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RECORDINGS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Johann Sebastian
BACH (1685-1750) Cantatas
BWV22, 23, 127 & 159 Dorothee
Mields (soprano); Matthew White (alto); Jan Kobow (tenor); Peter
Kooy (bass) Collegium Vocale Gent/Philippe Herreweghe rec. 2007 HARMONIA
MUNDI
HMC901998 [63:47] [MC]
This
is an outstanding Bach release in all respects ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Ludwig van
BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Triple
concerto Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Double
concerto Trio
Poseidon, Gothenburg SO/Neeme Järvi
rec. 2004/7 CHANDOS
CHAN10564 [69:41] [RB]
Artistic
insight, poignancy and exciting performance values ... see Full
Review
RECORIDNG
OF THE MONTH Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896) Symphonies
1-9,
Te Deum Vienna
SO/Volkmar Andreae
rec. 1953 MUSIC & ARTS
CD-1227(9) [9
CDs: 527:02] [JW]
Among
historic cycles this one now ranks high indeed. ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Luigi DALLAPICCOLA
(1904
– 1975) Partita (1930-32)a [29:01] Dialoghi
(1959-60)b [18:57] Quattro Liriche di Antonio Machado
(1948, orch. 1964)a [5:50] Three Questions with Two
Answers (1962-63) [13:02]
Gillian Keith (soprano)a; Paul Watkins (cello)b
BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea Noseda rec.2009
CHANDOS CHAN 10561 [67:21]
[HC]
One
of the finest discs to have come my way recently ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Préludes
Books 1 & 2 Roger
Woodward (piano) rec. 2007 CELESTIAL
HARMONIES 13279-2 [79:43] [DC]
Late
news: reviewer lost for words ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Osvaldo GOLIJOV
(b. 1960) La
Pasión según San Marcos (St. Mark Passion) (2000)
Soloists Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, Orquesta La Pasión, Members of
the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela/María Guinand (CD) Robert
Spano (DVD) rec. CD: 2007/08; DVD: 2008, Libretto included
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 7461 CD: [53:06 + 31:21] DVD:
[87:37]
[DM]
Only
the stoniest of hearts could fail to be moved ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Jonathan HARVEY (b.
1939) Works for Piano & Flute Florian
Hoelscher (pno), Pirmin Grehl (flute) rec. 2007-8 NEOS
10828 [58:11] [CR]
A
world-class performance of some magnificent repertoire ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH James
MacMILLAN
(b. 1959) The
Sacrifice Christopher
Purves (baritone) Lisa Milne (soprano) Welsh National Opera Ch & O/Anthony
Negus rec. 2007
CHANDOS CHAN 10572(2) [55:01 + 76:05] [JQ]
An
enthralling, sometimes draining and always compelling experience. ...
see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911) Symphony
1 Mikhail GLINKA (1804-1857) Ruslan
and Ludmila Overture London
PO/Klaus Tennstedt
rec. 1990/1 BBC
LEGENDS
BBCL4266-2 [70:41] [DM]
A
deeply penetrating, once-in-a-lifetime performance, and it goes
straight to the top of my list of recommendations ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847) Symphonies
3 & 5 Bergen
PO/Andrew Litton rec. 2007 BIS
BIS-SACD-1604 [70:15] [DC]
‘Perfect’ symphonic
Mendelssohn.... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1756-1791) Clarinet
Quintet,
String Quartet 15 Nicola
Boud (basset clarinet) EDDING Qt rec. 2009 ET'CETERA
KTC1401 [61:47] [OL]
Gives
me all the music in the best way I can imagine ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Ned
ROREM (b.
