GUBAIDULINA
The Canticle of the Sun by St Francis of Assisi (1997); Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva (1984) David Geringas (cello) Percussionists of Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Danish National Choir / Stefan Parkman [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 12/Nov/2003 ] Sofia Gubaidulina is one of the word's most famous living composers and her music has a tremendous worldwide following. |
LENNOX & MICHAEL BERKELEY
Berkeley, Lennox & Michael-Symphony No 1; Serenade; Horn Concerto; Coronach David Pyatt, horn, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 22/Aug/2002 ] "Lennox Berkeley and his son Michael represent two of the brightest stars in 20th-Century British music and Chandos has found excellent advocates for their compositions in Richard Hickox and the BBC National orchestra of Wales." ***** Five Stars BBC... |
LISZT
Piano Concertos / Totentanz / etc [2 CD set] Denis Matsuev (piano) / Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev [ Sony Music / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites (Complete opera) Denise Duval, Regine Crespin / Choeurs et Orchestre du Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris / Pierre Dervaux [ Warner Erato Home of Opera / 2 CD - released 20/May/2016 ] 'A classic and irreplaceable recording. It is evident that the singers were inspired by the piece to give of their considerable best and Pierre Dervaux's conducting of the work is both inspired and inspiriting.' (Gramophone) |
ELGAR
Violin Concerto in B minor Op 61 / Cockaigne Overture Dong-Suk Kang (violin) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Adrian Leaper (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Jan/2008 ] "Dung-Suk Kang plays the work with insight and understanding, as if he had been brought up on the slopes of the Malvern Hills" - Gramophone |
JEAN SIBELIUS / EDWARD ELGAR
Sibelius/Elgar: Violin Concertos Dong-Suk Kang (violin) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Adrian Leaper (conductor) [ Naxos / CD - released 29/Oct/2005 ] "even if it were at full price it would feature quite high in the current lists" - Penguin Guide |
IGOR BORODIN
Borodin: Prince Igor (complete opera recorded in 1955) Dragomir Ninkovich, Biserka Cvejic, Melanie Bugarinovich, Dragutin Petrovich, Dushan Popovich / Belgrade National Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Oskar Dano [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 3 CD - released 1/Mar/2019 ] "Popović strikes me as an excellent baritone, a muscular sound with ringing top notes. His is one of the best Prince Igors on disc - heroic and noble...Bugarinović has a dark, almost contralto-ish tone and no Slavic wobble" Gramophone Editor's Choice |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS / FRANCIS POULENC
Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux [The Carnival of the Animals] / Poulenc: Double Concerto Alex Vizorek (voice) Duo Jatekok (pianos) / Orchestre National de Lille; Lucie Leguay; [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 27/Aug/2021 ] Alex Vizorek revisits Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals. The French composer never imagined that his bestiary would become one of the most famous works in musical history, a staple repertory piece on a par with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. |
TARIK O'REGAN
O'Regan: Mata Hari (complete ballet recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Dutch National Ballet / Anna Tsygankova & Matthew Rowe / Matthew rowe (cond) [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Apr/2017 ] The turbulent life of the Dutch spy and dancer Mata Hari is at the heart of this large-scale ballet production by Dutch National Ballet. As the exotic, mysterious Mata Hari, she became one of the most famous dancers of her day.. |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / JOBY TALBOT
Two Ballet Favourites by Christophen Wheeldon: Prokofiev: Cinderella / Talbot: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Recorded 2011 & 2012) BLU-RAY Dutch National Ballet / Royal Opera House / Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding, Lauren Cuthbertson, Sergei Polunin / Ermanno Florio & Barry Wordsworth ( [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/Oct/2017 ] "Lauren Cuthbertson, as Alice, is excellent, her every movement suggesting the actions and emotions of this curious, spirited pre-adolescent...Christopher Wheeldon's choreography is very imaginative and fitting for every character" MusicWeb on Alice |
TCHAIKOVSKY
