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[Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
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[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part 7 Misc M-Z]
[Recommended recordings]

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Leroy ANDERSON (1908-1975) Orchestral Music: Volume 2 BBC Concert Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.559356 [54:51][JF]

Old favourites and new discoveries ... see Full Review

Craig ARMSTRONG (b. 1959) Violin Concerto 1, One Minute, Memory Takes My Hand Clio Gould (violin); Lucy Crowe (soprano); Apollo Voices/Stephen Betteridge, BBC SO/Garry Walker rec. 2007/8 VIRGIN CLASSICS 5190322 [71:38] [RB]

Instantly repays with emotional yield ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Aria with Thirty Variations, BWV 988 "Goldberg Variations" (1741-42) [79:32] Vladimir Feltsman (piano) rec. Moscow Conservatory, 1991 NIMBUS NI 2507 [79:32] [JW]

Some of these re-workings are vapid, predictable and silly ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Organ Works - Volume 9 Jacques van Oortmerssen (Christian Müller organ, 1734) rec. 2007 CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72175 [67:04] [BW]

Not the most vital recording but, if the programme appeals, very worthwhile ... see Full Review

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Favourite Organ Works Werner Jacob rec. 1970-83 EMI CLASSICS Triple 5093932 [3CDs: 69:50 + 69:44 + 75:45] [BW]

An excellent 3-CD set for beginners and seasoned collectors alike ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Solo Cantatas for Alto and Tenor Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir/Ton Koopman rec. 1995-2003 CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72282 [75:53][BW]

Minor reservations apart, a recommendable set of performances of some of Bach’s finest cantatas ... see Full Review

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Latin Church Music Vol. 1 Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Chorus/Ton Koopman rec. 2008 CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72188 [74:54 + 75:03][BW]

Wonderful music – excellent performances and recording ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Sonatas 1-3, Partitas 1-3 Ilya Kaler (violin) rec. 2006/7 NAXOS 8.570277-78 [73:29 + 74:55] [ST]

Thoroughly enjoyable … Kaler’s musicianship rises to the works’ challenges ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) The Klavierubung Part 1 - The Six Partitas Craig Sheppard (piano) ROMÉO RECORDS 7248-49 [68:07 + 70:45] Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Partitas 2 & 6, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue Roger Woodward (piano) rec. 2007 CELESTIAL HARMONIES 13280-2 [70:34]

Woodward: serious-minded warmth, stoic. Sheppard: clarity, vital imagination ... see Full Review

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Brandenburg concerto 3, Orchestral Suite 3 - Air see Furtwängler

Bela BARTÓK (1881-1945) The Wooden Prince Bournemouth SO/ Marin Alsop rec. 2007 NAXOS 8.570534 [53:38] [TH]

Coaxing the maximum mystery and atmosphere from this score ... see Full Review

Bela BARTOK (1881-1945) Bluebeard’s Castle (sung in English) Orchestra of Opera North/Richard Farnes. rec. June 2005 CHANDOS CHAN3133 [63:07][CC] 

If you want an English Bluebeard, this will more than fit the bill ... see Full Review

Bela BARTÒK (1881-1945) Contrasts see STRAVINSKY

Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Dance of Wild Irravel, Pæan, Symphony 3 London PO/Bryden Thomson rec. 1986 CHANDOS CHAN8454 [58:32] [BW]

If you haven’t yet dipped a toe into the download water, this is as good a place as any to start ... see Full Review

Sir Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Symphony No.4; Tintagel Ulster Orchestra/Bryden Thomson rec. 1983 CHANDOS DOWNLOAD CHAN8312 [57:06] 

Not the most essential Bax but attractive, excellently performed and well worth its modest price ... see Full Review

Arnold BAX (1883-1953) Symphony No.5; Russian Suite London Philharmonic Orchestra/Bryden Thomson rec. 1988 CHANDOS CHAN8669 [61:41][BW]

A very viable and inexpensive alternative to more recent versions by Lloyd-Jones and Handley ... see Full Review

