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W.A. MOZART
Complete Piano Concertos Malcom Bilson (forte-piano) / English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner [ DG Collector's Edition / 9 CD - released 23/Jun/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1761-1800) - "Bilson is an artist of excellent music judgement and good taste, and his survey is the only one at present available on the fortepiano. For the most part, there is little to quarrel... |
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J.S. BACH
Cantatas Vol 8: BWV51, 99, 100, 138; BWV8, 27, 95, 161 Malin Hartelius, Katharine Fuge, William Towers, Robin Tyson; James Gilchrist . Monteverdi Choir. English Baroque Soloists. John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/2005 ] Cantatas for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity and the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Live recording from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage. St. Giles Cripplegate, London, England In total SDG will release 51 CDs, each corresponding to one of the... |
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ESSENTAIL BALLROOM CLASSICS
Essential Ballroom Classics [2 CD set] Manuel amd his orchestra, Gran Orquesta de Profesores Solistas, London Sinfonietta, The John Wilson Orchestra, Wiener Johann Strauss Orchestra, etc [ EMI Essential / 2 CD - released 1/Dec/2012 ] Over two hours of captivating dance music |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Hungarian Dances For Violin And Piano (with works by Joachim) Marat Bisengaliev (Violin) John Lenehan (Piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 21/Oct/2007 ] "These are enlivening, not to say intoxicating performances of familiar music in a new and yet brilliantly effective guise." - Hi Fi News - October 1996 |
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John Scofield, with Steve Swallow & Bill Stewart
Swallow Tales [ ECM Records / CD - released 15/May/2020 ] Guitarist John Scofield celebrates the music of his friend and mentor Steve Swallow in an outgoing and spirited recording. John was a 20-year-old student at Berklee when he first met and played with the bassist, and they have continued ever since. |
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FRANCESCO PAOLO TOSTI
Tosti: The song of a life, Complete Vocal Chamber Music, Vol 4; Maria Bagalà (soprano), Glenn Morton (piano), John Viscardi (baritone), Donata D'Annunzio Lombardi (soprano), Isabella Crisante (piano), etc [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 14/Feb/2020 ] "this is a great tribute to the legacy of the greatest composer of Italian songs...it is an invaluable treat to have them collected - I doubt there will ever be a similar project again - and at Brilliant Classics's give-away price." MusicWeb |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 'Scottish' / Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 (with Schumann - Piano Concerto) Maria João Pires (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ LSO Live SACD + BLU-RAY / 2 Hybrid SACD/DVD - released 10/Nov/2014 ] "a reading formed by life experience…Pires is supported by conductor and orchestra magnificently...I've never heard so much of the orchestral colour and detail in any other Schumann recording … My anticipation that this might be a special recording h |
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HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Gawain (complete opera) Marie Angel / Anne Howells / Richard Greager / John Tomlinson [ NMC / 2 CD - released 5/Sep/2014 ] Birtwistle's fascination with myth and ritual has influenced many of his works and this opera, its libretto by David Harsent, is based on the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, with a plot featuring castles, eerie nocturnal... |
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FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Piano Concerto & Concert champêtre Mark Bebbington (piano), Jan Latham-Koenig, John Roberts (oboe), Jonathan Davies (bassoon) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra [ Resonus / CD - released 6/Mar/2020 ] GRAMOPHONE Award Nomination 2021 - Concerto |
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J.S. BACH
St John Passion [complete oratorio] Mark Padmore, Peter Harvey, Joanne Lunn / English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 20/Apr/2011 ] "A splendid new account of the St. John Passion, which all devotees of Bach's vocal music should try to hear." (Recording of the Month MusicWeb May 2011) |
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PETERIS VASKS
Symphony No 3 / Cello Concerto Marko Ylanen (cello) / Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra / John Storga¥rds (conductor) [ Ondine SACD / SACD - released 28/Nov/2006 ] "Recording quality captures the wide and deep dynamics easily.Possibly one of the best discs of the year and certainly on the shortlist...Worth the wait" (SA-CD.Net) |
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TONY BANKS
Banks: 18 Pieces for Orchestra Martin Robertson, Charlie Siem, Tony Banks, Frank Ricotti, John Barclay, Skaila Kanga [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 13/Sep/2024 ] Famous for his role as the keyboard player in rock band Genesis and as a solo artist, Tony Banks was always fascinated by the idea of writing orchestral music. |
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WAGNER
Tristan und Isolde (Complete opera) Martina Dike, mezzo-soprano / John Erik Eleby, bass / Hedwig Fassbender, mezzo-soprano / Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra / Leif Segerstam [ Naxos Historical Opera / 3 CD - released 26/Aug/2005 ] "If you were judging this recording only on the soloists (the excellent German soprano Hedwig Fassbender and the lackluster Wolfgang Millgram) it wouldn't be in the running but what lifts it above average is the wonderful playing of the Swedish Opera... |
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HOWELLS / HUBERT PARRY / EDISON / GOSS
Psalms For The Spirit Matthew Larkin (Organ) / St John's Choir Elora / Noel Edison (Director) [ Naxos / CD - released 4/Dec/2006 ] Psalms have always played a central part in Christian, as in Jewish worship. With the shift of emphasis in worship in England after the Protestant Reformation, Psalms, in one form or another, metrical or unmetrical, assumed even greater importance. |
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FREDERICK DELIUS
Delius: Orchestral & Choral Works / A Village Romeo & Juliet / Songs Maureen Forrester, John Cameron, Dora Labbette / Beecham Choral Society, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham [ Warner Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "A record to treasure. The greatest recordings made in stereo by the greatest British conductor at the peak of his career." - Gramophone |
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MAX RICHTER
Richter: Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works Max Richter, Louisa Fuller, Natalia Bonner, John Metcalfe, Ian Burdge, Chris Worsey [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 3/Feb/2017 ] Max Richter explores time and memory in his latest Deutsche Grammophon album, Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works Virginia Woolf's sharp eye for the detail of life guided her work as a writer, its presence felt in everything from pioneering... |
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MAX RICHTER
Richter: The Blue Notebooks Max Richter (piano), with Louisa Fuller, Natalia Bonner (violins), Chris Worsey, Philip Sheppard (cellos), John Metcalfe (viola) with Tilda Swinton [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 8/Jun/2018 ] A 15th anniversary reissue of Max Richter's masterpiece The Blue Notebooks. Released in 2004, the album was written and recorded in 2003 in response to the US invasion of Iraq. It's become one of the most iconic pieces of classical and protest music... |
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JOHN McCORMACK
18 Favourites Vol.1 John Mccormack (tenor) with various accompaniments [ Naxos Nostalgia / CD - released 30/Nov/2007 ] 18 Favourites by the Irish master tenor |
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: La donna del lago (complete opera recorded in 2015) Metropolitan Opera / Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Florez, Daniela Barcellona, John Osborn / Michele Mariotti (cond) [ Erato DVD / 2 DVD - released 10/Dec/2015 ] The Metropolitan Opera give this live performance of Rossini's work based on the poem by Sir Walter Scott, with Joyce DiDonato as Elena, the lady of the lake, who loves the heroic Malcolm (Daniela Barcellona). |
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J.S. BACH
Cantatas Vol 20: BWV18, BWV84, BWV92 & BWV126; BWV144, BWV181 Miah Persson / Wilke te Brummelstroete / James Gilchrist / Gillian Keith / Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 10/May/2009 ] "The standards of performance and presentation are as high in this latest instalment of Gardiner's cantata cycle as they have been in previous issues. The series continues its impressive progress." (MusicWeb April 2009) |