Classical CDs
Classical CDs: Antiphons, ale dances and elvesSaturday, 11 January 2025
Paavo Järvi: The Complete Erato Recordings (Erato)Big box sets celebrating great conductors are piling up thick and fast, and this one, unusually, features an artist who’s very much alive. Paavo Järvi is just 62 (still young for a conductor).... Read more... |
Best of 2024: Classical CDsSaturday, 28 December 2024
I’m a sucker for a well-produced box set, and some of this year’s choices examples included celebrations of conductors Paavo Berglund (Warner Classics), William Steinberg (DG) and Louis Lane (Sony). The Berglund box contains no fewer than... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Woden, waltzes and watchmakingSaturday, 21 December 2024
Ravel: The Complete Works with Piano François-Xavier Poizat, Philharmonia/Simone Menezes et al(Aparté)Ravel was by no means a prolific composer but, including absolutely everything in his catalogue that includes piano, François-Xavier Poizat’s... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Christmas 2024Saturday, 07 December 2024
Trio Mediæval: Yule (2L)Pick of my Christmas discs is this sublime collection from Trio Mediæval on the Norwegian audiophile label 2L, reflecting yuletide’s origins in Northern European pagan culture. Imaginative and idiomatic-sounding... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Vitamins, kings and magic spellsSaturday, 23 November 2024
Brahms: Piano Concertos 1 and 2, Solo piano works Igor Levit (piano), Wiener Philharmoniker/Christian Thielemann (Sony)Who’d have thought that Igor Levit and Christian Thielemann would be such effective partners? Levitt is one of the most... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Mandolins, multiphonics and multiple pianosSaturday, 09 November 2024
Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1, Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy Alexandre Kantorow (piano) (BIS)I’d previously encountered pianist Alexandre Kantorow via his exuberant set of Saint-Saëns piano concertos, sparky, lovable performances conducted by his... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Leaves, prisms and sub-bassSaturday, 26 October 2024
Schubert: Sonata in G major D. 894, Moments Musicaux D. 780, Fantasy in F minor D. 940 Maurizio Pollini, Daniele Pollini (pianos) (Deutsche Grammophon)What a superb cover image for the last recording by Maurizio Pollini (1942-2024). Pollini ‘... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Elephants, clocks and palindromesSaturday, 12 October 2024
Georges Prêtre plays Francis Poulenc (Erato)Georges Prêtre and Francis Poulenc’s working relationship began in 1959 when Prêtre conducted the first staging of La Voix humaine with soprano Denise Duval. Already an experienced opera conductor,... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Trills, gavottes and barking dogsSaturday, 28 September 2024
Joan Sutherland: The Complete Decca Recordings – Recitals & Oratorios (Decca)The voice of La Stupenda must have been the most recorded in history, given Decca’s lavish heyday (La Divina, Callas, just missed EMI's stereo best). Even before... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Beans, carrots and bassoonsSaturday, 31 August 2024
Antonio Pappano: Complete Symphonic, Concertante and Sacred Music Recordings Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Warner Classics)Exploring this compendious 27 CD box set has been a lot of fun. Rome’s Santa Cecilia... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Dinosaurs, harmonicas and final frontiersSaturday, 17 August 2024
Fauré: Requiem, Gounod: Messe de Clovis Le Concert Spirituel/Hervé Niquet (Alpha-Classics)It was as an avid fan of the short story author Saki that my eye was drawn to the title of Gounod’s Messe de Clovis, although the Clovis here is the... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Queens, crotales and secret gardensSaturday, 10 August 2024
Arthur Bliss: Works for Brass Band Black Dyke Band,/John Wilson (Chandos) I’ve really got into the music of Arthur Bliss over the last couple of years, aided by Paul Spicer’s authoritative 1923 biography. I had always had Bliss in my head as a... Read more... |
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