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DEBUSSY
Pelleas et Melisande (Complete opera recorded in 1970) George Shirley, Elisabeth Söderström & Yvonne Minton / Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Boulez [ Sony Opera House / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Feb/2010 ] "Boulez's sharply dramatic view of Debussy's atmospheric score is a performance which will probably not please the dedicated Francophile but it rescues Debussy from the lanquid half-tone approach which for long has been accepted as authentic. He is... |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress (Complete Opera) Gerald Finley, Rebecca Evans / Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Hickox [ Chandos Classics / 2 CD - released 21/Sep/2001 ] Rosette (Penguin Stereo Guide) - "The Chandos recording is superb, spacious and atmospheric, with the many onstage effects beautifully balanced, yet with words always clear…(an) overpowering recording." |
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ALUN HODDINOTT
Clarinet Concerto / Harp Concerto / Piano Concerto Nos. 1 & 2 Gervase de Peyer (clarinet) Osian Ellis (harp) Philip Fowke, Martin Jones (pianos) / London Symphony Orchestra / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Lyrita / CD - released 11/Nov/2007 ] "This recording of four concertos is a welcome addition to the other two fine Hoddinott CDs already in the Lyrita catalogue. The colourful music, performances and recording may be confidently recommended" (MusicWeb Oct 2007) |
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SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 13 Babi Yar Gidon Saks (bass) / Men's voices of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Gerard Schwarz [ Avie / CD - released 1/Sep/2007 ] "For the deeply felt singing of Gidon Saks the present version should be heard and savoured by anyone with a liking for this symphony, irrespective of how many other recordings one already has...Full texts, transliterated and translated by Andrew... |
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DUPRÉ / SAINT-SAËNS / CHARPENTIER / VIERNE
French Virtuoso Organ Music Gillian Weir, at the Hradetzky organ in The Royal Northern College of Music [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] "it is great to have this exciting, technically demanding and imaginative recording in my library once again." MusicWeb |
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MESSIAEN
Le Banquet Celeste / Les Corps Glorieux / etc [recorded in 1966] Gillian Weir, at the organ of the Royal Festival Hall [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Feb/2014 ] An undiscovered treasure! Recorded in 1966 but never released we have nearly 100 minutes of Messiaen recorded by Gillian Weir shortly after she won the St. Alban's Competition. At the centrepiece of this recital is Les Corps Glorieux and the other... |
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GLUCK
Alceste (complete opera recorded in stereo in 1981) Philip Gelling, Maldwyn Davies, Janet Baker, John Shirley-Quirk / The Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras [ Royal Opera House / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2008 ] "A great evening at Covent Garden rescued for posterity." (Gramophone on a previous release) |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: The Rape of Lucretia (complete opera recorded October 2015) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Christine Rice, Allan Clayton, Kate Royal, Duncan Rock, Louise Alder / Leo Hussain (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Sep/2016 ] "Its beautifully acted and sung. Rice wrings your heart throughout and her self-lacerating final scenes have a harrowing immediacy" Gramophone |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera recorded in 2010) Glyndebourne Opera / Gerald Finley / Luca Pisaroni / Kate Royal / Vladimir Jurowski (cond) [ EMI Classics / 2 DVD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "Finley sings as well as he acts, apart from an oddly unhoneyed serenade...The singing is fine and the OAE play like angels." DVD of the Month Gramophone Magazine, August 2011 |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Der Rosenkavalier (complete opera recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Glyndebourne Opera / Tara Erraught, Kate Royal, Lars Woldt, Michael Kraus / Robin Ticciati (cond) [ Opus Arte Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/Mar/2016 ] Strauss's musically ravishing comic masterpiece is given a visual updating in director Richard Jones's stylish and 'gently subversive' Glyndebourne staging, one which offers 'a dreamlike distortion not just of Vienna's 18th-century past, but also of... |
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Guy Lombardo & his Royal Canadians
Drifting And Dreaming & Dancing Room Only (Recorded 1959/62) (2 original LPs on the one CD) [ Vocalion Decca Archives / CD - released 27/Nov/2008 ] Recorded 1959 & 1962 |
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Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians
Get Out Those Old Records - Fifty Of His Many Greatest Hits [ Jasmine / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2002 ] Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians were one of the leading dance bands of their day. |
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Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians
In To The Fifties [ Jasmine / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2007 ] With a career spanning half a century Guy Lombardo sold more records than any other of the sweet bands in America. Concentrating mainly on the latter part of his career this 2CD set takes you into the Fifties in the most tuneful way. Featuring the... |
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Guy Lombardo & The Royal Canad
Lombardo Country & Waltzing Wi [ Vocalion / CD - released 21/Nov/2011 ] |
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HUGO ALFVEN
Alfven: Symphony No. 3 / Swedish Rhapsody No. 3 Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Niklas Willen [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Jan/2015 ] "The sensitive, well-prepared performances under Niklas Willén also serve these symphonies well." Penguin Guide |
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BETSY JOLAS / ANDRE JOLIVET / FLORENT SCHMITT / HENRI TOMASI
Håkan Hardenberger plays French Trumpet Concertos Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) / Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 3/Jun/2022 ] During the second half of the 19th century, a French school of trumpet playing was established, with French musicians and composers at the forefront of the instrument's musical and technical development. |
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JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: The Tempest - Incidental Music Hanne Fischer, Kari Dahl Nielsen, Fredrik Bjellsäter, Palle Knudsen, Nicolai Elsberg / Royal Danish Opera Chorus, Royal Danish Orchestra, Okko Kamu [ Naxos / CD - released 25/Nov/2022 ] Symphonic in scale and ambition, the incidental music to Shakespeare's play The Tempest was among the last orchestral works Sibelius composed before entering the mysterious 'silence of Järvenpää' that lasted until his death. |
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PARRY / CLARKE / BYRD / ELGAR / WALTON / HANDEL
Rule Britannia: Stirring songs and patriotic music Harlow Chorus / The Elizabethan Consort / Martin Souter / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Pro Arte Orchestra [ Britannia / Gift of Music / CD - released 20/Jun/2011 ] Music chosen for its thrill factor: from trumpets and drums to soaring choral voices, this programme has a 'Last Night of the Proms' feel. It features the great and the good of English music of the past including Handel, Holst, Elgar and Walton. |
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Harrison Birtwistle (The Soldier), George Benjamin (The Devil), Dame Harriet Walter (narrator) Royal Academy of Music, Oliver Knussen
Stravinsky: A Soldier's Tale [ Linn / CD - released 25/Mar/2017 ] For his debut recording with Linn, conductor Oliver Knussen has assembled an impressive cast of contemporary composers for The Soldier's Tale: Harrison Birtwistle as the soldier and George Benjamin as the Devil, with actress Dame Harriet Walter as... |
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EDVARD GRIEG
Grieg: Piano Concerto / Symphonic Dances / etc Havard Gimse (piano) / Royal Scottish National orchestra, Bjarte Engeset [ Naxos Greig Edition Vol. 1 / CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] "To paint Norwegian nature, Norwegian folk-life, Norwegian history and Norwegian folk-poetry in music is just that for me, something in which I believe I can succeed" E. Grieg |