ALPHABETICAL LISTING

James MACMILLAN (b. 1959) Divo Aloysio Sacrum (1991) The Gallant Weaver (1997) A Child's Prayer (1996) Seinte Mari Moder Milde (1995) Tremunt videntes angeli (2002) Cantos Sagrados (1990) Christus Vincit (1994) So Deep (1992) Elysian Singers/Sam Laughton; Carl Jackson (organ) Rec: All Saints' Church, Tooting, London, May 2003 SIGNUM RECORDS SIGCD507 [62'50"] [SS]

Highly recommended to anyone interested in choral music. A must for MacMillan fans ... see Full Review

Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony No. 3 in D Minor (1895-6) Lilli Paasikivi (mezzo) Tiffin Boys Choir, London Philharmonic Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra/Benjamin Zander Including discussion disc. Symphony playable in DSD Surround and DSD Stereo on an SACD player. Recorded Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, 28 Feb, 2-3 March 2003 TELARC 3SACD-60599 [3 CDs: 33.35 + 65.48 + 76.32; I; II-VI; discussion] [TD]

A largely disappointing recording that cannot stand comparison with the greats from the past. Admirers of Zander who are collecting his Mahler cycle will, I suspect, take no notice and buy it anyway. ... see Full Review

Giuseppe Saverio MERCADANTE (1795-1870) Mercadante Rediscovered Orazi e Curiazi , 'Giuriamo per la patri’. Marcus Haddock; Anthony Michaels-Moore; Alastair Miles Emma d’ Antiochia, 'In quest'ora fatal'. Nelly Miricioiu Les Soirees Italiennes, ‘Il pastore Svizzero'. William Matteuzzi. (with David Harper, piano) Virginia, ‘'Ah! tant'oltre non credea’. Bruce Ford; Alastair Miles Zaira, 'Reggi i passi miei'. Majella Cullagh; Alastair Miles; Bruce Ford; Colin Lee; Claire Wild Emma d' Antiochia, ‘Ah perdona il duol’. Nelly Miricioiu; Mary Plazas Les Soirées Italiennes, ‘Tamento del moribondo’ Bruce Ford. (with David Harper, piano) Gabriella di Vergy, 'Quant' immagini crudeli' Jennifer Rhys-Davies; Paul Nilon; Jonathan Viera; Claire Daniels; Ivan Sharpe; Karl Morgan Daymond Zaira, 'Segui, deh! segui a piangere’. Majella Cullagh; Bruce Ford Les Soirées Italiennes, La Rosa’ Yvonne Kenny (with David Harper, piano) Orazi e Curiazi, 'Ah! su lei tremendo foco'. Nelly Miricioiu; Anthony Michaels-Moore Geoffrey Mitchell Choir. Philharmonia Orchestra/David Parry No individual recording dates or venues given Full Price OPERA RARA ORR226 [69.14] [RJF]

An ideal introduction to Mercadante and his works and highly recommended as such. ... see Full Review

Federico MOMPOU (1893-1987) Complete Piano Works Federico Mompou (piano) rec. 1974, Casino d'Alianca del Poblenou, Barcelona, Spain. ADD BRILLIANT CLASSICS 6515 [4 CDs: 69:50 + 73:20 + 69:50 + 67:50] [JW]

There’s now no excuse not to seek out these valuable examples of Mompou the composer-pianist in his maturity and to admire playing that gets to the heart of the matter. ... see Full Review

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791) Piano Concertos - Complete Pieter-Jan Belder, harpsichord and clavichord Derek Han, piano Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Freeman Also available as "Mozart Complete Works Volume 4," Brilliant Classics 99720 BRILLIANT CLASSICS 92112 [approx. 11 hours 25 min.] [PSh]

An excellent choice for every collection. A few performances are exceptional, most are excellent, the merest no less than very good; become familiar with these marvellous works while you wait for your personal "perfect" recording of each one to come along ... see Full Review

