Grammy Nomination 2014; Gramophone Magazine's Editor's Choice; MusicWeb International's Recording of the Month: '[Davis'] last-ever Berlioz recording, demonstrates yet again his unique empathy with and understanding of Berlioz's music as well as his authority in conducting it.' Classical Source: 'Those two concerts in Saint Paul's were colossal events. I attended the first and have rarely been so moved by the magnificence of stately music superbly rendered... and captured here with remarkable fidelity.' The Arts Desk: 'This is an essential purchase - a first-rate reading of a religious work combining entertainment and spiritual uplift.'

a deeply felt, thoughtful and, where needed, highly dramatic interpretation of an indisputable masterpiece. (Gramophone) "orchestral textures were sensuously coloured, and the vast symphonic structure flawlessly paced and handled. The choral singing, thrilling in it's immediacy and clarity, can only be described as electrifying from start to finish" (The Guardian) "For Davis, Elgar is a European composer, and the links to Wagner are clear... Davis is the star: guiding shaping, enhancing the beauty and the flow." (The Times)

'Colin Davis leads a superb quartet of soloists and brings out all the humanity and tenderness of the music with his customary skill. The LSO Chorus responds brilliantly.' (Classic FM). 'Colin Davis who meets the work on it's own particular ground with such imagination and style in this version. The great fugal perorations are crisper under Davis - more Haydnesque, you might say.' (Gramophone). BBC Radio 3 CD of the Week. 'This has impressed everyone... a feeling of immediacy and drama tempered with vision and maturity.' (BBC). 'Feel the warmth of Finley's opening bass solo, marvel at the open throats of the LSO Chorus.' (The Times).

A natural inheritor of Scriabinesque exoticism, Szymanowski brings out the best in Scriabin's most imaginative interpreters, which is why Gergiev proves such a convincing interpreter... excellent playing from the LSO. Matsuev has his feet... firmly planted on terra firma... The gorgeous return to lushness in the second movement suggests an almost Ravelian sensibility... Matsuev and Gergiev turn the finale into Szymanowski's danse generale. (Gramophone). "Stabat Mater is beautiful and Gergiev has the full measure of it's 23 gorgeous minutes." (MusicWeb).

This is a grandly scaled, nobly contoured reading, by turns monumental and ferociously dramatic. With biting choral attack, searing, spitting strings and scything trumpets, the Dies irae has a terrifying intensity I have rarely heard equalled. The Rex tremendae, too, is overwhelming in it's desperate fervour and grimly sustained impetus, with the inexorable dotted rhythms hewn from granite... If you want a traditionally conceived budget-price Requiem, well sung, superbly played and vividly recorded, Davis's performance has much to commend it." (Gramophone)

'Never was there a more complete triumph', wrote The Times after the premiere of Elijah by Mendelssohn. The performance, conducted by the composer at the 1846 Birmingham Music Festival, marked the beginning of the life of Elijah as one of the best-loved choral works in the repertoire, a status it still holds.

A grand oratorio in two parts, Elijah is very much composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn's baroque predecessors, combining the dramatic sweep of Handel with episodes of sublime meditation such as are found in Bach. It tells the story of the stern Old Testament prophet Elijah who preached against the idol worship of the Israelite people. Mendelssohn adapted the Biblical texts to produce intensely dramatic scenes depicting, for example, the resurrection of a dead youth, a contest of the gods, and Elijah's ascension into heaven on a fiery chariot.

This recording, made in April 1989, presents an all-star cast with Willard White in the title role and Rosalind Plowright, Linda Finnie, Arthur Davies, and Jeremy Budd singing the various supporting parts. Conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is the late Richard Hickox, a musician who built an immense reputation for his masterful performances of choral music during his career. This release is a part of the ongoing Richard Hickox Legacy series.

" This brilliant new recording of Orff's Carmina Burana is a tragic memento of conductor Richard Hickox, who died in Novemeber at the age of sixty. This is a vibrant, dynamic performance of Orff's masterpiece recorded live in London's Barbican Centre. As usual with Chandos, engineering is first-rate, with perfect balances and wide dynamic range." -- Bob Benson, Classical CD Review

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Recorded live at the Barbican Centre in November 2007, Richard Hickox conducts Carl Orff's immensely popular dramatic cantata Carmina Burana with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and soloists, Barry Banks, Laura Claycomb and Christopher Maltman.

MusicOMH.com wrote of the performance, "The London Symphony Orchestra performed the work with all the commitment and exuberance that one expects from them... The three soloists were outstanding, singing with a unified dynamic power and depth of expression that is rare to find today...Christopher Maltman's baritone is large, and he dramatically projected every emotion and quirk in the text." Classical Source said "Hickox and his forces certainly conveyed an appropriate sense of the dramatic...Maltman had the sense of the music and histrionic demands down to a tee... Banks provided strong characterization in the high tenor writing... Claycomb conveyed the vulnerability of the soprano's music."

Orff is reputed to have declared around the time of Carmina's first performance, 'Everything I have written to date, and which you have printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin.' He had a strong interest in theatrical presentations and conceived the work as a pageant. The idea came to Orff in 1935 when he encountered an edition of medieval songs edited by the poet Johann Schmeller. The vivid and colourful songs were those sung by the goliards - hedonistic students and traveling monks who celebrated their riotous pursuits in bawdy and profane poetry. The 24 'cantiones profanae' chosen by Orff were translated and the composer set them to music for three vocal soloists, three choirs and a large orchestra featuring triple woodwind, two pianos and no fewer than five percussionists. The score's combination of gloriously infectious vulgarity interspersed with moments of genuine beauty has assured it an unquestionable position as one of the most popular of all twentieth century choral works.