Luke BEDFORD (b.1978) Or Voit Tout En Aventure (2006) see COLE

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Concertos 1-5 Melvyn Tan (fortepiano) London Classical Players/Roger Norrington rec. 1988/9 VIRGIN VERITAS 5220142 [78:34 + 79:36] [DC]

Worth every penny ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphonies 1-9 Edinburgh Festival Ch, Scottish CO, Philharmonia O/Charles Mackerras rec. live 2006 HYPERION CDS44301/05 [5 CDs] [JW]

For a contemporary set on modern instruments, fully aware of historical practice, you really can’t do much better ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Symphony No. 7 Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826) Clarinet concerto No. 1 Gioacchino ROSSINI (1792-1868) L’Italiana in Algeri: Sinfonia Johann Wilhelm WILMS (1772-1847) Symphony No. 4 Budapest Festival Orchestra/Ivan Fischer rec. 2006 CHANNEL CLASSICS CCSSA25207 [60:50][MG]

Beethoven 7 with strong romantic leanings and plenty of flair … see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Violin Concerto Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904) Violin Concerto Guila Bustabo (violin); Concertgebouw Orchestra/Willem Mengelberg & NWDR Symphony Orchestra/Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt rec. 1943 & 1955 TAHRA TAH640 [78:29][JW]

A contrasting, valuable, excellently presented brace of performances ... see Full Review

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) String Quartet see HAYDN

Ken BENSHOOF (b.1933) A Whimsical Solution see STRAVINSKY

Lennox BERKELEY (1903–1989) Sonatina for violin and piano, Sextet for clarinet, horn and string quartet, Alan BUSH (1900-1995) Three Concert Studies for piano trio, Four piano pieces Alan RAWSTHORNE (1905-1971) Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola and cello The Music Group of London, Jack Brymer, Thea King (clarinet), Alan Civil (horn), Alan Bush (piano) Aeolian Quartet rec. c.1970-74 LYRITA SRCD.256 [73:08] [JW] A collection played by some of the elite players of the day ... see Full Review

Lord BERNERS (1883-1950) From 'Champagne Charlie'; Suite from 'Nicholas Nickleby'; Suite from 'The Halfway House' see LAMBERT

Lord BERNERS (1883-1950) Suites from Champagne Charlie, Nicholas Nickleby, The Halfway House see LAMBERT

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Leonard BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) West Side Story chorus; orchestra/Leonard Bernstein rec. 1984 The Making of West Side Story - documentary DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4777101 [CD: 76:36; DVD: 88:00][RB]

Rawness, rasp and romance... an out and out blast ... see Full Review

Hildegard von BINGEN (1098-1179) Celestial Harmonies Oxford Camerata/Jeremy Summerly rec. 2005 NAXOS 8.557983 [74:18][MS]

A modern personality applied to thousand year old music yet in keeping with the original … see Full Review

Harrison BIRTWISTLE (b. 1934) The Fields of Sorrow for two sopranos, chorus and sixteen players (1972) [9:58] Verses for Ensembles for five woodwind, five brass and three percussion (1969) [28:13] Nenia: The Death of Orpheus - a 'dramatic scene' for soprano, three bass clarinets, clarinet, piano, prepared piano and crotales (1970) [17:45] Jane Manning (soprano); London Sinfonietta/David Atherton; The Matrix/Alan Hacker (Nenia). rec. 1973/4 LYRITA SRCD.306 [56:08] [RB]

Lyrita moves to rescue these tapes from the turned heads of fashion ... see Full Review

Georges BIZET (1838-1875) Carmen: Prélude & Entractes L’Arlésienne Suites Choeur de l’Opéra de Lyon, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Grenoble/Marc Minkowski rec. 2007 NAÏVE V5130 [59:00] [JS]

A model of how to maximize the listener’s understanding … much to enjoy ... see Full Review

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Academic Festival Overture see WAGNER

Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Double Concerto; Clarinet Quintet Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester/Myung-Whun Chung rec. 2007 VIRGIN CLASSICS 3951472 [72:21][JW] 