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Piano Concerto no. 21 in C K.467
Piano Concerto no. 22 in E flat K482 Annie Fischer, piano Philharmonia Orchestra/Wolfgang Sawallisch Recorded 28^th February and 1^st, 2^nd and 10^th March 1958, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Rd., London. ADD EMI CLASSICS GREAT RECORDINGS OF THE CENTURY 7243 5 62750 2 7 [64:31] [GPJ]

An issue for which the word ‘great’ is in no way misplaced. ... see Full Review

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Così fan tutte Fiordiligi – Teresa Stich-Randall (soprano) Dorabella – Janis Martin (mezzo-soprano) Ferrando – Werner Krenn (tenor) Guglielmo – Victor Conrad Braun (baritone) Don Alfonso – Carlos Feller (bass) Despina – Adriana Martino (soprano) Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro RAI di Roma/Peter Maag Recorded live in Rome, 13 June 1967 ARTS 43035-2 [2 CDs: 80.23 + 68.50] [JW]

Admirers of Maag and the singers here will rightly want to make the acquaintance of this set and savour its attractive features. ... see Full Review

BARGAIN OF THE MONTH Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Le Nozze di Figaro (Two discarded arias for Susanna, Un moto di gioia and Al desio di chi t’adora are added as an appendix) Bo Skovhus (Count Almaviva), Marina Mescheriakova (Countess Almaviva), Judith Halász (Susanna), Renato Girolami (Figaro), Michelle Breedt (Cherubino), Gabriele Sima (Marcellina), Janusz Monarcha (Bartolo), Michael Roider (Basilio), Alexander Klinger (Don Curzio), Orsolya Sáfár (Barbarina), Peter Köves (Antonio), Hungarian National Chorus, Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, David Aronson (continuo)/Michael Halász Recorded 26th October to 4th novembre 2002 at the Phoenix Studio, Budapest, Hungary NAXOS 8.660102-04 [3CDs: 71:54 + 61:58 + 52:48] [CH]

This is an unassailable bargain, and I wonder how many of the more expensive alternatives are really worth the extra money. ... see Full Review

Thea MUSGRAVE (b.1928) Clarinet Concerto (1968) [26.20] The Seasons (1988) [25.56]Autumn Sonata - concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra (1993) [21.38] Victoria Soames, clarinet and bass clarinet BBC Symphony Orchestra/Thea Musgrave Recorded Glasgow City Hall, 5-7 April 1996. CLARINET CLASSICS CC0035 [73.14] [JF]

This is an extremely attractive introduction to the excellent music of Thea Musgrave. Three works from a twenty five year period. Superbly played and recorded. ... see Full Review

Lewis NIELSON (b.1950) Violin Concerto (1989, rev. 1999)* Four movements for violin and harpsichord (2001) Anagram (Fantasia No 2) for violin and string orchestra (1999) Levon Ambartsumian (violin) Wassily Dolinsky (harpsichord) Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio/Mikhail Kukushkhin* ARCO Chamber Orchestra/Lewis Nielson Rec. Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, October 1999 (Violin Concerto); Malyi Hall of Moscow Conservatory, October 2001 (Four movements); Hodgson Hall, University of Georgia, April 2001 (Anagram) DDD CENTAUR CRC 2665 [53:31] [PCW]

Listeners interested in contemporary violin music should certainly give this disc a hearing … see Full Review

Bernardo PASQUINI (1637 - 1710) Sonate per gravicembalo see review for details Roberto Loreggian, harpsichord, spinet (*); Francesco Ferrarini, cello (**) Recorded in August 2002 at the Villa Beatrice in Baone, Padua, Italy DDD CHANDOS CHAN 0704 [75:37] [JV]

A recording which pays attention to a neglected Italian composer of the late 17th century, but doesn’t do him full justice ... see Full Review

