jw

Jonathan Woolf

Michael Rabin (violin): On the Bell Telephone Hour (Parnassus)

The conclusion of a focused, chronological look at Rabin’s ‘Bell Telephone Hour’ broadcasts [JW]

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Elgar: Overtures (Chandos)

A much-admired Elgar Overtures disc still sounds resplendent [JW]

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Splendid Tears: Settings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (EM Records)

Uneven performances of two British song cycles but there’s a world première of another [JW]

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Borgstrøm: Symphonic Poems (cpo)

Cosmic space and Jesus – two tone poems from the baffling Hjalmar Borgstrøm [JW]

Smetana: Orchestral music (SOMM Ariadne)

George Szell’s Smetana in live American performances [JW]

Arnold, Horovitz, Stanford, Finzi: Music for Clarinet and Piano (BIS)

Michael Collins revisits his British repertoire for BIS [JW]

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Erick Friedman (violin) Live in Texas (Rhine Classics)

Live sonata performances from a Heifetz protégé who became his own man [JW]

Lloyd violin and piano Lyrita SRCD.424

Lloyd: Works for Violin and Piano (Lyrita)

Lloyd’s reissue series contains a new recording derived from ‘The Serf’ [JW]

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Aaron Rosand (violin) In Memoriam (Rhine Classics)

The vibrant, alluring art of arch-Romanticist, Aaron Rosand [JW]

Catherine Collard (piano): The Complete Erato, EMI Classics and Virgin Classics Recordings (Erato)

The driven artistry of a tragically short-lived French pianist and sensitive collaborator [JW]

Elgar: Violin Concerto, Carissima (Warner Classics)

An erratic and temperamentally uneven performance [JW]

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Mischa Elman (violin)The complete Victor recordings (1926-32) (Biddulph)

Elman’s glittering morceau (and some others) in splendid transfers [JW]

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Winterberg: Chamber Music, Vol 1 (EDA)

The terse art of a Czech-German composer influenced by Bartók, Hindemith and Janáček [JW]

Vaughan Williams: The Grinke Legacy (Albion Records)

Frederick Grinke’s recordings restored for a new generation – and high time too [JW]

1927-1929: Orchestral Works by Jewish Composers (Rondeau Production)

The playing and recording is impactful; this is an easy disc to enjoy [JW]

Lloyd: The Piano Works (Lyrita)

George Lloyd’s piano works grouped together and reissued in a ‘Signature Edition’ twofer [JW]

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Stuyvesant String Quartet: In Concert at the Library of Congress (Bridge Records)

A splendid American string quartet caught on the wing in concert in 1946 [JW]

Holmboe SQs 4 5 16 Nightingale Dacapo 8.226214

Holmboe: String Quartets Nos 4, 5 & 16 (Dacapo)

A third Dacapo cycle of Holmboe’s string quartets repay close listening [JW]

Adolf Busch: Orchestral Works Volume 1 (Toccata Classics)

More valuable premiere recordings [JW]

Loughlin: Piano and Chamber Music (Toccata Classics)

A Liverpudlian composer’s musical and geographical wanderings [JW]

Deja Review Morini Doremi

Erica Morini (violin): Vol 3, Beethoven (Doremi)

(Déjà Review) Long may this worthy retrieval continue [JW]

senofsky virtuoso RH030

Berl Senofsky (violin): American Virtuoso (Rhine Classics)

Strong, masculine playing from Berl Senofsky – along with some less than stellar performances [JW]

Brief Encounters Chamber Music Meridian CDE 8467782

Brief Encounters: Music for Viola & Piano (Meridian)

Brief the encounters may be, but they are poignant, stirring and full of novelty [JW]

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M Herz: Orchestral Works (Capriccio)

Vital, imaginative works from a near-forgotten German composer [JW]