Classical CDs
Classical CDs Weekly: Eller, Musorgsky, RachmaninovSaturday, 08 February 2020
Heino Eller: Symphonic Poems – Night Calls, White Night, Twilight, Dawn Estonian National Symphony Orchestra/Olari Elts (Ondine)Heino Eller was described as the ‘Estonian Sibelius’ in the first decades of the last century. Predictably, the... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: William Mathias, Vaughan Williams, Judith WeirSaturday, 01 February 2020
William Mathias: Choral Music St John’s Voices, The Gentlemen of St John’s, Graham Walker (director) (Naxos)I've a soft spot for neglected instruments, so any CD which includes a credit for chime bars is all right with me. Here they're... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Ginastera, Messiaen, Saint-SaënsSaturday, 25 January 2020
Ginastera: Harp Concerto, Variaciones concertantes Sidsel Walstad (harp), Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Lawo Classics)Alberto Ginastera divided his compositional career into three, later two, distinct periods, charting a move... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Elgar, Scarlatti, Vienna Philharmonic OrchestraSaturday, 18 January 2020
Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Elgar London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle (Decca)Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s debut album included a brilliantly punchy account of Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No 1 alongside various odds and sods. This second CD repeats the... Read more... |
Classical CDs and Vinyl Weekly: Beethoven, HolstSaturday, 11 January 2020
Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 Danish Chamber Orchestra/Ádám Fischer (Naxos)“I need to play the notes in such a way that we can recreate the feelings of the listeners which Beethoven would have wanted to invoke in his audience, rather than playing it... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Schubert, Shostakovich, Berlinskaya-Ancelle Piano DuoSaturday, 04 January 2020
Schubert: Symphony No 9 Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Maxim Emelyanychev (Linn)There’s a telling photo of Maxim Emelyanychev on page 11 of Linn's booklet, the conductor beaming at the camera, the body language suggesting he's having a hard time... Read more... |
Best of 2019: Classical CDsSaturday, 28 December 2019
Classical CDs are still with us, even if the shops that sell them are rarer than hens’ teeth. Maybe this article should be renamed Downloads of the Year, or Cream of the Streams? That people are still listening to good music at all is a cause for... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Christmas CDs 2Saturday, 21 December 2019
Schütz: The Christmas Story Yale Schola Cantorum/David Hill (Hyperion)Heinrich Schutz’s parents did their best to dissuade him from becoming a professional musician in 17th century Dresden, arguing that a legal career was a better option.... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Christmas CDs 1Saturday, 14 December 2019
Bach: Christmas Oratorio Thomanerchor Leipzig, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Gotthold Schwarz (Accentus)Another year, another new Bach Christmas Oratorio. This one is happily among the best, its plus points including a slimmed down Leipzig... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Josquin, Tchaikovsky, Janet SungSaturday, 07 December 2019
Josquin: Missa Mater Patris, Bauldeweyn: Missa Da pacem The Tallis Scholars/Peter Philips (Gimmell)Josquin's Missa Mater Patris is a late work, the composer's florid style pared down and clarified to the extent that some commentators suggested... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Coates, Dvořák, Martinů, PeñalosaSaturday, 30 November 2019
Eric Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 BBC Philharmonic/John Wilson (Chandos)One reason to love Eric Coates and his music is discovering that his compositional routine involved waiting “until he was properly dressed in the morning, complete... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Catalogue d'Emojis, Tessa Lark, Melody MooreSaturday, 23 November 2019
Michael Wolters & Paul Norman: Catalogue d’Emojis Cobalt Duo (Birmingham Record Company)“This piece… that you might have paid good money for, was created in utter desperation.” Michael Wolters talks about Catalogue d’Emojis over some... Read more... |
