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Nick Barnard
Bartók: Violin & Viola Concertos (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) A disc of superb value in playing time terms as well as anything else [NB]
Marx: Chamber Music vol.1 (Naxos)
The first volume of a useful series, with competent if not compelling performances [NB]
Bloch: Violin Sonatas, Baal Shem (Naxos)
Remarkably wide-ranging repertoire, performed with passion and skill [NB]
Vaughan Williams: From Ursula, with Love (Albion Records)
An interesting but unremarkable collection [NB]
The Beecham Collection Vol. 36 (SOMM Recordings)
An appealing programme drawn from three ‘late’ concerts, including a galvanised Tchaikovsky [NB]
Popov: Symphony 3 & Symphonic aria (Northern Flowers)
An imposing string symphony and a touching memorial form an effective programme [NB]
Ladies First (Indésens Calliope)
A skilfully planned and beautifully played recital showcasing music of real quality [NB]
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé & Le Palais hanté (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) An auspicious and impressive debut for this new performing team [NB]
Parry & Elgar: Choral works (Signum Classics)
Committed performances of interesting and rare choral works [NB]
Shostakovich: Symphonies No 6 & 9 (Challenge Classics)
Two of Shostakovich’s most subversive symphonies, brilliantly played and sharply characterised [NB]
Saxophobia: Celebrating the Sax Craze of the 1920s (Chandos)
Hugely entertaining, backed up by phenomenal technique and rigorous research [NB]
Senfter: Symphonies 1 & 9 (Capriccio)
Defiantly personal scores rooted in the traditions of Germanic music [NB]
Constantin Silvestri (conductor): A Bournemouth Love Affair (Nimbus)
(Déjà Review) Heartfelt exuberance, sensitivity and quicksilver fleetness [NB]
Conversations à Trois: Trio Boccherini (BIS)
Scintillating performances of compelling music, especially the Cras [NB]
de Hartmann: Esther (Pentatone)
De Hartmann’s most ambitious work in a triumphal first recording [NB]
Barber: Vanessa (National Symphony Orchestra)
Very well performed and beautifully presented recording of Barber’s Romantic opera [NB]
Danish Violin Concertos Vol. 4 (Danacord)
(Déjà Review) Flaws but credit to Kai Laursen and his prophet-in-the-wilderness role of promoting so much music that he clearly cared passionately about [NB]
Guarnieri: Pedro Malazarte, A Serra do Rola-Moça, Cuatro Poemas de Macunaíma (Naxos)
Accomplished and idiomatic performances [NB]
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Pletnev: Rachmaniana (Euroarts)
Serviceable Symphonic Dances and an unexciting suite of piano-piece orchestrations [NB]
Antheil: Carnegie Hall Concert of 1927 (Nimbus)
(Déjà Review) A must-hear disc for anyone with any kind of passing interest in the development of 20th Century music [NB]
Halvorsen: Orchestral Works, Vol 3 (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) Utterly beguiling [NB]
Nikolay Medvedev (piano) – Fusions (SOMM Recordings)
This well-played programme perhaps unintentionally reveals Kapustin’s limitations [NB]
Büttner: Symphonies 3 & 4 (Capriccio)
Two substantial symphonies presented in the best possible light [NB]
Howells: Partsongs (SOMM Recordings)
A valuable collection of first recordings reveal Howells the skilled miniaturist [NB]
