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RECORDINGS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Hector
BERLIOZ (1803-1869)Grande Messe des Morts 
Robert Murray (tenor) Gabrieli Players/Consort/Chetham’s Sch of Music
Symphonic Brass Ens/Wroclaw Phil Ch/O/Paul McCreesh rec. 2010
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD280 [48:25 + 40:17]
[ST]
First
class.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Erno
DOHNÁNYI (1877-1960) Sextet Krzysztof
PENDERECKI (1933-) Sextet
Ensemble Kheops rec. 2010
FUGA LIBERA FUG585 [58:52]
[BR]
Great
sound, great under-exposed music, an obviously excellent and good-humored
ensemble: this one is a keeper.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH George
GERSHWIN (1898-1937) Songs
Sarah Vaughan (vocalist) Los Angeles PO/Michael Tilson Thomas rec. live,
1982
SONY CBS MASTERWORKS MK 37277 [61:11]
[IL]
A
concert of Gershwin songs not to be missed.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Johann
Wilhelm HERTEL (1727 - 1789) Bassoon concertos, Sinfonia
Sergio Azzolini, Miho Fukui (bassoons) Capriccio Barockorchester/Dominik
Kiefer rec. 2010
TUDOR 7182 [82:11]
[JV]
If
there is any way to demonstrate that a little-known composer deserves
more attention, this is the way to do it.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Witold
LUTOSLAWSKI (1913-1994) Silesian Triptych, Paroles Tissées,
Les Espaces du Sommeil, Chantefleurs et Chantefables
Lucy Crowe (soprano) Toby Spence (tenor) Christopher Purves (baritone)
BBC SO/Edward Gardner rec. 2011
CHANDOS CHAN10688 [67:40]
[WH]
Magnificent
music, superbly performed by an all-British team, and with outstanding
Chandos sound and presentation to match.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav MAHLER
(1860-1911)
Symphony 2
Kathleen Battle (soprano) Christa Ludwig (mezzo) Konzertvereinigung
Wiener Staatsopernchor, Vienna PO/James Levine rec. live, 1989
ORFEO C837112B [23:28 + 65:37]
[DM]
Surely
one of the great Resurrections of our time.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav
MAHLER
(1860-1911)
Symphony 2
Michaela Kaune (soprano); Dagmar Pecková (alto) NDR Ch, Staatschor Latvija,
Philharmoniker Hamburg/Simone Young rec. 2010
OEHMS CLASSICS OC 412 [79:27] 
[DM]
Hugely
impressive, a must for all Mahlerians.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav
MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony 6
Philharmonia O/Esa-Pekka Salonen rec. 2009
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD275 [80:35]
[TP]
Unbridled
excellence … tiny price tag.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Felix
MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Symphonies
3 & 4
Musikkollegium Winterthur/Heinz Holliger rec. 2010
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM 9011663-6 
[67:33] [JS]
An
important and immensely enjoyable disc.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH
(1906-1975) New Babylon
Basel Sinf/Mark Fitz-Gerald rec. 2011
NAXOS 8.572824-25 [43:15 + 48:08]
[SA]
It
is a great addition to any collector of his music and is superbly played
on this disc.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Symphony 4
Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881) A Night on the Bare Mountain
Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) The
Love for Three Oranges Suite
BBC Singers, BBC SO & Ch/Gennadi Rozhdestvensky rec. 1979/81
ICA
CLASSICS ICAC5035 [68:34] [DM]
A
most entertaining collection. Another fine issue from ICA.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Ralph
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) A Sea Symphony (1909)
[66:19]
Geraldine McGreevy (soprano); Tommi Hakala (baritone) MDR Symphony Orchestra
and Radio Choir/Howard Arman rec. 2007
MDR KONZERTE VKJK 0731 [66:19]
[WH]
Mainly
German forces combine for a very fine performance of the Sea Symphony
– this disc is an unexpected gem.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Martha Argerich
Edition: Chamber Music
rec. 1991-2008
EMI CLASSICS 0940142 [8 CDs: 9:51:00] [SA]
A
set that no chamber music lover should be without.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Anna
Netrebko - Live at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera Ch & O rec. 2002-2010
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 9903 [66:01]
[OL]
A
great souvenir of a most wonderful voice.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH On Christmas
Night
Ch St John’s College, Cambridge/Andrew Nethsingha rec. 2011
CHANDOS CHSA5096 [74:22]
[JQ]
This
excellent and most enjoyable disc will be a high quality Christmas present
for a musical friend - or to give to yourself!
BARGAINS
OF THE MONTH
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Jehan
ALAIN (1911-1940)
Complete Works for Organ
Jean-Baptiste Robin (organ) rec. 2009/2010
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94233 [3 CDs: 71:58 + 71:37 + 79:26] [DC]
Not
quite perfect, but still worth every penny.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Felix
MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Incidental music:
Antigone, Oedipus, Athalia
Berliner Rundfunkchor, Männerchor 'Carl Maria von Weber' Radio
SO, Berlin/Stefan Soltesz, Das Neue Orch/Christoph Spering rec. 1991-2002
BRILLIANT
CLASSICS 94216 [3 CDs: 55:27 + 50:33 + 63:19]
[RB]
Something
of an event and unmissable if you are a devoted Mendelssohnian or an
impassioned researcher of German romantic theatre music.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Nikolay RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
(1844-1908) Capriccio espagnol, Overtures
Seattle SO/Gerard Schwarz rec. 2010-11
NAXOS 8.572788 [67:05]
[RMay]
What
I want to know now about Schwarz and his musicians is what exactly are
they on?
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Jean
SIBELIUS (1865-1957) Symphonies 6 & 7, Finlandia
New Zealand SO/Pietari Inkinen rec. 2009-10
NAXOS 8.572705 [59:28]
[BR]
I’ve
been critical of Inkinen’s Sibelius symphonies so far, but this Sixth
is distinguished and his Seventh is absolutely mandatory.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Georg Philipp TELEMANN
(1681 - 1767) Early Concertos and Sonatas
Ens Cordia/Stefano Veggetti (cello) rec. 2009
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94208 [61:17]
[JV]
This
is simply an outstanding disc.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Heitor
VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959) Complete Guitar Music
Frédéric Zigante (guitar) rec. 2009/10
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9196 [50.41 + 54.01]
[GH]
An
excellent and inexpensive collection.
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]
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