ALEXANDER MacKENZIE
Mackenzie: Violin Concerto / Pibroch Suite Malcolm Stewart (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Vernon Handely, conductor / David Davies, conductor [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 20/Jun/2009 ] 'Stewart is the real red-blooded article, with a big sound and a bow that travels across the strings so fast that it must look like a blur in the concert hall. But not a single note is blurred or slighted here' - Fanfare, USA |
VERDI / DONIZETTI / BELLINI / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Marcelo Alvarez - Bel Canto Marcelo Alvarez (tenor) / Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Carlo Rizzi [ Sony Classical / CD - released 17/Sep/1998 ] Álvarez travels widely, performing with top singers in major opera houses and concert halls around the world. Since the beginning of his career in 1994, he has maintained an active touring schedule and debuted in 34 roles. |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (3 LP) Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Andréa Guiot, Robert Massard / Orchestre du Théâtre National de L'Opera, Georges Pretre [ Warner Classics LP / 3 Vinyl Box Set - released 19/May/2023 ] Towards the end of Callas's career, there were many rumours that she was planning to perform Carmen on stage. This was never to be, but Carmen became her penultimate complete recording of an opera. |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (complete opera recorded in 1964) Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Andréa Guiot, Robert Massard, Nadine Sautereau / Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2015 ] Towards the end of Callas's career, there were many rumours that she was planning to perform Carmen on stage. This was never to be, but Carmen became her penultimate complete recording of an opera - and her only complete recording of a French opera.... |
BEETHOVEN / ELGAR / BRAHMS / SAINT-SAENS / FAURE / POPPER / etc
Maria Kliegel - Anniversary Edition Maria Kliegel (cello) / with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Camerata Transsylvanica, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 11/Nov/2022 ] "Her playing has great virtuosity, but it is her phrasing especially in the Elgar, which suggests a great musical intelligence" - Classic CD |
DEBUSSY / DUPARC / FAURE / RAVEL
Marianne Crebassa - Séguedilles Marianne Crebassa (mezzo), Orchestre et Choeur du National du Capitole de Toulouse, Ben Glassberg; Thibaut Garcia (guitar), Alphonse Cemin (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 22/Oct/2021 ] Marianne Crebassa's new album celebrates her French-Spanish roots: centered around French composers taking inspiration from Spain and Spanish composers searching for new ideas in France. |
MORITZ MOSZKOWSKI
Moszkowski: Piano Concerto, Op. 59 / From Foreign Lands Op.23 Markus Pawlik (piano) / National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra A. Wit, conductor [ Naxos Romantic Piano Concertos / CD - released 13/Oct/2002 ] Moritz Moszkowski was born in Breslau on 23rd August, 1854, and began his music studies in Dresden, eventually moving to Berlin to continue his education with Kullak and Wüerst. |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Martha Argerich: Complete Chopin Recordings On Deutsche Grammophon Martha Argerich (piano) with Mischa Maisky (cello) Mstislav Rostropovich (cello & conductor) / London Symphony & National Symphony Orchestras [ Deutsche Grammophon / 5 CD Box Set - released 5/Jun/2016 ] This 5 CD set brings together Martha Argerich's complete studio, live and radio recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, and documents her special, intuitive and passionate relationship with Chopin's music. |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Martha Argerich: Complete Chopin Recordings On Deutsche Grammophon [CDs & Blu-ray audio] Martha Argerich (piano) with Mischa Maisky (cello) Mstislav Rostropovich (cello & conductor) / London Symphony & National Symphony Orchestras [ Deutsche Grammophon CDs + Blu-ray audio/Dolby Atmos / 6 CD Box Set - released 14/May/2016 ] 50 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME (No 19) - BBC MUSIC This 5 CD set brings together Martha Argerich's complete studio, live and radio recordings of Chopin on Deutsche Grammophon.. |
ERNO DOHNANYI
Dohnanyi: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Michael Ludwig (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / JoAnn Falletta [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Aug/2008 ] "These are excellent pieces that ought to be in the modern performance repertory. If you don't know these works, you owe to yourself to hear this disc." -- ClassicsToday 10/10 |
