Recent Posts
Tchaikovsky’s Final Symphonies: Four Russian Traditions
Mravinsky: The Essential Standard Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4–6 Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra; Yevgeny Mravinsky Deutsche Grammophon 419 745-2…
Janet Baker’s Unforgettable Dido
Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Janet Baker, Raimund Herincx, Patricia Clark, Monica Sinclair and John Mitchinson St….
Monteverdi’s Vespers in Full Splendor
Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine, 1610 Jill Gomez, Felicity Palmer, James Bowman, Robert Tear, Philip Langridge, John…
Ancient Rome in Living Sound
Chants de l’Église de Rome: Période byzantine Ensemble Organum; Marcel Pérès, director Harmonia Mundi HMC 901218 This…
Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: Three Essential Recordings
Piano Sonatas Nos. 1–9 — Barbara Nissman Newport NCD 60092, 60093 and 60094 Barbara Nissman’s complete cycle…
Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges
Complete Opera Gabriel Bacquier, Jean-Luc Viala, Hélène Perraguin, Vincent Le Texier, Georges Gautier, Didier Henry and Gregory…
Poulenc: Three Concertos
Piano Concerto; Concerto for Two Pianos; Organ Concerto Pascal Rogé and Sylviane Deferne, pianos; Peter Hurford, organ;…
Handel: Twelve Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
English Chamber Orchestra — Raymond Leppard Philips 426 465-2, 3 CDs Raymond Leppard approaches Handel’s twelve concerti…
Handel’s Water Music: Three Recordings
English Baroque Soloists — John Eliot Gardiner Philips 434 122-2 Gardiner’s Water Music has unusual vitality without…
Dowland Lute Songs: Alfred Deller
RECOMMENDED CD John Dowland: Lute Songs and Instrumental Music Alfred Deller, countertenor; Robert Spencer, lute; Consort of…
Bach Violin Concertos: Grumiaux, Krebbers and Holliger
RECOMMENDED CD J. S. Bach: Violin Concertos in A minor, BWV 1041, and E major, BWV 1042;…
John Adams: Shaker Loops
John Adams: Shaker Loops Shaker Loops began as a failure. That is not merely biographical decoration; you…
Carl Friedrich Abel: More Than a Footnote to Mozart
Carl Friedrich Abel is one of those composers who seems destined to appear in other people’s biographies….
Sir John Barbirolli
Jacqueline du Pré (cello) BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli Testament · SBT1388 There’s something almost unbearable about hearing…
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy Decca · 4557982 · 3 hours 50 minutes Ashkenazy knows this music from the inside out, having…
Marin Alsop
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop Naxos · 8570714 · 64 minutes Marin Alsop takes the “New World” and strips away some…
Claudio Abbado
Deborah York (soprano) & Stella Doufexis (mezzo-soprano) Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado Berliner Philharmoniker · BPHR160081 · 95 minutes There’s something almost…
Ludwig van Beethoven
Mitsuko Uchida (piano) Decca · 4872064 · 73 minutes These three sonatas ask a pianist to let go of the piano-as-instrument…
Béla Bartók
Marmen Quartet BIS · BIS2693 · 67 minutes Pairing Ligeti’s two quartets with Bartók’s Fourth is such a smart bit of…
Samuel Barber
Johan Dalene (violin), Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Blendulf BIS · BIS2440 · 58 minutes Pairing Tchaikovsky with Barber is a smart…
Johann Sebastian Bach
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) Deutsche Grammophon · 4835022 · 77 minutes Víkingur Ólafsson approaches Bach less like a monument to be dusted…
String Quartets Nos. 5-7 – Matthew Taylor
TAYLOR String Quartets Nos. 5, 6 & 7 Matthew Taylor (b.1964) Dante String Quartet, Allegri String Quartet,…
Tartini: 30 Sonate piccole – Sheppard Skærved
TARTINI 30 Sonate piccole, Nos. 1-6 (c.1750-70) Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin) TOCCATA TOCC 0146…
Sweelinck Organ Works – Vogel and Kelemen
SWEELINCK Organ Works – Vol. 1 (Harald Vogel) / Organ Works (Joseph Kelemen) Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)…
