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Classical Editor: Rob Barnett Music Webmaster Len Mullenger: Len@musicweb-international.com
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PART 3 |
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3 C-L] [Part 4 M-R] [Part 5 S-Y] [Part 6 Misc] |
JAZ COLEMAN The Doors ConcertoViolin: Nigel Kennedy Prague Symphony Orchestra: Peter Scholes
The Doors Concerto is a classical concerto for virtuoso violin solo and symphony orchestra in nine movements, each inspired by, with broad thematic and harmonic derivation from, a song by The Doors.....To this listener's ears at any rate, the music is strongly reminiscent of that of Vaughan Williams and is infused throughout with optimistic freshness and vitality.
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR My heart is like a singing bird
The Artsong Collective (basically two voices and piano with the flexibility to add other musicians as required) have put together an imaginative disc of 21 highly enjoyable songs for soprano or tenor, with the inspired idea of adding the violin sonata in the middle to vary the diet.
Aaron COPLAND Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra, with Harp and Strings (Premier recording) Morton GOULD Spirituals for Strings Samuel BARBER Adagio for Strings William Howard SCHUMAN Symphony No. 5 (Symphony for Strings)
An enterprising and well recorded disc containing Copland's earlier thoughts on the Clarinet Concerto coupled with other modern American works.
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Pelléas et Mélisande (Music drama in five acts and thirteen scenes) Libretto by Maurice Maeterlink after his play
Subtitles in English and German [147 mins] [IL][PW]
A good performance spoiled by the production and DVD presentation.
DELAGE (1879-1961) Quatre Poèmes Hindous (1914) Contrerimes - solo piano (1927) Sept Haï-kaïs (1925) String Quartet (1949)
A disc well liked by admirers of Ravel, Fauré and Kodaly with a taste for the Gallic colonies. Delage is a master web-weaver. Disc tastefully designed. An accolade for Delage and Cyprès. The only down side is the short playing time on Disc 1.
DELIUS (1862-1934) A Mass of Life (Prelude to Part II, No.3) An Arabesk * Songs of Sunset † Songs +
One is bound to ask why the recording of Songs of Sunset, on this enterprising Somm album has never been released before? After all this is an important document a recording made by one of Delius's most fervent admirers, the first conductor to embrace his works and to record so many of them. Furthermore, this performance dates back to 4th October 1934, the year Delius died (Elgar and Holst died in the same year).
GEORGY DMITRIEV (b.1942) The Testament of Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (19??)
A splendid addition to the shelves of admirers of Russian vocal art alongside the Rachmaninov Vespers and St John Chrysostum, the Tchaikovsky St John and any number of CDs of Russian Orthodox chant.
Antonín DVORAK (1841-1904) Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, 'From the New World'. Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Overture, Leonore No. 3, Op. 72a. Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) The Love for Three Oranges - Symphonic Suite, Op. 33bis.
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Rudolf Kempe. Recorded in the Royal Albert Hall, London on August 27th and 29th, 1975. [ADD].
DVORAK Serenade for Strings in E, Op. 22 Wind Serenade in D minor, Op. 44
A heartwarming disc of the two serenades of Antonin Dvorak, played and recorded beautifully in a low price EMI re-issue from 1983.
Great Organ Works of César Franck Pièce Héroïque. Three Chorals. Prélude, Fugue et Variation.
This is an extremely well recorded disc of organ music. Crozier draws on a wealth of experience to give impressive accounts of these pieces.
FREDERICO DE FREITAS (1902-80) Five discs on the Portugalsom label
Ribatejo (1934) A Lenda dos Bailarins (The Legend of the Dancers) (1926) O Muro do Derrête (The Love Wall) (1940) African Suite (1936) Poema sobre una Écloga Virgílio (1923)Enjoyable for tolerant ears. Not the place to start your de Freitas investigations.
Images of Earth and Sea (1943) Nazaré (1948)
rec 1975 and 1962, Radiodifusâo PortuguesaSmall price to pay for some extremely approachable, good-humoured and unfamiliar music. Some aural toleration required.
Dança da Menina Tonta (Dance of the Foolish Girl) (1940) Medieval Suite (1959)
De Freitas - colourful and nationalistic. Well worth having. Superior performances and recording quality.
Quarteto Concertante - string quartet and string orchestra (1945) Flute Concerto (1954)
Musically very fine this disc is outstanding. No reservations about performance standards or recording quality.
Sonata for violin and cello (1923) Violin Sonata (1946)
Two significant sonatas in committed performances from distinguished artists.
WILLIAM HENRY FRY (1813-1864) Santa Claus Symphony, Overture to Macbeth, Niagra Symphony, The Breaking Heart
Certainly a curiosity worth a hearing, and I admit to adding another star upon listening to Santa Claus a second time - so give it a try.
A Marriage of England & Burgundy Walter FRYE Missa Summe trinitati; Missa Sine nomine (attrib.) Antoine BUSNOIS Regina coeli I & II and two motets (attrib. Busnois)
This CD, based upon a manuscript in Brussels, is entitled A Marriage of England & Burgundy and Kirkman gives a full historical background for his speculations. It is well sung by the ensemble of six male singers and clearly recorded. I enjoyed it.