Krzysztof PENDERECKI (b.1933) Violin Sonata No. 1 (1953) Miniatures (1959)Cadenza for solo viola (1984) Violin Sonata No. 2 (2000) Ida Bieler (violin); Nina Tichman (piano) Rec: Konzertgalerie Il Bagno, Burgsteinfurt, June 2003. DDD NAXOS 8.557253 [55'59"] [SS]

A valuable disc of Penderecki's violin chamber works ... see Full Review

Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) 2^nd Piano Sonata, op.36 Preludes, op.32 nos. 5, 10 and 12 Etude-Tableau op.39 no.9 Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908) Le vol du bourdon (arr. Rachmaninov) Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Petrouchka Wen-Yu Shen, piano Recorded in Brussels, Flagey, Studio 1, 23^rd-24^th July 2003 CYPRÈS CYP9617 [54:21] [GPJ]

Maturity and stunning technical mastery in a wide range of music ... see Full Review

Jean-Marie RENS (b. 1955) Vibrations (2001) a Trois petits poèmes lettristes (2000) bTrois pièces (2002) c Sept chansons traditionnelles (2002) d Espace-Temps (1998) e Musiques Nouvelles (a) Choeur Mondial des Jeunes (b) Georges Deppe (piano) (c) Nahandove (d) Laurette Prète (piano) (e) Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège et de la Communauté Françaisee; Denis Meniera (a b) Pierre Bartholomée (e) Recorded: Studio Dada, Brussels, January 2003 (Vibrations); Eglise Saint-Loup, Namur, January 2002 (Trois petits poèmes); Studio 1, Flagey, Brussels, July 2003 (Trois pièces) and September 2003 (Sept chansons); and (live) Salle Philharmonique, Liège, March 1998 (Espace-Temps) CYPRES CYP 4619 [73:02] [HC]

Rens’ beautifully made and strongly communicative music superbly well served ... I urge you to give this magnificent release a try. You will not be disappointed. ... see Full Review

Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908) Scheherazade – Symphonic Suite after “The Thousand and One Nights”, Op. 35 (1888) Symphony No. 2 (Symphonic Suite – Antar), Op. 9 (1868/75/97) Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra/Kees Bakels Rec. Dewan Filharmonik Petronas Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 2002 BIS-CD-1377 [74’34] [DS]

Bakels stands on the sidelines, never willing to immerse himself in Rimsky-Korsakov’s delectable sound-world. ... see Full Review

Helmut ROSENVALD (b. 1929) Violin Concerto No. 1 for violin and string orchestra (1976) [14:24] Lemmo Erendi (violin); Tallinn Chamber Orchestra/Neeme Järvi Violin Concerto No. 2 Quasi una Fantasia (1986) [12:40] Lemmo Erendi (violin); Estonian State Symphony Orchestra/Jüri Alperten Zwei Pastoralen (1983) [5:32] Estonian State Symphony Orchestra/Vello Pähn Sonata Capriccioso (1988) [12:46] Valentina Gontšarova (violin)
Symphony No: 3 (1966) [20:26] Nocturne (1967) [5:36] Estonian State Symphony Orchestra/Neeme Järvi rec: Sept 1976 (1), Nov 1986 (2), Feb 1983 (Pastoralen), June 1988 (Sonata), July 1966 (3), 1967 (Nocturne): ADD ANTES EDITION - BELLA MUSICA BM 31:9197 [72:38] [RB]

One of the wonders of Estonian music ... well worth getting if you enjoy Tubin, Schnittke, Alwyn, Rubbra or Britten. Recommended ... see Full Review

Christopher ROUSE (b.1949) Der gerettete Alberich (1997) Rapture (2000) Violin Concerto (1991) Evelyn Glennie (percussion) Cho-Liang Lin (violin) Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam Rec. Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Nov 2001 (Concerto), June 2003 (Rapture); Sept 2003 (Alberich) ONDINE ODE 1016-2 [64’03] [TH]

A very desirable issue where performances are exemplary and Ondine’s engineers give us superb sound ... see Full Review

 

 

Detailed listing (last two days)]
[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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