas / Chorus and Orchestra of The Academy of Ancient Music / Christopher Hogwood [ Decca Operas / 2 CD - released 22/Apr/2012 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (pre 1700) - "Key to the whole opera is the casting of Dido herself - and no singer surpasses Catherine Bott's poignant acceptance of death in the famous 'Lament'" (GP 1001 Classical recordings) |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
L'Orfeo (Complete opera filmed in 1997) Muziektheater Amsterdam / John Mark Ainsley, Juanita Lascarro, Michael Chance, Brigitte Balleys / Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs [ Opus Arte Essential Opera Collection DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Oct/2013 ] "Simply the most compelling account of L'Orfeo yet produced...John Mark Ainsley is simply superb as Orfeo…" BBC Music Magazine |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Weihnachts Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio) (sung in German) Lynda Russell, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Padmore, Michael George, The Sixteen, The Symphony of Harmony and Invention, Harry Christophers [ Coro / 2 CD - released 25/Oct/2003 ] The Sixteen is one of the jewels in the musical crown of Britain. Internationally recognised as one of the finest choirs of our time, it is admired for performances combining clarity and precision with beauty and dramatic intensity |
HANDEL
Messiah (complete recorded in 1994) Lynne Dawson, John Mark Ainsley, Alastair Miles / Choir of King's College, Cambridge / Brandenburg Consort / Stephen Cleobury [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] 'John Mark Ainsley sings with remarkable spiritedness throughout, exhibiting an accomplishment and beauty of his articulation in his early numbers which afford constant repetition.' Gramophone |