{"title":"BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eb. 1922. British orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBBC Philharmonic is a well-established British orchestra based in Manchester, known for championing Nordic and contemporary repertoire alongside standard Classical\/Romantic works. Small product count in this dataset but the ensemble itself is widely recognized.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"stravinsky-violin-concerto-scherzo-a-la-russe-apollon-musagete-suites-1-2-ehnes","title":"Stravinsky: Works for Orchestra \/ Ehnes, Davis, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the foremost musicians of his generation, James Ehnes continues to dazzle audiences around the world. Here he joins the BBC Philharmonic and Sir Andrew Davis in a recording of Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto. Written for the Polish virtuoso Samuel Dushkin, the four-movement work takes the music of Bach as its inspiration, and is built around a chord of the notes D, E, and A, which Stravinsky described as his ‘passport to the concerto’ and with which the solo violin part opens each movement. Dushkin gave the premiere, conducted by Stravinsky, in Berlin in 1932.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eApollon musagète, a ballet in two parts for string orchestra, was written in 1927-28, and demonstrates the composer’s complete rejection of the Russian folk music and idioms that had been so instrumental in his previous ballets (The Firebird, Petrushka). They are replaced by a concentration on ‘pure form’, which became known as his neo-classical style. The album is completed by his two orchestral suites – light-hearted music arranged from piano duets he had written in the 1910s – and Scherzo à la russe, a showpiece for the Paul Whiteman band that he composed in the early 1940s when newly arrived in California.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":44624358703338,"sku":"095115534021","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4275147-3124357.jpg?v=1778237067"},{"product_id":"respighi-belfagor-overture-toccata-3-chorales-fantas-095115931127","title":"RESPIGHI: Belfagor Overture \/ Toccata  \/ 3 chorales \/ Fantas","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44624154034410,"sku":"095115931127","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/107419.jpg?v=1778346775"},{"product_id":"dohnanyi-symphony-no-1-american-rhapsody","title":"DOHNANYI: Symphony No. 1 \/ American Rhapsody","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44712057307370,"sku":"095115964729","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/248434.jpg?v=1778349723"},{"product_id":"arnold-clarinet-concerto-orchestral-works-collins-gamba-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Arnold: Clarinet Concerto \u0026 Orchestral Works \/ Collins, Gumba, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eRumon Gamba leads the BBC Philharmonic in this collection of lesser-known pieces by the British composer Sir Malcolm Arnold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn 1921, Arnold was inspired by Louis Armstrong to take up the trumpet at the age of twelve. Following study at the Royal College of Music, in London, he became Principal Trumpet of the London Philharmonic, in 1943 – a post he held (bar one season at the BBC Symphony Orchestra) until he moved to composing full time, in 1948.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArnold was active in many genres, writing nine symphonies, two operas, five ballets, and more than 100 film scores, including The Bridge on the River Kwai for which he won an Oscar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album features music from across his compositional career, from Larch Trees (1943) to the Philharmonic Concerto (1976) – both works written for the London Philharmonic. His Divertimento was written for the newly formed National Youth Orchestra, whilst the BBC commissioned the Commonwealth Christmas Overture for the twenty-fifth anniversary of King George VI’s first Christmas Broadcast, in 1932. The Clarinet Concerto No. 1, expertly performed here by Michael Collins, was written for Frederick (‘Jack’) Thurston who gave the première, in 1949, at the Edinburgh Festival. The album concludes with Philip Lane’s orchestration of The Padstow Lifeboat, originally composed for brass band to celebrate the launch of a new lifeboat in Padstow in 1968.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat better way to start the New Year than with a bumper disc of Malcolm Arnold at his most entertaining.  The program of this recording has been somewhat dictated by music missing from the extensive Chandos catalogue of the composer, so the result is something of a seeming hotch-potch albeit a very engaging one. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConductor Rumon Gamba and the ever-reliable BBC Philharmonic are old hands at Arnold and this style of repertoire which they play with genuine flair and engagement throughout.  While none of the repertoire is new to the catalogue, four of the works are receiving only their second commercial recordings, and, with one exception, all the other recordings of these works are over twenty years old.  Furthermore, most of those older recordings appear to be out of print.  So even if this new disc were not as fine as it is, it would pretty much have the field to itself. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most recorded work on this disc is the Clarinet Concerto No. 1 Op.20.  The soloist here is Michael Collins, who recorded it as part of the Conifer survey back in 1988. Collins’ playing is simply superb; expressive and humorous, articulate, virtuosic.  Conductor Ramon Gamba is most imaginative with his phrasing and attention to dynamics and accentuation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Divertimento No. 2 Op.24\/75 is a great example of unaffected, unbuttoned Arnold.  The flair and brio of this present recording is undeniable and affords great listening pleasure. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNear the other end of Arnold’s compositional career is the Philharmonic Concerto, Op.120 written in 1976.  This is Arnold at one of his very darkest times rather desperately trying to make out that everything is just fine while the music tells a different story.  Again this new performance is simply excellent – unflinchingly muscular and dynamic with an aggressive edge that seems wholly, if somewhat uncomfortably, appropriate.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe disc ends with a collective sigh of relief – the utterly brilliant Padstow Lifeboat in its orchestral transcription by Phillip Lane.  The original Brass Band version is incomparable and utterly “right” but Lane’s orchestration is a delight. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo an uplifting conclusion to a disc guaranteed to raise spirits in the dank winter months with performances and recordings to match or supplant any in the catalogue.  Recording dates show sessions split by the pandemic but the sound and playing is superbly consistent.  A top-notch Chandos release to start the year right down to the cover photograph of the RNLB James and Catherine Macfarlane – the eponymous Padstow Lifeboat itself. Certainly a disc to show the range and quality of Arnold’s mercurial genius in all its glory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012448342250,"sku":"095115215227","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4160716-2933864.jpg?v=1778231801"},{"product_id":"sancan-a-musical-tribute-yan-pascal-tortelier-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Sancan: A Musical Tribute \/ Bavouzet, Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eWithout question born a little too late in a century of huge upheavals, Pierre Sancan has almost completely disappeared from our memories. He nevertheless occupied a place at the heart of the history of French music in the second half of the twentieth century: composer, pianist, teacher, and an extremely endearing personality, as one will discover on this disc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis program of the Piano concerto, orchestral works, works for solo piano, and the flute Sonatine (played by Adam Walker) serves as a personal tribute to Sancan from both pianist and conductor, and will hopefully help to raise awareness of this gifted composer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012449325290,"sku":"095115215425","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4201659-2975984.jpg?v=1778234089"},{"product_id":"gipps-orchestral-works-vol-2-095115216125","title":"Gipps: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 \/ Gamba, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eRuth Gipps (1921 – 1999) was born in the English seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea. Encouraged as a child by an ambitious pianist mother, she appeared locally as a prodigy pianist. She was accepted by the Royal College of Music in 1937, at the age of sixteen, having won the Caird Scholarship. She quickly matured, both as composer and pianist. She studied with Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob, and later the oboe with Leon Goossens. During the Second World War she gained a position as oboist with the City of Birmingham Orchestra and devoted a great deal of her time to composing. Three of the works on this album were composed during the war: the Oboe Concerto, the tone poem Death on the Pale Horse, and the overture Chanticleer (derived from an opera which, sadly, she never completed). The manuscript of the Third Symphony is dated 1 November 1965 and the work was first heard when Gipps introduced it with her London Repertoire Orchestra, on 19 March 1966. Its first professional performance took place on 29 October 1969, Gipps directing the BBC Scottish Orchestra, but it has since gone largely unheard, until now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eEach of this foursome, the bulk from the 1940s, offers pungent and individual delights...Throughout the album the BBC Philharmonic plays with bright colours, a sharp attack and swaggering energy – just what this dip into Gipps deserves.