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GLUCK / VIVALDI / HANDEL / MONTEVERDI / PURCELL / BELLINI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Altus - From Castrato to Countertenor [3 CD set] Andreas Scholl, Alessandro Moreschi, Philippe Jaroussky, David Daniels, Max-Emanuel Cencic, James Bowman, Alfred Deller, Gérard Lesne, René Jacobs, et [ Virgin Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2008 ] All these artists are exponents of 'authentic' performance, but - fortunately for the gentlemen in question - true authenticity is restricted to the track performed by Alessandro Moreschi...the only known audio memento of a genuine castrato. |
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CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (complete 1774 Naples version] Philippe Jaroussky, Iestyn Davies, Andreas Scholl, Gérard Lesne, James Bowman, David DQ Lee, Dominique Visse, Derek Lee Ragin [ Erato / CD - released 5/May/2018 ] "This brilliant recording of Gluck's famous opera has a vibrancy from start to finish. It flows along really nicely, a lively pace that is never hurried. All parts make a great whole with three superb soloists " Nicholas Butler/Marbecks |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: String Sextets Nos. 1 & 2 Renaud Capuçon, Christoph Koncz (violins), Gérard Caussé, Marie Chilemme (violas) & Gautier Capuçon, Clemens Hagen (cellos) [ Erato Warner Classics / CD - released 15/Jun/2017 ] "Best of all, the musicians find a near-ideal balance of urgency and patience - the hallmark of a great Brahms interpretation." Gramophone Magazine: Editor's Choice - June 2017 |
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DAVID DIAMOND
Diamond: Symphony No. 2 / Symphony No 4 Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 31/May/2004 ] "Schwarz conducts with keen sensitivity, while the Seattle Symphony relishes the challenge of this then-unfamiliar music." ClassicsToday |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Orchestral Excerpts Volume 1 Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz [ Naxos / CD - released 30/Jul/2012 ] "The brass in particular impresses…In the midst of the wonderfully glittering winds and strings in Magic Fire Music, the brass interlude sounds with satisfying richness…this is…a highly enjoyable disc" ClassicsToday |
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ANONYMOUS / VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Golden Age of Light Music: Light and Lively Various Artists incls Gerard Calvi, Percy Faith, Helmut Zacharias, David Rose, Joe Leahy, Frank Chacksfield, etc [ Guild / CD - released 1/Jul/2018 ] Although the title of this collection rightly suggests that there is a wealth of 'Light and Lively' music on offer, there are some more gentle - even restful - numbers to provide a welcome contrast. The opening track, Robert Farnon's famous Derby... |
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HENRI DUPARC / MAURICE RAVEL / GABRIEL FAURE
Wolfgang Holzmair - Melodies francaises Wolfgang Holzmair (baritone) Gérard Wyss (piano) [ Philips / CD - released 11/Mar/1996 ] "This musical bouquet gives rare pleasure … There is something other-worldly about the reflective sostenuto that Holzmair preserves throughout." Fanfare, March 2019 |
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SCHUBERT / SCHUMANN / BEETHOVEN / KRENEK / BRAHMS / DUPARC / RAVEL / etc
Wolfgang Holzmair - The Philips Recitals Wolfgang Holzmair (baritone) Imogen Cooper, Gérard Wyss, Peter Stamm (piano) / San Francisco Symphony Orchestra [ Decca Austrailian Eloquence / 13 CD Box Set - released 11/Mar/2022 ] From Haydn to Eisler: the collected Philips recordings of WOLFGANG HOLZMAIR, a supreme art-song interpreter, including many long-deleted albums. |
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MANUEL de FALLA
Manuel de Falla - The Spanish Soul Alicia de Larrocha (piano), Turibio Santos (guitar), Victoria de los Angeles (soprano), Jean-Claude Gérard (flute), Orquesta Nacional de España, etc [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 12/Nov/2021 ] Manuel de Falla is regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the twentieth century. Established in Paris from 1907 to 1914, he met Debussy, Ravel and Dukas and steeped himself in their works. |
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ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti: Sedecia, re di Gerusalemme Gerard Lesne, Philippe Jaroussky, Virginie Pochon / Il Seminario musicale [ Erato Veritas / 2 CD - released 1/Oct/2016 ] "Full praise should go first to gerard Lesne, whose presence on this recording is the critical element in its undoubted success. This isn't just a question of his stylish singing, but of a vision of the dramatic articulation of the work as a... |
