Listening Guides
Tchaikovsky’s Final Symphonies: Four Russian Traditions
Mravinsky: The Essential Standard Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4–6 Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra; Yevgeny Mravinsky Deutsche Grammophon 419 745-2…
Janet Baker’s Unforgettable Dido
Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Janet Baker, Raimund Herincx, Patricia Clark, Monica Sinclair and John Mitchinson St….
Monteverdi’s Vespers in Full Splendor
Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine, 1610 Jill Gomez, Felicity Palmer, James Bowman, Robert Tear, Philip Langridge, John…
Ancient Rome in Living Sound
Chants de l’Église de Rome: Période byzantine Ensemble Organum; Marcel Pérès, director Harmonia Mundi HMC 901218 This…
Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: Three Essential Recordings
Piano Sonatas Nos. 1–9 — Barbara Nissman Newport NCD 60092, 60093 and 60094 Barbara Nissman’s complete cycle…
Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges
Complete Opera Gabriel Bacquier, Jean-Luc Viala, Hélène Perraguin, Vincent Le Texier, Georges Gautier, Didier Henry and Gregory…
Poulenc: Three Concertos
Piano Concerto; Concerto for Two Pianos; Organ Concerto Pascal Rogé and Sylviane Deferne, pianos; Peter Hurford, organ;…
Handel: Twelve Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
English Chamber Orchestra — Raymond Leppard Philips 426 465-2, 3 CDs Raymond Leppard approaches Handel’s twelve concerti…
Handel’s Water Music: Three Recordings
English Baroque Soloists — John Eliot Gardiner Philips 434 122-2 Gardiner’s Water Music has unusual vitality without…
Dowland Lute Songs: Alfred Deller
RECOMMENDED CD John Dowland: Lute Songs and Instrumental Music Alfred Deller, countertenor; Robert Spencer, lute; Consort of…
Bach Violin Concertos: Grumiaux, Krebbers and Holliger
RECOMMENDED CD J. S. Bach: Violin Concertos in A minor, BWV 1041, and E major, BWV 1042;…
John Adams: Shaker Loops
John Adams: Shaker Loops Shaker Loops began as a failure. That is not merely biographical decoration; you…
Carl Friedrich Abel: More Than a Footnote to Mozart
Carl Friedrich Abel is one of those composers who seems destined to appear in other people’s biographies….
Balakirev: Incidental Music
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nikolai Anosov, Leo Ginzburg Naxos · 980993 · 43 minutes Balakirev doesn’t…
Balakirev: Overtures
Dinara Klinton (piano), Niederrheinsche Sinfoniker, Mihkel Kutson MDG · MDG95222366 · 67 minutes Balakirev tends to get filed under “the guy…
Puccini: Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky (Turandot), Jonas Kaufmann (Calaf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), Mattia Olivieri…
Frank Bridge: – Cello Sonatas
Andreas Brantelid (cello), Bengt Forsberg (piano), The Royal Danish Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård Naxos · 8573690 · 73 minutes There’s something about…
Telemann: – Concerto TWV 51:D8 in D major for horn, strings & b.c.
RJ Kelley (horn), Alexandra Cook (horn), John Aubrey (horn), Krista Bennion Feeney (violin)Palisades Baroque, Richard Dunn Centaur · CRC3380 · 75…
Brahms: – Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 120 No. 2
Antoine Tamestit (viola), Cédric Tiberghien (piano), Matthias Goerne (baritone) Harmonia Mundi · HMM902652 · 56 minutes Brahms wrote these sonatas late…
Beethoven: Cello Sonatas
Paul Watkins (cello), Alessio Bax (piano) Signum · SIGCD969 · 1 hour 49 minutes Beethoven basically invented the cello sonata as…
Bernstein: Overtures
Leonardo Capalbo (Candide), Jane Archibald (Cunegonde), Anne Sofie von Otter (Old Lady), Thomas Allen (Dr Pangloss/Narrator)London Symphony…
Boccherini: Cello Sonatas
Steven Isserlis (cello), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Hyperion · CDA68444 · 76 minutes Boccherini gets stuck with a reputation…
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Herbert Blomstedt BR Klassik · 900196 · 1 hour 42 minutes There’s something almost defiant about a…
Saint-Saëns: Piano Trios
Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Isang Enders (cello), Wu Qian (piano), Sitkovetsky Trio BIS · BIS2219 · 60 minutes Ravel wrote his trio…
