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Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli
The Early Recordings Vol. 1 - 1939-48
Includes Johann Sebastian BACH
(1685-1750) Italian Concerto, Chaconne Domenico
SCARLATTI (1685-1757) Sonatas
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Variations on a theme by Paganini
NAXOS HISTORICAL 8.111351
[79:44] [JW] 
Promised
much and it delivered ... see Full
Review
Pierre
Monteux in Boston Igor
STRAVINSKY (1882–1971) Firebird Suite Richard
STRAUSS (1864–1949) Rosenkavalier Suite César
FRANCK (1822–1890) Psyché Suite Johannes
BRAHMS (1833–1897) Piano Concerto No. 1 Igor
STRAVINSKY Pulcinella Suite
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux rec.1953-7
WEST HILL RADIO ARCHIVES WHRA6012 [68:36
+ 68:08][JQ] 
A
splendid set ... see Full Review
La
Nilsson
Birgit Nilsson (soprano)
Åke Levén (organ) Royal Opera House O/Sir Edward Downes rec. 1963
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0901 [72:21] [GF]
Should
be heard by every lover of great singing ... see Full
Review
Northern Lights –
British String Quartets by John
CASKEN (b.1949), Judith WEIR
(b.1954) and Robert SAXTON (b.1953)
Kreutzer Quartet rec. 1999-2002
METIER MSV28507 [63:02][JW] 
Well
done to Metier ... see Full Review
Northern
Winds
Louis APPLEBAUM (1918–2000)
High Spirits Michael
COLGRASS (b.1932) Dream Dancer Henry
KUCHARZYK (b.1953) Some Assembly Required Gary
KULESHA (b.1954) Ensembles Henry
FREEDMAN (1922–2005) Laurentian Moods Olivier
MESSIAEN (1908–1992) Oiseaux Exotiques
Wallace Halliday (saxophone); Simon Docking (piano) Toronto Wind O/Tony
Gomes rec. 2007 NAXOS
8.572248 [70:30] [JWi]
Versatility
and challenge in this complex and innovative music ... see Full
Review
Ervin Nyiregyházi in
Performance
Ervin Nyiregyházi (piano) rec. 1972-82
MUSIC AND ARTS CD-1202 [76:28 + 74:51][JW]
One
of the more bizarre heralds of the keyboard ... see Full
Review
Play
me my songs John ECCLES (c.1668-1735) Suite
from 'The Mad Lover' Giovanni BONONCINI (1670-1747) Barbara Ninfa
ingrata Charles AVISON (1709-1770) Concerto Francesco GEMINIANI (1687-1762) A Treatise of
Good Taste in the Art of Musick, Sonata George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759) English Songs Francesco BARSANTI (1690-1772) Ouverture Ensemble
Il Falcone
rec. 2008 DYNAMIC CDS612 [64:49]
[JV]
Attractive
original programming, theatrical performances but some shortcomings
... see Full Review
Jacqueline Du Pré's Musical
Stories
Sergei PROKOFIEV
(1891-1953) Peter
and the Wolf, Op. 67 (1936)1 Leopold
MOZART (1719-1787) Cassation in G for Orchestra and Toys2
Paul DUKAS (1865-1935) L’Apprenti
Sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) (1897)3 Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Danse macabre, Op.40 (1874)4
Jacqueline du Pré (narrator)1;
Luben Yordanoff (solo violin)4 English Chamber Orchestra1,2;
Orchestre de Paris/Daniel Barenboim3,4 rec. Henry Wood Hall,
London, October, 1979 (Prokofiev, Mozart); Notre Dame du Liban, Paris,
January, 1977 (Dukas); Maison de la Mutualité, Paris, October, 1980
(Saint-Saëns). ADD.
Deutsche Grammophon Eloquence 480 0475 [68:46]
[BW]
Nothing
seriously amiss, but will it really appeal to today’s children? ...
see Full Review
Red Priest
Priest
on the Run RP001
Dazzlingly fast with daemonic lurches ... see
Full Review
Nightmare
in Venice RP002
Entertaining, naughty ... see Full
Review
Vivaldi/Corelli RP003
Simultaneously sui generis and bananas ...
