rmo
Ralph Moore
Bruckner: Symphony 4 (Exton)
Yet another superb Bruckner recording from a flawless Tokyo orchestra [RMo]
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (Fontec)
Another potentially engaging recording, fatally compromised by the conductor’s ill-disciplined vocal intrusiveness [RMo]
Music for Strings (Chandos)
Superb playing and engineering; any reservations will centre upon the desirability of the programme [RMo]
Bruckner: Symphony 8 (Tobu Recordings)
A wholly viable interpretation of indestructible integrity [RMo]
Verdi: Aida (Pristine Audio)
Pristine’s typically successful remastering into Ambient Stereo helps appreciate afresh the virtues of this classic recording [RMo]
R Strauss: Orchestral Works (RCA)
A welcome re-issue of three justly famous Strauss recordings in superb sound [RMo]
Corelli: Concerti Grossi (Alto)
Vital, elegant, discreetly period accounts of some delightful music but also some short on originality or inspiration [RMo]
Hina Spani (soprano) Complete Recordings (Marston)
The complete recorded output of a great but neglected soprano – with a fine bonus [RMo]
Prokofiev: Symphony & Suites (RCA)
Bland interpretations further compromised by compressed digital sound – stick to classic, vintage accounts [RMo]
Verdi: Aïda (Pristine)
Pristine illuminates afresh a vintage account of a perennial favourite, always very listenable but now even better [RMo]
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (BIS)
A wholly successful compilation of deeply melancholy and Romantic melodies for those with a sweet tooth [RMo]
Joan Sutherland (soprano) Personal Choices (Alto)
Stellar singing but scanty recording information and some tracks are in poor sound [RMo]
Renée Fleming (soprano) Greatest Moments at the Met (Decca)
These live recordings form a tribute to one of the great voices of the past quarter-century [RMo]
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies (Alto)
A fine pairing from two English conductors and orchestras, immersed in the idiom but in their very different ways [RMo]
Sibelius: Symphonies 3 & 5 (Alpha)
Another winner in this series of Sibelius symphonies, suites and tone poems [RMo]
Beethoven: Piano Concertos (BIS)
Astonishing virtuoso playing in a highly empathic partnership – the best modern accounts I know [RMo]
Mahler: Symphonies 1-9 (BR Klassik)
Clarity, flexibility, detail and beautiful playing here but inconsistent as a set; some symphonies are superlative, others lack excitement [RMo]
Van Cliburn in Moscow (RCA)
Fine performances somewhat compromised by indifferent sound [RMo]
Beethoven: String Quartets Vol. 3 (Cedille)
Serene accounts characterised by beauty of tone and homogeneity of phrasing [RMo]
Mahler: Symphony 2 (Oehms Classics)
A fine, flexible, sensitive reading somewhat hampered by a lack of sheer weight in the orchestra [RMo]
Berlioz: Harold en Italie (Erato)
Essentially unsatisfying accounts of two favourite Berlioz works [Rmo]
Bach: Goldberg Variations (Warner)
Spirited, mercurial playing, compromised by a poor recording from Warner [RMo]
Wagner: The Golden Ring (Decca)
A glorious sampler heralding a complete project which promises the best sound yet for this greatest of Wagner recordings [RMo]
Bernstein conducts Stravinsky (DG)
A flawlessly played, atmospherically interpreted and beautifully presented collection of Stravinsky’s three major ballets with interesting bonuses [RMo]
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