MOZART / MEHUL / OFFENBACH / LEONCAVALLO / LEHAR / WAGNER / RAVEL / etc
Michael Spyres - BariTenor Michael Spyres (baritone/tenor) / Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, Marko Letonja, Choeur d'hommes de l'Opéra national du Rhine [ Erato Classics / CD - released 1/Oct/2021 ] "The range of roles is astonishing, but then so are these performances...Spyres really is a tenor - and a baritone, it seems - who has the operatic world at his feet." Gramophone Award WINNER 2022 - Vocal & Ensemble |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Claude Debussy: A Portrait Michel Beroff, Jean-Philippe Collard, Samson François (pianos) / Quatuor Ebène / Orchestre National de l'ORTF, Jean Martinon [ Warner Classics / CD - released 1/Aug/2018 ] The colours of sound: With his Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune of 1894, Claude Debussy found his way to a completely novel and distinctive idiom that has gone down in music history as Impressionism. Influenced more by painting than by late-romantic... |
FRANCIS POULENC
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Poulenc: Stabat Mater / Salve Regina / Litanies a la vierge Michèle Lagrange (soprano), Choeur & Orchestre national de Lyon, Serge Baudo [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] "Baudo leads French forces in a highly idiomatic performance" ClassicalNet |
FRANCIS POULENC
Poulenc: Stabat Mater / Salve Regina / Litanies a la vierge Michèle Lagrange (soprano), Choeur & Orchestre national de Lyon, Serge Baudo [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] Poulenc's Stabat Mater, which he described as a 'requiem without despair', was written in 1950 following the death of Christian Bérard, a leading figure of 1940s Paris who designed the sets for Cocteau's films and plays. |
PROKOFIEV / RACHMANINOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No 3 / Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 3 Mikhail Pletnev, piano, Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Mstislav Rostropovich [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 24/Mar/2003 ] This is not only Pletnev's first concerto CD on the Yellow Label, but also his first recording ever of Prokofiev 3rd. |
TALBOT / EINAUDI / SHORE / SCHUMANN
Miloš : The Moon & The Forest Miloš Karadaglić (guitar) / BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ben Gernon, National Arts Centre Orchestra Alexander Shelley [ Decca / CD - released 7/May/2021 ] 'Premiere recordings of two dazzling new concertos which offer new perspectives on the relationship between guitar and orchestra, performed with considerable conviction and élan.' Gramophone Editor's Choice June 2021 |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / NIKOLAI MIASKOVSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Prokofiev/Miaskovsky: Cello Concertos Mischa Maisky (cello) / Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 1/Mar/1996 ] Original recording made at the Moscow State Conservatory, Great Hall, November 1995 |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Dutch National Opera / Misha Didyk, Alexey Markov, Vladimir Stoyanov / Mariss Jansons (cond) [ C Major Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 9/Mar/2018 ] "Musically, standards are extremely high, led by Mariss Jansons's inspired presence in the pit...Aksenova sings a steely Lisa..Diadkova is remarkable as the Countess - singing rather than growling her role." Gramophone Blu-ray of the Month March 2018 |
MORTON GOULD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gould: Fall River Legend / Interplay / etc Morton Gould and his Orchestra / National Symphony Orchestra, Howard Mitchell [ RCA Victor Living Stereo / CD - released 1/Apr/1993 ] Gould's Fall River Legend is a warmly melodic ballet on the Lizzie Borden story. |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Stravinsky: Le Rossignol / Oedipus Rex (Complete Operas recorded 1999 & 1993) Natalie Dessay, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Marjana Lipovsek / l'Opéra National de Paris, James Conlon / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Welser-Most [ EMI The Opera Series / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2010 ] "A fine recording of Stravinsky's colourful ballet, The Nightingale, with Natalie Dessay perfect in the title-role." (Gramophone) |