jw
Jonathan Woolf
Popes and Antipopes (Metronome)
(Déjà Review) There were times listening to this deeply impressive recording when I wondered whether the Orlando Consort were not, after all, the greatest ensemble of its kind anywhere. It’s that kind of disc [JW]
Vaughan Williams – A Birthday Garland (SOMM Recordings)
A fine representative collection; no more rustic accents, please [JW]
Interconexiones – recital (Oboe Classics)
Contemporary Spanish-focused oboe quartets in a range of styles [JW]
Lloyd: The Symphonies No 7-12 (Lyrita)
The second tranche of reissues of Lloyd conducting Lloyd [JW]
Eller: Works for Violin & Piano (First Hand Records)
Ten world premiere recordings amongst this conspectus of Eller’s violin works [JW]
L Couperin: Keyboard Works (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) An affirmative and joyful way with Couperin [JW]
Barchet: Chamber Works (Hänssler Classic)
(Déjà Review) Full marks to Hänssler for giving enduring life to this most attractive and expert craftsman [JW]
Scott: Piano Sonata No 1 (Lyrita)
Cyril Scott’s 1930s revision of his Piano Sonata, Op.66 heard in a strange disc [JW]
Thomas Jensen (conductor) Legacy Vol. 21 (Danacord)
New music, unfamiliar music and Light Music form this focused twofer [JW]
Casella: La Giara (La Bottega Discantica)
(Déjà Review) La Giara is a superbly bubbling brew that demands to be heard – engaging performances too [JW]
Neville Marriner (conductor): The Complete Warner Classics Recordings (Warner Classics)
An 80-CD centenary salute to Marriner, with (or without) his ASMF [JW]
Benoit: Heaven and Hell (Fuga Libera)
Olympian choral works of massively varying quality [JW]
La Belle Dame (EM Records)
Largely early and apprentice works from British composers; sift with care [JW]
Eck: Violin concertos (cpo)
Soaring lyricism from Mozart’s contemporary [JW]
Adila Fachiri and Marie Soldat (violin): (Biddulph)
Fachiri, Tovey and Soldat: historic recordings freighted with significance [JW]
Hermann: Complete Surviving Music Vol. 3 (Toccata Classics)
A fitting finale to the three-volume Hermann series; a carousel of small pleasures [JW]
Mischa Elman (violin): The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Biddulph)
An Elman discographic lacuna is put right; fine transfers too [JW]
Stanford: Irish Song Cycles (SOMM Recordings)
Winsome, windy and windswept with the occasional folkloric moment, but Stanford on auto-pilot [JW]
Lloyd: Symphonies (Lyrita)
George Lloyd conducts his first six symphonies in Lyrita’s reissues [JW]
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, Carnival Overture; Smetana: The Bartered Bride Overture (RCA)
(Déjà Review) Ebullient and powerful and the finale sweeping but not overdone, and with tremendous inner rhythm [JW]
Handel: Theodora (Alpha Classics)
A splendidly cohesive musically-rewarding example of integrated casting and performance [JW]
Beethoven: String quartets (Biddulph)
Two late acoustics from the Léner Quartet offer opportunities for contrast with their 1930s remakes [JW]
Joseph Szigeti (violin) Bach, Brahms & Vaughan Williams (Biddulph)
Humble pie time for a reviewer [JW]
Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music (Albion Records)
Another transfer of the 1938 Serenade to Music and miscellaneous songs from the 16 singers [JW]
