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J.S. BACH
Cantatas Vol 2 (Nos 71, 131 & 106) Midori Suzuki (soprano) Yoshikazu Mera (counter-tenor) Gerd Turk (tenor) Peter Kooij (bass) / Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS / CD - released 1/Feb/1996 ] "The performances are, to my ears, of unmatched excellence. Masaaki Suzuki's direction never falters and his solo vocalists seem to go from strength to strength as the series progresses." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice |
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J. S. BACH
Cantatas Vol 3 (Nos 12, 54, 162, 182) Midori Suzuki (soprano) Yoshikazu Mera (counter-tenor) Gerd Turk (tenor) Peter Kooij (bass) / Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS / CD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "The performances are, to my ears, of unmatched excellence. Masaaki Suzuki's direction never falters and his solo vocalists seem to go from strength to strength as the series progresses." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Russian Songs Mikhail Svetlov (bass) / Pavlina Dokovska (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jun/2011 ] Russian bass Mikhail Svetlov is a winner of the Viotti International Competition and has been principal soloist of the legendary Bolshoy Theatre of Moscow for more than a decade. |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem Miku Yasukawa (soprano) Jochen Kupfer (bass-baritone) Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/May/2025 ] Before conquering concert halls with his symphonies, Johannes Brahms made a name for himself as a choral conductor. He led vocal ensembles in his hometown of Hamburg, in Detmold and Vienna, enriching the repertoire with his own music. |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphony No.13 Peter Mikulas (bass) / Czech Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jan/1990 ] "The orchestral playing is outstanding" Classics CD |
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI / FRANZ ANTON HOFFMEISTER
Rossini & Hoffmeister: Sonatas, Vol. 1 Minna Pensola (violin), Antti Tikkanen (violin/viola), Tuomas Lehto (cello), Niek de Groot (double bass) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 29/Dec/2017 ] The works gathered here hail from two different sets of string quartets: the four so-called Solo Quartets by Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Gioachino Rossini's six String Sonatas (or Sonate a quattro). Both sets differ from the 'normal' configuration in... |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (highlights from the opera) Miriam Gauci (soprano) / Kaludi Kaludov (tenor) / Henk Lauwers (bass) / Vincente Sardinero (baritone) / Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic / [ Naxos / CD - released 25/Feb/2005 ] "This 68 minutes of excerpts from Puccini's first great success is an excellent introduction to the opera. We get most of the music for Manon and Des Grieux in Act 1, Manon's second act aria and the big duet, the beautiful Intermezzo (rather... |
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CARL HEINRICH GRAUN
Graun: Christmas Oratorio Monika Mauch (soprano), Marion Eckstein (alto), Georg Poplutz (tenor) & Raimund Nolte (bass) / Baroque Ensemble L'arpa festante, Thomas Gropper [ Oehms / CD - released 21/Sep/2017 ] A work caught the attention of musicians during the late 1990s - a Christmas Oratorio by C.H. Graun. The only known copy of it was being housed in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. But it has so far been impossible to determine either the... |
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BORODIN / RUBINSTEIN / TCHAIKOVSKY / GLINKA / etc
Russian Arias & Songs Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass), London Symphony, Edward Downes, Zlatina Ghiaurov (piano) [ Deeca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 25/Jan/2015 ] For thirty years, from 1960 to 1990, Nicolai Ghiaurov was an indispensable figure on the international operatic scene. His voluminous base, incisive delivery and imposing presence meant that he was in demand in every centre of opera. |
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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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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mass in C K.317 "Coronation" / Mass in C K.167 / Nocturnes Kurt Equiluz (tenor) Gerhard Eder (bass) / The Vienna Boys Choir, Hans Gillesberger [ RCA Victor Papillon Collection / CD - released 18/Apr/1988 ] The Vienna Boys' Choir is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other countries. |
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J.S. BACH
St. Matthew Passion, BWV 544, (excerpts) Nancy Argenta (soprano) Robin Blaze (counter-tenor) Makoto Sakurada (tenor) Gerd Tark (bass) / Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki, conductor [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jan/2005 ] "The overall performance, combined with different presentation options, make it a serious contender for first choice." - MusicWeb March 2005 |
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W.A. MOZART
The Marriage of Figaro (highlights) Natale de Carolis (baritone) / Donato di Stefano (bass) / Ingrid Kertesi (soprano) / Hungarian State Opera Orchestra / Pier Giorgio Morandi, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 26/Oct/2005 ] Love, seduction, intrigue and comedy provide the confusing situations that has placed Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro among of the most popular of all the comic operas. |
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RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Complete Songs Natalia Gerasimova (soprano), Marina Choutova (mezzosoprano), Alexei Martinov (tenor), Mikhail Lanskoi (baritone), Sergei Baikov (bass) [ Brilliant Classics / 3 CD - released 20/Feb/2010 ] Some rarely heard repertoire by this much-loved composer who exerted a powerful influence over Stravinsky, and with whom Respighi studied orchestration. |
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PETER MAXWELL DAVIES
Davies: The Lighthouse (Complete Opera) Neil Mackie (tenor), Christopher Keyte (baritone) & Ian Comboy (bass) Members of the BBC Philharmonic, Peter Maxwell Davies [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Apr/2014 ] "All three cast members excel, taking Maxwell Davies's liking for apssages of falsetto yowling in their stride; and the instrumental playing is incisively superb." (BBC Music Five Stars) |
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PALESTRINA / VICTORIA
Roma Aeterna - Two Roman Masses New York Polyphony with Tim Keeler (countertenor) Andrew Fuchs (tenor) and Jonathan Woody (bass-baritone) [ BIS SACD / CD - released 1/Jul/2016 ] "Don't be afraid to turn up the volume on this-even without a true surround system, you'll be (most pleasantly) surrounded." (ClassicsToday 9/10 September 2016) |
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JOHN CAGE
Aria Nicholas Isherwood (bass-baritone & percussion) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jun/2015 ] Nicholas Isherwood made his début as Lucifer in Stockhausen's Donnerstag aus Licht at Covent Garden, at the age of 25, and has since collaborated closely with composers such as George Crumb, Hans Werner Henze, György Kurtág and Iannis Xenakis. His... |
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JOHANN MATTHESON
Christmas Oratorio Nicki Kennedy, Anna Crookes (sopranos), Ursula Eittinger (mezzo), Andreas Post (tenor), Stephan MacLeod (bass-baritone) / Die Kölner Akademie [ CPO / CD - released 10/Feb/2011 ] For a long time Johann Mattheson was relatively unknown among composers of the 18th Century. |
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HENRI DUPARC
Complete Songs of Duparc Malcolm Martineau (piano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone), William Thomas (bass) [ Signum / CD - released 20/May/2022 ] "There's a terrific and consistently persuasive grandeur and sweep in much of Martineau's playing…This is a fine and fascinating addition to his discography" - Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Song |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Great Singers Live: Nicolai Ghiaurov (recorded 1966-69) Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass) / Münchner Rundfunkorchester / Georges Prêtre / Alfredo Antonini [ BR Klassik Great Singers Live / CD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] Nicolai Ghiaurov's unmistakable timbre brought him the title "Re dei bassi" - "King of Basses". In live recordings from two Sunday Concerts by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester he can be heard in key roles from the bass repertoire as well as rarely... |