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Made
in the Americas: Symphonies and Soundscapes: Vol.1
Set 1 
Millennium
SO/Robert Ian Winstin rec. 2008, ERMMEDIA
ERM5572 [74.49 + 72.25] [PSh]
The
first great American symphony of the twenty-first century ... see Full
Review
Yehudi
Menuhin - The Great EMI Recordings rec.
1932-84 EMI CLASSICS 2641312 [51 CDs: ca 60 hrs] 
[JW]
Enough
rarities to entice ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH
Midsummer
Night
- Kate Royal (soprano) ALWYN,
STRAVINSKY, WALTON,
FLOYD, DVOŘÁK,
BRITTEN, LEHÁR,
BARBER, MESSAGER,
HERRMANN, KORNGOLD
Kate Royal (soprano) Crouch End Festival Chorus, Orchestra of English
National Opera/Edward Gardner rec. 2008/9, DDD
EMI CLASSICS 2681922 [61:45] 
[ST]
Never
less than beautiful and frequently far more ... see Full
Review
Milestones
–Thirty
Years of Chandos ALBINONI,
BAX,
BOULANGER,
CHOPIN, DELIUS, ELGAR, GRAINGER,
GRECHANINOV, HANDEL,
HARTY, HOLST,
HUMMEL, JANÁČEK, KODÁLY,
PROKOFIEV,
PURCELL , RACHMANINOV
, RESPIGHI , SHOSTAKOVICH,,
STANFORD, STRAUSS,
TCHAIKOVSKY,
VANHAL, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS,
BUTTERWORTH, VAUGHAN
WILLIAMS' WALTON , The
Complete Champions, The King’s Singers,
Music from the novels of Louis de Berničres
CHANDOS ANNI 0030 [30 CDs – circa 26:00:00]
[RB]
Begin
your collection with this set and you can count yourself blessed ...
see Full
Review
Heinrich
Neuhaus – Russian Piano School Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Eight Piano Pieces Op.76;
Intermezzos Op.119 Nos.1 & 2 Robert
SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Kreisleriana
Heinrich Neuhaus (piano) rec. Moscow 1947-1952
RUSSIAN COMPACT DISC RCD16246 [57:35][JW]
Artistry;
that’s what this disc gives us time and again ... see Full
Review
A
New Heaven Includes Sir
Hubert PARRY (1848-1918) I was glad Sir
William HARRIS (1883-1973) Faire is the heaven Sir
Edward BAIRSTOW (1874-1946) Blessed city, heavenly
Salem Henry BALFOUR GARDINER (1877-1950) Evening
Hymn Edgar BAINTON (1880-1956) And
I saw a new heaven Sir John STAINER (1840-1901) I
saw the Lord Herbert HOWELLS (1892-1983) Like
as the hart desireth the waterbrooks The
Sixteen/Harry Christophers
rec. 2008 UNIVERSAL CLASSICS & JAZZ
1795732 [72:04] 
[MC]
Superbly
presented, quite outstanding with flawless performances ... see Full
Review
New
Year’s Concert 2003
Vienna PO/Nikolaus Harnoncourt
ARTHAUS MUSIK 107 013 
[122:00 + 27:00 special features]
[JS]
Such
wonderful musicians playing such marvellous music ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH The
NMC Songbook rec.
