Superbudget £5.99 or less 
Budget £6-7.99 
Medium £8-10.99 
Full price £11+
Download
Jehan
ALAIN (1911-1940) Three Dances see
DURUFLÉ
Hans
Erich APOSTEL (1901-1972)
String Quartet 1 see ZEMLINSKY
Carl
Philip Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Hamburg Symphonies 1-4, Harpsichord Concerto 
Solamente Naturali/Didier Talpain Marek Toporowski (harpsichord) rec.
2007
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94042 [55.21] 
[GH]
If
you do not know these extraordinary works then this as good a place
as any to start.
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Goldberg Variations (arr. string trio)
Amati String Trio rec. 1999,
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9184 [54:26]
[OL]
Nowhere
near the level of awe and fascination generated by Sitkovetsky’s
arrangement for chamber string orchestra.
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Brandenburg Concertos 1-6, Harpsichord Concertos, Violin Concerto
Elizabeth Wallfisch (baroque violin) Apollo’s Fire/Jeannette Sorrell,
rec. 1999-2005
AVIE AV2207 [79:21 + 72:41] 
[MC]
A
creditable release from Apollo’s Fire.
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Das Wohltemperierte Klavier
Walter
Gieseking (piano) rec. 1950
NEWTON CLASSICS 8802014 [3 CDs: 72:20 + 63:13 + 74:55]
[DC]
Glad
to make acquaintance with Gieseking’s ‘live’ sounding Bach.
Mily
BALAKIREV (1837-1910) Octet see St
Petersburg
Samuel
BARBER (1910–1981)
Violin Concerto see SHOSTAKOVICH
Samuel
BARBER (1910-1981)
Violin concerto see BERNSTEIN
Béla
BARTÓK (1881-1945)
Violin Concerto 2 see Art
of Ivry Gitlis
Arnold
BAX (1883-1953)
Chamber Music for Harp Valse, In Memoriam, Fantasy
Sonata, Harp Quintet, Sonatina
Marcia Dickstein (harp) Evan Wilson (viola) Angela Wiegand (flute) Leslie
Reed (English Horn) Rene Mandel (violin) Natalie Leggett (violin) Simon
Oswell (viola) Timothy Landauer (cello)
RUBEDO CANIS MUSICA RCM19801 [66:21] 
[RB]
This
is a most desirable CD guaranteed to draw in all Baxians but also admirers
of Ravel's Septet.
Arnold
BAX (1883-1945) Violin Sonata 2 see ELGAR
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphonies 4 & 6
The Netherlands SO/Jan Willem de Vriend rec. 2008
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72361 
[74:29] [JS]
Clean,
well recorded performances, combining many aspects of the modern trend
towards historically informed performance with some features of a more
traditional approach.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Sonatas 30-32
Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano) rec. 2009
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG 94316226 [69:36]
[OL]
A
very valuable view, though some decisions are questionable.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) String Quintets, Fugue
Fine Arts Qt, Gil Sharon rec. 2008
NAXOS 8.572221 [72:44]
[BW]
Stylish
performances, well recorded, of attractive less-well-known Beethoven
on an inexpensive but well-filled CD.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) String Quartet 13, Grosse Fuge
Vertavo
rec. 2008
SIMAX PSC1265 [56:16]
[JW]
Laudable
and technically very sound but over-nuanced.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony 9
Isobel Baillie (soprano); Kathleen Ferrier (contralto); Heddle Nash
(tenor); William Parsons (baritone) London PO & Ch/Bruno Walter
rec. live, 1947
MUSIC & ARTS CD1243 [62:04]
[JS]
Very
well worth hearing.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Concerto 3 Pyotr
Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Piano Concerto 1
Mark Hambourg (piano) London SO/Malcolm Sargent, Royal Albert Hall O/Landon
Ronald rec. 1926/9
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC223 [63:28]
[JW]
Hambourg’s
major statements stand as lasting examples of his too-often overlooked
art.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770 – 1827) Fidelio
Jessye Norman, Reiner Goldberg, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Kurt Moll, Dresden
State Op. Ch, Staatskapelle Dresden/Bernard Haitink, rec. 1989
DECCA 478 2485 [71:46 + 62:28]
[RMo]
Very
good value, even if there is no libretto.
Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Coriolan
Overture see BRAHMS
Vincenzo
BELLINI (1801 – 1835) I puritani
Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Ch & O del Teatro alla Scala
di Milano/Tullio Serafin rec. 1953
EMI CLASSICS 4563752 [69:11 + 73:23] 
[GF]
For
Callas’s reading of Elvira’s role this is a ‘must have’.
Alban
BERG
(1885-1935)
Violin Concerto, Three Orchestral Pieces
Gidon Kremer (violin) Bayerischen RSO/Sir Colin Davis rec. 1983/4
NEWTON CLASSICS 8802018 [47:00]
[DC]
Plenty
of mood and atmosphere.
