rmo

Ralph Moore

bruckner symphony ncpa

Bruckner: Symphony No 5 (NCPA Classics)

Another grand, weighty, live account from the NCPA of Bruckner’s most hieratic symphony, beautifully played and engineered [RMo]

Dvořák: Symphonies 5 & 6 (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)

Fresh, vital, exuberant, strikingly energetic and authentic performances [RMo]

Handel: Messiah (Alto)

A brilliant, flawless live performance graced by some stellar solo singing [RMo]

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Verdi: Don Carlo (Orfeo)

The best live Italian version in the best sound available [RMo]

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Respighi: Roman Trilogy (Pristine Audio)

A classic historical recording is given a new lease of life in Ambient Stereo [RMo]

bruckner symphony ncpa

Bruckner: Symphony No 6 (NCPA Classics)

A magnificently grim, steady account, bringing out all the might and menace of this most ambivalent of Bruckner’s symphonies [RMo]

Bellini Norma Callas Serafin 1954 Pristine PACO219

Bellini: Norma (Pristine Audio)

Pristine’s remastering into Ambient Stereo both enhances the beauty of Callas’ Norma and amplifies that which is less admirable here [RMo]

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Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Conifer Classics)

A beautifully performed and recorded account in which everything is done right [RMo]

bruckner symphony pristine

Bruckner: Symphony 8 (Pristine Audio)

A wild, driven performance which oozes personality and conviction, now cleaned up to an unprecedentedly high standard [RMo]

Mahler: Symphony No 8 (Sony Classical)

A fine live account which despite a few quibbles sustains interest throughout its taut execution [RMo]

Schubert: Octets (Decca)

A beautifully engineered recording which simply exudes the joy of music-making [RMo]

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Sibelius: Violin Concerto (Chandos)

Cool, restrained and beautifully played in Nordic style [RMo]

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Handel: Il Messia (cpo)

Perhaps little more than an abridged curiosity, but mostly well done within the limitations of the form [RMo]

Recordings of fifteen lesser-known Massenet operas

A survey by Ralph Moore

Offenbach: La vie parisienne (Bru Zane)

An admirable effort to reconstruct the original version of a once popular work which veers between the highly entertaining and the banal [RMo]

R Strauss: Tone Poems (Gramola)

A re-release of three great recordings on a different label, whose raison d’être eludes me… [RMo]

Mendelssohn: Elijah (LSO Live)

A fine, dramatic, beautifully sung live recording headed by Finley’s noble Elijah [RMo]

Cookson Puccini Messa di Gloria Repusic BR Klassik ed RM

Puccini: Messa di Gloria (BR Klassik)

A good account of some of Puccini’s youthful works which is not necessarily an improvement on Pappano’s rival version [RMo]

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Rameau: The Sound of Light (Sony Classical)

Put aside preconceptions of “authenticity” and enjoy this for what it is – a celebration of some of Rameau’s most appealing music [RMo]

Huw Montague Rendall (baritone): Contemplation (Erato)

Superb, sensuous, subtle singing from a highly gifted British lyric baritone [RMo]

Puccini Turandot Bjorling Nilsson Pristine PACO218

Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)

Yet another classic opera recording given new lustre by Pristine’s remastering [RMo]

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Bach: Goldberg Variations (Artway)

A real mixed bag, maddeningly inconsistent with some quirky and mannered decisions [RMo]

Verdi: Rigoletto (Warner Classics)

An under-rated, somewhat overlooked recording featuring an array of superb voices, very well conducted [RMo]

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Dvořák: Symphony No 9, American Suite (Erato)

A mightily impressive debut recording from Stutzmann in Atlanta [RMo]