see Full Review
Pirates of the Baroque RO004
there’s no one quite like Red Priest ... see Full Review
Rhapsodie
- Fantasie - Poème Music by
Jean-Michel DAMASE (b. 1928),
Charles KOECHLIN (1867-1950), Jean-Michel
DAMASE (b. 1928), Paul DUKAS (1865-1935),
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
and G.W.L. MARSHALL-HALL
(1862-1915) Ben Jacks
(horn); Orchestra Victoria, The Queensland Orchestra/Barry Tuckwell
rec. 2006-8 MELBA RECORDINGS
MR301117 
[71:11][RB]
The
closest thing to hot cakes in years. Snap it up now ... see Full
Review
Romantic Treasures
Music by Antonin DVORÁK (1841–1904),
Richard STRAUSS (1864–1949),
Claude DEBUSSY (1962–1918)
and Camille SAINT–SAËNS
(1835–1921)
Sergiu Schwartz (violin); Alec Chien (piano) rec. 2008
ROMÉO RECORDS 7263 [70:58][BBr]
A
rather nice recital, well planned, well played and very interesting
... see Full Review
Schmidt-Isserstedt
Carl
Maria von WEBER (1786-1826) Euryanthe (Overture)
Michael TIPPETT (1905-1998)
Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Symphony No. 4
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
rec. 1971
BBC LEGENDS BBCL42352 [70:07][DRD]
A
very fine and imaginative selection … an underrated conductor ... see
Full Review
Giuseppe
Di Stefano sings Verdi and Puccini Full listing
at the bottom of the review
Giuseppe di Stefano (tenor)
NIMBUS Prima Voce NI7957/8
[76.16 + 72.04]
[RMo]
Subtlety,
energy and commitment ... see Full Review
Sweet Swan
of Avon
Yvonne Howard (mezzo); Jamie MacDougall (tenor);
English Serenata/Guy Woolfenden
MERIDIAN CDE84301 [68.04][EM]
A
huge variety of works … extremely attractive ... see Full
Review
Three Coins in the Fountain
music by Victor Young Original Soundtrack recording
(but without Frank Sinatra’s rendition of the song: ‘Three Coins
in the Fountain’ – Music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
VARĖSE SARABANDE VCL 1104 1033 [49:28] [Limited Edition]
[IL]
A
lovely souvenir of a film that must be an endearing memory for so many
.. see Full Review
20th Century Tuba Concertos
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
(1872-1958) Concerto for Bass Tuba Alexander
ARUTIUNIAN (b. 1920) Tuba Concerto Torbjörn
Iwan LUNDQUIST (1920-2000) Landscape John
WILLIAMS (b. 1932) Tuba Concerto
Øystein Baadsvik (tuba) Singapore SO/Anne Manson
BIS BIS-CD-1515 [58:14]
[CT]
Entertaining
and enjoyable … eminently listenable ... see Full
Review
Unheard
of – again - Music by Henrik
STRINDBERG (b. 1954), Karen REHNQVIST
(b. 1957), Djuro ZIVKOVIC (b. 1975),
Victoria BORISOVA-OLLAS (b. 1969), Pär FRID (b. 1977),
Mattias LYSELL (b. 1971), Benjamin
STAERN (b. 1978)
Chamber Ensemble Sonanza/Jan Risberg rec. 2008
PHONO SUECIA PSCD180 [59:20][HC]
Well
worth more than the occasional hearing … includes some appealing works
... see Full Review
The
Voice in the Garden Spanish
Songs and Motets 1480-1550
Christopher Wilson (vihuela)
Andrew Lawrence-King (medieval harp) Gothic Voices/Chrisopher Page rec.
1993 HYPERION HELIOS
CDH55298 [52.06] [RH] 
Listen
again and re-tune your ears ... see Full
Review
Witches’ Brew
Malcolm
ARNOLD (1921-2006) Tam O’Shanter Overture,
Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881) Gnomus
(from Pictures from an Exhibition) A Night on the Bare Mountain
(1867) (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov) Camille
SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Danse macabre, Engelbert
HUMPERDINCK (1854-1921) Witch’s Ride (from Hänsel und
Gretel) Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Charles GOUNOD
(1818-1893) Funeral March of a Marionette, Faust: Ballet
Music New Symphony Orchestra of London; Orchestra of the Royal Opera
House, Covent
Garden/Sir Alexander Gibson rec.1959, 1964 ADD Decca Eloquence 442
9985 [65:32]
[BW]
The
Arnold and Gounod items are worth having ... see Full
Review
BOOK REVIEWS
Bach's
St. Matthew Passion A Closer Look
by Victor Lederer; Magnum Opus series publ. 2008 Continuum [GD]
Something
here for everybody ... see Full
Review
Miecio.
Letters and postcards of Janina Roza Horszowska 1900-1904
Edited by Bice Horszowski Costa; preface by Elisabetta Fava Erga edizioni
2008 147 pp with numerous colour reproductions and CD ISBN 978 888163550
4 $30
An
evocative reflection of the last fluttering years of the Double Eagle
... see Full Review
Francisco
Tarrega (1852-1909)
- Biography by Adrián Rius Espinós I.S.B.N. 84-95026-93-7 PILES,
Editorial de Musica S.A. Archena, 33-46014 Valencia (Espana) [ZT]
Essential
reading for anyone interested in Tarrega’s life and times ... see Full
Review
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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