|
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Stabat Mater Op 58 / Psalm CXLIX Op 79 John Aler (ten) / Christine Brewer (sop) / Ding Gao (bar) / Washington Orchestra [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 3/Oct/2002 ] "This live recording adds a distinguished feather to the cap of Naxos... The heartfelt quality of Dvorak's music, affected by the death of his two-day old daughter Josefa, inspires an intense performance from Robert Schafer and his Washington forces.... |
|
ALEXANDER KASTALSKY
Kastalsky: Requiem Joseph Charles Beutel (bass-bar), Anna Dennis (sop) Cathedral Choral Society, The Clarion Choir, Chamber Choir of St. Tikhon's Monastery [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Aug/2020 ] Alexander Kastalsky was a student of Tchaikovsky and a mentor to Rachmaninov, becoming director of the Moscow Synodal School until the Bolshevik regime banned all sacred music. |
|
JAMES MacMILLAN
The Sacrifice (complete opera) Lisa Milne (sop) Leigh Melrose (bar), Christopher Purves (bass) Sarah Tynan (sop) Peter Hoare (ten) / Welsh National Opera, Anthony Negus [ Chandos Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2010 ] 'There is no mistaking James MacMillan has a popular hit on his hands, with the cries of bravo as the curtain fell on the world premiere of his new opera.' (Western Mail) |
|
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: The Creation (recorded in 1990) Lucia Popp, Francisco Araiza, Samuel Ramey, Olaf Bär & Iris Vermillion Wiener Philharmoniker & Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Riccardo Mut [ Arthaus Musik DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2010 ] "There is plenty of glamour, and Muti is excitingly dramatic." BBC Music |
|
ANDRE CAMPRA
Campra: Messe de Requiem (with works by Rameau & de Mondonville) Marie Perbost, Emmanuelle Ifrah (sops), Samuel Boden (countertenor), Zachary Wilder (ten), Victor Sicard (bar) / Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haim [ Erato / 2 CD - released 25/Aug/2023 ] Emmanuelle Haïm, a Baroque expert "with an instinct for the crucial balance between energy and eloquence" (New York Times), directs the orchestra and singers of her ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée in choral works by three French composers of the 18th... |
|
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Arianna in Creta (complete opera) Mata Katsuli (soprano) Mary-Ellen Nesi (mezzo) Irini Karaianni (mezzo) (Marita Paparizou (mezzo) Petros Magoulas (bar) / Orchestra of Patras / George [ MDG / 3 CD Box Set - released 15/Jul/2006 ] "One of Handel's underrated works ... never less than interesting ... a strong performance where vivid, dramatic values are to the fore" (MusicWeb June 2006) |
|
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Symphony No 8 Michaela Kaune (sop) Agnieszka Rehlis (mezzo) Wojtek Drabowicz (bar) / Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir & Orchetsra / Antoni Wit, conductor [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Nov/2008 ] "…The recording quality on this disc is first class…Tenor Minkiewicz easily negotiates his tricky lines in the Dies irae, and hits the right level of hysteria. All the soloists are excellent, and the Warsaw National Philharmonic under Wit provides... |
|
C.P.E. BACH / IGOR STRAVINSKY / DARIUS MILHAUD / CHARLOTTE SOHY
Symphonies in 3 Movements Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Bar Avni [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 27/Feb/2026 ] Winner of the 2024 La Maestra competition in Paris and recipient of five additional prizes, conductor Bar Avni is pursuing a very promising career. Born in Israel, she first studied percussion before turning to conducting. She counts Yoav Talmi,... |
|
CARL ORFF
Orff: Carmina Burana / Die Kluge (highlights) Janice Harsanyi (Sop), Rudolph Petrak (Ten) Harve Presnell (Bar) with Rutgers University Choir / Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy [ Alto / CD - released 8/Apr/2013 ] "Ormandy & his Philadelphians have just the right panache to bring off this wildly exuberant picture of the Middle Ages…and there is no more enjoyable analogue version… tremendous vigour, warmth, and colour and a genial spontaneous enthusiasm from... |
|
CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Mors et Vita Barbara Hendricks (sop) Nadine Denize (mezzo) John Aler (ten) José van Dam (bass-bar) / Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson [ Erato / Warner Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2017 ] "Plasson's remains a serviceable rendition of Gounod's grandiose conspectus of human spiritual experience." BBC Music |
|
JOHN BLOW
Blow: Venus & Adonis Rosemary Joshua (sop), Gerald Finley (bar), Robin Blaze (countertenor), Clare College, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Renae Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 29/Sep/2008 ] "Rene Jacobs and his musicians present Blow's Venus and Adonis with persuasive style and dramatic clarity...Venus's lament and the closing plaintive chorus touch the heart deeply." (Daily Telegraph) |
|
LEOS JANACEK
Janacek: The Cunning Little Vixen (complete opera) (with Fabrice Bollon: Twelve Lilies for Leoš) Samantha Gaul (sop) Michael Borth (bar) Irina Jae-Eun Park (sop) / Cantus Juvenum Karlsruhe, Members of the Opernchor des Theater Freiburg [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 7/Jul/2023 ] Fabrice Bollon's Janáček project was developed during the COVID lockdown when the use of large orchestras was forbidden. Bollon wrote a version of The Cunning Little Vixen for twelve instruments - not a reduction but an imaginative recreation... |
|
JOHN TAVENER
The Essential John Tavener on Naxos [5 CD set] Stefan Berkieta (bar) Maria Kliegel (cello), Eileen Hulse (sop) Ralph van Raat (piano) / Clare College Choir, Cambridge / St. John's College Choir [ Naxos / 5 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2014 ] "Strongly recommended - but you may need to persevere. It's well removed from the cosy Christmas of renaissance art or of chestnuts roasting by the fire, though there's a place for those, too." (MusicWeb on the Clare College Recording) |
|
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125 'Choral' Teresa Stich Randall (sop) Lore Fischer (contralto) Ferdinand Koch (tenor) Rudolf Watzke (bar) Orchestra of the Garzenich of Cologne / Gunter Wand [ Testament / CD - released 13/Dec/2002 ] Wand was in all respects very much his own man, sometimes as much musicologist as performer |
|
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Alfonso und Estrella (complete opera recorded in 1997) Theater an der Wien / Olaf Bar / Luba Orgonasova / Thomas Hampson / Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor [ Naxos DVD / DVD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] G - Filmed at the Theater an der Wien during performances in Wiener Festwochen, May 1997. |
|
J. S. BACH
Bach: Christmas Oratorio (complete oratorio) Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Nancy Argenta, Anne Sofie von Otter, Olaf Bar / The Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner [ Archiv Collectors Edition / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2014 ] Gardiner's celebrated Christmas Oratorio, first released in 1987, offered at mid-price for the first time. With soloists including Anthony Rolfe Johnson (Evangelist), Nancy Argenta and Anne Sofie von Otter. |
|
Bar Italia
Some Like It Hot (Indie LP) [ Matador / LP - released 17/Oct/2025 ] Some Like It Hot is the new album by London three-piece bar italia. It pulses with romance, intrigue, self-discovery and rapture over lustful rockers, spellbinding folk pop, punch-drunk ballads and undefinable moments that sneak up on you like a... |
|
Bar Italia
Tracey Denim (LP) [ Matador / LP - released 8/Sep/2023 ] 'Tracey Denim' was recorded and produced by bar italia with mixing from Marta Salogni. It features the single "Nurse!" which was released in March to acclaim, and described as "a hypnotic post-punk ballad" (The Guardian) and "narcotically arresting"... |
|
Bar-Kays
Soul Finger (LP) [ Music On Vinyl / LP - released 20/Mar/2020 ] Soul Finger is the debut album of the Bar-Kays, recorded by Tom Dowd and Chris Huston. The instrumental band was tutored by Al Jackson, Jr. and the other members of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which shows in the tightness of the rhythm section. This is... |
|
Bar-Kays
Too Hot To Sleep / Flying High On Your Love [ Superbird / CD - released 27/Apr/2010 ] |