Classical CDs
Classical CDs Weekly: Sofya Gulyak, The Prince Regent's Band, EsmerineSaturday, 25 November 2017
Chaconne - Sofya Gulyak (piano) (Champs Hill Records)Traditionally, a chaconne is an instrumental piece in triple time with a continually repeating bass line. Sofya Gulyak, winner of the 2009 Leeds Piano Competition, gives us seven. Best known... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Howells, Karayev, LotichiusSaturday, 18 November 2017
Herbert Howells: Music for Clavichord Julian Perkins (Prima Facie)Herbert Howells was at a low ebb in the 1920s. His energies were sapped by ongoing health issues and resultant medical treatment. A severe creative crisis followed the disastrous... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Brahms, Granados, Steven IsserlisSaturday, 11 November 2017
Brahms: Symphony No. 2, Tragic Overture, Academic Festival Overture Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Paavo Järvi (RCA)Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie’s scintillating Beethoven cycle hasn't received the acclaim it deserves in... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Erik Chisholm, Marcus Paus, Maria & Nathalia MilsteinSaturday, 04 November 2017
Erik Chisholm: Violin Concerto, Dance Suite for orchestra and piano, From the True Edge of the Great World Matthew Driver (violin), Danny Driver (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins (Hyperion)Erik Chisholm’s improbable career... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Borenstein, Debussy, Fauré, LongleashSaturday, 28 October 2017
Nimrod Borenstein: Violin Concerto, The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe, If You Will It, It Is No Dream Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy, with Irmina Trynkos (violin) (Chandos)Proof of modern music’s dizzying... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Prokofiev, ScriabinSaturday, 21 October 2017
Beethoven: Symphony No 9 Park Avenue Chamber Symphony/David Bernard (Recursive Classics)My favourite recent Beethoven cycle is a largely unnoticed one from Copenhagen. This disc of No 9 is another outsider. It’s performed by a semi-professional New... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Morton Feldman, Maria MarchantSaturday, 14 October 2017
Bach: Keyboard Concertos, Italian Concerto Sonya Bach (piano), English Chamber Orchestra/John Mills and Stephanie Gonley (leaders) (Rubicon)There's no shortage of decent recordings of Bach concertos played on piano. I’d probably rescue my Murray... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Guy Johnston, Joyce El-Khoury, Michael Spyres, The ChanteuseSaturday, 07 October 2017
Guy Johnston: Tecchler’s Cello - From Cambridge to Rome (King’s College Cambridge)Acquiring a second-hand instrument always leads one to wonder what sort of a life it led before. Did said instrument enjoy a flourishing professional career, or was it... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Sibelius, Vivaldi, WeillSaturday, 30 September 2017
Sibelius: Piano Music Leif Ove Andsnes (Sony)Yes, Sibelius did write piano music, though not a lot of it gets heard. A recent BIS collection featured original pieces and transcriptions played on the composer's own piano, and Glenn Gould recorded a... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Antheil, Barsanti, Handel, LaksSaturday, 23 September 2017
Antheil: A Jazz Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 1, Capital of the Word, Archipelago “Rhumba” Frank Dupree (piano), Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Karl-Heinz Steffens (Capriccio)George Antheil’s worst move was probably calling his 1945... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Cage, Mahler, SatieSaturday, 16 September 2017
John Cage: Two4 Aisha Orazbayeva (violin), Naomi Sato (shō) (SN Variations)The shō is a Japanese wind instrument long associated with traditional court music. Looking like a bundle of sticks, its 17 pipes each plays a distinct pitch. Its sound... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Henze, Reicha, ShostakovichSaturday, 09 September 2017
Henze: Neue Volkslieder und Hirtengesänge, Kammermusik 1958 Scharoun Ensemble Berlin/Daniel Harding, with Andrew Staples (tenor), Markus Weidmann (bassoon) and Jürgen Ruck (guitar) (Tudor)Hans Werner Henze worked regularly with the Scharoun Ensemble... Read more... |
