rb
Rob Barnett
Leningrad String Quartets (Northern Flowers)
Four largely unknown Leningrad quartets in committed performances [RB]
Banschikov: Sonatas for Piano, Flute & Bayan (Northern Flowers)
Fierce, angular melancholia, deliberate clarity and a turned-inwards icy-acid virtuosity [RB]
Grechaninov: Symphony No.3 (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) The strongest of the Grechaninov CDs from Chandos – the cantata is a work of the greatest virtue [RB]
Hovhaness: Mountain Fantasies (MSR Classics)
Rites of mountainous meditation here played and recorded with eloquent muscularity [RB]
Villa-Lobos: Chôros 1-7 (ASV)
(Déjà Review) Close your eyes and conjure your own veranda [RB]
N Berg: Song of Songs & Symphony No 4 (Phono Suecia)
(Déjà Review) A warming chance to sample the music of Berg the Swedish romantic [RB]
Tučapský: Concertos (SOMM Recordings)
(Déjà Review) The sort of disc which makes reviewing ‘peripheral’ repertoire a joy [RB]
van der Pals: String Quartets Vol 1 (cpo)
A late-romantic cat’s-cradle of tenderness caught in a viscous tonal velour [RB]
Bortkiewicz: Symphonies (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) Exultant, yearning, gloomy, sincere, passionate, nostalgic Slavonic music [RB]
Noskowski: Symphonies 1 & 2 (Capriccio)
Two late-19th century symphonies, agreeable if not compelling, little known, little heard [RB]
Stamp: Chamber Music Vol.1 (Toccata Classics)
Cleverly-shaped wind music in an often enchanted populist blend [RB]
d’Albert: Die Toten Augen (cpo)
(Déjà Review) You will want to luxuriate in this fine score [RB]
Alfano: Complete String Quartets (Naxos)
Wondrously fervent, hot-house stuff … upon you with tiger-like ferocity [RB]
An interview with Philip L Scowcroft
by Robert Barnett
François Le Roux (baritone): Schloeck, Barber & Durey (Gallo)
(Déjà Review) A real connoisseur’s disc [RB]
An interview with BIS founder Robert van Bahr
by Robert Barnett
Chadwick: Orchestral Works (Reference Recordings)
(Déjà Review) Fine rare repertoire and typically sprung, lively sound with power and subtlety aplenty [RB]
Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy, Symphony No. 2 (Naxos)
Exemplary justice done … ecstatic filigree and truculent brass artillery [RB]
Canteloube & Emmanuel: Songs of the Auvergne (Erato)
(Déjà Review) A languid approach with lovely singing from Upshaw [RB]
Janacek: Orchestral works (Reference Recordings)
The Serebrier Sinfonietta remains a top recommendation [RB]
Leifs: Orchestral works (BIS)
Extraordinary music of real individuality [RB]
Gaito: Chamber Works (cpo)
Music and performances that brim with radiance and commitment [RB]
Saint-Saens: Transcriptions for Piano (Piano 21)
Familiar and successful … yet unfamiliar in these versions [RB]
Fritz Busch (conductor) In Stockholm (Pristine Audio)
Unusual Busch late-life survivals from Swedish Radio archives [RB]
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