Classical CDs
Classical CDs Weekly: Christmas 2016 (part 2)Saturday, 17 December 2016
Bach: Christmas Oratorio Dunedin Consort/John Butt (Linn)This set makes a brilliant counterpoint to last week’s modern instrument Sony recording, an earthier, differently flavoured set from one of the UK’s best period ensembles. John Butt uses just... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Christmas 2016 (part 1)Saturday, 10 December 2016
Bach: Christmas Oratorio Windsbacher Knabenchor, Deutsche Kammer-Virtuosen Berlin/Karl Friedrich Beringer (Cantatas 1-3) and Martin Lehman (nos. 4-6) (Sony)Two notable versions of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio have just appeared – John Butt’s will be... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Prokofiev, Daniel Röhn, AyreheartSaturday, 03 December 2016
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (Complete) Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko (Lawo Classics)The three suites which Prokofiev extracted from his ballet Romeo and Juliet are skilfully put together, but they’re a poor substitute for the... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Elgar, Mahler, Georges PrêtreSaturday, 26 November 2016
Elgar Remastered (Somm)Elgar’s compositional career took a bit of a nosedive in his final decades but his sharpness as a practical musician never left him, as is witnessed by the superb series of acoustic and early electrical recordings he conducted... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Schubert, TostiSaturday, 19 November 2016
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 90, Op. 101 and Op. 106 Steven Osborne (Hyperion)These three Beethoven sonatas are often thrown together as a trilogy; each work seems to lead into the next, the technical demands and scale increasing as they progress.... Read more... |
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... |