2008 NMC D150 [4
CDs: 299:25] 
[CR]
A
stunning anthology ... see Full
Review
No
Seasons Astor
PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992) arr. Leonid Desyatnikov (b.1955)
Four Seasons in Buenos Aires for Violin and String Orchestra
[25:17] Joan VALENT (b.1964) Quatre
Estacions A Mallorca for Violin, Piano, String Orchestra and Percussion
[26:52] Jorge GRUNDMAN (b.1961)
Four Sad Seasons Over Madrid for Soprano, Violin, Piano and String
Orchestra [16:20] Ara Malikian
(violin) Susana Cordón (soprano); Daniel del Pino (piano) Non Profit
Music Chamber Orchestra/Ara Malikian 
NON
PROFIT MUSIC NO CATALOGUE NUMBER [68:31]
[RB]
A fresh take on the seasons ... see Full
Review
Manoug
Parikian in Sweden Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791) Divertimento in B flat for 2
Horns and String Quartet, K287 (1777) [33:48] Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) String
Sextet Op.81b (1794-95) [17:37]
Manoug Parikian (violin) Tore Johnsen (violin) Bengt Andersson (viola)
Jan Neander (cello) Gunnar Wennberg (horn) Bengt Sundberg (horn) rec.1971,1974
ALTFIOL AIVCD004
[51:25]
[JW]
This
pleasurable souvenir ... see Full Review
Phoenix
in Flight
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786 – 1826)
Clarinet Concertino & Concerto 2 Giovanni BOTTESINI (1821 – 1889) Duetto Claude DEBUSSY (1862 – 1918) Premiere Rhapsodie
Peter Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 – 1893) Herbstlied
Richard Stoltzman (clarinet);
Richard Fredrickson (double bass) Slovak RSO/Kirk Trevor rec. 2002-5
NAVONA RECORDS NV5861
[59:52]
[BBr]
Well
worth a listen ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH André
Previn - The Great Recordings - The LSO Years: 1971-1980
rec. 1971-80. Stereo/ADD Full details at end of review 
EMI CLASSICS 50999 2679692 [10 CDs: circa 13:00:00] 
[RB]
Magnificent
Previn recordings as fresh as proverbial paint ... see Full
Review
Pourquoi,
Madame? Georges
BOULANGER, Grigoras DINICU, Jupp SCHMITZ, Ludwig SCHMIDSEDER, Oskar
NEBDAL, Vittorio MONTI, Franz LEHÁR, Gustl EDELMANN, Seress REZSÖ, Jo
KNÜMANN, Trad arr. Wiesław Pipczynski
Prima Carezza
(Michaela Paetsch-Neftal and Klaus Neftal (violins); Wiesław Pipczynski
(accordion)) TUDOR
7160 CD [69:24]
[JS]
A
very positive impression … a very impressive panache ... see Full
Revie
Reflections of France
Includes Roger BOUTRY (b. 1932) Divertimento
Jean FRANÇAIX (1912-1997) Cinque danses exotiques
Alfred DESENCLOS (1912-1971) Prélude, cadence
et finale Robert PLANEL (1908-1994) Prélude et saltarelle
Darius MILHAUD (1892-1974) Scaramouche
Christian Forshaw (saxophone) Stephen De Pledge (piano) rec. 2007
INTEGRA RECORDS ING1002 [66:04]
[DM]
Dazzling
technique but real punch and personality? ... see Full
Review
By
the River in Spring
Includes Hamilton Harty
(1879-1941) In Ireland Edward
German (1862-1936)
Suite for Flute Michael Head
(1900-1976) By the River in Spring William
Alwyn (1905-1985)
Flute Sonata Thomas Dunhill
(1877-1946) Valse Fantasia Kenneth
Leighton (1929-1988)
Flute Sonata Stanford Robinson
(1904-1984) The Moon-maiden's Dance
Kenneth Smith (flute); Paul Rhodes (piano) rec. 1927-2007
DIVINE ART DDA25069 [77:34]
[JF]
Well-planned
and beautifully played ... see Full
Review
Mstislav
Rostropovich - The Complete EMI Recordings EMI
CLASSICS 2175972 [26 CDs: ca 30 hrs & 2 DVDs] [JW]
Indefatigable
and remarkable … grace and profound illumination ... see Full
Review
Russian
Violin Concertos Nikolai RAKOV (1908-1990) Violin
Concerto No. 1 (1944) [30:07] Dmitri
KABALEVSKY (1904-1987) Violin Concerto in C major,
Op. 48 (1948) [30:07] Vissarion SHEBALIN (1902-1963) Violin
Concerto, Op. 21 (1940) Andrew
Hardy (violin) Symphony Orchestra of Russia/Veronika Dudarova
rec. Moscow Film Studios, 1995. DDD previously issued as Olympia
OCD573 REGIS
RRC1310 [79:52] [RB]
Wonderfully
lyrical and completely unhackneyed ... see Full
Review
Salmow
Kernewek – Contemporary Choral Music from Cornwall
by Russell PASCOE, Paul
DRAYTON (b. 1944), Jonathan CARNE,
Paul COMEAU and Graham
FITKIN (b. 1963)
St. Mary’s Singers/Christopher Gray rec. 2008
REGENT REGCD291 [77.55][RH]
Well-made
and useful music ... see Full
Review
Hermann
Scherchen conducts Beethoven Westminster
Archives – Scherchen Vol. 5 Paul
Badura-Skoda (piano) Vienna State Opera O, English Baroque O/Hermann
Scherchen rec. 1951-58 TAHRA
WEST 3009-10 [69:30 + 59:15] [JW]
Once
more Tahra West bears fruit ... see Full
Review
Elisabeth
Schwarzkopf: Rare Recordings - 1946–1954 Elisabeth
Schwarzkopf (soprano) rec. 1946-54 IDIS
6563 [63:29] [GF]
Shows
the high artistic level of whatever Elisabeth Schwarzkopf did.