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThe BBC Philharmonic sound as though they relished communing with the music throughout, and Chandos’s sound is first rate. Warmly recommended.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012450570474,"sku":"095115216125","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4129361-2896373.jpg?v=1778207572"},{"product_id":"coates-orchestral-works-vol-3-john-wilson-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 \/ Wilson, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Wilson’s third volume of the music of Eric Coates combines some of the composer’s larger-scale works with miniatures and two marches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Cinderella Phantasy frames the well-known fairy-tale from Cinderella’s perspective, glossing over the more brutal elements of the original, with some notably descriptive writing for the dream sequences, the ball and of course the happy ending.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Three Men is to some extent autobiographical, as Coates explores his love of his native Nottinghamshire countryside, his love for London and his love of the sea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Three Elizabeths is a suite of portraits of three great figures in English History – Queen Elizabeth I; Elizabeth of Glamis (then the Queen Consort, now remembered as the Queen Mother), and Princess Elizabeth (who of course became Queen Elizabeth II).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLost Love is a wistful Romance written in 1939, while the much later Sweet Seventeen is a beautiful waltz, inspired by Eric and his wife Phyliss’ love of dancing. In fact, the title refers to his first date with Phyllis, at the Blenheim Restaurant, the day before her seventeenth birthday. Two marches complete the program – the Television March was commissioned by the BBC (just three weeks before the date of broadcast!) for the resumption of television broadcasting in 1946. The Dam Busters March was used as the main title for Michael Anderson’s 1955 film and is arguably the composer’s most widely known work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThe Dam Busters march became the biggest and final hit of Coates’s career. John Wilson’s way with it – letting that tune glide in almost imperceptibly, relishing the moment when the violins decorate it, like sprinkling icing on a cake – typifies his approach.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012451586282,"sku":"095115216422","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4207016-3140385.jpg?v=1778206484"},{"product_id":"weinberg-dawn-symphony-no-12-storgards-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Weinberg: Dawn; Symphony No. 12 \/ Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery five years the Soviet Union celebrated the anniversary of the October 1917 Revolution with large-scale public events, to which the country’s leading artists were expected to contribute. Mieczyslaw Weinberg, like his friend Shostakovich, enjoyed mixed fortunes with his efforts. The symphonic poem Dawn (Zarya), Op. 60, dedicated to the fortieth anniversary of the Revolution, seems to have remained unperformed during his lifetime, despite its ideologically irreproachable content. Its première was finally given in the BBC studios in Manchester, on 15 May 2019, by the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Shostakovich died, on 9 August 1975, it had been five years since Weinberg composed his last symphony. To commemorate his friend and mentor (whom he regarded as the greatest symphonist of his age) Weinberg decided on a full-scale, four movement, non-programmatic work as his personal tribute. Symphony No. 12, written between December 1975 and February 1976 is the longest of Weinberg’s purely instrumental symphonies. Kirill Kondrashin was due to conduct the première, but his last-minute insistence on large-scale cuts and changes to the score was taken by Weinberg as a great insult, and ended their relationship. The first performance was finally given as a radio broadcast on 13 October 1979, (probably) by the USSR TV and Radio Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012452864234,"sku":"0095115216521","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4248039-3183133.jpg?v=1778220548"},{"product_id":"lloyd-the-symphonies-nos-7-12-bbc-philharmonic-philharmonia-orchestra-albany-symphony-orchestra","title":"Lloyd: The Symphonies Nos. 7-12","description":"\u003cp\u003eLloyd became a symphonist despite himself. When he was in his twenties he seemed destined to be a composer of operas and it is likely that, had the vicissitudes of war not intervened, he would have written music for the stage exclusively. In an article for the June 1939 issue of the Musical Monthly Record, Harry Farjeon wondered why music for Lloyd was ‘not centred in the concert hall but in the theatre’ and quoted the young composer as being ‘interested only in opera’. There are strong traces in the symphonies of what might have been: the intensely lyrical, cantabile nature of the writing, the intermezzo-like movements, the opera buffa qualities of the finales and the feeling for the long line which runs through those supple and sweeping melodies all denote a born opera composer. In the event his operatic aspirations were cruelly cut short and it is to his courageous, life-affirming twelve symphonies that we must look to chart his development, recovery and eventual triumph.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lyrita","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012504408298,"sku":"5020926241825","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4302559-3148204.jpg?v=1778236937"},{"product_id":"coates-orchestral-works-vol-4","title":"Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4 \/ Wilson, BBC Philhamonic","description":"John Wilson's fourth volume devoted to music by Eric Coates opens with Music Everywhere, a rousing march that was commissioned by Britain's first independent TV and radio service, Rediffusion, for use as it's signature tune. The concert waltz Footlights is a life-affirming evocation of the glamour of the inter-war West End, created just weeks before the start of the Second World War. In wartime, as it turned out, the demand for refreshing, morale-boosting music would be higher than ever. Coates's 'Souvenir' I Sing to You was premiered on 14 March 1940 - the week in which wartime meat rationing was introduced in the UK. Composed for his young son Austin, The Three Bears Phantasy transports the Goldilocks fairytale firmly into the 1920s. From Meadow to Mayfair reflects Coates's own journey from rural Nottinghamshire to life in London. Under the Stars, composed in 1928, marks the first inclusion by Coates of an alto saxophone in his orchestration. The Four Centuries Suite is one of Coates's most substantial compositions - not only in length, but also in the size of the orchestra. It's four movements evoke the musical styles of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Dedicated to his wife, Phyllis, the work is also a celebration of the couple's lifelong love of dancing.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012505030890,"sku":"095115229224","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4344120-3201827.jpg?v=1778233957"},{"product_id":"lloyd-the-piano-concertos","title":"Lloyd: The Piano Concertos","description":"If the first three piano concertos have the heft and communicative power of Lloyd's larger middle-period symphonies, the Fourth has a close affinity to the Ninth Symphony, which was completed the previous year. Both pieces exhibit an impish sense of fun, tempered by profound feelings of yearning and regret. George Lloyd approached the piano concerto form with imagination and individuality. His idiomatic solo writing avoids shallow virtuosity and empty rhetoric and there are no mighty tussles between piano and orchestral forces encountered in archetypal large-scale concertante scores. Instead, the composer offers a series of deeply personal attempts to reconcile time-honoured elements of display with symphonic preoccupations of long-range tonality, rhythmic energy and melodic growth. In sum, Lloyd's four piano concertos constitute a compelling and distinctive branch of his creative legacy. � Paul Conway","brand":"Lyrita","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012505850090,"sku":"5020926242129","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4335117-3177821.jpg?v=1778212680"},{"product_id":"macdowell-orchestral-works-vol-1","title":"MacDowell: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 \/ Xiayin Wang, Wilson, BBC Philharmonic","description":"Edward MacDowell was the most highly