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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica / Four Last Songs / Concerto for Two Pianos & Orchestra Mari Eriksmoen (soprano), Louis Lortie, Hélène Mercier (pianos), Roderick Williams (baritone) Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Feb/2018 ] "This would be my present first choice ... The Bergen players are especially effective, the huge orchestration never cluttered or opaque in SACD spaciousness ..." BBC Music magazine - Christmas 2017 |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 'Scottish' / Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 (with Schumann - Piano Concerto) Maria João Pires (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ LSO Live SACD + BLU-RAY / 2 Hybrid SACD/DVD - released 10/Nov/2014 ] "a reading formed by life experience…Pires is supported by conductor and orchestra magnificently...I've never heard so much of the orchestral colour and detail in any other Schumann recording … My anticipation that this might be a special recording h |
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SCHULHOFF / KRENEK / d'INDY
The 20th Century Concerto Grosso Maria Prinz (piano); Karl-Heinz Schütz (flute) Christoph Koncz (violin); Robert Nagy (cello) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marrine [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] .On this disc, we feature the works of three composers - Vincent d'Indy, Ernst Krenek, and Erwin Schulhoff - who all in the mid- to late-1920s adopted neoclassicism and chose to write works in the neo-baroque concerto grosso style, using a... |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K626 Marie Arnet (soprano) Anna Stephany (mezzo soprano) Darren Jeffery (bass) / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Mar/2008 ] 'this performance beneifts from marvellous sound and shows Davis secure in his tempo choices and bringing that combination of solemnity, grandeur and drama' Sound **** Performance ***** BBC Music Magazine |
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ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50 Mark Padmore, Sally Matthews, Kate Royal, Bernarda Fink, Andrew Staples / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle [ LSO Live SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 20/Oct/2015 ] "You can really tell that Rattle loves this work. His approach is full of affection - listen to the care he lavishes on the stunning ending of Part Two - but also architectural breadth." (MusicWeb) |
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MALCOLM WILLIAMSON
Elevamini-Symphony No 1 / Sinfonia Concertante / etc Martin Jones (piano) Malcolm Williamson (piano) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Groves [ Lyrita / CD - released 27/Apr/2008 ] Though Malcolm Williamson lived in London for fifty years, many of the titles and first performance venues of his works confirm that he was at heart an Australian: as well as his pieces for Australian Bicentennial Year, 1988, his last two symphonies... |
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CHARLES IVES
Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 [Symphonies 1 & 2] Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ CHANDOS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Mar/2015 ] An amateur genius of avant-garde composing, who experimented with groundbreaking techniques years ahead of their time, Ives started out with more conventional works - as shown by the two early symphonies recorded here. |
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CHARLES IVES
Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 [Central Park in the Dark, etc] Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ CHANDOS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Jan/2016 ] In this second volume, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Sir Andrew Davis play some of the most characteristic pieces of Charles Ives, an insurance salesman by trade and one of the most precociously original of all American... |
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EUGENE GOOSSENS
Orchestral Works Volume 2 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] "Chandos's rich sound is up to the usual high standards and outshines Goossens's own 1922 recording of Tam O'Shanter" Gramophone Magazine, May 2013 |
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RACHMANINOV
Harvest of Sorrow - Tony Palmer's Film About Sergei Rachmaninoff Mikhail Pletnev / Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Sir John Gielgud and other performers [ Tony Palmer Films / DVD - released 20/Jul/2007 ] Used in films like Brief Encounter and Shine; on TV in The South Bank Show and Panorama; on radio in Semprini Serenade; and including some of the most famous melodies of the 20th century, Rachmaninoff's romantic, passionate music is as popular... |
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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 / Violin Concerto / Suite No. 3 in G major / etc Mischa Elman (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris, Sir Adrian Boult [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] This new collection invaluably gathers up all the Tchaikovsky recordings Adrian Boult made for Decca between 1952 and 1956. |
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BRUCH / WIENIAWSKI / LALO / SAINT-SAENS
Violin Concertos / Cello Concertos (recorded 1953 & 1956) Mischa Elman (violin) Zara Nelsova (cello) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult [ Brilliant Classics Retrospective / 2 CD - released 8/Jun/2008 ] Mono recordings |
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JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos 1-7, Kullervo, Pohjola's Daughter, The Oceanides Monica Groop (mezzo), Peter Mattei (baritone) / London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD + Blu-ray audio / 6 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 14/Oct/2016 ] This digibox set of classic LSO Live recordings also features a Pure Audio Blu-ray, containing HD master audio, allowing listeners to experience this award-winning cycle in a whole new way. |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream - Overture & Incidental Music Ceri-lyn Cissone (Hermia/Fairy/Titania); Alexander Knox (Lysander/Puck) / Monteverdi Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ LSO Live SACD + BLU-RAY AUDIO / 2 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Mar/2017 ] Continuing his award-winning cycle of works by Felix Mendelssohn, Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads the LSO, his Monteverdi Choir and three talented young actors from the Guildhall in a landmark performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. |
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CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610) DVD/Blu-ray Monteverdi Choir & The English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ Alpha DVD + Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Disc/DVD - released 10/Jul/2015 ] "there are exquisite solos too, especially from soprano Silvia Frigato and tenor Nicholas Mulroy." (Gramophone) |
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W.A. MOZART
Requiem in D minor Marie Arnet (soprano) Anna Stephany (mezzo) Andrew Kennedy (tenor), Darren Jeffrey (bass) / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Sir Colin Davis [ LSO Live / CD - released 9/Jun/2008 ] 'Davis's approach to the Requiem...contained both tragic grandeur and high drama, with the Dies Irae pointing the way towards the theatrical vividness of some 19th-century settings, but nothing was remotely sentimental of self-pitying' The Guardian |
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BEETHOVEN
Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (complete) (recorded in 1988) Murray Perahia (piano) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Sir Neville Marriner [ EuroArts Medici Arts DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Oct/2011 ] "Murray Perahia… is undoubtedly on tremendous form. He displays limitless reserves of strength for the bravura passages and a huge strong tenderness in, for instance, the opening of the slow movement of the Third Concerto." (BBC Music) |
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EDWARD GRIEG / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Grieg / Schumann: Piano Concertos (Rec 1989) Murray Perahia (piano) / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Murray Perahia's 1987 Schumann and Grieg concertos with Colin Davis remain the most recommendable digitally recorded pairing of these war-horses, and they bloom even more via Sony's Expanded Edition remastering." (ClassicsToday) |
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SMETANA
The Bartered Bride (Complete Opera) Neal Davies / Yvonne Howard / Susan Gritton / Geoffrey Moses / Philharmonia Orchestra / Royal Opera Chorus / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Chandos / 2 CD - released 1/Oct/2005 ] "A crisp, witty translation gives added sparkle to a terrific performance" - Editor's Choice Gramophoen Magazine November 2005 |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral" The New Company / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Signum / CD - released 20/Nov/2011 ] "No passage from darkness to light here, but a pervasive exaltation even in the first movement...However many Ninths you own, add this to your treasury." (Five Stars BBC Music) |