Classical CDs
Classical CDs Weekly: Jupiter String Quartet, Bruce Levingston, Paul McCreeshSaturday, 13 July 2019
An English Coronation Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh, with Gabrieli Roar and Simon Russell Beale (Signum)The snatch of ambient noise before this set’s first item, coupled with the Gabrieli Players’ performance, could convince the... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Dove, Leighton, Martin, Vaughan WilliamsSaturday, 06 July 2019
The Orchestral Music of Jonathan Dove BBC Philharmonic/Timothy Redmond, with Lawrence Zazzo (counter-tenor) (Orchid Classics)Jonathan Dove’s Airport Scenes could be subtitled Four Air Interludes, each movement extracted from his Glyndebourne... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: David Matthews, José Rolón, Shirley SmartSaturday, 29 June 2019
David Matthews: Symphony No 9, Variations for Strings, Double Concerto for Violin and Viola Sarah Trickey (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola), English Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Woods (Nimbus Alliance)Ninth symphonies are usually big beasts,... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Saint-Saëns, Noemi GyoriSaturday, 22 June 2019
Mahler: Symphony No 10, completed and arranged for chamber orchestra by Michelle Casteletti Lapland Chamber Orchestra/John Storgårds (BIS)Other Mahler symphonies have been downsized on CD: there are superb transcriptions of Nos 7 and 9 from... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Daniel Elms, Hindemith, TchaikovskySaturday, 15 June 2019
Daniel Elms: Islandia (New Amsterdam Records)Composers have long taken inspiration from landscape, and much of Daniel Elms’ absorbing Islandia is rooted in the ambience, sights and sounds of his home city, Hull. If you’ve not been there, book... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Ståle Kleiberg, Lise Davidsen, Park Avenue Chamber SymphonySaturday, 08 June 2019
Do You Believe in Heather? Chamber music by Ståle Kleiberg (2L)Ståle Kleiberg's String Quartet No 3 is a masterpiece, I think. Small but perfectly formed, it's unassumingly brilliant. Kleiberg’s use of “extended tonality” is fascinating:... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bartók, Bruckner, BusoniSaturday, 25 May 2019
Bartók: Complete String Quartets Quatuor Diotima (Näive)Technical infallibility is now a non-negotiable when it comes to Bartók's six fiendishly difficult string quartets. Still, there's much more to these pieces than simply hitting the right... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Schumann, Tamara StefanovichSaturday, 18 May 2019
Mahler: Symphony No 7 Budapest Festival Orchestra/Ivan Fischer (Channel Classics)“It is my best work and it has a cheerful character.” So said Mahler about his Symphony No 7, and on the basis of this exuberant, feisty performance, Ivan Fischer... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Jess Gillam, Neeme JärviSaturday, 11 May 2019
Bach: The Cello Suites Alban Gerhardt (Hyperion)Alban Gerhardt looks as if he's hewn from granite in Adam Markowski’s superb cover photograph here. Even his Matteo Goffriller cello looks like it's been through the wars. Gerhardt tells us in... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Chaplin's Smile, Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments, Sollazzo EnsembleSaturday, 04 May 2019
Chaplin’s Smile: Song Arrangements for Violin & Piano Philippe Quint (violin), Marta Aznavoorian (piano) (Warner Classics)By all accounts, Charlie Chaplin was an accomplished pianist and violinist, and his first credited film score was for... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Brahms, Shostakovich, Johannes PramsohlerSaturday, 27 April 2019
Brahms, orch. Schoenberg: Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor, Parry: Elegy for Brahms Gävle Symphony Orchestra/Jaime Martín (Ondine)Schoenberg's flamboyant take on Brahms's G Minor Piano Quartet sounds less and less authentically Brahmsian the more... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Gabriel Jackson, Lansing McLoskey, 12 EnsembleSaturday, 20 April 2019
Gabriel Jackson: The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ Emma Tring (soprano), Guy Cutting (tenor), Choir of Merton College Oxford, Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia/Benjamin Nicholas (Delphian)This Passion sets a libretto compiled by the Chaplain of... Read more... |
