rb
Rob Barnett
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]
François Le Roux (baritone): Schoeck, Barber & Durey (Gallo)
(Déjà Review) A real connoisseur’s disc [RB]
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]
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]
Jacob, Addison, Rubbra: Piano Concerti (Lyrita Recorded Edition)
Otherwise unheard, these works are neither rugged nor rebarbative but beckon and reward [RB]
Bax: Violin Concerto, Symphony No. 3 (Dutton)
(Déjà Review) De rigueur addition for all Baxians and an antidote to the sleepy sloppy school of Baxian interpretation [RB]
Overtures from Finland (Chandos)
A ramble, with delights along the way, through some of Finland’s most neglected overtures [RB]
Bonnal: String Quartets (Arion)
(Déjà Review) I urge you strongly to seek out Bonnal’s sheerly magical impressionistic music [RB]