Florent Schmitt extracted two orchestral suites from his ballet “Antoine et Cléopâtre.” Stylistically, the score bears a strong resemblance to Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé” (also from a ballet). The touches of orientalism and sometimes gooey harmonies remind me more of Richard Strauss’ “Salome.” Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony seem to relish the rich texture […]
BBC Symphony Orchestra
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Edmund Rubbra BBC Broadcasts – Flawed Musical Treasures
This release features three live performances broadcast by the BBC in the 1960s. the recordings are from the Richard Itter collection; professional-grade recordings of radio broadcasts. Some of the Lyrita releases of this material have had amazing sound quality. In these performances, though, the sound seems somewhat lo-fi and closed in. But the quality of […]
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Tasmin Little & Roxanna Panufnik – Four World Seasons
It’s an interesting program, coupling Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” with Roxanna Panufnik’s modern take on the same subject. And it’s one that works very well. The connective thread is the talent of violinist Tasmin Little. Little’s performance of the “Four Seasons” with the BBC Symphony Orchestra is a spirited one. Her solo work is beautifully crafted […]
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Ralph Vaughan Williams: Discoveries
Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of my favorite composers. For me, then, Discoveries is a delight — and an aptly named one. The works on this album all emerge from the obscure corners of Vaughan Williams’ catalog. Though there’s very little “pure” RVW here (almost every work is either an arrangement or orchestration), it all […]
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An operatic Dream of Gerontius
Sir Andrew Davis has performed “The Dream of Gerontius” with these same forces in live performance. And that may be why this recording sounds so organic. Sarah Connolly, Stuart Skelton, and David Soar sound like they’ve all settled into their roles, and the duets seem sometimes almost conversational. Davis’ vision of Elgar’s massive work leans […]
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Gil Shaham’s Snapshot of a Decade
Tags: 2oth Century Classical Music, Alban Berg, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Britten, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Canary Classics, CD Review, Concerto, David Robinson, Gil Shaham, Igor Stravinsky, Juanjo Mena, Karl Hartmann, New York Philharmonic, Samuel Barber, Sejong Soloists, Staatskapelle DresdenThere’s an advantage to running your own record label — it’s easier to do the projects that you really believe in. In this case, Gil Shaham is the owner/operator of Canary Classics, and the project is a survey of violin concertos of the 1930’s. Just the lineup of composers for this first volume show how […]