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W. A. MOZART
Arias Ildebrando d'Arcangelo (bass) / Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 16/Sep/2011 ] "The velvety patina and fierce core strength of the Italian bass-baritone is on show here in a patterning of both popular operatic and rarer concert arias...He shifts from the expression of astonishment to regret, from pride to shame within... |
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Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Tim Berne (alto saxophone) with Oscar Noriega (clarinet/bass clarinet) & Matt Mitchell (piano, Tack and Wurlitzer pianos)
Shadow Man [ ECM / CD - released 22/Oct/2013 ] Acclaim for the first, eponymous album from saxophonist-composer Tim Berne's acoustic quartet Snakeoil came from far and wide: All About Jazz described the music as "unpredictable and fresh," while The Guardian called it "an object lesson in... |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Chamber Music - Piano Quartet, Op. 16 / Minuets and Dances Indiana University Wind Ensemble, Janette Fishell (organ), Sofia Kim (violin), Susie Kroh (violin), Aleck Belcher (double bass), etc [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 1/May/2020 ] In his first decade in Vienna, Beethoven seems to have been preoccupied with music for wind instruments. The best-known example is his Quintet in E flat major, Op. 16, which he arranged at the same time for piano quartet. |
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JOHANN SIMON MAYR
Mayr: Stabat Mater in F minor / Eja mater / Ave maris stella Jaewon Yun (soprano), Theresa Holzhauser (contralto), Robert Sellier (tenor), Jens Hamann (bass) / Bavarian State Opera Chorus, I Virtuosi Italiani [ Naxos / CD - released 17/Aug/2017 ] Restored by Mayr expert Frans Hauk from two extant manuscript versions and heard here in its world premiere recording, Simon Mayr's Stabat mater in F minor was singled out by a contemporary biographer "for its marvelous effect" and "heavenly beauty."... |
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MARAIS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Maris: Pieces de viole Jerome Hantai (bass viol) / Alix Verzier (bass viol) / Pierre Hantai (harpsichord) [ Virgin Veritas / 2 CD - released 22/Sep/2010 ] "This double helping of Marais (majoring on books 2 and 3) keeps things in the family. Pierre Hantaï accompanies brother Jérôme in a persuasive display of musical fraternité, interpretative égalité and fantasy-filled expressive liberté." (BBC Music) |
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FINZI / BUTTERWORTH / BRITTEN / BOLCOM / IRELAND / QUILTER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Love Blows as the Wind Blows-English and American Songs Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone) Malcolm Martineau (piano) / Belcea Quartet [ EMI Music / CD - released 18/Oct/2005 ] Gramophone Awards 2002 Winner - Debut Recording |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Albert Herring (Complete opera) Josephine Barstow (soprano) Christopher Gillett (tenor) Robert Lloyd (bass) Felicity Palmer (mezzo) / Northern Sinfonia / Steuart Bedford [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 19/May/2003 ] "At the new price, there's no excuse for not having one of Britten's richest but least appreciated operatic scores in your collection." BBC Music |
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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Early Cantatas Judith Howarth, Janice Watson (soprano), Jean Rigby (mezzo soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Jose Van Dam (bass) / Corydon Singers & Orchestra [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 28/Aug/1997 ] 'Arguably Beethoven's first major masterpiece … superb performance, at once fresh and incisive and deeply moving' - PENGUIN GUIDE ROSETTE |
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AMY BEACH / FLORENCE PRICE / SAMUEL BARBER
American Quintets Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, with Matthew Rose (bass) [ Chandos / CD - released 28/May/2021 ] "The hit, undoubtedly, is the premiere recording of Price's structurally lopsided but endearing A minor Quintet...And the icing on the cake? The Collective's vigour and warmth." BBC Music Magazine Awards 2022 Shortlisted - Chamber |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 [German Requiem] (with works by Schutz) Katharine Fuge (soprano), Matthew Brook (bass) / Monteverdi Choir / Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / CD - released 20/May/2012 ] "You know you're in safe hands with the Monteverdis and the pitch-perfect top A at 2'04''...absolutely confirms it...a minutely considered, dramatic and, in places, aptly disturbing performance." (Gramophone Editor's Choice May 2012) |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Booming Bass & Baritone: Best Loved Opera Arias Lado Ataneli (Baritone), Matthias Goerne, (Baritone), Carlo Colombara (Bass), Samuel Ramey (Bass) [ Naxos / CD - released 23/Apr/2021 ] From the jack-of-all-trades, Figaro, to the impotent jester Rigoletto, and from the heroic William Tell to the mischievous Méphistophélès, these larger-than-life characters for baritone and bass represent the grandeur of great music. |