regarded American composer of his generation, and the first to acquire a truly international reputation. Born in New York, he briefly studied piano as a teenager at the Paris Conservatoire, but quickly left to explore what he regarded as the more congenial musical environment in Germany. He studied piano and composition in Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, and then Frankfurt. After graduating in 1880, he remained in Germany for four years, before returning home, first to Boston, for eight years, and then finally to New York where he became Columbia University's first Professor of Music. The various romantic influences that shaped the style of the First Concerto include the music of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Grieg, whilst the technical demands on the soloist reveal MacDowell's prowess as a pianist. MacDowell's enthusiasm for the symphonic poem is reflected here by the inclusion of Lancelot und Elaine and Lamia. The former was inspired by the Arthurian legend as told by Tennyson in his Idylls of the King. The work is extremely narrative, and employs Wagnerian Leitmotifs to depict each of the characters. Lamia, written some two years later and based on the poem by John Keats, was neither published nor performed in the composer's lifetime. MacDowell had planned another symphonic poem, based on the French mediaeval tale La Chanson de Roland, but the work was never completed, and the two fragments included here are all that remain. Woodland Sketches, a set of ten piano miniatures, were inspired by the idyllic environment of the MacDowells' farm, in New Hampshire. The first of these - 'To a Wild Rose' - is by far the composer's most famous piece, and made MacDowell a household name in both America and Europe.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012511977706,"sku":"095115230527","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4375860-3271937.jpg?v=1778234574"},{"product_id":"shostakovich-symphonies-nos-4-11-5060244551695","title":"Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 \u0026 11 \/ Rozhdestvensky, Orchestras of the BBC","description":"\u003cp\u003eGennady Rozhdestvensky (1931-2018) was one of Russia’s greatest conductors along with Evgeny Mravinsky and Kirill Kondrashin. His close personal and musical relationship with Shostakovich began in the 1950s and continued until the composer’s death in 1975. Rozhdestvensky said at the time, ‘It would be difficult to overestimate the significance of my relations with Dmitri Shostakovich since he opened before me a musical universe like a gigantic magnifying glass reflecting our fragile world’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRozhdestvensky conducted the first western premiere of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.4 in Edinburgh in 1962 and after many subsequent performances internationally, it was also the inaugural piece in his tenure as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1979-81). Composed in 1936 but condemned by the Soviet authorities, it did not receive its first performance until 1961 in Moscow. The epic Symphony No.11, given a dramatic performance by the BBC Philharmonic in 1997, is based on revolutionary folksongs relating to the 1905 Russian Revolution, and received the Lenin Prize in 1958. Despite this, questions arose as to whether Shostakovich was denouncing the Soviet regime’s brutal treatment of its opponents in it, specifically the 1956 invasion of Hungary or the Tsarist tyranny and oppression of 1905, to which there are no conclusive answers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ICA Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012565717226,"sku":"5060244551695","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4122984-2883090.jpg?v=1778241600"},{"product_id":"stravinsky-symphonies-divertimento-andrew-davis-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Stravinsky: Symphonies; Divertimento \/ A. Davis, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Symphony in C was conceived in Paris in the late 1930s, but completed in America in 1940, and is dedicated to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and premièred in 1946, the Symphony in Three Movements presents us with movements that also manifest different ways of moving: a march, a slow dance, and a march-jog-race. The Greeting Prelude was written as an eightieth birthday tribute to Pierre Monteux, conductor of the premières of Pétrouchka and The Rite of Spring, and was first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the very day: 4 April 1955. The other two pieces on the album reflect Stravinsky’s lifelong involvement with ballet. The Divertimento is an orchestral piece extracted by Stravinsky from his ballet The Fairy’s Kiss. The ballet was a homage to Tchaikovsky, based on songs and piano pieces by him, stitched together and orchestrated with Stravinskian cool. The Circus Polka was a commission from Stravinsky’s long-time collaborator George Balanchine, who had been asked by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum \u0026amp; Bailey Circus to create a dance for elephants. The version heard here is the composer’s own orchestral version; the original was scored for circus band and organ by David Raksin, and performed by fifty elephants and fifty female dancers!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eIt’s easy to underestimate the depth and breadth of Andrew Davis’s repertoire and indeed his sterling qualities as a conductor – his ebullience, robust sense of rhythm and razor-sharp ears. All of which are much in evidence in this generous compendium of Stravinsky.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012569256170,"sku":"095115531525","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4140908-3140402.jpg?v=1778234703"},{"product_id":"shostakovich-symphonies-nos-12-15-storgards-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 12 \u0026 15 \/ Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe BBC Philharmonic and its new Chief Conductor, John Storgårds, follow their previous release of Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony with this album of Symphonies Nos 12 and 15. Subtitled ‘The Year 1917’, the Twelfth Symphony was a project which Shostakovich had been planning and discussing for two decades – a symphony about Lenin. The first movement, ‘Revolutionary Petrograd’, depicts the arrival of Lenin in Petrograd in April 1917 and his meetings with the working people of the city. The second, ‘Razliv’, commemorates the site of Lenin’s retreat to the north of the city. ‘Aurora’, the third movement, refers to the Russian battleship the revolutionary mutinous crew of which fired the first shot of the attack on the Winter Palace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, ‘The Dawn of Humanity’ celebrates the ultimate victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. Musically, the Twelfth seems to regress to a more simplistic musical language than that of the immediately preceding Symphony – which some commentators ascribe to Shostakovich’s joining the Communist Party and perhaps trying harder to meet its expectations. The Fifteenth (and last) Symphony was written entirely in July 1971, at a composer’s rest home in Repino, north-west of Leningrad. It was his first non-programmatic symphony since the Tenth, and Shostakovich was wary of discussing the meaning of it, but eventually commented that it might be understood as representing the journey from life to death.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012580495594,"sku":"095115533420","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4182405-2957334.jpg?v=1778243423"},{"product_id":"takemitsu-spectral-canticle-karlsen-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Takemitsu: Spectral Canticle \/ Karlsen, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first Japanese composer to achieve international status, Toru Takemitsu proposed a fusion between Western music and the culture of his country. His music radiates a lyrical intensity that comes as much from his roots in the early modernists Debussy and Alban Berg as from his affinity with the more overtly experimental mid-twentieth-century styles of John Cage and Morton Feldman. Played throughout the world, he is considered one of the most important composers of the second half of the 20th century. Of the four works gathered here, three feature the guitar. Inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson, Spectral Canticle takes the listener through elusive sonic transformations corresponding to the changing seasons evoked by the poem. To the Edge of Dream has an eerie mood and celebrates the haunting, often sinister paintings of Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux. Also inspired by a work of art, Vers, l’arc-en-ciel, Palma, with its refined writing, is close to the spectral composers. Finally, Twill by Twilight for orchestra expresses the moment, just after sunset, when twilight turns into darkness in a delicate and uncluttered pointillism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"ctl00_MainContent_gvReviews_cell14_12_ASPxPopupControl1_ASPxLabel2\" class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003eClearly all the soloists were prepared for this challenging music-making, as was the BBC Philharmonic. With informative liner notes, one comes away from this recording with an excellent sense of Takemitsu’s writing for guitar and orchestra.