Alban
BERG (1885-1935) Violin Concerto see Art
of Ivry Gitlis
Lennox
BERKELEY Violin Sonatina, Theme and Variations see
RUBBRA
Leonard
BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Serenade after Plato’s ‘Symposium’ Ernest
BLOCH (1880-1959) Baal Shem – Three Pictures of Chassidic
Life Samuel BARBER
(1910-1981) Violin concerto
Vadim Gluzman (violin) Săo Paulo SO/John Neschling rec. 2007
BIS-SACD-1662
[70:31]
[DM]
Strong,
persuasive performances ... see Full Review
Heinrich
Ignaz Franz VON BIBER (1644-1704)
Mensa Sonora, Battalia
Baroque Band/Garry Clarke rec. 2008/9
CEDILLE RECORDS CDR90000116 [56:50]
[JV]
Questionable
scoring and flat performance mean that Biber's table music doesn't come
at all well.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Georges BIZET
(1838 – 1875) Carmen
Elina
Garanca, Roberto Alagna, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Ch & O/Yannick
Nézet-Séguin rec. 2010
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 073 4581 
[2 DVDs: 167:00 + 9:00]
[GF]
This
is a great achievement
Georges
BIZET (1838 – 1875) Carmen
Eva Mei, Marina Domashenko, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel, Ch & PO
de Radio France/Myung-Whun Chung rec. 2005
DECCA 475 7646 [62:56 + 76:14]
[GF]
Domashenko
requires to be heard in this role and though this recording as a total
experience doesn’t sweep the field it has a lot to recommend it.
Ernest
BLOCH (1880-1959)
Israel, Nigun, Schelomo
Alexander Kniazev (cello) Russian State SO/Evgeny Svetlanov rec. 1988
BRILLIANT
CLASSICS 9164 [67:55]
[RB]
Bloch
at his most cinematically vivid, the effect heightened by Svetlanov’s
typically perfervid approach.
Ernest
BLOCH (1880-1959) Baal Shem – Three Pictures of Chassidic
Life see BERNSTEIN
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Luigi BOCCHERINI (1743-1805)
Sonatas for Cello and Piano
Fedor Amosov (cello) Jen-Ru Sun (piano) rec. 2008
NAXOS 8.572368 [67:46]
[JS]
This
has been an exceptionally and unexpectedly enjoyable disc.
Francois-Adrien
BOIELDIEU (1775-1834) Die Weisse Dame
RIAS Jugendorchester/Gernot Schulz rec. 2008
GENUIN GEN10534 [43:56 + 56:22]
[JS]
Much
of what is heard here is of high quality but with competition from EMI
this set is at an overwhelming disadvantage.
Brian
BOYDELL (1917-2000)
The Complete String Quartets String Quartets 1-3, Adagio and
Scherzo
Carducci Qt rec. 2008
CARDUCCI CLASSICS CSQ8841 [64:28]
[RB]
A
distinctive and very beautiful realm.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Johannes BRAHMS
(1833-1897) Piano Concerto 2, Klavierstücke
Nicholas Angelich (pno), Frankfurt RSO/Paavo Järvi, rec. 2009
VIRGIN CLASSICS 2663492 [74:37]
[JQ]
A
performance of the Brahms Second Piano Concerto that deserves to be
ranked among the very best.
Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Symphony 4 Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Symphony 39
London SO/Josef Krips rec. 1950/1
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC231 [64:54]
[MG]
A
refreshing, classical Brahms 4 but a somewhat uneven Mozart 39.
Johannes
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Songs for Chorus
Arnold Schoenberg Ch/Erwin Ortner rec. 1993
WARNER CLASSICS APEX 2564 682404 [65:21]
[LW]
A
fine compilation of Brahms secular songs let down by a lack of texts.
Johannes
BRAHMS
(1833-1897)
Symphony 4, Geistliches Lied, Fest- und Gedenksprüche Ludwig
van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Coriolan
Overture
Monteverdi Ch, O Révolutionnaire et Romantique/Sir John Eliot
Gardiner rec. 2008
SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG 705 [70:52]
[JQ]
A
fine Brahms Fourth Symphony set in a stimulating programme of other
relevant pieces.
Havergal
BRIAN (1876 – 1972) Symphonies 11 & 15, Overtures:
For Valour; Dr Merryheart
RTE Ntl SO/Tony Rowe, Adrian Leaper rec. 1993/97
NAXOS 8.572014 [77:10]
[BBr]
It’s
very good.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH see
Milo
Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Cello
sonata
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) Cello sonata
Jane
BROCKMAN (b.1949) Trio for flute, cello and piano see
SHOSTAKOVICH
Max
BRUCH (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto 1 see Art
of Ivry Gitlis
Anton
BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony 4
Dresden Staatskapelle/Herbert Blomstedt rec. Dresden, 1981
DAL SEGNO DSPRCD045 [67:08]
[TB]
A
fine and idiomatic performance of Bruckner’s best-loved work,
recorded by Denon in 1981 and now reappears on Dal Segno at an appealing
price.
Gavin
BRYARS (b.
1943) Second Book of Madrigals
Vox Altera Ens/Massimiliano Pascucci rec. 2008
GB RECORDS BCGBCD16 [71:29]
[WH]
The
Italian Renaissance madrigal seen through contemporary eyes, superbly
sung.
Geoffrey
BURGON
(1941-2010)
Viola Concerto, Merciless Beauty, Cello Concerto
Sarah Connolly (mezzo) Philip Dukes (viola) Josephine Knight (cello)
City of London Sinf/Rumon Gamba rec. 2009
CHANDOS CHAN10592 [62:43]
[GH]
Utterly
beautiful … simply and eloquently conceived.
Ferruccio
BUSONI (1866-1924) Two Studies from Doktor Faust
see SCHREKER
George
BUTTERWORTH (1885 – 1916) Songs
Roderick Williams (baritone); Iain Burnside (piano) rec. 2010
NAXOS 8.572426 [52:06]
[BBr]
Very
fine performances.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH William BYRD
(1539/40-1623)
Infelix ego: The Byrd Edition - Volume 13
The Cardinall’s Musick/Andrew Carwood rec. 2009
HYPERION CDA67779 [61:17] [MG]
Performances
of palpable commitment and exceptional quality.
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
recordings]
Error processing SSI file