Reflective, legato warmth at the expense of tensile strength ... see Full Review

Arturo Toscanini Conducts Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Serenades No.1 and No.2 [32:33] Academic Festival Overture [10:30] Piano Concerto No.2 [42:55] ¹ Four Part Songs; Gesang aus Final; Wein’ an dem Felsen der brausenden Winde Op.17 No. 4; Der Gartner; Wohin ich ger’ Op.17 No.3; Lied von Shakespeare; Come away, come away, Death Op.17 No.2; Schubert arranged by Brahms; Jäger, ruhe von der Jagd D838 – sung in English [14:50] ² Robert Casadesus (piano) ¹ New York Ladies’ Choir ² New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Arturo Toscanini rec. New York 1935-36. ADD GUILD GHCD 2337/38 [76:48 + 69:26] [JW]

Formidable performances interpretatively cut from the finest cloth. ... see Full Review

Tomás BRETÓN (1850-1923) Escenas Andaluzas see FALLA

 Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony No. 2 in C minor, First Concept Version, 1872 (ed. William Carragan, 2005) Philharmoniker Hamburg/Simone Young rec. ‘live’ 12-13 March 2006, Laeiszhalle, Hamburg. SACD OEHMS CLASSICS OC614 [71:22] [JQ]

Simone Young’s Bruckner cycle has been launched auspiciously ... see Full Review

Anton BRUCKNER (1824- 1896) Symphony No. 7 in E-major (Nowak edition) (1881-85) [65.44] Wiener Philharmoniker/Sir Georg Solti rec. Sofiensaal, Vienna, November 1965. ADD DECCA ELOQUENCE 442 9097 [65.44] [JL]

Will only appeal to the Solti enthusiasts ... see Full Review

Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphony 4 Klangverwaltung O/Enoch zu Guttenberg rec. 2007 FARAO CLASSICS S108051 [70:18] [TB]

No sense of definitive view but many pleasures along the way ... see Full Review

Heinrich Ignaz von BIBER (1644-1704) Rosenkranz-Sonaten Riccardo Minasi (violin) rec. 2005-6 ARTS 477358 [73:16 + 51:44][DC]

Seriously stunning ... see Full Review

Luigi BOCCHERINI (1745-1805) String Quartet see HAYDN

Giovanni BOTTESINI (1821-1889) Music for Double Bass and Piano – Vol. 2 Joel Quarrington (double bass); Andrew Burashko (piano); Harold Hall Robinson (double bass)*; James Campbell (clarinet)**; Monica Whicher (Soprano)^ rec. 2004/5/6 DDD. Notes and texts included. NAXOS 8.557042 [68:51] [BW]

Attractive but unmemorable music, well performed and recorded ... see Full Review

Nicolae BRETAN (1887–1968) Luceafărul (The Evening Star) - Opera in One Act, Prologue and Epilogue (1921) Soloists Philharmonic Orchestra Transilvania, Cluj/Béla Hary rec. September 1994, Cluj Texts and translations into English, German and French NIMBUS NI 5463 [60:57] [GF]

A special magic that makes Luceafărul irresistible ... see Full Review

Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Folk Songs with Harp, Gloriana (second lute song), A Birthday Hansel, Canticle V, Sacred and Profane, Wealden Trio, Sweet was the Song, The Sycamore Tree, A Shepherd’s Carol Sir Peter Pears (tenor) Osian Ellis (harp) The Wilbye Consort rec. 1976/7 DECCA ELOQUENCE 4429448 [64:51 + 62:22] [SH]

Stick with this. It might be patchy but it is important and beautiful ... see Full Review

Walter BUCZYNSKI (b.1933) Suite for Woodwind Quintet op. 13 see Petite Suite Maritime

Ole Bornemann BULL (1810-1880) Music for violin and orchestra Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907) At the Matching Game Arve Tellefsen (violin); Trondheim Symphony Orchestra/Eivind Aadland rec. 2004 SIMAX PSC1261 [73:06][JW]

Tellefsen plays beautifully and one thing he doesn’t lack is charm ... see Full Review

Alan BUSH (1900-1995) Three Concert Studies for piano trio, Four piano pieces see BERKELEY

 

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Click for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part 5 S-Z]
[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part 7 Misc M-Z]
[Recommended recordings]

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