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003e-- American Record Guide\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"ctl00_MainContent_gvReviews_cell11_12_ASPxPopupControl1_ASPxLabel2\" class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003eExceptional accounts here of four of the Japanese composer’s works, with soloists and orchestra alive to the extraordinary coexistence of stillness and threat in Takemitsu’s writing. Startlingly vivid, his sound pictures capture the changing of light, seasons, emotions and memories with unblinking clarity.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003e-- The Sunday Times (UK)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012656746730,"sku":"7318599926551","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4201640-2974999.jpg?v=1778206944"},{"product_id":"ben-haim-music-of-israel-wellber-bbc-397034","title":"Ben-Haim: Music of Israel \/ Wellber, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003ePaul Frankenburger, (born in Munich on 5 July 1897) was a successful conductor and composer in Bavaria, until he lost his position at the Augsburg Opera due to a financial crisis at the opera house. In 1933, he left Germany and immigrated to Mandatory Palestine. Immediately upon arriving at the new country, he changed his name to Paul Ben- Haim, and within a few years he established himself as a cultural icon, a highly esteemed and influential composer, and the founder of a new musical tradition. Some consider Ben-Haim the national composer of the young state established in 1948, fifteen years after his immigration. The compositions on this album are closely linked to those dramatic years, during which he changed homelands, swapped identities, and, to a large degree, even replaced, or forged, his own unique personal style. Omer Meir Wellber, new chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, makes his Chandos debut with this first album in a series dedicated to exploring the music of Israel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012913320170,"sku":"095115216927","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3862613-2624277.jpg?v=1778250774"},{"product_id":"the-film-music-of-gerard-schurmann-gamba-110770","title":"The Film Music of Gerard Schurmann \/ Gamba, BBC Philharmonic","description":"Born in 1924 in the then Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), Gerard Schurmann grew up in England, and after serving in the Royal Air Force during the war, combined his career as a concert pianist with a diplomatic role as Cultural Attache at the Netherlands Embassy. On the recommendation of Alan Rawsthorne, Ealing Studios commissioned Schurmann for the score for the Jack Hawkins police drama ‘The Long Arm’ (released as ‘The Third Key’ in the US). More commissions followed, initially from the burgeoning British 1950s horror scene (represented here by Konga and Horrors of the Black Museum and then from mainstream cinema. ‘The Ceremony,’ directed by and starring Laurence Harvey was followed by ‘Dr. Syn, alias The Scarecrow’ and the WWII action movie ‘Attack on the Iron Coast,’ starring Lloyd Bridges. Rumon Gamba completes this overview with scores from Claretta, a lavish portrayal of the final days of Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci; and finally the 1997 film ‘The Gambler’ in which Sir Michael Gambon vividly portrayed the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  -----\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  REVIEW:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  This is a hugely enjoyable presentation in all respects, one that redresses the imbalance of a composer known for too long as the orchestrator of other people’s music. In these sharply etched performances he can be appreciated in his own right as a key figure in the lexicon of film composers already represented in this fine series.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  – Gramophone","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012958933226,"sku":"095115197929","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3679493-2411253.jpg?v=1778245103"},{"product_id":"kullberg-norgard-saariaho-remembering-kullberg-bywalec-943894","title":"Kullberg, Nørgård, Saariaho: Remembering \/ Kullberg, Bywalec, Francis, Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn Remembering, the Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg continues his collaborations with two of the foremost Nordic composers: Per Nørgård and Kaija Saariaho. Praised internationally for his performances of the modern cello concerto, Kullberg regards the concerto form as the encounter of an individual soloist with the sound world of a composer. With living composers this approach often results in an unusual degree of collaboration, as the works gathered here bear witness to. Since 1999, Kullberg has enjoyed a close and unique partnership with Nørgård which has resulted in a large number of works. Between, the opening work on the album, hails from a time before this, but Nørgård’s viola concerto Remembering Child in its version for the cello is very much an example of Kullberg’s process. He has not only transferred the concerto to his own instruments, but has also – in consultation with the composer – written his own cadenza as well as added details to the score. Likewise, at a climactic point exactly halfway through Saariaho’s concerto Notes on Light, Kullberg creates an expressive space of his own, with a two-minute cadenza he has composed himself. In this work, as well as in Nørgård’s Between, Kullberg is supported by the BBC Philharmonic, with Sinfonia Varsovia appearing in the closing concerto.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012972171498,"sku":"7318590026021","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3994717-2734151.jpg?v=1778230191"},{"product_id":"bruckner-symphony-no-6-mena-bbc-937380","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 \/ Mena, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra","description":"\u003ctable\u003e  \u003ctbody\u003e  \u003ctr\u003e  \u003ctd\u003eConsidered by some to be the ‘Cinderella’ of his symphonies, the Sixth Symphony of Anton Bruckner was composed in 1879 – 81. It may well demonstrate a reaction to the severe criticism of the first Viennese performance, in 1877, of his Third Symphony, which Eduard Hanslick described as a vision of how Beethoven’s Ninth befriends Wagner’s Walküre and ends up being trampled under her horses’ hoofs’. Much the shortest of his mature symphonies, the Sixth also reverts to a more classical form than its predecessors. This recording was made in 2012, during the first season of Juanjo Mena as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, and just a month before their acclaimed performance of the work at the BBC Proms. Classical Source commented: ‘Mena didn’t miss a trick and the result for the whole symphony was a revelation, and you don’t get many of those. This was a thrilling, delightful performance.’\u003c\/td\u003e  \u003c\/tr\u003e  \u003c\/tbody\u003e  \u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013120151786,"sku":"095115222126","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3978760-2718280.jpg?v=1778262228"},{"product_id":"v2-orchestral-works-396595","title":"Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 \/ Wilson, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor the second volume of the music of Eric Coates, John Wilson has built his programme around three contrasting ‘major’ works. The Suite Summer Days was premiered in October 1919, shortly after Henry Wood had fired Coates from his position as lead viola in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra. An immediate hit, the suite received rave reviews and many more performances. It was recorded in 1926, Sir Edward Elgar telling Coates that he had played it so often that he had worn out the album! The Selfish Giant, from 1925, based on Oscar Wilde’s story, was the first in a series of highly successful musical retellings of fairy tales. The Enchanted Garden originated in a commission from the Swedish Broadcasting Company. Although he described The Enchanted Garden as a ballet, Coates conceived it principally as a concert work. Composed in June and July 1938, it was premiered in a BBC radio broadcast in November that year, immediately before Coates took it on tour to Stockholm. Of the other, shorter pieces on the album, Calling All Workers is arguably Coates’s best-known work, composed in the summer of 1940 and dedicated ‘to all who work’. The march was adopted by the BBC as the signature tune for their new daily radio show ‘Music While You Work’, and was heard twice daily for twenty-seven years – clocking up more than 16,000 broadcast performances.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe second volume in John Wilson’s Eric Coates edition for Chandos reprises the excellence to be found in the first. Wilson has recorded much Coates for other labels but to find him return to the repertoire in a more formalized way is especially good news.