Robert FUCHS Complete String Quartets Vol. 1 (Op 58 & 62)
Robert Fuchs was 'protected and supported' by Brahms, as was Dvorak. But Fuchs is no Dvorak - his music is genial but unremarkable. The best reason to buy this CD would be the fine young Minguett String Quartet, sympathetically recorded in an ideal acoustical setting.
GLUCK Orpheo ed Euridice (complete opera)
We have here a landmark recording of Gluck's most popular opera, which has been out of the catalogue for quite a while. ..... The reason for my less than full hearted response is the actual sound of Rise Steven's voice. I would recommend that you try this aspect of the performance out before purchase
Percy GRAINGER Tuneful Percussion
The album is very well documented and clearly a labour of love. Crossing all sorts of music boundaries simply by refusing to even notice they exist, Grainger left an extraordinary legacy.
Hamilton HARTY (1879-1941) An Irish Symphony (1904: revised 1915 & 1924) With the Wild Geese (1910) In Ireland (1915)
Superb scoring and vivid atmosphere beautifully rendered by Proinssías and the orchestra -and all at the usual Naxos 'bargain' price - although unusually short playing time for this label.
HAYDN Symphonies 70 - 81
Excellently played, well recorded performances in Nimbus's complete series of Haydn Symphonies played by an ensemble which has this music in its bones.
HAYDN Haydn and the Gypsies
Despite the unlikely title it becomes self-evident bearing in mind Haydn's birth in the Hungarian lakeside village of Rohrau and his later service as Kapellmeister at the Esterhazy Court, Austro-Hungarian roots and life respectively...This highly interesting and superbly played CD is the brainchild of an expert in the field, the American Linda Burman-Hall, a musicologist who can also get out there and perform
HOLLAENDER (1896-1976) Songs of the Berlin Cabaret 1920-1929
Friedrich Hollaender was one of the most prolific songwriters of the 1920s and, after rather unlikely composition studies with Humperdinck, became the house composer (and frequently lyricist) for the 'Schall und Rauch' club.....Phrasing, pedalling, shading of tone, the subtle wit of the musical line and its idiosyncratic rhythms, as well as the palette of tonal colour he produces from the excellent (uncredited) instrument make this a disc worth buying.
VAGN HOLMBOE (1909-96) Preludes for Sinfonietta:- No. 10 To the Unsettled Weather (1991)
No. 5 To a Living Stone (1987) No. 8 To the Victoria Embankment (1990) No. 3 To a Maple Tree (1986)No. 2 To a Dolphin (1986)The first disc in a series of recordings of the ten Preludes for Sinfonietta, the first 5 of which are presented here in superb performances and recordings.
HONEGGER Le Roi David (1923)
Martial Singher (narr) Madeleine Milhaud (Witch of Endor) University of Utah Chorus Utah SO/Maurice Abravanel
A most enjoyable disc and a fine platform from which to discover this work.
HOWELLS Piano Concerto No.1 in C minor Op.4, Piano Concerto No.2 in C major Op.39, Penguinski
Welcome in extending our awareness of the nature of Howells' art and in raising the profile of the music itself.
WERNER JOSTEN (1885-1963) Jungle (1928) [15.05] Concerto Sacro I and II (1925) [31.50] Canzona Seria - A Hamlet Monologue (1957) [9.29] Symphony (1936) [15.30] rec 1960s
If you are already inclined to the music of Martinu and Villa-Lobos, but with a ladleful of string band luxuriance, you will want this.
Romualds KALSONS (1936-) Violin Concerto (1978) Cello Concerto (1970) Symphonic Variations for piano and Orchestra (1978)
Music of cold and captivating brilliance. Highest recommendation.
Camille KERGER Ekatvam Walter CIVITAREALE Cello Concerto Marco KRAUS Suite Concertante Luc ROLLINGER Arion
Four approachable works by Luxembourg composers of the middle and younger generations; a five movement suite for five different saxophones particularly appealing.
KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978) Gayaneh (extracts) Spartacus (extracts)
Recording lucid and agreeably unreal. Utterly irresistible. Track 6 has some blurred coordination. Otherwise a warm welcome to Svetlanov and his Bolshoi Orchestra. More please.
PAUL VON KLENAU (1883-1946) Symphony No. 1 (1908) Symphony No. 5 Triptikon (1939) Tone Poem - Paolo und Francesca
Odense SO/Jan Wagner rec 17-20 May 1999 Odense
Commendable for explorers of the late-romantic Danish vein.
Matthew LOCKE Consort of Fower Parts; The Flatt Consort
Inventive, experimental consort music, which influenced Purcell.
[Part 1 New]
[Part 2 A-B] [Part
3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part
5 S-Y] [Part 6 Misc]
Classical Editor: Rob Barnett, Reviewers: Rob Barnett, Ian Lace, Len Mullenger, and: Richard Adams, Colin Anderson, Arthur Baker, Terry Barfoot, Marc Bridle, Arthur Butterworth, Colin Clarke, Paul Conway, Gary Dalkin, Andy Daly, Tony Duggan, Harry Downey, Christopher Fifield, Lewis Foreman, Simon Foster, Colin France, Christopher Howell, John Phillips, Ailís Ní Ríain, Humphrey Smith, Philip Scowcroft, Colin Scott-Sutherland, Andrew Seivewright, Adrian Smith, Christopher Thomas, Richard Whitehouse, Peter Grahame Woolf, David Wright. A complete list of contributors can be seen here
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