1923) On
An Echoing Road The
Prince Consort rec. 2009 LINN
RECORDS
CKD342 [56:38] [JQ]
An
exceptionally fine single-disc introduction to Ned Rorem’s
songs ... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String
Quartets 8 & 15 Busch
String
Qt
rec. 1938 PRISTINE
AUDIO
XR PACM066 [65:53] [BW]
Performances
still among the very best in miraculous re-masterings ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Dmitri
SHOSTAKOVICH
(1906 – 1975)
CD 1 Sonata for Cello and Piano Op.40 (1934) [27:12] Sonata for Cello
and Piano Op.147 (1975) [31:25] CD 2 Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat Op.107
(1959) [29:35] Cello Concerto No.2 Op.126 (1966) [32:44]
Viviane Spanoghe (cello); André de Groote (piano) Sofia Soloists Symphony
Orchestra/Emil Tabakov rec. 1984/1992/ 2008
TALENT DOM 3810 12-13 [58:37 + 62:19]
[NB]
Powerful,
humane and utterly compelling ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphony
11 Netherlands
RPO/Mark Wigglesworth rec. 2006 BIS
BIS-SACD-1583 [63:41] [DM]
A
deeply satisfying performance and an unrivalled recording ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957) Violin
Concerto, Three Humoresques Serge PROKOFIEV (1891-1953) Violin
Concerto 1 Vilde
Frang (violin)
WDR SO Köln/Thomas Søndergård
rec. 2009 EMI
CLASSICS
6844132 [63:56] [RB]
A
rare purity and spun silver … see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Tomás Luis de VICTORIA
(1548-1611) Lamentations of Jeremiah Juan
Gutiérrez de PADILLA (c. 1590-1664) Lamentations for
Maundy Thursday
The Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
GIMELL CDGIM 043 [64:08]
[JQ]
An
outstanding release that celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the
Gimell label ... see Full Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Szymon
Goldberg Centenary Edition: Vol. 1: Non-Commercial Recordings MUSIC & ARTS
CD-1223 [8 CDs: 572:03] [JW]
For
me it's a Record of the Year ... see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH La
Voce di Orfeo - Gli amori di Francesco Rasi 1574-1621
Furio Zanasi (baritone); Giulio Casati (narrator) La Chimera/Eduardo
Egüez rec. 2009 DDD
NAIVE E 8925 [62:36]
[JV]
A
magnificent recording and an impressive demonstration of recitar cantando
... see Full Review
BARGAINS
OF THE MONTH
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869) L'Enfance
du Christ Jean
Rigby (mezzo) Gerald Finley (baritone) St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers,
Corydon Singers & O/Matthew Best rec. 1994 HYPERION
DYAD
CDD22067 [44:04
+ 56:48] [SV]
One
to love and to cherish … see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Olivier MESSIAEN (1908-1992) Trois
Mélodies, Harawi Hetna
Regitze Bruun (soprano) Kristoffer Hyldig (piano) rec.
2009 NAXOS
8.572189 [65:19] [DC]
An
assault on the senses, but not to be missed … see Full
Review
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Richard
STRAUSS (1864-1949) Eine Alpensinfonie,
Op. 64 (1911-1915)
London SO/Bernard Haitink rec. 2008
LSO LIVE
LSO 0689 [50:20]
[DM]
A
magnificent achievement all-round and, quite possibly, the performance
of a lifetime ... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949) Vier
letzte Lieder, Arias from Ariadne auf Naxos, Capriccio & Arabella Lisa
Della Casa (soprano)
Vienna PO/Karl Böhm, Heinrich Hollreiser, Rudolf Moralt
rec. 1952-4 NAXOS
8.111347 [67:21] [RMo]
A
magnificent souvenir of perhaps the greatest Strauss soprano ever
... see Full Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Igor STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) Cleveland
O, Chciago SO, Ensemble Intercontemporain/Pierre Boulez
rec. 1980-96 DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON
477 8730 [6 CDs: 364:22] [DC]
Plenty
of marvels for all in this little box ... see Full
Review
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH The Service
of Venus and Mars: Music
for the Knights of the Garter Gothic
Voices/Christopher Page (with Andrew Lawrence-King, medieval harp)
rec. 1986 HYPERION
HELIOS CDH55290 [49:46] [BW]
The
Christophorus is entertaining, the Hyperion an essential purchase
... see Full Review
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