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Stephen Barber
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé (Chandos)
A wonderfully refined and also exciting new version [SB]
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 1-9 (Dynamic)
Some good things here, but as a whole this is not competitive [SB]
Korngold: Music for Violin, Cello & Piano (Et’cetera)
Good performances of Korngold’s earliest chamber works [SB]
Bartok: Piano Concertos Nos 1-3 (Pentatone)
One good and two superb performances of these modern classics [SB]
Bloch: String Quartets (Pristine Audio)
A classic set of these twentieth century masterpiece returns [SB]
Ysaÿe: 6 Sonatas for solo violin (Deutsche Grammophon)
Quite simply: this disc is a winner [SB]
Debussy: C’est l’extase, La mer (Alpha Classics)
The orchestrated Verlaine songs are delightful, La mer merely decent [SB]
Leighton: Every Living Creature (SOMM Recordings)
A valuable collection of Leighton’s choral music, with several first recordings [SB]
Weill: Propheten, Four Walt Whitman Songs (Capriccio)
This legendary work turns out to be more a curiosity than a masterpiece [SB]
Rautavaara & Martinů: Piano Concertos (BIS)
This attractive coupling should win new friends for these works [SB]
Guðmundsson: The Gospel of Mary
A slow-moving meditative work based on an unorthodox gospel
Martin & Franck: Piano quintets (CAvi-Music)
Superb performances of both works: a rewarding coupling [SB]
Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex (Dynamic)
A decent concert performance of Stravinsky’s great work, with a rarity to precede it [SB]
Ligeti: Études (Naxos)
A modernist take on Ligeti’s marvellous Études, with interesting extras [SB]
Brahms by Arrangement Vol. 2 (Toccata Classics)
Three successful orchestrations, especially that of the Piano Quintet [SB]
Franck: Hulda (Bru Zane)
This splendid recording reveals Franck’s opera to be a work of power and beauty [SB]
Whitacre: Choral works (Decca)
An extended memorial work with some shorter pieces [SB]
Paray: Seven Piano Pieces (MSR Classics)
The great conductor turns out to be an interesting composer [SB]