sb
Stephen Barber
Brahms: Piano Quartets 2 & 3 (Ondine)
A worthy memorial to a fine pianist and chamber musician [SB]
Benjamin: Picture a day like this (Nimbus Records)
This powerful, moving, beautiful and disturbing new work is a triumph [SB]
Eastern Reflections (Delphian)
An ideal performance of Bartók’s Contrasts in an interesting programme [SB]
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Pristine Audio)
All Wagnerians should consider this 1956 live Bayreuth Götterdämmerung [SB]
Victor Nicoara (piano): Polyphonic Dreams (Hänssler Classic)
The version here of Busoni’s magnus opus for piano should now become the standard one [SB]
Smetana & Schubert: Piano Trios (Supraphon)
Trio Bohémo play with both passion but also precision, they listen to one another and they clearly love this music [SB]
Mozart: Lodron Night Music (Brilliant Classics)
Delightful performances of delightful music [SB]
Pizzetti: Requiem (Dynamic)
The Pizzetti Requiem is a ravishingly beautiful work and this is a lovely performance [SB]
Lindberg: Viola Concerto, Absence & Serenades (Ondine)
Rewarding recent works by the Finnish master [SB]
Gerhard: Don Quixote, Alegrías, Pedrelliana (Chandos)
Attractive music, well presented [SB]
Wagner: Siegfried (Pristine Audio)
This third instalment of the Knappertsbusch Ring will not disappoint enthusiasts [SB]
Szymanowski: Concert Overture, Songs of a Fairy Princess, Symphony No 3 (CD Accord)
Szymanowski’s fans should hear this [SB]
Glass: Etudes for piano (Orange Mountain Music)
A valuable selection of Glass’s fascinating Etudes [SB]
Benjamin: Complete Piano Works (Piano Classics)
Commanding performances of all of George Benjamin’s piano works so far [SB]
Wagner: Die Walküre (Pristine Audio)
This second instalment of Knappertsbusch’s 1956 Ring is very acceptable [SB]
Dittersdorf: Symphonies after Ovid’s Metamorphoses (cpo)
Charming works from the time of Haydn and Mozart [SB]
Bach: Reconstructed (Audite)
Imaginative recreations of possible Brandenburg Concertos [SB]
Messiaen: Song Cycles (Alpha Classics)
Excellent versions of the attractive song cycles [SB]
Watkins: Works For Strings & Piano Trio (Resonus)
Attractive and accessible contemporary works [SB]
Silvestrov: Symphony for Violin and Orchestra ‘Widmung’ (Naxos)
Two of the works which made Silvestrov’s reputation, in good performances [SB]
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Pristine Audio)
This is a rewarding set, and fans of the singers, in particular, will be pleased [SB]
Debussy: Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien (SWR Classic)
A problematic version of a problematic work, but Debussyians should investigate [SB]
Enescu, Ysaÿe and Bacewicz: Music for Strings (Chandos)
John Wilson’s latest recording of string music is a winner [SB]
Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie (BR Klassik)
A good version but there are better [SB]
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