CARL TEIKE
Teike: Marches Vol. 1 The Royal Swedish Navy Band, Alexander Hanson [ Naxos / CD - due 21/Jun/2024 ] German composer Carl Teike came into contact with military music at an early age, but with his modest temperament he never achieved a high rank during his time in the army. |
JOHN DOWLAND / THOMAS CAMPION / JOHN DANYEL / THOMAS FORD / HENRY PURCELL / etc
Drop Not, Mine Eyes Alexander Chance (counter-tenor), Toby Carr (lute) [ Linn / CD - released 28/Apr/2023 ] "Chance's tone is pellucid; notes fall round and clear as water drops...a recording in which Chance stakes serious claim to the title of his generation's most exciting British countertenor." Gramophone Editor's Choice July 2023 |
SCHUBERT / CHOPIN / LISZT / STRAVINSKY
Schubert / Chopin / Liszt / Stravinsky: Four Pianos - Four Pieces Alexander Melnikov (pianos) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 9/Apr/2018 ] "Melnikov gives thrilling performances of four cornerstones of the repertoire." Sunday Times |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Fantasie: Seven Composers, Seven Keyboards Alexander Melnikov [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 16/Jun/2023 ] BBC Music Magazine July 2023 - Instrumental Choice |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas nos. 1, 3 & 5 - Visions fugitives Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 6/May/2022 ] "With the three so-called 'war' sonatas 6, 7 and 8 covered in the two previous releases, you might think that the third instalment of Alexander Melnikov's Prokofiev cycle is a mopping-up job." BBC Music Five Stars |
PAUL HINDEMITH
Hindemith: Sonatas Alexander Melnikov (piano) with Isabelle Faust (violin) Jeroen Berwaerts (trumpet) Teunis van der Zwart (althorn), etc [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Dec/2014 ] 'The patron saint of neglected instruments, Hindemith composed more than 30 sonatas for very diverse resources … The Hindemith anniversary of 2013 opened the gates to a welcome flood of excellent recordings, and this new release stands high among the |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto no.1 - Tragic Overture (with Cherubini: Éliza) Alexander Melnikov (piano), Sinfonieorchester Basel, Ivor Bolton [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 27/Aug/2021 ] With his First Concerto, the young Brahms set his own course in the wake of Beethoven and Schumann and at the same time poured forth his personal emotions in this work of impressive dimensions. The Russian soloist has chosen an instrument... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D.821 'Arpeggione' / Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 100, D. 929 Alexander Rudin (arpeggione/cello), Erich Hobarth (violin), Appo Hakkinen (fortepiano) [ Naxos / CD - released 15/Jan/2021 ] Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata has today become part of the cello repertoire but it was originally written for the arpeggione, a form of bowed guitar invented by the Viennese maker Johann Georg Staufer in 1823. With a unique ethereal sound, this... |
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Piano Concerto No.1 Alexander Ullman (piano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton (conductor) [ Rubicon / CD - released 24/Jun/2022 ] Alexander Ullman was the winner of the 2011 Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest. He studied at the Purcell School, the Curtis Institute and the Royal College of Music. His teachers include William Fong, Leon Fleischer and Dmitri... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Tharaud Plays Rachmaninov Alexandre Tharaud (piano) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Alexander Vedernikov, with Sabine Devieilhe (soprano) [ Erato / CD - released 14/Oct/2016 ] "After the famous introductory bars - following the score rather than the composer's recording - the sweeping first subject enters faster, thankfully, than Richter's celebrated account but with the same majestic assurance" Gramophone Award Nomination |
J.S. BACH
The Best of J.S. Bach Eteri Andjaparidze, Hae Won Chen, Pi-hsien, Nicholas Goluses, Alexander Jablokov, Takako Nishizaki & Wolfgang Rubsam [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Jun/1997 ] The best of J.S Bach from across the vast Naxos catalogue. |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1, 14, 15 & Chamber Symphony Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, with Kristine Opolais (soprano), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (bass) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 13/Aug/2021 ] "No question that this latest release represents the Nelsons cycle at its best." Gramophone Editor's Choice August 202 |
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Murder on the High C's Florence Foster Jenkins (soprano) with additional tracks by Alexander Kipnis; John Charles Thomas; Josephine Tumminia; Ezio Pinza; Jeanette MacDonald [ Naxos Nostalgia / CD - released 1/Oct/2003 ] "Hilariously ignorant of all musical rules and delightfully incapable of hitting, never mind holding the note, she recorded just nine songs. Priceless." -- Andrew Clarke, The Independent |
ARVO PART
Musica Selecta: from the legendary premiere recordings The Hilliard Ensemble, Alexei Lubimov (piano), Alexander Malter (piano), Gidon Kremer (violin) , Latvian Radio Choir, etc [ ECM / 2 CD - released 12/Sep/2015 ] Composer Arvo Pärt and producer Manfred Eicher have maintained their creative partnership for more than 30 years. Eicher launched ECM New Series in 1984 as a platform for Pärt's music, bringing the Estonian composer to the world's attention with... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Sonate D.574 / Rondo op.70 / Fantasie D.934 Isabelle Faust (violin) / Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD ] "violinist Isabelle Faust and pianist Alexander Melnikov play each variation on 'Sei mir gegrusst' as if they're discovering it for the first time. Their sense of wonder can be heard right from the start of the Fantasy…delectable." CD Review, BBC Radio |
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale (English version) Isabelle Faust (violin), Dominique Horwitz (narrator) with ensemble / Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 27/Aug/2021 ] "Faust and her colleagues do indeed evoke the mise en scène of performers pulling up in a dusty square late one afternoon and performing from the back of an old truck" Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Chamber |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Violin Concerto & Trio Op. 65 Isabelle Faust (violin) Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) Alexander Melnikov (piano), Prague Philharmonia, Jiri Belohlavek [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 10/Feb/2023 ] Almost twenty years ago, Isabelle Faust and Jiří Bělohlávek established a new milestone in the discography of Dvořák's Violin Concerto. The coupling, the tumultuous Trio in F minor, inaugurated the violinist's long and fruitful collaboration with... |
CHOPIN / RACHMANINOFF
Chopin, Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonatas Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 2/Sep/2022 ] "Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexander Melnikov somehow manage to contain the overgrowth and shape the profusion of ideas into a cultivated and warmly lit musical garden." Gramophone |
HAVERGAL BRIAN
Brian: Symphonies Nos. 8, 21 & 26 New Russia State Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Walker [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Oct/2017 ] Each of the three symphonies on this recording represents a significant milestone in Havergal Brian's long musical journey, and each demonstrates the breadth of his symphonic approach. No. 8 was the first of Brian's symphonies to be performed and is... |
BERTHOLD GOLDSCHMIDT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Goldschmidt: Beatrice Cenci (complete opera with libretto) Roberta Alexander, Stefan Stoll, Simon Estes, Della Jones / Berlin Radio Chorus, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lothar Zagrosek [ Sony Classical / 2 CD Box Set - released 7/Feb/1995 ] "The cast is a strong one, dominated by the burnished tone of Roberta Alexander in the title role of the abused daughter. Della Jones as her stepmother Lucrezia is equally fine" BBC Music |