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilson has been a Coates champion for decades and has the natural lightness of touch to make these works, including a substantial ballet, The Enchanted Garden, and an Oscar Wilde-based phantasy, The Selfish Giant, sparkle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– Sunday Times (UK)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013201055978,"sku":"095115214824","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3851162-2606276.jpg?v=1778245098"},{"product_id":"dohnanyi-piano-concerto-no-1-etc-shelley-243324","title":"Dohnányi: Piano Concerto No 1, Etc \/ Shelley, Bamert, Et Al","description":"\u003cp\u003eDohnányi's works are characterized by their fluency, rich sense of harmony, and mastery of instrumentation and form. Dohnányi expressed his romantic hertiage in the perfect forms of the eighteenth century, which he used as a framework for his highly vivacious and lyrical music. Thsi does not mean the he simply produced replicas; rather, he succeeded in combining classical form with the Lisztian concpet of motifs being developed and binding together a large-scale work. Recorded in: New Broadcasting House, Manchester 12-14 September 2001 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Mike George Sound Engineer(s) Stephen Rinker Christopher Brooke (Assistant) \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013212229866,"sku":"095115964927","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/405052_f887499b-3e1e-4195-8613-0ed901df91b0.jpg?v=1778343431"},{"product_id":"the-film-music-of-adrian-johnston-brideshead-87089","title":"The Film Music Of Adrian Johnston - Brideshead Revisited \/ Davies","description":"\u003cp\u003eDirected by Julian Jarrold, Evelyn Waugh's novel, Brideshead Revisited receives its first cinematic adaptation this summer with a cast which includes Academy-Award winner Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Matthew Goode, Hayley Atwell and Ben Whishaw. The screenplay is written by Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies. Brideshead Revisited follows the memoirs of Charles Ryder and his involvement with the Flyte family who own the Brideshead Estate. It relives the hedonistic days of 1920s Oxford University and tells an evocative story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence with particular focus on Charles's relationship with brother and sister, Sebastian and Julia and their mother, Lady Marchmain. Chandos is delighted to have been given the opportunity to record Adrian Johnston's soundtrack, the first original film score on Chandos Movies. Having won both BAFTA and Emmy Awards for his scores, Adrian Johnston has had an impressive career in television and film to date including Becoming Jane, Kinky Boots, The Mayor of Casterbridge and White Teeth. Adrian Johnston writes of the Brideshead Revisited recording \"I was thrilled to have an opportunity to work with Chandos - a label whose philosophy I have always liked, and whose CDs of Philip Lane's fine film score reconstruction I have particularly admired. I know that to release a 'non historical' film score was somewhat of a departure for the label, but I hope that Brideshead Revisited can somehow exist as a Chandos product, and perhaps open up the way for future film music collaborations.\" The BBC Philharmonic is conducted by Olivier Award winner Terry Davies who has a wide range of credits in film, theatre and TV including Shakespeare in Love, Becoming Jane, House of Mirth and A Midsummer Night's Dream.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013219799274,"sku":"095115149928","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1379226.jpg?v=1778324101"},{"product_id":"gregson-dream-song-095115182222","title":"Gregson: Dream Song; Works for Orchestra \/ Tovey, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdward Gregson (b. 1945), one of Britain’s most versatile and prolific composers, has gained worldwide recognition for his approachable and engaging music.  With the BBC Philharmonic, Bramwell Tovey conducts orchestral works, including two recently arranged for ensemble in the Horn Concerto and Aztec Dances, that take inspiration from an array of musical and extra-musical sources, revealing the breadth of Gregson’s musical imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013464183018,"sku":"095115182222","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2591664.jpg?v=1778381631"},{"product_id":"poulenc-organ-concerto-widor-guilmant-tracey-tortelier-103023","title":"Poulenc: Organ Concerto; Widor, Guilmant \/ Tracey, Tortelier","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded in: Liverpool Cathedral 26-27 October 1993 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Don Hartridge \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025284255978,"sku":"095115927120","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/107397.jpg?v=1778350015"},{"product_id":"the-film-music-of-richard-addinsell-87068","title":"The Film Music Of Richard Addinsell","description":"\u003cp\u003eIncludes work(s) by Richard Addinsell.  Ensemble: B. B. C. Philharmonic Orchestra.  Conductor: Rumon Gamba.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46026646388970,"sku":"095115104620","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/494356.jpg?v=1778345911"},{"product_id":"roussel-bacchus-et-ariane-etc-tortelier-bbc-164624","title":"Roussel: Bacchus Et Ariane, Etc \/ Tortelier, Bbc Phil","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded in: New Broadcasting House, Manchester 20,21 March 1996 Producer(s) Ralph Couzens Brian Pidgeon Sound Engineer(s) Don Hartridge \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46026659299562,"sku":"095115949429","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/107547.jpg?v=1778184889"},{"product_id":"ginastera-orchestral-works-2-mena-wang-manchester-87104","title":"Ginastera: Orchestral Works 2 \/ Mena, Wang, Manchester Chamber Choir, BBC Philharmonic","description":"Also available:  \u003ca href=\"album.jsp?album_id=2161945\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eGinastera: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 \/ Mena, BBC Philharmonic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  This is the second in our three-volume series of Juanjo Mena's idiomatic exploration of Ginastera's orchestra works with the BBC Philharmonic. The series was started to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the greatest of all Argentinean composers, Vol. 1 - receiving uniformly high praise. This album features a late work, lesser-known, yet rich in surprises, namely the Second Piano Concerto. Here the keen musicality and sweeping virtuosity of Xiayin Wang meet the sumptuous sound of the BBC orchestra. It succeeds her recording of concertos by Tchaikovsky and Khachaturian with the RSNO which was made Editor's Choice by Gramophone. It is coupled with the exotic early ballet Panambi, heard complete with a concluding contribution from the Manchester Chamber Choir.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027380949226,"sku":"095115192320","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3493107.jpg?v=1778264992"},{"product_id":"respighi-orchestral-music-noseda-bbc-po-79482","title":"Respighi: Orchestral Music \/ Noseda, BBC PO","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eRESPIGHI \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eBurlesca.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003e Preludio, corale e fuga. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eRossiniana. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eRACHMANINOFF \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e(Orch. Respighi)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e 5 Études-tableaux \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e• \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eGianandrea Noseda, cond; BBC PO \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e• \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12U\"\u003eCHANDOS\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e 10388 (73:04) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eWhen I played an RAI recording of Respighi’s puppet opera \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLa bella dormente nel bosco\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e on a radio program in Dallas about 30 years ago, we received several enthusiastic calls—none more so than that of an individual who liked the work immensely and had been, until then, unaware that the composer had ever written anything other than a few tone poems and the three \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAncient Airs and Dances\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e suites. An extreme case, perhaps, but matters have improved since then for Respighi. There will never be any lack of musical fountains or pines about Rome for anyone to appreciate, but a lot more of the composer’s music has visibility now, and an attentive public. The \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePreludio, corale e fuga\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e appears occasionally on concert programs, and I’m sure we’ll soon hear that the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBurlesca\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e is doing the same. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePreludio, corale e fuga\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e was composed in 1900, when Respighi was taking lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg. The work was written under the older master’s supervision; and certainly his touch can be heard in some of the harmonic progressions, the characteristic use of the strings and winds (especially the flutes), and the transformation of themes. There’s much of Respighi already present, however, notably in the arresting brass chorale (before it is harmonized and enters an Eastern Orthodox church), and the fugue subject and its chromatic treatment. Above all, the scope of the work and its mix of rigor and fancy point to a young, ambitious composer of considerable promise. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eMore consistently interesting is the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBurlesca\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, a phantasmagoric piece despite its title, rather than something mock-serious like Strauss’s \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBurleske\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. The shape and harmonization of the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBurlesca\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e’s main theme and the piece’s use of pedal points seem to point to Sibelius. As the work was composed in 1906, the possibility of influence cannot be set aside. Still, Sibelius wasn’t given to this kind of filigree work, and it is the subtlety, rather than the overt brilliance of the orchestration, as well as its suitability to the task, that impresses the most. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRossiniana\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e is nowhere near as well known as \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLa boutique fantasque\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, but the source is the same: Rossini’s large collection of incidental piano music, nearly all of it composed late in life. It appeared in 1925 and was a success at its premiere, but has been eclipsed through the years by a suite drawn from the ballet. By contrast, while \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRossiniana\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e still gets heard on occasion, that can’t be said of the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFive études-tableaux\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. They began life as Rachmaninoff’s ops. 33 and 39 piano collections from 1911 and 1917, respectively. For whatever reason, the composer had no interest in orchestrating a selection of these, so it was left to Serge Koussevitzky to suggest Respighi as a likely candidate. Rachmaninoff agreed; and the results come surprisingly close, not merely in the romantic, fantastical and warlike passages, but in singling out the mordant thread that runs through both “La Foire” and “Le Chaperon rouge et le loup.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eI find the value of these performances to be mixed. Noseda strives above all for clarity, which yields a harvest of welcome orchestral detail from this orchestrally brilliant composer. At times the conductor is too willing to sacrifice momentum and accent, as in the final “Marche” of the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFive études-tableaux\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e that frankly, falls flat; yet the concluding “Tarantella” of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRossiniana\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e has all the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ebrio\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e one could desire. The “Marche funèbre” from the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFive études-tableaux\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e is colorful but prosaic—too fast and heavy in its tread; but nothing could be lighter or honed more delicately than the filigree work in the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBurlesca\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. Throughout the program, individual soloists are too reticent, but Noseda coaxes a fat, beautiful Russian sound from his sections. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe “Tarantella” to one side, there are certainly better versions of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRossiniana\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e available, though many now fall into the category of historical. Dorati’s old recording with the Royal Philharmonic on Decca 444106 has been re-released under arrangement with ArkivMusic, and is well worth pursuing for its infectious high spirits. Good, too, is Janigro\/Vienna SO (Vanguard 41), another vintage release, despite an orchestra that was never within striking distance of the BBC Philharmonic in matters of virtuosity. Dorati and Janigro knew how to bring this music to life. On the evidence of this album, Noseda is still learning. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eBut in the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBurlesca\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePreludio, corale e fuga\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e his only competition comes from a slapdash pair of performances featuring Adriano and the Slovak RSO in coarse sound (Naxos 8.557820). So if you want those works, and in excellent sound, too, this disc becomes self-recommending. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Barry Brenesal \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027381145834,"sku":"095115138823","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1006657.jpg?v=1778338443"},{"product_id":"prokofiev-complete-works-for-violin-ehnes-218420","title":"Prokofiev: Complete Works for Violin \/ Ehnes","description":"This two-CD set offers all the works that Prokofiev wrote for the violin as solo instrument. One of the most sought-after and acclaimed virtuoso violinists today, James Ehnes is accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and by the pianist Andrew Armstrong, with whom he has previously made a number of highly acclaimed Chandos recordings. The distinguished Amy Schwartz Moretti joins him in the Sonata for Two Violins.-  \u003ci\u003eChandos\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Reviews\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Orchestral Choice \"... James Ehnes’s particular combination of matchless virtuosity, sweet tone, flowing tempi and interpretative restraint suits all this music down to the ground... the contribution of the BBC Philharmonic is distinguished throughout ... Strongly recommended.\" David Gutman - Gramophone magazine - October 2013\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  “Wow. Everything works here. James Ehnes rarely disappoints, and the playing on this beautifully recorded two-disc set is immaculate. It’s not just the musicality, the remarkable ability to give shape and colour to the thorniest solo writing, but his modesty – he’s a player who knows exactly when to step back and let collaborators take the spotlight… Unmissable.” Graham Rickson – theartsdesk.com – 28 September 2013\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"... Ehnes and his pianist give performances worthy of the giants (Oistrakh and Richter) for whom their parts were conceived.\" Hugh Canning - The Sunday Times - 8 September 2013\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Classical CD of the Week \"... Ehnes is joined by Amy Schwartz Moretti for an electrifying performance of the duo sonata... In their mix of lyricism and sharpe-edged rhythmic and harmonic piquancy. Ehnes and Moretti are absolutely spot on in defining the music’s character. This is playing that truly grabs you by the scruff of the neck and commands attention... For the two concertos Ehnes teams up again with an orchestra and conductor he knows well - the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda - who yield apt, complimentary shades of colouring, both brilliant and pungent, to match Ehnes’s superb artistry.\" ***** Geoffrey Norris - The Daily Telegraph - 28 September 2013\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"... the sound is terrific, and given the excellence of the performance throughout, and the convenience of having all of these works ’under one roof’. as it were, there’s no reason to put off acquiring this set...\" Raymond S Tuttle - International Record Review - October 2013\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"... Prokofiev wrote tuneful music, rich and rhythmic, and James Ehnes is outstanding in bringing this attractive music to life.\" Peter Spaull - Liverpool Post - 19 September 2013","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027383505130,"sku":"095115178720","price":43.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2309565.jpg?v=1778289849"},{"product_id":"antheil-orchestral-works-vol-1-storgards-bbc-56471","title":"Antheil: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 \/ Storgards, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlongside its ongoing much-lauded Copland series, the BBC Philharmonic embarks on a new American journey, this time with its chief guest conductor, John Storgards. Known as ‘the bad boy of music,’ George Antheil began his career with a reputation as an enfant terrible, composing shockingly avant-garde works such as his every popular Ballet mecanique, inspired by the dynamism and dissonances of Stravinsky’s early ballets. Although he is well established on the film music scene, too, it is his symphonic output-sampled here- that today survives in the concert hall. This new series documents the evolution of his musical style, which moved towards a fundamentally tonal and melody-based idiom, Antheil joining the growing ranks of famous US symphonists. The war-inspired Fourth Symphony and ‘joyous’ Fifth clearly represent this compositional shift, breaking with what the composer called the ‘now passe’ modernism. Also here is the premiere recording of the Texas-inspired Over the Plains, memorable for its allusions to cowboy music and offering some unexpectedly dramatic and atmospheric twists along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027383767274,"sku":"095115194126","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3629441.jpg?v=1778286110"},{"product_id":"holst-orchestral-works-vol-2-davis-bbc-62451","title":"Holst: Orchestral Works Vol. 2 \/ Davis, BBC Philharmonic","description":"This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e A Gramophone Disc of the Month\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ctitle\u003e3513280.az_HOLST_Planets_1.html\u003c\/title\u003e  \u003cmeta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eHOLST \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eThe Planets.