... see Full
Review
Andrés
Segovia plays J.S. BACH, HAYDN, FRESCOBALDI, RAMEAU, TANSMAN, Hans HAUG, SCRIABIN, VILLA-LOBOS, LAURO, RODRIGO, CASSADÓ and LLOBET
Andrés Segovia (guitar) rec. 1952-6
ALTO ALC1050 [72:25][RB]
Candid
and straight-talking ... see Full
Review
Andrés Segovia 1950s American Recordings
Vol. 1
Andrés Segovia (guitar)
rec. 1952-5 NAXOS 8.111089
[66:42]
[GF]
As
self-recommending as the other five volumes ... see Full
Review
Songs
of the Sky
Steve MARTLAND
(b. 1959) Tiger Dancing Huw
WATKINS (b. 1976) Dream Tarik
O’REGAN (b. 1978) Raď Jason
YARDE (b. 1970) Who Knows the Beauty? John
TAVENER (b. 1944) Songs of the Sky
Britten Sinfonia/Jacqueline Shave rec. 2005-7
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD149 [76:14]
[HC]
Never
outstays its welcome ... see Full
Review
The
Sound of Scandinavia
rec. 1960-2002
EMI CLASSICS 2681612 [6 CDs: 469:20]
[RB]
A
beguilingly calculated mix ... see Full
Review
Stellar
Saxes Jun
NAGAO (b.1964) Paganini Lost, Lovers
on the Celestial Sphere Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963) Konzertstuck Masanori
KATOH (b.1972) Oriental Guy
LACOUR (b.1932) Suite en Duo Victor
MOROSCO (b.1936) Contemporary Etudes in Duet
Form Kenneth
Tse and Nobuya Sugawa (saxophones) Kazuo Murakami (piano) rec.
2008 CRYSTAL
RECORDS CD359 [59:42] [JW]
A
saxophonic feast ... see Full
Review
La
traverse miraculeuse
Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer rec. 2008
ATMA CLASSIQUE ACD22588 [52:01][RB]
Gallic,
tangy, rough-textured and folk-orientated ... see Full Review
Variations
REBaroque/Maria
Lindal rec. 2008 PROPRIUS
PRCD2046 [55:14]
[JS]
Mixing
music in ways that constantly surprise ... see Full
Review
The
Virtuoso Pianolist
Rex Lawson (pianola) rec. 1998
OTHER MINDS OM10012 [71:35][DC]
No
mere novelty – the Stravinsky is a must for serious fans ... see Full Review
West
of the Sun -
Music of the Americas Includes Astor
PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992) Flora’s Game, Milonga
prelude Alberto GINASTERA (1916-1983) Sonata
1 Heitor VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959) Chôros
No.5, Alma Brasileira Margaret BONDS (1913-1972) Troubled
Water William BOLCOM (b.1938) Nine
New Bagatelles Samuel BARBER (1910-1981) Piano
Sonata Joel
Fan (piano) rec. 2008 REFERENCE
RECORDINGS RR-119 [67:17] [JW]
Ebullient
and zesty ... see Full Review
BOOK
REVIEWS
Parry’s
Creative Process by
Michael Allis Music in 19th-Century
Britain Series ASHGATE ISBN 978-1-84014-681-3 - Ł54:00 [JF]
A
useful reference tool for musicologists, writers and enthusiasts
... 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]
[last 5 days] [Recommended
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