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TRADITIONAL / CARESANA / ROSSI / GIRAMO / LEGRENZI / etc
Alla Napoletana L'arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar, with Vincenzo Capezzuto (counter-tenor), João Fernandes (bass), Zachary Wilder (tenor), etc [ Erato Classics / 2 CD - released 29/Oct/2021 ] Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata and eight guest singers explore the musical highways and byways of Naples, the most intoxicating and idiosyncratic of Italy's large cities. Alla Napoletana, a double album, expresses the city's mercurial personality. |
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JOHN DOWLAND / HENRY PURCELL
Songs of Passion Lea Desandre (mezzo) Thomas Dunford (lute), with with Alex Rosen (bass-baritone), Jess Dandy (contralto), Laurence Kilsby (tenor) [ Erato / CD - released 10/Sep/2025 ] With Songs of Passion, a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell - English composers born nearly a century apart - mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and Ensemble Jupiter have created a companion... |
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HAVERGAL BRIAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brian: Symphony No.1 "The Gothic" Vladimir Dolezal (tenor) / Eva Jenisova (soprano) / Peter Mikulas (bass) / Dagmar Peckova (alto) / Slovak National Opera / Ondrej Lenard [ Marco Polo / 2 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/1990 ] "Leonard leads a substantial percentage of the adult population of Bratislava in a noble effort, full of excitement, with enthusiastic (if somewhat rough) choral singing and a very good lineup of soloists (including the young Dagmar Pecková), all... |
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BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / R. STRAUSS / TCHAIKOVSKY /
Lorin Maazel conducts the Cleveland Orchestra Lucia Popp (soprano) Jon Vickers (tenor) Elena Obraztsova (mezzo) Martti Talvela (bass) / The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus. Lorin Maazel [ Sony Classical / 15 CD Box Set - released 21/Mar/2025 ] Lorin Maazel burnished the Cleveland image and maintained the exalted standards set by Szell, who had elevated his ensemble to pre-eminence among the US "Big Five" orchestras. |
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NICOLA PORPORA
Porpora: Christmas Oratorio: Il verbo in carne Marc-Olivier Oetterli (bass), Terry Wey (counter-tenor), Martin Vanberg (tenor), Roberta Invernizzi (soprano) / Kammerorchester Basel, Riccardo Minasi [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Dec/2018 ] Porpora: Christmas Oratorio - Il verbo in carne is the new album from the sensational Kammerorchester Basel which rediscovers the exceptional Christmas oratorio which made it's premiere 271 years ago. Under the direction of Riccardo Minasi, the... |
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J. S. BACH
St John Passion Maria Keohane, Helena Ek (Sopranos), Carlos Mena (alto), Hans Jorg Mammell (tenor), Stephen MacLeod (bass) / Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot [ Mirare / 2 CD - released 20/Apr/2011 ] A new recording from the Ricercar Consort is always special and this is no exception: here a new St John Passion. |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Shostakovich: Symphony No 13 Babi-Yar Op 113 Marius Rintzler (bass) / Concertgebouw Orchestra and Choir / Bernard Haitink [ Decca Records / CD - released 19/Nov/2000 ] "Outstandingly brilliant and full sound, remarkable even for this series." *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
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ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2 / Die gluckliche Hand / Wind Quintet Mark Beesley (bass) / Simon Joly Chorale / New York Woodwind Quintet / Philharmonia Orchestra / Robert Craft [ Naxos Schoenberg Edition Vol 8 / CD - released 1/May/2008 ] The little-known Second Chamber Symphony ought to be the most popular of Schoenberg's later masterpieces. Neither "atonal" nor "twelve-tone", it contrasts a lush, melodious, dramatic first movement with a rapid and richly polyphonic second movement.... |