rb

Rob Barnett

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Bliss, Walford Davies & Bowen: Violin sonatas (EM Records)

Magnificent impassioned music-making in works of real and dazzling substance [RB]

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Rachmaninov: Orchestral Music (Avie)

(Déjà Review) Magnificent performances, stunningly recorded [JQ] Certainly one to go for [RB]

Amram: Chamber Music (Naxos)

Not a man to cosy up to the great and the good [RB]

Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Piano Quintets (Naxos)

Nostalgia, victory and bardic introspection [RB]

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Grainger: Salute to Percy Grainger (Eloquence)

(Déjà Review) A very substantial helping of the essential Grainger in performances and recordings that are exemplars to the rest [RB]

Fritze: Overtures and Symphonies (Naxos)

Classy brilliance … tuneful but not a soft touch [RB]

StringQuartets Kletzki PreludeClassics

Kletzki: The Complete String Quartets (Prelude Classics)

The first complete recording of  Paul Kletzki’s string quartets [RB]

Boeck: Orchestral Works (Et’cetera)

(Déjà Review) A composer who revelled in the late-romantic style [RB]

Music from Estonia (Chandos)

(Déjà Review) Enterprising repertoire gloriously recorded and performed [RB]

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Françaix: L’Apocalypse selon Saint-Jean & Piano Concerto (Le Palais des Dégustateurs)

A stern oratorio coupled with an insouciant concerto [RB]

Brusa Symphony1 Naxos

Brusa: Symphony no. 1 (Naxos)

A strong vivid illustrative aspect; persistently romantic and indomitable [RB]

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Schmidt: Complete Symphonies (Chandos)

(Déjà Review) Sumptuous, vernal energy and weightiness of tone [RB]

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Holst: Orchestral Music (Pristine Audio)

Sargent’s music-making can still take you by the throat [RB]

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A Tchaikowsky: Piano Concertos (Ondine)

Disillusion, bleakness, sombre and occasionally irate flamboyance [RB]

David: Symphony No 3 & 7 (cpo)

Melodic candour and emotional ambiguity [RB]

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Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 2, 5, 7 & 8 (Pristine Audio)

Hallé, Barbirolli and HMV all in one place [RB]

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Nenov: Piano Works (CRD Records)

Diminutive scores yet grand in expressive compass – deeply serious, folksy, sumptuously expressive [RB]

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Shor: Cello Concerto and other works (Naxos)

You would be hard-pressed to identify this as contemporary; it is kind to the ear [RB]

Martinů: Orchestral Works (Supraphon)

(Déjà Review) Catching the Martinů sound in full flight [RB]

Lopes-Graça: Piano Works (Hyperion)

A subtle folk-inflected collection, not simplistic – impressive [RB]

Shostakovich: Incidental and Film Music (Naxos)

A stream of vivid musical tesellae [RB]

Marx: Orchestral Songs and Choral Works (Chandos)

(Déjà Review) The disc with which to introduce this composer to music-lovers [RB]

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Holst: Orchestral Works Vol 1 (Chandos)

The finest Holst disc in years [RB]

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Finnish Works for Violin & Orchestra (Naxos)

Naxos has again pushed the repertoire boundaries [RB]