rmo

Ralph Moore

Brodsky encores CHAN20230

Brodsky Quartet – Golden Oldies (Chandos)

A highly diverting selection of lighter pieces to celebrate the Brodsky Quartet’s fifty-year anniversary [RMo]

schubert trios ondine

Schubert: Piano Trios (Ondine)

Ideal performances of great works – and a fitting memorial to Lars Vogt [RMo]

Beethoven quartets calidore signum

Beethoven: The Late Quartets (Signum Classics)

Quartet playing of exceptional beauty, homogeneity and musicality [RMo]

Beethoven: Piano Concerti 3 & 4 (Naxos)

Virtuosic pianism somewhat undermined by reticent accompaniment and an unnatural recorded balance [RMo]

Byrd: The Golden Renaissance (Decca)

A beautifully sung medley of Byrd’s music interspersing the Mass with “sacred songs” [RMo]

Rachmaninov Symphony Wilson Chandos

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 (Chandos)

Beautiful playing compromised by excessive restraint in the final two movements [RMo]

Bruckner: Symphony No 8 (Capriccio)

Anyone wanting to hear the original version of Bruckner’s monumental Eighth Symphony given the best possible advocacy need look no further [RMo]

Strauss-elektra-CDA1867

Strauss: Elektra (Sterling)

A thrilling piece of live theatre commemorating the career of a great singer, despite cuts [RMo]

Mozart’s Idomeneo

A survey by Ralph Moore

mahler reiner erde hdtt

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (HDTT)

Another highly successful remastering of a classic recording from HDTT [RMo]

A guide to the best recordings of Gluck’s operas

by Ralph Moore

brahms schumann schuricht

Carl Schuricht (conductor) (Forgotten Records)

Absolutely lovely live performances which must be heard through a veil of crumbly mono sound [RMo]

Mozart: Requiem (Rondeau)

A vivacious, thoroughly enjoyable, smaller-scale “period” account of Mozart’s inspired but incomplete liturgical masterpiece [RMo]

Dvorak sym6 SBK60295

Dvořák: Symphony 6 (Sony)

An affectionately played trio of works by Dvořák at his most typically exuberant [RMo]

Bruckner No 4 1876v Poschner Capriccio C8084

Bruckner: Symphony 4 (Capriccio)

A fine performance vitiated by Poschner’s penchant for rushed tempi [RMo]

Sibelius: Symphonies 5-7 (Pristine Audio)

The finest Fifth I know, and an excellent Sixth and Seventh, all given a new lease of life by Pristine as XR Remastered Ambient Stereo [RMo]

bruckner beinum pasc683

Bruckner: Symphony 9 (Pristine Audio)

Van Beinum’s flexible way with this music will appeal to those who also esteem Jochum in Bruckner but there are too many flaws [RMo]

Verdi: Messa da Requiem (Rondeau)

I have honestly never heard anything like this… [RMo]

rachmaninov vigil pentatone

Rachmaninov: All Night Vigil (Pentatone)

The famous Vespers, beautifully sung and more intimate than usual but with no lack of gravitas [RMo]

Bruckner sym7 Alpha932

Bruckner: Symphony 7 (Alpha)

A fine, sensitive account but one which underplays some of the key points of tension [RMo]

Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust

A survey by Ralph Moore

bruckner symphony exton

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 strings chandos

Music for Strings (Chandos)

Superb playing and engineering; any reservations will centre upon the desirability of the programme [RMo]