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e Beni Mora. Japanese Suite \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Andrew Davis, cond; BBC PO; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eManchester CCh \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e CHANDOS CHSA 5086 (SACD: 78:25) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAs unlikely as it seems, this appears to be the only SACD of Holst’s orchestral \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003etour de force\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e currently listed on ArkivMusic; another on Chesky, with Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz, is available on British websites. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eBoth sonically—in two or five channels—and musically, this is a very impressive \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePlanets\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. Certain labels have always had a distinctive sound, and this is especially true of Chandos. The sound of this disc is typical of Chandos’s best orchestral recordings: There is more sense of the hall—in this instance Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall—than on most other labels, a feature particularly evident in SACD mode, but the recording still is immediate enough to pack a real wallop. Listen, for example, to the organ pedal in “Saturn,” or the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003effff \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003efull-organ glissando at the end of “Uranus.” The dynamic range in “Mars” is huge, and the offstage women’s voices in “Neptune” come from some unknown place. The BBC Philharmonic, surely among England’s top orchestras by now, plays superbly; “Mercury” is on the button, “Jupiter” polished rather than ragged as so often heard. The women of the Manchester Chamber Choir sing with pure tone and perfect intonation, again a refreshing change from most versions. Sir Andrew Davis, now a seasoned veteran, gives a reading of which Sir Adrian Boult would have been proud, atmospheric in “Venus,” light in “Mercury,” and monumental in “Saturn.” Put another way, “Mercury” is mercurial, “Saturn” saturnine, “Jupiter” jovial. This \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePlanets \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003ewould be a high recommendation in stereo; for multichannel listeners it’s a must. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis release is titled \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eHolst: Orchestral Works, Volume 2\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e; Volume 1, which turned out to be the final recording by the late Richard Hickox, included four ballet scores from late in Holst’s career. (The reviewer for a well-known British magazine cited the “splendid and fulsome sound” of that disc, perhaps illustrating Shaw’s observation that England and America are two countries separated by a common language.) According to Chandos’s Ralph Couzens, the series was to have culminated in \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Planets\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, but the plan obviously had to be revised. Volume 1 was reviewed in \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e 32:6 by Peter J. Rabinowitz, who found some of the scores rather weak; I suspect that, rather than marking any decline in Holst’s creativity, the problem lies in the differences between the music Holst wrote for amateurs (including at least two of the works in Volume 1) and for professionals. The three works in the present volume were not only all written for professionals, but date from around the same time: \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Planets\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e was written in 1914–16, the \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eJapanese Suite\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e during the composition of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Planets\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBeni Mora\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (subtitled “Oriental Suite”) a bit earlier, in 1909–10. Of the two shorter suites, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBeni Mora\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, inspired by a trip to Algeria, is the more interesting. The \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eJapanese Suite\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e was written for a Japanese dancer, who provided Holst with the themes; for once (in contrast to the Second Suite for Military Band and his many choral folk-song settings), the themes seem to limit Holst’s imagination, and the work lacks the vitality of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eBeni Mora. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe shade of Boult looms large over these performances; his recordings of the two shorter works for Lyrita (SRCD 222) still sound terrific, and are a bit more incisive than Davis’s mostly admirable readings. As for \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Planets\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, of course, Boult was the conductor of the informal first performance in 1918, and his five recordings, particularly the two stereo versions for EMI—dating from 1966 and 1978!—are uniquely authoritative. But Davis’s interpretation is compelling in its own right, and Chandos’s sonics blow away even EMI’s fine sound. This SACD is superb both musically and sonically, and Davis’s grasp of Holst’s idiom bodes well for further volumes in Chandos’s Holst cycle. Highly recommended! \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Richard A. Kaplan \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46027384979690,"sku":"095115508626","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1806860.jpg?v=1778316824"},{"product_id":"arriaga-overtures-herminie-other-works-095115207727","title":"Arriaga: Overtures, Herminie \u0026 Other Works","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpanish music specialist and former Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Juanjo Mena continues the series La Música de España, which has seen the recording of some of the orchestral works of de Falla, Turina and Albéniz, with another important Spanish composer: Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, nicknamed after his death as ‘the Spanish Mozart’.The orchestral overture to ‘Los esclavos felices’ (The Happy Slaves) is all that remains of the opera the child prodigy Arriaga wrote aged 14. When Arriaga moved to Paris to study under Fétis, Guérin and Baillot in 1821, he revised the overture, making changes to the instrumentation and removing a third theme group. It is the revised version heard on this recording. Air from Médée and Herminie form parts of the autograph volume ‘Ensayos lírico-dramáticos’ (Lyric-dramatic essays) that completes this release, here sung by one of Scandinavia’s most sought after concert singers, Berit Norbakken Solset. Tonally ambiguous Symphony in D minor (which begins and ends in D major) alongside the Overture in D major, which was written ‘without having learnt the principles of harmony’ are proof that Arriaga’s premature death aged 19 was a ‘sad loss to Basque music’.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027386224874,"sku":"095115207727","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3891068.jpg?v=1778253302"},{"product_id":"dohnanyi-veil-of-pierrette-variations-etc-bamert-204580","title":"Dohnányi: Veil Of Pierrette, Variations, Etc \/ Bamert, Et Al","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded in: New Broadcasting House, Manchester 22-23 October 1998 Producer(s) Brian Pidgeon Mike George Sound Engineer(s) Stephen Rinker Richard Smoker (Assistant) \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027476664554,"sku":"095115973325","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/268576.jpg?v=1778184956"},{"product_id":"bach-transcriptions-slatkin-bbc-po-164274","title":"Bach Transcriptions \/ Slatkin, BBC PO","description":"\u003cp\u003eAll tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027476861162,"sku":"095115983522","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/322650.jpg?v=1778185027"},{"product_id":"the-film-tv-music-of-christopher-gunning-70572","title":"The Film \u0026 TV Music Of Christopher Gunning","description":"\u003cb\u003eRomantic music for the screen - smooth and touching.