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PROKOFIEV / KHACHATURIAN / SHOSTAKOVICH / GLIERE / RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Russian Wind Band Classics Jacques Mauger (trombone) / Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra / Clark Rundell [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] '..the performances get the thumbs up. Chandos' recording engineers have done their work with the necessary bravado.' - International Record Review |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Fat Knight / Serenade to Music / Henry V Overture James Clark (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Martin Yates [ Dutton Epoch SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/May/2017 ] "Yates secures some commendably alert playing from the RSNO, who seem to be thoroughly enjoying the whole experience…it's hard to conceive of a more sympathetic performance of either [the Henry V Overture] or the radiant Serenade to Music in its... |
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SALLY BEAMISH
The Singing James Crabb (accordion) Branford Marsalis (alto saxophone) Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] The works on this disc of music by Sally Beamish were composed between 2003 and 2012. As a whole the programme highlights the inspiration she has found in Scotland, her adopted homeland. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Romances (with Schubert: Rondo in A) James Ehnes (violin), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze [ Onyx Classics / CD - released 20/Oct/2017 ] "Technically, Ehnes's playing is a marvel...But, really, it's his - and Manze's - thoughtfulness and patience that make this recording so satisfying." Gramphone Editor's Choice November 2017 |
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GREGSON / STEPTOE / VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / GOLLAND
British Tuba Concertos James Gourlay (tuba) / Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Gavin Sutherland [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Feb/2007 ] James Gourlay is a considerable player, an imposing presence in the Gregson Concerto with his glowing lyricism (he conveys a strong brass-band identity but nuanced with a thoughtful and cultivated chamber-music sound) and a direct, unequivocal... |
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GLAZUNOV / PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY
Works for cello & orchestra Jamie Walton (cello) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Okko Kamu [ Signum Classics / CD - released 20/Aug/2015 ] "Walton performs it splendidly with a light touch that the Royal Philharmonic under Okko Kamu accompany hand-in-glove. They capture the neo-classical essence of the piece very well, and the recording is vibrant." (MusicWeb Sept 2015) |
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VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Hodie / Fantasia on Christmas Carols Janice Watson (soprano) Peter Hoare (tenor) Stephen Gadd (baritone) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Hilary Davan Wetton [ Naxos / CD - released 22/Nov/2007 ] "The performances are distinctive and good. That Naxos chose two of the composer's works which are not so popular or well known today is to be applauded." (MusicWeb Dec 2007) |
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MOZART / MENDELSSOHN
Great Violinists - Heifetz Jascha Heifetz, Violin, Royal Philharmonic, Beecham, London Philh, Barbirolli [ Naxos Historical Great Violinists / CD - released 23/Jun/2001 ] Recordings to be cherished |
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JOSEF & MICHAEL HAYDN
Horn Concertos Jasper de Waal (horn) / Royal Concertgebouw Chamber [ Channel Classics SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 20/Jul/2010 ] "Technically faultless, with a gleaming, heroic tone, the Concertgebouw's principal horn player Jasper de Waal barely breaks a sweat in this decorous selection of aristocratic background music from the two Haydns." The Independent, 25th April 2010 |
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ALAN HOVHANESS
Hovhaness: Guitar Concerto No. 2 / Symphony No. 63 / Fanfare for the New Atlantis Javier Calderon (guitar) Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Stewart Robertson [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] "I cannot over-emphasise how attractive this music is. Hovhaness wrote in the 1960s of the importance of identifying our own kind of beauty. These three works bear him out completely." (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month June 2008) |
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RAVEL
Piano music (Incls 'Sonatine' & 'Le Tombeau de Couperin') Jean Yves Thibaudet (piano) with Helen Grimaud and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Portrait Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2009 ] Highly acclaimed performances, licensed from Denon. Thibaudet recordings unavailable since the late 1990s |
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OLIVER MESSIAEN
Messiaen: Turangalila-symphonie Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) / Takashi Harada (ondes martenot) / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly [ Decca 20C / CD - released 20/Mar/2013 ] "Chailly gets jiggy with it, in a performance that's interested in the carnal desire underpinning Messiaen's piece. It may be over the top for some tastes, but the orchestral playing is unbelievably powerful and hardcore. Vividly recorded, too."... |
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NED ROREM
Violin Concerto / Flute Concerto / Pilgrims Jeffrey Khaner (Flute) Philippe Quint (Violin) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Jose Serebrier (Conductor) [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 17/Jun/2006 ] "A classic album. Satisfying and beautiful music that has about it a rippling current of vitality." (MusicWeb May 2006) |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: A Vaughan Williams Anthology [8 CD set] Joan Rodgers (sop) Christopher Maltman (bar) Jennifer Pike (violin) / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmon [ Naxos / 8 CD Box Set - released 8/Apr/2022 ] Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of Britain's most illustrious composers, and this specially curated selection of works demonstrates the sheer breadth of his achievement. |
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VERDI / DONIZETTI / GOUNOD / ARDITI
La Stupenda Joan Sutherland (soprano) / Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden & Paris Conservatoire Orchestra [ Alto / CD - released 10/Aug/2013 ] (* Penguin Guide Rosette on Art of Prima Donna vol.2) "this 1959 recital** at once put her on the map as one of the greatest recording artists of all time" "most cherishable of all operatic recital records" (Penguin Guide) "breathtaking display" re... |
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JACQUES OFFENBACH / GIUSEPPE VERDI / VINCENZO BELLINI
Darwin: Song for a City [Recorded Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, UK, January 1975] Joan Sutherland, Heather Begg Tom McDonnell, Clifford Grant, Louis Quilico, Margreta Elkins / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] Christmas Eve 1974 was a nightmare for the inhabitants of Darwin when it was destroyed by a violent cyclone. A Darwin Appeal Fund was launched and a month later, on 25 January 1975, Richard Bonynge conducted a fund-raising concert at the Royal Opera. |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (complete opera recorded in 1971) [2 CDs with libretto] Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Ghiaurov / Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 27/Sep/2000 ] "Though some of the girlish freshness of voice which marked the 1961 recording had disappeared by the 1971 set, Sutherland's detailed understanding was intensified. Power is there as well as delicacy, and the rest of the cast is first-rate." (Penguin |
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HANDEL
Messiah (highlights) Joanne Lunn, Melanie Marshall, James Gilchrist, Christopher Purves / Cambridge Singers / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / John Rutter [ Collegium / CD - released 23/Nov/2007 ] John Rutter was born in London in 1945 and received his first musical education as a chorister at Highgate School. He went on to study music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he wrote his first published compositions and conducted his first... |