jw
Jonathan Woolf
Melartin: Symphonies 5 & 6 (cpo)
Music full of lyricism, depth and occasionally perplexing direction [JW]
Novák: String Quartets (Supraphon)
Vítězslav Novák’s string quartets presented with thoughtful care [JW]
British Music for Strings IV (cpo)
Light suites and chamber-scaled orchestral pieces by amiable British composers [JW]
A Cello Galaxy of British Women Composers (Divine Art)
British cello compositions spanning a century, almost all in premiere recordings [JW]
Suk, Martinů & Fišer: Violin & Piano (Supraphon)
A fine disc of Czech violin works performed by a youthful duo [JW]
Brahms/Strauss/Bax: The Beecham Collection (SOMM Recordings)
(Déjà Review) Another hard-to-resist entrant for the Beecham collector [JW]
Beethoven & Mozart: String Quartets (Biddulph)
The short-lived brilliance of the Primrose Quartet heard in 1939 broadcasts [JW]
Concertos from the Caucasus Vol. 1 (Toccata Classics)
An infusion of folklore enlivens three mid-century violin concertos [JW]
Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht (conductor): Complete Erato Recordings (Erato)
A 16-CD slab of Inghelbrecht’s 78s, LPs and live recordings impresses through its authoritative, unsentimentalised approach [JW]
Das Partiturbuch: Instrumental Music of 17th Century Germany (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Played with flair, imagination and no little virtuosity [JW]
Schubert: String Quintet, Symphony No.5 (Sony Classical)
(Déjà Review) One classic and one slight disappointment [JW]
Sir Thomas Beecham (conductor) Complete Stereo Recordings on Warner Classics
Beecham’s stereo discography in a sturdy box albeit largely in pre-existing remasterings [JW]
Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Solo Violin (Oehms Classics)
Schmid brings youth, enterprise and occasional idiosyncrasy to these sonatas [JW]
Rudolph Ganz (conductor): Complete St. Louis Symphony Recordings (Pristine Audio)
Rudolph Ganz pilots the Spirit of St Louis and plays the piano in solos [JW]
Karel Ančerl (conductor): Live Recordings – Concertos (Supraphon)
Concertos from Prague in a 7-CD box of Ančerl-directed broadcasts [JW]
Postcards from Ukraine Vol 1 – Violin Miniatures (Toccata Classics)
Folklore predominates in a zesty Ukrainian selection, most sensitively performed [JW]
Improvisata: Sinfonie con titoli (Erato)
Authoritative, intelligent and entirely successful performances [JW]
Box of Delights: Light English Music (Lyrita)
Banish humdrum days with this delightful collection [JW]
Trio de la cour de Belgique
Discographic premières from a forgotten but elite inter-war Belgian Piano Trio [JW]
Smetana: Má vlast (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) For the Talich collector this 1954 set is glorious and the one that remains the most generally recommendable [JW]
Hába: Complete Piano Works (Supraphon)
A Czech pioneer of microtonal music heard in more traditional solo piano music [JW]
Lemba: Chamber Music Vol 1
The first Estonian symphonist’s charming but rather bloodless violin works [JW]
Saint-Saëns: Requiem and Organ Symphony (Cala Signum)
(Déjà Review) A worthwhile restoration [JW]
Unpublished! Spalding and Dohnányi in Concert (Parnassus)
Albert Spalding in the sunset of his career accompanied by Dohnányi in a sonata sequence [JW]
