rb
Rob Barnett
Leifs: Baldr (BIS)
(Déjà Review) Tough, tonal, uncompromising music, rhythmically emphatic, not without melodic softness, hewn out of granite and adversity [RB]
Madetoja: Intimate Garden (Alba)
(Déjà Review) Played by a fine advocate well attuned to the music and its endearingly soft melancholia [RB]
Alwyn: Symphonies Nos 2 & 5 and Harp Concerto (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) The best single CD introduction to the major works of Alwyn [RB]
Baltic Voices 1 (Harmonia Mundi)
Lyrical yet challenging, they welcome the listener with open arms [RB]
Vasks: Symphony No.2, Violin Concerto (Ondine )
(Déjà Review) Two rewarding lyrical works [RB]
Tippett: Orchestral works (Decca)
(Déjà Review) Something special – treasurable and pleasurable, all in excellent sound [RB]
Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne (Vanguard Classics)
(Déjà Review) These two Davrath discs remain the reference against which all other recordings are measured [RB]
Weigl: Symphony No 5 (BIS)
(Déjà Review) Music in Brucknerian manner; a symphony that includes a mighty adagio to treasure [RB]
The detailed orchestration has a French brilliance to it [GPJ]
Rózsa: Orchestral Works (cpo)
(Déjà Review) A refreshing collection with excellent interpretations all round [RB]
English Piano Quartets (Meridian)
(Déjà Review) A classic and generous collection of rare English chamber music [RB]
Medtner: The Complete Piano Sonatas (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) The strongest recommendation [RB]
Chavez: Complete Symphonies (Vox)
(Déjà Review) An impressive clutch of serious and vigorously-driven symphonies from Mexico resoundingly recorded [RB]
Sibelius: Rondo of the Waves (BIS)
(Déjà Review) Exalted performance values and rare vintage Sibelius [RB]
Dello Joio, Creston & Bloch (Centaur)
Likely to win new friends for all three composers [RB]
Bax: Tone Poems (Chandos)
An essential acquisition for all Baxians [RB]
Steinberg: Symphony No 2 & Variations for Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon)
(Déjà Review) Torrid Slavonic performances of both the graceful Variations and the gloomily brilliant Symphony [RB]
Rachmaninov: Symphonies Nos 1-3 (Sony Classical)
(Déjà Review) A burnished classic of the gramophone [RB]
A Malcolm Arnold Musical Companion (Malcolm Arnold Society)
A companion to hold your hand through the works of an utter professional [RB]
Jongen: Cello Concerto & Impressions d’Ardennes (Cyprès)
(Déjà Review) Cyprès have done a sterling job kicking over the predictable traces [RB]
Marx: Natur-Trilogie (ASV)
An impressionistic voice soaked in the quintessence of lyrical expression [RB]
Wallen: The Girl in My Alphabet (Avie)
(Déjà Review) Wallen is a brashly creative, open-minded composer striding with confident abandon from jazz, to Tippett, to spirituals, to Schoenberg, to Mediterranean mystery [RB]
Scharwenka: Complete Chamber Music (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) Highly attractive romantic music caught in the web of ley lines between Schumann and early Fauré [RB]
Full Fathom Five (Danacord)
Altogether a pleasurable experience [RB]
Bax: String Quartets Nos 1 & 2 (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) You must hear this! One of 2001’s top ten classical discs. Roll on the Naxos/Maggini Third Quartet – a work of symphonic impact and scale [RB]
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