The Sleeping Beauty (complete ballet recorded in 2004) The Dutch National Ballet / Sir Peter Wright / Marius Petipa / Philip Prowse / Sofiane Sylve / Gael Lambiotte [ Opus Arte / Kultur / 2 DVD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] G :- Tchaikovsky and Petipa's timeless ballet - acknowledged to be the most pure and demanding piece in the classic romantic repertoire - brings out Petipa's rich dance vocabulary with the sparkling virtuosity a superb performance needs. |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Gurrelieder (Complete 'opera' recorded in 2016) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Burkhard Fritz, Emily Magee, Anna Larsson, Markus Marquard / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Mar/2017 ] Begun in the year 1900, amidst the art nouveau curlicues of Klimt and the Jugendstil, Schönberg's grand cantata is written in a lush, late-romantic style indebted to Wagner and Mahler and pre-dating his pioneering atonal works. This setting of the... |
STEFANO LANDI
Landi: Morte d'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2018) Dutch National Opera / Cecilia Molinari, Renato Dolcini, Alexander Miminoshvili, Gaia Petrone / Christophe Rousset, conductor [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2020 ] Stefano Landi wrote the operas La morte d'Orfeo (1619) and Il Sant'Alessio (1632), as well as masses, psalms, madrigals and arias. He was maestro di cappella in Padua and Rome, and later a singer in the Sistine Chapel. |
STEFANO LANDI
Landi: Morte d'Orfeo (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Cecilia Molinari, Renato Dolcini, Alexander Miminoshvili, Gaia Petrone / Christophe Rousset, conductor [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2020 ] La morte d'Orfeo is regarded as the first Roman-style secular opera and is considered a milestone in the development of the genre opera as a whole. The substantial ensemble numbers are typical of the Roman opera style. |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Konigskinder [The King's Children] (complete opera recorded in 2022) Dutch National Opera / Daniel Behle, Olga Kulchynska, Josef Wagner, Doris Soffel / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 11/Aug/2023 ] Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy storybrought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story KönigskinderKönigskinder ('The King's Children') offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be... |
ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK
Humperdinck: Konigskinder [The King's Children] (complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Daniel Behle, Olga Kulchynska, Josef Wagner, Doris Soffel / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Naxos Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 11/Aug/2023 ] Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy storybrought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story KönigskinderKönigskinder ('The King's Children') offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded in 2022) Dutch National Opera / Malin Byström, Joshua Guerrero, Gevorg Hakobyan / Lorenzo Viotti (cond) [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 14/Apr/2023 ] "...this must be one of the bloodiest Toscas shown on stage, in a world where the characters' Christian faith is clearly a personal defence against the horror of the tyranny under which they live." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2023 |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Die Zauberflote (complete opera recorded in 2014) Dutch National Opera / Maximilian Schmitt, Christina Landshamer, Thomas Oliemans, Brindley Sherratt, Íride Martínez / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2015 ] "It is sparkily conducted in light, historically aware tempi by Marc Albrecht, and acted and sung as a tightly worked ensemble piece....Subtle touches ease what we now find chauvinist and racist in the original...Ingenious. Recommended." (Gramophone) |
W. A. MOZART
Die Zauberflote [The Magic Flue] (completeopera recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Maximilian Schmitt, Christina Landshamer, Thomas Oliemans, Brindley Sherratt, Íride Martínez / Marc Albrecht (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2015 ] "Subtle touches ease what we now find chauvinist and racist in the original...Ingenious. Recommended." (Gramophone Blu-ray of the Month May 2015) |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame (complete opera recorded in 2017) Dutch National Opera / Misha Didyk, Alexey Markov, Vladimir Stoyanov / Mariss Jansons (cond) [ C Major DVD / DVD - released 1/Jun/2018 ] "Musically, standards are extremely high, led by Mariss Jansons's inspired presence in the pit...Aksenova sings a steely Lisa...Diadkova is remarkable as the Countess - singing rather than growling her role." Gramophone |