New Zealand Guitar Quartet
The Passing of A Black Star [ Rattle Records / CD - released 18/Aug/2017 ] "The Passing of a Black Star is a tribute to David Bowie. Like many Bowie fans, I was shocked and saddened by his passing. The inspiration for this piece was Bowie's final album Blackstar, and the work encapsulates my emotions following his... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Semele New Zealand Opera Chorus, Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir, New Zealand Opera Baroque Orchestra, Peter Walls [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 21/Jul/2023 ] "Amitai Pati is the pick of the bunch. The Samoan tenor is an outstanding Jupiter, bright-toned and fullvoiced, lyrical lines anchored by enough weight to make this reluctant smiter believable as both lover and thug." Gramophone |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Semele (Blu-ray) Emma Pearson, Amitai Pati, Sarah Castle, Paul Whelan / New Zealand Opera Chorus, Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir, NZ Opera Baroque Orchestra, Peter Walls [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 21/Jul/2023 ] "Amitai Pati is the pick of the bunch. The Samoan tenor is an outstanding Jupiter, bright-toned and fullvoiced, lyrical lines anchored by enough weight to make this reluctant smiter believable as both lover and thug." Gramophone |
GILLIAN WHITEHEAD / GARETH FARR / TABEA SQUIRE / ROSS HARRIS / LOUISE WEBSTER / SALINA FISHER
Notes From A Journey II New Zealand String Quartet [ Atoll / CD - released 24/Nov/2023 ] Following on from Notes from a Journey, enjoy a second collection of diverse and fascinating works for string quartet by New Zealand composers. Notes from a Journey won Best Classical Album at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards in 2011, and Notes from a... |
SZEKELY / DVORAK
String Quartet (1937) / Quartet in Eb major Op 51 New Zealand String Quartet [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 8/Dec/2003 ] Acclaimed for its powerful communication, dramatic energy, and beauty of sound, the New Zealand String Quartet performs more than 75 concerts each year in New Zealand and abroad. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: String Quartet No.15 in G Major D887 New Zealand String Quartet [ Trust / CD - released 18/Nov/2013 ] New Zealand String Quartet: Schubert represents a milestone in the Quartet's career of over 25 years with a recording of Franz Schubert's masterpiece, String Quartet in G Major, D.887. As Schubert's final and most epic string quartet, it is essential... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: String Quartet No 3 / Clarinet Quintet New Zealand String Quartet, with James Campbell (clarinet) [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Mar/2017 ] Brahms wrote his String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 67 in 1876 and its largely unclouded and cheerful qualities culminate in a theme and variations finale of exceptional imagination and mastery of form. His last chamber music was inspired by a great... |
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Rhapsody [ Viscount / CD - released 15/Jun/2009 ] |
MICHAEL F. WILLIAMS
Williams: Letters From The Front New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey, Madeleine Pierard & Paul Gittins [ Atoll Records / CD - released 11/Dec/2020 ] Michael Williams is a well-known figure in New Zealand composition. He has received commissions from most of the country's major musical institutions including the NZSO, NBR New Zealand Opera and Chamber Music New Zealand and his music is regularly... |
CHRISTOPHER BLAKE
Blake: Symphony - Voices The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey [ Atoll Records New Zealand / CD - released 11/Jun/2019 ] A dramatic symphonic journey through T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land", recorded live. |
AURORA AUSTRALIS
Aurora Australis: Asia Pacific Festival 2007 New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, Strike Percussion Ensemble, STROMA, New Zealand Trio, etc [ Atoll / Lilburn Trust / 2 CD - released 20/Jul/2012 ] |
GIACOMO MEYERBEER
Meyerbeer: Overtures and Entr'actes from the French Operas New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Darrell Ang [ Naxos / CD - released 10/May/2014 ] "The New Zealand Symphony…plays with spirit and has been well trained. Singaporean conductor Darrell Ang brings to these performances an obvious love for the music, infusing them with taut rhythms, crisp attacks, and bountiful energy." Fanfare |
GARY DAVERNE
Youth of Auckland New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Gary Daverne [ Viscount / CD - released 15/Jun/2009 ] |
ANTHONY RITCHIE
Ritchie: Symphony No. 6 New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Hamish McKeich [ Rattle Records / CD - released 1/Sep/2023 ] Symphony No. 6 is a meditation on love, death, and the afterlife. From the plaintive saxophone solo at the start to the mysterious flights of spirits in the third movement and the grieving of the finale, this symphony takes the listener on an... |
MARSHALL / LILBURN / TCHAIKOVSKY / MacCUNN / SAINT-SAENS / etc
Wild Music - New Zealand Orchestral Music New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Hamish McKeich [ Trust / CD - released 9/Aug/2004 ] Superb performances of pieces by New Zealand composers Marshall and Douglas Lilburn as well as Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Elgar, and Saint-Saëns. |
JOHN ANTILL
Antill: Corroboree / Outback Overture New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd [ Naxos / CD - released 30/Jun/2008 ] "This excellent recording of the complete ballet by James Judd and the New Zealand Symphony orchestra fills a big gap. With precision and charm, this disc brings out its originality and its primitivist colouristics." (Sydney Morning Herald) |
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY
Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau / Sinfonietta New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Aug/2009 ] "James Judd… galvanises the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra into playing this challenging score with sensitivity and a good deal of virtuosity." BBC Music |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Orchestral Miniatures (Incls Chanson de matin & 3 Bavarian Dances) New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Judd (Conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 9/Sep/2006 ] "Especially impressive are the woodwind, which excel the rest of the ensemble in both beauty of playing and ability to follow their conductor...the horns are also impressive. This orchestra has a great future in front of it." MusicWeb September 2006 |
BERNARD HERRMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Herrmann: The Devil and Daniel Webster / Currier and Ives / etc New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Sedares [ Koch International Classics / CD - released 5/Jun/1994 ] "Koch International's amazing James Sedares zeroes relentlessly in on the essence of Bernard Herrmann's playfully prickly personality in graphically pictorial versions of the Currier and Ives Suite (a first recording) and deeply moving... |
MIKLOS ROZSA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rozsa: Vintner's Daughter / Symphony in 3 Movements New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, James Sedares [ Koch International Classics / CD - released 5/Jun/1994 ] The Symphony in Three Movements by Rózsa (b. 1907) was the composer's first large-scale work. Composed in 1930, it's a youthful and exhuberant piece, somewhat--but not overly--influenced by the symphonies being produced by the great French and... |