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Classical Editor: Rob
Barnett
Music Webmaster
Len Mullenger:
Len@musicweb-international.com
|
Classical Editor: Rob
Barnett
Music Webmaster |
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Classical Editor: Rob Barnett, Reviewers: Rob Barnett, Ian Lace, Len Mullenger, and: Richard Adams, Colin Anderson, Terry Barfoot, Marc Bridle, Arthur Butterworth, Colin Clarke, Paul Conway, Gary Dalkin, Andy Daly, Tony Duggan, Harry Downey, Gerald Fenech, Lewis Foreman, David Frieze, Malcolm Galloway, Ian Marchant, John Phillips, Ailís Ní Ríain, Humphrey Smith, Philip Scowcroft, Colin Scott Sutherland, Andrew Seivewright, Richard Whitehouse, Reg Williamson, Peter Grahame Woolf, David Wright. A complete list of contributors can be seen here
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PART 2 [Part 1] [Part 2]
[Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]
WIEL CONEN. Tide and time. Piano workMarijyke van Duin (piano)
Conen's music is depressing. ...By now, I am genuinely feeling sick and depressed . I have had enough . I can't take any more.
Felix DRAESEKE (1835-1913) Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 40, 'Symphonia tragica'. Funeral March in E minor, Op. 79.
You may well feel that this disc comes as something of a revelation.
DUSSEK Piano Trios. Sonata in F, op. 20 no. 3 Sonata in B flat, op. 24 no.3. Three Sonatas Op 31 for piano with accompaniment for violin and bass with Scotch and German Airs: 1 in B flat for piano trio, 2 in D for piano solo , 3 in C for piano trio.
A very attractive disc and a wonderful example of how to play chamber music. While the music may not be stunning, it is full of life and unoppressive sunshine and the disc is recommended.
DVORÁK (1841-1904) Symphonies - No. 1 in C minor, B9, 'The Bells of Zlonice'; No. 2 in B flat, B12; No. 3 in E flat, B34
This set is not merely recommended. It is indispensable
DVORAK Symphonies - No. 6 in D, No.8 in G
This latest release finds me admiring but not involved - and I love this music.
DVORÁK (1873-1943) Requiem (1891) [102.32] Leos JANACEK (1854-1928) Glagolytic Mass (1926) [39.32] cond: Zdenek Kosler (Dvorák); Ladislav Slovak (Janacek) Reissues licensed from Opus
Two contrasting choral works of epic ambition and achievement: the Dvorák unfashionable and awaiting rediscovery; the Janacek one of the classics of Twentieth Century choral writing. Both are faithfully represented here in performances that do not know the meaning of a pulled punch. Easily overlooked. Don't.
EDWARD ELGAR (1857-1934) Bostock and the Münchner Symphoniker in rare ELGAR orchestral and vocal works - many world premiere recordings The Crown of India March, Hail Immemorial Ind , from The Crown of India , The Wind at Dawn, Empire March, A Voice in the Desert, Polonia, Piano Concerto (slow movement), The Spanish Lady suite, Civic Fanfare - Hereford.
No serious Elgarian should be without this disc.
ELGAR String Quartet in E minor WALTON String Quartet in A minor
Britten Quartet
An extremely welcome and recommendable coupling powerfully recorded.
ENGLUND Cello Concertoa. Symphony No. 6, 'Aphorisms'b.
Guest review from International Record Review
BENJAMIN FRANKEL The Battle of the Bulge (original score).
This has to be one of the most important and satisfying recordings of film music to emerge in recent years.
Beat FURRER Nuun; Presto con fuoco; still; Poemas
This CD is a 52 minute roller-coaster of exciting, unsettling music, often punctuated by 'noise' over fast-moving rhythmic structures. ....Furrer's instrumental vocabulary is full of metallic sounds evoking non-musical 'noise' which becomes, in context, evocative and even beautiful.
Niels GADE Violin Sonatas no. 1 in A op. 6, no. 2 in D minor Op.21, no. 3 in B flat, op.59.
I would like to recommend this disc whole-heartedly but I can't ! It is such a pity. The violinist is good as is the music but the pianist and the recording is awful. By this I do not mean that the pianist is incompetent. He isn't. He is just too loud and eccentric, the centre of attraction.
JOHN GARDNER Flute Concerto op.220. Symphony No.3 in E minor op.189. Sinfonia Piccola for Strings op.47. Irish Suite op.231. Half Holiday - Overture op.52. Prelude for Strings op.148a.
ASV is to be congratulated for being the first company to produce an all-Gardner programme. The host of memorable melodies on this disc should win the composer many new admirers.
Howard GOODALL We are the Burning Fire: Songs from a Small Planet
Sadly, after promising much, I found this collection to be somewhat disappointing. For me, apart from 'Kou jou-no-tsuki', there's not really any other song here that merits serious attention.
HANDEL Esther - an oratorio in six scenes (1718) original version, Oboe Sonata
Choir and Orchestra of The Sixteen/Harry ChristophersA very happy set which should appeal to any Handelian.
Jonathan HARVEY (b. 1939) Madonna of Winter and Spring. Percussion Concerto. Song Offerings.
A thrilling, involving disc that should be in the CD collection of anyone interested in British music of today.
HAYDN Sonatas (Vol.4) Nos. 32, 34, 42-44
Brautigan revels in Haydn's virtuoso flourishes and is as expressive as you could wish in the ornamented adagio of No. 44, which sonata I recommend for a sampling by any sceptical reader.
HOLST Works for Chorus and Orchestra The Golden Goose, A Choral Ballet; The Morning of the Year, A Choral Ballet; King Estmere, An Old English Ballad for Chorus and Orchestra;
Mostly wonderful.
Erik JØRGENSEN (b. 1912) Confrontations. Variazioni for Piano. Improvisations for Wind Quintet. Piece for String Quartet. Introduction and Presto for Saxophone Quartet.
Stimulating, involving and never less than fascinating performances throughout offer the highest dedication to Jørgensen's cause. Strongly recommended.
Jean-Baptiste LULLY (1632-87) Grand Motets, Volume 3. Exaudiat te Dominus (Psalm 19). O dulcissime Domine. Notus in zzzz Judaea Deus (Psalm 75). Laudate pueri Dominum (Psalm 112). Benedictus.
Le Concert Spirituel certainly does not tiptoe around these works but rather throw themselves into their performances with élan.
Richard STRAUSS Josephs Legende
The worlds of Der Rosenkavalier and Salome meet here. There's some touching things, some exuberant things, and a touch of the exotic (or do I mean erotic?).
[Part 1] [Part 2]
[Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]
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