Liszt: Hunnenschlacht; Festklänge; Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne, New Zealand Symphony/ Halasz

This is the third instalment in Michael Halasz’s ongoing cycle of Liszt’s orchestral works for Naxos. These are forceful performances that remind us of Liszt’s centrality in the history of classical music: Halasz plays up the overt debt to Berlioz … Continue reading →

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Sutherland/ Gibin/ Shaw/ Covent Garden Opera Orchestra and Chorus/ Serafin

(Royal Opera House Heritage)

Verdi: Otello, Brouwenstijn/ Vinay/ Kraus/ Covent Garden Opera Chorus and Orchestra/ Kubelik

(Royal Opera House Heritage)

Meyerbeer: Semiramide, Riedel/ Janes/ Adami/ Altensteig Rossini Choir/ Württemburg Philharmonic/ Bonynge

(Naxos, two CDs)

Weill: Symphonies 1 & 2; Quodlibet, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/ Beaumont

Kurt Weill’s two Symphonies – dating from 1921 and 1934 – form an effective frame for the more familiar stage works of his Weimar Republic period. Both are highly charged, political scores. The First is programmatic and envisions the emergence … Continue reading →

Shostakovich: The Tale of the Priest and His Worker, etc Bakanov/ Balashov/ Beloslesky/ Moscow State Chamber Choir/ Russian Philharmonic/ Sanderling

Issued to mark the Shostakovich centenary, these two discs promise us a clutch of “world premiere recordings” of some of his little-known works. In fact, much of the music consists of arrangements, either by Shostakovich himself or other composers, and … Continue reading →

Strauss: An Alpine Symphony, Weimar Staatskapelle/ Wit

Polish conductor Antoni Wit is one of Naxos’s great finds; a musician of tremendous passion and integrity, whose interpretations frequently outshine those of bigger names on other labels. Here he turns his hand to Strauss’s astonishing symphony, depicting both man’s … Continue reading →

Shostakovich: Songs and waltzes, Lieferkus/ Russian Philharmonic/ Sanderling

Issued to mark the Shostakovich centenary, these two discs promise us a clutch of “world premiere recordings” of some of his little-known works. In fact, much of the music consists of arrangements, either by Shostakovich himself or other composers, and … Continue reading →

Vivaldi: Violin Concertos, Carmignola/ Venice Baroque Orchestra/ Marcon

Yet another Vivaldi disc, this time containing five previously unrecorded violin concertos from his gawp-inducing output of 240 works in the genre. Vivaldi’s detractors argue that his music sounds samey. This isn’t the case here, though the chosen five are … Continue reading →

Haydn: Orlando Paladino, Petibon/ Von Magnus/ Schade/ Gerhaher/ Concentus Musicus/ Harnoncourt

(Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, two CDs)

Rossini/ Fauré/ Hahn/ Head/ Handel: Songs and Arias , DiDonato/ Drake

(Wigmore Hall Live)

Verdi: Otello, Roman/ Ralf/ Warren/ Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orch/ Szell

(Walhall, two CDs)

Puccini: Edgar, Damato/ Cornetti/ Domingo/ Pons/ Academia di Santa Cecilia Orch and Chorus/ Veronesi

(DG, two CDs)

Duparc/ Delibes/ Godard/ Paladilhe, etc: Songs, Ainsley/ Johnson

Both of these discs are entitled L’Invitation au Voyage, and each takes Duparc’s eponymous Baudelaire setting as its focal point, though they explore very different territory. Baritone Dietrich Henschel examines the idea of the journey as a metaphor for existential … Continue reading →

Duparc/ Mahler/ Pizzetti/ Vaughan Williams: Songs, Henschel/ Schwinghammer

(Harmonia Mundi)