Classical CDs
Classical CDs Weekly: Jonathan Dove, Ayako Fujiki, Anne Sofie von OtterSaturday, 12 November 2016
Jonathan Dove: For an Unknown Soldier, An Airmail Letter from Mozart Nicky Spence (tenor), Melvyn Tan (piano), London Mozart Players/Nicholas Cleobury (Signum)Jonathan Dove originally wanted to use soldiers’ letters and diaries in his "cantata... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Glazunov, Shostakovich, Wagner, Dragon VoicesSaturday, 05 November 2016
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.1, Glazunov: Violin Concerto Nicola Benedetti (violin), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits (Decca)So many decent recordings of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1 have appeared in recent years, and... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Leo, Martinů, SchubertSaturday, 22 October 2016
Leonardo Leo: Sacred Works Ensemble &cetera/Ulrike Hofbauer (soprano and direction) (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)Leonardo Leo lived and worked in Naples in the early 18th century, effectively running the city’s musical life alongside Francesco... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Batzner, Floyd, MahlerSaturday, 15 October 2016
Jay C. Batzner: as if to each other… R. Andrew Lee (piano) (Irritable Hedgehog)Like the Charlemagne Palestine disc reviewed a few weeks ago, this release won’t be to all tastes. But give as if to each other… sufficient time and it will get under... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Brahms, Steve Reich, Aleksandra VrebalovSaturday, 08 October 2016
Brahms: Double Concerto, Piano Trio No. 1 (1854 version) Joshua Bell (violin and director), Steven Isserlis (cello), Jeremy Denk (piano), Academy of St Martin in the Fields (Sony)Brahms’s Double Concerto can be unfairly maligned as a dull, downbeat... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Cindy Cox, NielsenSaturday, 07 May 2016
Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 Berliner Philharmoniker/Sir Simon Rattle (Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings)Inevitably there's the question of whether anyone needs another modern-instrument cycle of Beethoven symphonies. If the answer's yes, Paavo Järvi'... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Louis Aubert, Schubert, Claudio AbbadoSaturday, 27 February 2016
Louis Aubert: Sillages, Violin Sonata etc Jean-Pierre Armengard (piano), Alessandro Fagiuoli (violin), Olivier Chauzu (piano) (Grand Piano)Louis Aubert's piano work Sillages is ranked alongside Ravel's Gaspard in the sleeve notes to this disc, and... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Martinů, MompouSaturday, 13 February 2016
Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 5 Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Sony)Nikolaus Harnoncourt announced his retirement in December, so this live recording from May 2015 is presumably among his last. Harnoncourt has recorded plenty of... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Montanari, Sibelius, Stephen KovacevichSaturday, 31 October 2015
Montanari: Violin Concertos Johannes Pramsohler (violin and director), Ensemble Diderot (Audax Records)Versatile baroque violinist Johannes Pramsohler’s latest act of musical exhumation introduces us to one Antonio Maria Montanari, a violinist... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Dvořák, Toivo Kuula, MozartSaturday, 24 October 2015
Dvořák, Suk, Janáček: Violin Concertos Josef Špaček (violin), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Jiří Bělohlávek (Supraphon)Josef Suk's expansive single movement Fantasy in G minor is a big-boned, lovable work; it's a surprise to learn that Suk complained... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Nielsen, Aurora Orchestra, Matthew GeeSaturday, 12 September 2015
Nielsen: Violin Concerto, Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto Nikolaj Znaider (violin), Robert Langevin (flute), Anthony McGill (clarinet), New York Philharmonic/Alan Gilbert(Dacapo)Nielsen's Violin Concerto opens with a crash and a growling pedal... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Hugi Guðmundsson, Schubert, Les SièclesSaturday, 29 August 2015
Hugi Guðmundsson: Calm of the Deep The Hamrahlíd Choir/Þorgerður Ingólfsdóttir, Nordic Affect/Guðni Franzson (Smekkleysa)Calm of the Deep introduces us to contemporary Icelandic composer Hugi Guðmundsson. Who sees his music as “a dialogue between... Read more... |
