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Ralph Moore
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (Signum Classics)
A grand, more leisurely and reflective Ein Heldenleben which is wholly successful on its own terms [RMo]
Adèle Charvet (mezzo-soprano) Belle époque! (Alpha Classics)
An elegant, sophisticated mélange of mélodies, beautifully sung and played, incorporating some pleasing surprises and novelties [RMo]
Bruckner: Symphonies 4 & 7 (Pristine Audio)
Somewhat puzzling, even erratic, performances, alternately captivating and disappointing, recorded in Walter’s Indian Summer [RMo]
Bizet/Gounod/Saint-Saëns: Premières symphonies (Alpha Classics)
A charming trio of French first symphonies – not major music, but beautifully played and exuding good humour [RMo]
Ravel: Orchestral Works & Song Cycles (L’Auditori)
A mixed bag of excellent orchestral works and less satisfying song cycles [RMo]
Mahler: Four Movements (Erato)
(Déjà Review) I can find little to praise [RMo]
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Lili Boulanger: D’un soir triste (Avi-Music)
A competent, somewhat episodic account of no special distinction [RMo]
Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer (Naxos)
Vocally flawed and dramatically inert; you can do much better with either a vintage recording or the recent Decca issue [RMo]
Handel: Alexander’s Feast (Arcana)
Apart from the tenor’s contribution and spritelier tempi here, nothing else about this new recording sways my loyalty to the old Ledger recording [RMo]
Bruckner: Symphony No.8 (Profil)
A thoroughly invigorating, newly conceived approach to this greatest of symphonies [RMo]
Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges & L’heure Espagnole (Deutsche Grammophon)
A sparkling pair of Ravel’s contrasting operas, justifying their status as “gramophone classics” [RMo]
Music for the Feast of the Assumption (Hymnus)
An artfully devised and beautifully performed double programme, melding liturgical music for the Catholic Mass and the Anglican Choral Evensong [RMo]
Monteux conducts Ravel Vol. 2 (Pristine Audio)
These three works present a perfect summation of both Ravel’s and Monteux’s art, now sonically enhanced by Pristine [RMo]
Sacred Treasures of Rome (Hyperion)
A celebration of Palestrina on his quincentenary supplemented with works by eight Roman contemporaries [RMo]
Mozart: The Last Six Symphonies (Pristine Audio)
Grand, weighty performances suffused with a wise humanity [RMo]
Boito: Nerone (Naxos)
An intriguing rarity, mostly adequately sung but musically very patchy and dramatically incoherent [RMo]
Maria Callas (soprano): Arias Volume 1 (Pristine Audio)
Once again, Pristine breathes new life into two established and indispensable recital classics [RMo]
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 3 (Decca)
Lim’s superb musicianship and technical brilliance do not quite match the magic of the Horowitz-Ormandy live performance [RMo]
Veni Creator Spiritus – Second Vespers of the Solemnity of Pentecost (Ad Fontes)
As much an adjunct to spiritual elevation as a musical experience which will appeal to practising Catholics and lovers of liturgical music alike [RMo]
Donizetti: Il diluvio universale (Naxos)
A pleasing, generally very well sung performance of what remains essentially second-rank Donizetti but one with some rewarding passages [RMo]
Mahler: Symphony 9 (Recursive Classics)
Superb sound and sincere, committed playing without quite the heft and sonority of the greatest Mahler orchestras [RMo]
Prokofiev: Romeo und Julia (Gramola)
A trio of classic “lollipops” is given the typically energised Mitropoulos treatment [RMo]
La belle époque des Geloso (Ciar Classics)
World premiere recordings of cheerful, tuneful, uplifting Belle Époque music by a mother and son [RMo]
Wagner: Tannhäuser (Warner Classics)
A swings-and-roundabouts recording of the Dresden version of Tannhäuser – stick with Konwitschny and Solti [RMo]
