Friar Allessandro
Voice Of Joy (UK / International Version) [ Decca Records / CD - released 29/Nov/2013 ] Friar Alessandro has recorded an album of Christmas Carols and sacred arias, or as he describes it, an album of Joy. Since his first album was released in 2012, Alessandro has captured the hearts of people around the world with his beautiful voice... |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Concertos for Two Violins Giuliano Carmignola, Viktoria Mullova (violins) / Venice Baroque Orchestra / Andrea Marcon [ DG Archiv / CD - released 10/Dec/2008 ] "Mullova and Carmignola provide one of the most consummate displays of period instrument playing that I have heard. True masters of their instruments." (MusicWeb Feb 2009) |
AGOSTINO STEFFANI
Dances & Overtures I Barocchisti, Diego Fasolis [ Decca / CD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] "four trumpets and war-like drums create a splendid din in the clever Ouverture from Niobe." (Gramophone) |
BEETHOVEN
Fidelio (complete opera recorded in 1990) Jessye Norman, Reiner Goldberg, Kurt Moll, Pamela Cobur / Staatsopernchor Dresden & Staatskappelle Dresden, Bernard Haitink [ Decca Opera! / 2 CD - released 10/Mar/2011 ] "..the rugged strength characteristic of Haitink's Beethoven is consistently contrasted against the most refined, transparent textures, with the Staatskapelle Dresden playing beautifully." (Gramophone) |
JOHN CAGE
Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano John Tilbury (prepared piano) [ Decca 20th Century / CD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] Sonatas and Interludes, composed in 1946-48, is John Cage's most important work for prepared piano. John Cage described the work as an attempt to express in music the "permanent emotions" of Indian tradition: the heroic, the erotic, the wondrous,... |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Ballet Suites [Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Nutcracker] Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 20/Jul/2014 ] The Nutcracker suite has emerged spic and span and vividly coloured and only in the "Waltz of the Flowers" is the ear drawn to a certain glossiness in the violins. Of course the orchestral playing is quite splendid (Gramophone) |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake / Rococo Variations / Symphony No. 6 'Pathetique' L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, with Maurice Gendron, cello [ Decca ABC Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/May/2009 ] The 2CD Tchaikovsky/Ansermet sets represent his complete Tchaikovsky recordings for Decca. Many will find fascinating his own sequencing of numbers from Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. Refined, yet passionate, many of the pieces on these... |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: 24 Preludes / Piano Sonata No 2 Op 25 Martha Argerich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Apr/2002 ] "In this complete version of the Preludes, recorded twenty seven years ago, the tigress of the keyboard laid down one of her finest Chopin performances. A great Chopin disc" (MusicWeb, 2002) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Toccata / Partita No 2 / English Suite No 2 Martha Argerich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 18/Mar/2000 ] "Nothing I have heard from her on disc has ever impressed me more, either from the viewpoint of fine pianism or perceptive musicianship. Besides controlled fingerwork and vivid characterization, achieved through judicious contrasts of tempo and... |
CLARKE / ALBINONI / PURCELL / VIVALDI / ALBINONI / L. MOZART / TELEMANN / etc
101 Maurice Andre Maurice Andre (trumpet) [ Decca / 6 CD Box Set - released 14/Jul/2014 ] This extensive collection neatly brings together Andre's many recordings for Philips and Deutsche Grammophon, as well as less commonly available recordings he made for Universal France. |
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: 5 Operas [incls 'The Tsar's Bride' & 'Sadko'] (11 CD set) Nicolai Ohotnikov, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Vladimir Galusin, Marianna Tarassova, etc / Kirov Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Valery Gergiev [ Decca Collectors Edition / 11 CD Box Set - released 22/Apr/2012 ] Enter the magical world of Rimsky-Korsakov opera with five celebrated recordings made by the Kirov Opera under Valery Gergiev: Kashchey the Immortal, Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, The Maid of Pskov, Sadko, and The Tsar's Bride - a unique... |
DEBUSSY
La Mer / Nocturnes / Jeux / Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit [ Decca 20th Century / CD - released 4/Jun/2012 ] " Dutoit is one of the world's foremost interpreters, and his approach to Debussy's orchestral works is lively and vibrant, as demonstrated in his effervescent readings of La mer, Jeux, and Nocturnes." (AllMusic.com) |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker [plus Sleeping Beauty: Aurora's Wedding] Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, Charles Dutoit [ Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] A favourite ballet all round the year, but a perennial at Christmas-time, Tchaikovsky's evergreen Nutcracker has never perhaps received as luxurious a recorded performance as that of Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: The Violin Concertos / Rondos Itzhak Perlman (violin) / Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon Duo / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2011 ] "DG's Mozart concerto cycle with Perlman, Levine and the Vienna Philharmonic, was recorded in the inspirational acoustic setting of Vienna's Musikvereinsaal, between 1982 and 1985. The performances were unanimously and deservedly praised when first r |
BRITTEN / SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / HANDEL / BACH / etc
Anniversary Tribute [6 CD set] Peter Pears (tenor) with various orchestras & accompanists [ Decca Records / 6 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2012 ] "All in all, a superb tribute to one of the most characterful and important singers of the twentieth century." Penguin Guide, 2011 edition. |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Six (6) Suites for Solo Violoncello BWV 1007-1012 Pierre Fournier (cello) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / 2 CD - released 24/May/2004 ] "Pierre Fournier gives memorably eloquent readings" - Gramophone |
PERGOLESI
Dixit Dominus / Salve Regina in A minor / Confitebor tibi, Domine / Chi non ode, e chi non vede - chamber cantata Rachel Harnisch, Julia Kleiter, Rosa Bove, Lucio Gallo / Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera / Orchestra Mozart / Claudio Abbado [ Archiv Produktion / CD - released 8/Apr/2011 ] "One of the highlights of the third collection is Harnisch's account of the aria of unrequited love, Chi non ode e chi non vede, with its changing tempi and expressive anguish" (Penguin Guide) |
SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 / Chamber Symphony Op.110a Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy [ Decca 20th Century / CD - released 14/Jul/2014 ] " it is clear from the finale that the orchestra and conductor are both enjoying themselves." (MusicWeb) |
BRAHMS
Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 [SOLD OUT!!!] Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) & Rudolf Serkin (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 5/Sep/2014 ] "With playing of this calibre, with both artists wonderfully attuned to each other's responses, every nuance tells and Brahms's bold melodic lines soar out from the speakers to capture the listener's imagination, and provide an enthralling musical |
VERDI
Requiem Mass / Quattro Pezzi Sacri [Four Sacred Pieces] Ruggero Raimondi, Cheryl Studer, Marjana Lipovsek, José Carreras / Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic], Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Duo / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] "Recorded live at a concert in the large hall of the Musikverein in Vienna in November 1991, this performance of Verdi's dramatic Requiem is really commanding. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the chorus of the Vienna State Opera respond appropr |