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ELGAR
Enigma Variations / Cockaigne Overture / Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1 - 5 (recorded 1926-33) Royal Albert Hall Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Edward Elgar [ Naxos Historical Elgar Conducts Elgar / CD - released 26/Feb/2011 ] "No one has conducted Elgar better than Elgar himself. The daringly fast tempos, the transparency of texture, flexibility of phrasing and sheer spring in the attack that he calls out of players he knew well, are the absolute benchmarks for how this... |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Top 100 Favourite Classical Melodies [5 CD set] Royal Philharmonic, London Baroque Ensemble, Choir of St. John's College Cambridge, Consort of London and others [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2010 ] This set is newly compiled, choosing the 100 very best tracks in the best available performances, including London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Carl Davis, London Baroque Ensemble, Choir of St. John's College Cambridge,... |
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PIERSON / RAWSTHORNE / MORGAN / ARNOLD / etc
Premieres & Encores Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Philharmonic Orchestra / London Syphony Orchestra / Vernon Handley / John Pritchard / Nicholas Braithwaite [ Lyrita / CD - released 18/Jan/2008 ] In the Britain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands edition of the Twentieth Century Composers series, Humphrey Searle commented on Alan Rawsthorne: "I feel that his contribution to English music is as important as that of any composer working in England... |
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VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / MOZART / HANDEL / VERDI / ROSSINI / KHACHATURIAN / etc
Classics for Pleasure Volume 2 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult / John Ogdon (piano) / Barry Tuckwell (horn) / etc [ EMI Classics for Pleasure / CD - released 2/Feb/1983 ] The perfect introduction to the classics from the vast EMI catalogue |
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ARTHUR BENJAMIN
Symphony / North American Square Dance Suite / etc. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Myer Fredman / London Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth [ Lyrita / CD - released 12/Apr/2007 ] "Benjamin's light and serious sides generously represented in vivid performances and with recording to match" (Recording of the Month MusicWeb March 2007) |
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ARAM KHACHATURIAN
Khachaturian: Violin & Piano Concertos Boris Gutnikov (vln), USSR Large Symphony, Konstantin Ivanov / Annette Servadei (pno), London Philharmonic, Joseph Giunta [ Alto / CD - released 20/Sep/2017 ] "Gutnikov's reading of the Violin Concerto is worthy to stand alongside the Oistrakhs and Kogans. Servadei delivers a most poetic & reflective performance"(MusicWeb 2009) |
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TCHAIKOVSKY / PROKOFIEV / SHOSTAKOVICH / GLAZUNOV / RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Russian Masterpieces (Incls 'Sabre Dance', 'Procession of the Nobles' & 'The Flight of the Bumble Bee') Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra / Neeme Jarvi [ Chandos / CD - released 1/Sep/1990 ] All the best Russian classics from the large Chandos catalogue. |
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GRIEG / SIBELIUS
Grieg & Sibelius Favourites 'From Fjord & Forest' RPO & New Symphony Orchestra of London, Charles Mackerras [ ALTO / CD - released 10/Jul/2012 ] 'I enjoyed this (Mackerras) record very much indeed, for its excellent performances, and for its variety, sensibly arranged to afford the greatest enjoyment -a good blend of the very familiar and the less well known….Mackerras is as sympathetic to... |
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JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Symphony No 1 / Pohjola's Daughter / Tapiola London Symphony Orchestra; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Kajanus [ Naxos Historical Kajanus Conducts Sibelius Vol 1 / CD - released 1/Oct/2012 ] "Kajanus's understanding of Sibelius's novel structures is fully in evidence in that most mysterious of scores, Tapiola." Gramophone |
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EDWARD NESBIT
Nesbit: Sacred Choral Music Ruby Hughes (soprano), Joshua Simões the Choir of King's College, London, Joseph Fort [ Delphian / CD - released 11/Mar/2022 ] As a young composer, Edward Nesbit was drawn to the rich complexities of contemporary instrumental music; little more than a decade later, he has found himself returning to the inheritance of his early youth as a chorister: the texts of mass, psalms... |
