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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: The Globe Collection Globe / George Irving, Catherine Bailey, Clive Wood, Eve Best, John Light, Pearce Quigley, Brendan Hughes, Naomi Frederick, and many others [ Opus Arte DVD / 23 DVD Box Set - released 25/Jun/2020 ] An invitation to stand with kings in battle, to fall in love, to witness the brutal machinations of politics, and to laugh with rogues in this 23-disc collection. |
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BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 d-Moll op. 125 Gundula Janowitz, Grace Bumbry, Jess Thomas, George London, Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Wilhelm Furtwängler [ Orfeo / CD - released 25/Aug/2017 ] The well-known "classical" exception to the canon of ten Wagner works that can be performed on the Green Hill goes back to the master himself: it is of course Beethoven's 9th Symphony. The most famous recording of one of the rare Bayreuth... |
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BOTTESINI / CHOPIN / RACHMANINOV
The Romantic Double Bass (Concertos, sonatas and other works) Hans Roelofsen (double-bass) Rudolf Senn (double-bass) with George Pieterson (clarinet) and Marien van Staalen (cello) [ Brilliant Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] Say double bass and people will probably think of jazz music. In spite of pioneering composers like Bottesini and active present-day players like Dutch Hans Roelofsen and Rudolf Senn the double-bass does not have a serious image in classical music.... |
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Harrison Birtwistle (The Soldier), George Benjamin (The Devil), Dame Harriet Walter (narrator) Royal Academy of Music, Oliver Knussen
Stravinsky: A Soldier's Tale [ Linn / CD - released 25/Mar/2017 ] For his debut recording with Linn, conductor Oliver Knussen has assembled an impressive cast of contemporary composers for The Soldier's Tale: Harrison Birtwistle as the soldier and George Benjamin as the Devil, with actress Dame Harriet Walter as... |
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JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: Concertos, German Dances & Overtures Heinrich Schiff (cello) Alan Stringer (trumpet) George Malcolm (harpsichord) Simon Preston (organ) Barry Tuckwell (horn) [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Jul/2011 ] "The harpsichord concerto is neatly played, tempi distinctly on the lively side, but with spruce rhythms from Neville Marriner's orchestra and a crisp and brilliant account of the harpsichord part from George Malcolm." (Gramophone on the Harpsichord... |
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EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Symphony No.1 / Imperial March BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, George Hurst [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jul/1999 ] "Masterly with Elgarian rubato, he [George Hurst] refreshingly chooses speeds faster than have become the norm, closer to those of Elgar himself." The Guardian |
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HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Anthems Inia Te Wiata, Robert Tear, Charles Brett, Paul Esswood / Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, George Guest [ Decca Australian SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] "Vibrant readings of some of Purcell's best loved choral works unalloyed by 'authentic' prissiness" (Gramophone) |
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HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Music for the Chapel Royal - Verse Anthems Inia Te Wiata, Robert Tear, Charles Brett, Paul Esswood / Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, George Guest / Academy of St Martin in the Fields [ Decca / London Serenata / CD - released 20/Sep/1995 ] Purcell wrote so much in so many different spheres of musical activity that it is easy to forget that one of his main tasks was to be a royal composer, to provide music for the occasions of State in Westminster Abbey, just as the Gabrielis had done... |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Elijah, Op. 70 (complete oratorio recorded in 1954) Jacqueline Delman, Norma Procter, George Maran / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir & Hampstead Parish Church Boys' Choir, Josef Krips [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "Boyce sings the part with studied beauty, as indeed do all the other soloists, and the chorus is in excellent form. Josef Krips sets them some rapid tempi here and there, but the result is lively and interesting … plenty of orchestral detail even in... |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great' (with Beethoven - Symphony No 4) [recorded 1953-54] Jacqueline Delman, Norma Procter, George Maran / London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir & Hampstead Parish Church Boys' Choir, Josef Krips [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "The excellence of the performance is matched by that of the recording; it manages to be very clean and forward. An unreservedly good recording of this piece" (Gramophone on the Schubert) |
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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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HAYDN / BEETHOVEN
Scottish Folk Song Arrangements / English Songs Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), with Yehudi Menuhin, George Malcolm, Ross Pople, Robert Spencer & others [ Testament / CD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] "'A Pageant of English Song' was Baker's first solo LP for EMI. Side 1, in which she's accompanied by Martin Isepp and Robert Spencer, is reissued on this CD. (Gramophone Classical Music Guide) |
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SCHUBERT
Schubert: Life and Works Narrated biography with extensive musical examples Jeremy Siepmann (narrator) with Tom George as Schubert [ Naxos Educational / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] As revealed in this dramatised biography (lavishly illustrated with musical examples), there was a secret, darker side to Schubert which only renders his story that much more fascinating. |
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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) |
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John Pizzarelli / The George Shearing Quintet
The Rare Delight of You [ Telarc SACD / SACD ] This is a dual-layer discrete multi-channel surround Hybrid SACD - playable on all CD players. Fantastic sound quality! |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 1967) Judith Raskin, Tatiana Troyanos, Leontyne Price, George Shirley, Sherrill Milnes / New Philharmonia Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf [ Sony RCA Classical Opera / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "there's plenty of style there, above all in a wonderfully decorated 'E amore un ladroncello'. Leinsdorf paces well, and was this the first Così to include all the usually discarded numbers" Classical-Music "Troyanos is possibly the most engaging... |
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Keith Jarrett with Manfred Eicher, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette | Steve Cloud, Scott Jarrett, George Avakian, Charles Lloyd, Gary Burton, Miles Davis
Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation (Blu-ray) [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 15/Apr/2022 ] In-depth portrait of one of the world's superstars of jazz, Keith Jarrett. |
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TRADITIONAL
Kenneth Mckellar's Book of Hymns Kenneth McKellar (tenor) & John Turner (organ) / Choir of Paisley Abbey, George McPhee [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Released by popular demand, this collection brings together 21 favourite hymns and sacred songs sung by that most beloved of tenors, Kenneth McKellar |
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HARRY BURLEIGH / WILLIAM Levi DAWSON / FLORENCE PRICE / WILLIAM Grant STILL
DVOŘÁK'S PROPHECY - Film 3: The Souls of Black Folk and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music Kevin Deas, Arthur Fagan, James Jeter, Roderick Cox, Joseph Horowitz, Michael Morgan, George Shirley [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] If George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess embodies a glorious (and controversial) fulfilment of Dvořák's prophecy, there also exists a buried lineage of exceptional compositions by Black composers following in Dvořák's wake. |
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KAKABDSE
The Phantom Listeners / Arabian Rhapsody Suite / The Mermaid Kit Hesketh-Harvey (narrator) / Emma Brain-Gabbott (soprano) / Clare McCaldin (mezzo) / Michael Bundy (baritone) / Instrumentalists / George V [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] Of Georgian/Russian and Greek/Austrian parentage, British composer Lydia Kakabadse has a number of music theatre, vocal, choral and chamber works to her credit. |