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SCHUMANN
Gerard Souzay: Schumann: Dichterliebe and other songs Gerard Souzay (baritone), Dalton Baldwin (piano) [ Decca Most Wanted Recitals Vol. 43 / CD - released 1/Aug/2014 ] The legendary Italian bass Cesare Siepi was one of the great Don Giovannis and at the height of his career - during the 1950s and 1960s - this particular role was very much his 'calling card'. |
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SCHUMANN
Gerard Souzay: Schumann: Liederkreis Op. 39 and other songs Gerard Souzay (baritone), Dalton Baldwin (piano) & Jacqueline Bonneau (piano) [ Decca Most Wanted Recitals Vol. 44 / CD - released 1/Aug/2014 ] "Souzay should...rank as one of the most elegant and sensitive song interpreters on record." (Sunday Telegraph) |
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DEBUSSY
Lieder Gerard Souzay (baritone) Dalton Baldwin (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Apr/2002 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - "This is one of the great Debussy song-recitlas of the age." (Penguin Guide) |
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CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Sonatas & Trio Renaud Capucon (violin) Gérard Caussé (viola) Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Marie-Pierre Langlamet (harp) Edgar Moreau (cello) Bertrand Chamayou (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 10/Nov/2017 ] Their readings of the late sonatas are packed with glorious detail, while Renaud Capuçon, Bertrand Chamayou and Edgar Moreau make a great case for the early Piano Trio.' BBC Music Award WINNER 2018 - Chamber |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Orchestral Excerpts Vol 3 (Incls Tristan und Isolde: Prelude & Liebestod) Alessandra Marc (soprano) / Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Nov/2012 ] "Marc is an excellent singer, thankfully free of the gusty tone production which afflicts too many Wagnerian sopranos today. She sings with expressiveness, delicacy and a real feeling for the text" |
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SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto Nos. 2 & 3 Anna Federova (piano) / Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Laërcio Diniz & Gerard Oskamp [ Brilliant Classics / CD - released 12/Apr/2024 ] The Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova is renowned for her playing of Rachmaninoff, and in particular the four concertos which she has performed across the world. She made these recordings in 2014, at a relatively early stage in her career. |
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DEEMS TAYLOR
Peter Ibbetson [Complete Opera] Anthony Dean Griffey / Lauren Flanigan / Richard Zeller / Seattle Symphony and Chorale / Gerard Schwarz [ Naxos American Opera Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2009 ] From its triumphant, star-studded première in 1931 until 1985, Peter Ibbetson was the most-performed American opera at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The story (based on the novel by George Du Maurier) of two star-crossed lovers who secretly... |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Music for Cello and Piano (Incs sonatas Nos 1 & 2) Antonio Meneses (cello) Gerard Wyss (piano) [ Avie / CD - released 17/Oct/2007 ] "This deserves a place alongside the best recordings of Mendelssohn's music for cello and piano. All lovers of Mendelssohn, or devotees of chamber music, will surely find a great deal to enjoy here." (MusicWeb Dec 2007) |
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NIKOLAY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Apr/2016 ] Begun when he was a seventeen-year-old naval cadet, Rimsky-Korsakov's Symphony No. 1 was hailed by the nationalist group 'The Five' as the first truly Russian symphony, in contrast with the German-influenced music of Anton Rubinstein. With its use of... |
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ERNST TOCH
Toch: Cantata Of Bitter Herbs / Jephta Theodore Bikel / Prague Philharmonic Chorus, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz Gerard [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 28/Feb/2005 ] "Both works are of quality and very well performed and recorded: at a fraction of the price of a concert ticket, this is a real bargain which will well repay curiosity." Penguin Guide 3 Stars |