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LUGWIG van BEETHOVEN / W. A. MOZART / JOHANNES BRAHMS
The Rudolf Serkin Edition Rudolf Serkin (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado, with Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) [ Deutche Grammophon / 9 CD Box Set - released 19/Jun/2020 ] "Serkin was an artist who shaped the world's conceptions of the "Viennese school," and there's much to be gained by tracing the evolution of his style over his long life.' (AllMusic.com) |
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JOHN RUTTER
Rutter: Magnificat Patricia Forbes (soprano) / The Cambridge Singers & City of London Sinfonia, John Rutter [ Collegium / CD - released 1/Jul/2017 ] Rutter's Magnificat for soprano soloist, choir, and orchestra was written in 1990. The text, based on the prayer ascribed by St Luke to the Virgin Mary on learning that she was to give birth to Christ, is extended by the interpolation of Marian... |
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Tschaikows
Eugen Onegin, Aida, Tosca, Dalibor, Medea, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Cavalleria rusticana, Jenufa, Die Frau ohne Schatten, El Rysanek, London, Berry, Welter, Prevedi, Ligendza, Jerusalem, Lilowa, Benácková-Cáp, Zednik, Lindroos, Höngen, Nilsson, [ ORFEO / 2 CD - released 26/Feb/2007 ] |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
War Requiem (Complete recorded in 2011) Sabina Cvilak (soprano), Ian Bostridge (tenor), Simon Keenlyside (baritone) / London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda [ LSO Live SACD / 2 CD - released 10/Aug/2012 ] "Keenlyside is excellent throughout...Decisive and confident, the soprano Sabina Cvilak has the Slavic edge to her voice that has seemed hard-wired into the part since the incomparable Vishnevskaya" (Gramophone) |
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W. A. MOZART
Amadeus - The Best of Mozart (LP) Sabine Meyer (clarinet), Christian Zacharias (piano), Wiener Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, etc [ Warner Classics Vinyl / LP - released 26/Nov/2021 ] Selected highlights from Mozart's masterpieces by wonderful artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Riccardo Muti, Sabine Meyer, Natalie Dessay, Cecilia Bartoli and Christian Zacharias. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Mass in C major, Op. 86 / O welche Lust! (Prisoners' Chorus) Sally Matthews (soprano) Sara Mingardo (mezzo) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Alastair Miles (bass) / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Colin Davis [ LSO Live SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Dec/2008 ] Sir Colin Davis recently collected the Best Male Artist award at the Classical Brits for the second time. |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos Salvatore Accardo (violin) / London Philharmonic, Charles Dutoit [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 16/Oct/2016 ] "[Accardo] applies his characteristically lithe, fresh style here to the concertos of Mendelssohn … Accardo's technique is secure and his playing, imbued with the classical spirit, undoubtedly gives pleasure" Gramophone |
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NICOLAI PAGANINI
Paganini: The six (6) violin concertos (3 CD set) Salvatore Accardo (violin) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Dutoit [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Nov/2000 ] "Paganini's concertos can too often seem trivial and long-winded; it is a tribute to the virtuosity and artistry of Salvatore Accardo that they reveal sp much musical interest in his hands. Accardo's technique is formidable and his intonation... |
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WILLIAM WALTON
Walton: Symphony No.1 in B flat minor / Violin Concerto in B minor Salvatore Accardo (violin) / London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox / Philharmonia Orchestra, Louis Frémaux [ ALTO / CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "no lack of brilliance... the fireworks are dashingly despatched..there are the sudden flashes of Paganinian dazzle" (Gramophone) |
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MAURICE RAVEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ravel: Alborada Del Gracioso / Tzigane / Shéhérazade Salvatore Accardo (violin) Margaret Price (soprano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/Jan/2000 ] "There is much to admire in these performances under Abbado, who secures consistently polished and refined playing from the LSO." Gramophone |