135
Years of Czech Composers Works by Smetana, Dvorak, Fibich,
Novacek, Schulhoff, Janacek, Martinu & Suk
Yvonne Smeulers (violin) Sander Sittig (piano)
QUINTONE Q07001/2 
[49:49 + 57:46] [Byz]
Smeulers
is persuasive, lyrical and thoughtful throughout.
American
Music for Mandolin and Guitar
Daniel Ahlert (mandolin) Birgit Schwab (guitar) rec. 2010
NAXOS 8.559686 [62:08] [JWh]
Fine
musicianship but lacks musical contrast.
An
Englishman in Italy:
British Piano Music inspired by Italy
Christopher Howell (piano) with Ermanno de Stefani (piano II) rec. 2012.
DDD
SHEVA COLLECTION SH056 [76:43 + 70:04] [JF]
A
special - and exciting – recording project.
Angelic
Voices
Peter
Davey, Robin Blaze, Dara Carroll, Andrew Wicks, Michael Criswell, Andrew
Brough, Christopher Smith, Timothy Angel and Robert Fowkes (boy trebles)
rec. 1964-1989
REGIS RRC1379 [78.24] [MM-B]
Exceptionally
well sung.
Arias
for Guadagni
Iestyn
Davies (counter-tenor) Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen rec. 2011
HYPERION CDA67924 [78.03] [RH]
Finely
performed and a fascinating and illuminating programme.
Daniel
Barenboim & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
WARNER CLASSICS 2564 663163 [6 CDs: 401:25] [DM]
Average
or below average performances that don’t stack up financially or musically.
Baroque
Masterpieces for Harpsichord Works
by Scarlatti, Handel, Rameau, Greene & Arne
Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord)
REGIS RRC1332 [73:18] [PB-W]
Overall
an excellent compilation.
Mauro
Bertoli (piano) From Mozart to Khachaturian
[62:44] Piano Works by Scarlatti, Schumann, Granados, Ginastera
[66:56] Rhapsody in Blue and Other Piano Works [65:46]
rec. 2011
Self-published [Byz]
The
technique and panache to dazzle and the poetry to move heart and soul.
British
Flute Concertos
Jonathan DOVE (b. 1959) The Magic
Flute Dances William ALWYN (1905-1985)
Flute concerto Francis POULENC (1899-1963)
Flute Sonata Lennox BERKELEY (1903-1989)
Flute Concerto
Emily Beynon (flute) BBC Ntl O Wales/Bramwell Tovey rec. 2011
CHANDOS CHAN10718 [77:32] [JW]
Pure
pleasure.
British
Music for Piano Duo Edward
ELGAR (1857-1934) Serenade for Strings Frank
BURY (1910-1944) Prelude and Fugue
Gustav HOLST (1874-1934) Elegy (In Memoriam
William Morris) Gustav HOLST
The Planets
Anthony Goldstone, Caroline Clemmow (piano) rec. 1996,
DIVINE ART DDV24154 [74:29] [JF]
I
thoroughly enjoyed both versions of the Holst and the Bury and Bainton
are attractive bonuses.
Darknesse
Visible Maurice
RAVEL (1875-1937) Gaspard de la nuit (1908) [23:29]
Thomas ADÈS (b.1971) Darknesse Visible (1992) [7:42]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Suite bergamasque (1890) [16:52] Ronald STEVENSON
(b.1928) Fantasy on Peter Grimes (1971) [8:59] RAVEL
La Valse (1919-20) [12:02]
Inon Barnatan (piano) rec. 2010,
AVIE AV2256 [69:27] [CH]
Anyone
who can give a performance of “La Valse” like this one is, at least
potentially, a great pianist.
Death
in Venice:
A Dance of Death by John Neumeier
A film for television directed by Thomas Grimm, Hamburg Ballett rec.
2004
ARTHAUS 101622 
[123:00 (Ballet) + 59:00 (Bonus)] [JLZ]
Neumeier’s
Death in Venice demonstrates the choreographer’s mastery.
Dedications
... A Life in Music
Keith Harvey (cello) Linn Hendry, Peter Pettinger, Meralyn Knight (piano)
CELLO
CLASSICS CC1027 [77:25 + 76:18] [JW]
Admirable
qualities both musical and human.
Encore!
Encore!
Peter Fisher (violin) Peter Hewitt (piano) rec. 2009
LITMUS LIT106-2 [75:56] [JW]
Not
a big sound … avoids the heavy-boned Russian approach. He is a
good stylist, paying great attention to shifts … finger position
changes are invariably acutely judged.
RECORDING
OF THE MONT Fantasia
Yuja Wang (piano) rec. 2011
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 479 0052 [68.56] [DMcC]
An
extremely accomplished artist.
Final
Cut
Film
music for four guitars
Aquarelle Guitar Qt rec. 2011
CHANDOS CHAN10723 [61:15] [SA]
I’m
not too sure who this disc is aimed at but I’m afraid it wasn’t
much of a hit with me.
Forever
to Remember The
Poetry of Yaakov BARZILAI (b.1933)
set to music by: Sharon FARBER
(b.1968) Eugene LEVITAS (b.1972)
Aharon HARLAP (b.1941),
Stella LERNER (b.1955)
Sharon Rostorf-Zamir (soprano), Hagai Yodan (piano) Orit Orbach (clarinet),
Evgenia Epshtein (violin), Raz Kohn (cello)*, Felix Nemirovsky (cello)**,
Dudu Carmel (oboe)***
ROMEO RECORDS 7287 [78:53] [SA]
The
music here is of real quality.
Il
vero Orfeo Sonatas for viola da gamba by and inspired
by Arcangelo Corelli
Friederike Heumann (viola da gamba) Patrick Sepec (baroque violoncello)
Eduardo Egüez (theorbo) Dick Börner (harpsichord, organ) rec.
2010
ACCENT ACC24233 [58:29] [DC]
Good
to be taken in one luxuriant sitting.
Italian
Oboe Concertos Works by Sammartini, Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti,
Pilotti & Aguilar
Diego Dini Ciacci (oboe, conductor) Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto
rec. 2009
CPO 777 715-2 [57:54] [Byz]
Uncomplicated,
relatively unadventurous, melody-driven and highly cantabile.
Neeme
Järvi Highlights from a remarkable 30-year recording career
CHANDOS
CHAN241-44 [77:23 +77:14] [RB]
A
generously timed, idiosyncratic and intrinsically satisfying sampler
of Järvi's work for Chandos.
The
Lost Art of Jacob Lateiner
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Impromptus
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Sonatas 1, 18 & 32 Alban BERG
(1885-1935) Piano Sonata 1 Fryderyk CHOPIN
(1810-1849) Preludes, Mazurkas, Polonaise Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Variations on a theme of Paganini
Jacob
Lateiner (piano) rec. 1964/77
PARNASSUS PACD 96051-52 [72:54 + 76:18] [JW]
A
pianist of dramatic flair and imagination.
Love
Raise Your Voice
Christine
Howlett (soprano) Patrick Wood Uribe (violin) Holly Chatham (piano)
rec. 2010/11
MSR CLASSICS MS1384 [49.51] [GH]
This
new and rare repertoire is well worth investigating.
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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