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ctitle\u003e3453190.az_GUNNING_Poirot_Variants_1.html\u003c\/title\u003e  \u003cmeta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eGUNNING \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003ePoirot Variants.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e La Móme Piaf.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e2\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e Under Suspicion. Cold Lazarus. Rosemary and Thyme Caprice.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e3\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e Rebecca.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e4\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e Pollyanna. Firelight. When the Whales Came.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e5\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e The Hollow. 5 Little Pigs.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e6\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e Lighthouse Hill \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eRumon Gamba, cond; BBC Phil; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e1\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eMartin Robertson(sax); \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e2,5\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eNicole Tibbels (sop); \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e2\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eMatthew Compton (acc); \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e3\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eCraig Ogden (gtr); \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e4\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eJulia Bradshaw (vc); \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"SUPER12\"\u003e6\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eYuri Torchinsky (vn) \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e CHANDOS 10625 (75:50) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eSome 20 years ago a friend alerted me to a limited-edition recording of the score for a British television documentary, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eYorkshire Glory\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. This gloriously lyrical music in a richly pastoral vein was my introduction to the work of Christopher Gunning (b.1944), a composer who is reinvigorating the timeless tradition of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Finzi, et al. However, this pupil of Richard Rodney Bennett as well as Edmund Rubbra can, when appropriate, also demonstrate an acute awareness of postwar developments in English music, as this generous and varied compendium of his film and television music over the past two decades makes clear. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis collection marks the first time in Chandos’s indispensable movie-music series when a living composer has directly participated in the presentation of his scores. Gunning has prepared special versions for this particular project in the form of small-scaled but through-composed tone poems, not the customary sequence of disconnected excerpts. So the listener can experience this disc as a kind of multimovement suite of diverse moods, because of the high consistency and individuality of the writing. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAlthough only a few of the films and television series will be familiar to American audiences, two of the well-known highlights open the program. The \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePoirot Variants \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003efor saxophone and orchestra—a totally independent work from the composer who gave us the lovely\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003e Thames Rhapsody\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e for the same combination (available on a Dutton Epoch disc of several years ago)—is based on the well-known wily and insinuating theme that introduced the popular BBC series starring David Suchet. The following piece, for accordion and orchestra, is derived from music for the acclaimed film biography of French legendary singer Edith Piaf, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLa Vie en Rose\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. The alternation of film and television scores continues with the 1990s thriller \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eUnder Suspicion\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e starring Liam Neeson, and the great television dramatist Dennis Potter’s final effort, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eCold Lazarus. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003eBoth of these illustrate Gunning’s darker and more melodramatic side. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThen follow a number of lesser-known television productions: a sprightly, folk-inflected caprice for the series \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRosemary and Thyme\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e; yet another adaptation of the romantic perennial \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRebecca\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (a haunting prelude for cello and orchestra); the family-styled \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ePollyanna\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (full of the usual good tunes); two individual Poirot episodes—\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Hollow\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFive Little Pigs—\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003eand finally an obscure British film (never issued here), \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLighthouse Hill. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThe most impressive compilations here are drawn from two somewhat better-known films, the romantic dramas \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFirelight \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003eof 1997 and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eWhen the Whales Came,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e the earliest score included, from 1989, where Gunning’s use of an eerie soprano vocalise recalls Vaughan Williams’s \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eScott of the Antarctic\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e music. Both of these emphasize Gunning’s exceptionally scenic imagination and his natural gift for the telling and memorable theme garbed in a lustrous orchestration. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAs always in this series, conductor Rumon Gamba, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Chandos recording staff offer this endlessly appealing music in the best possible light. Anyone who loves the traditional school of English music will not be disappointed. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Paul A. Snook \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The case of Christopher Gunning has been well and truly taken up by Chandos. Last year we had two of his six symphonies and the oboe concerto (review). Now the genre that brought him to wide attention is tackled.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e It's mostly suave music for television. We start with the Poirot Variants for sax and orchestra. This is a combination he has tackled before in On Hungerford Bridge on ASV (review). A smooth fantasy touches on train rhythms, Buenos Aires dance-halls and a worldly romantic lassitude. Martin Robertson's saxophone presents the music without rough edges, subtle and undulating: not a trace of rasp. La Môme Piaf - 2007 film – quite rightly fears no cliché in deploying the accordion. It's all very romantic. Under Suspicion leaves such smoothness behind in a gruff nightmare-image speaking of the ruptured emotional landscapes of late Malcolm Arnold … though tenderness does arrive. The Cold Lazarus (1996) music is at first ascetic and doom-laden with whip-like dactyls reaching out. From this Fahrenheit 451 chill arises the most glorious romantic theme - almost Born Free or Howard Hanson Second Symphony. The Rosemary and Thyme Caprice has the closely recorded Craig Ogden confiding Scarborough Fair to the listener in an English countryside evocation. Rebecca showcases the cellist Julia Bradshaw in another dark-clouded piece completely in keeping with the brooding and intensely romantic spirit of the Daphne du Maurier book. It's well worth hearing. Innocent folk voices abound in Pollyana which is heavily freighted with charm. Woodwind solos and piano are prominent. Firelight - 1997 film - is among his most popular scores yet is quite low key and contained. This is not a grand statement and the music is heavily characterised by Yuri Torchinsky's tremblingly vulnerable violin. When the Whales Came - 1989 film - is quite naturally threaded through with the spirit of the sea. There are added elements such as a slowed whale-song recording (like Hovhaness and George Crumb, in that sense only) and a vocalising soprano. The Hollow and Five Little Pigs are from Poirot episodes. The first is very romantic and memorable. The second is sly and ambivalent in mood as voiced by the solo violin. Lighthouse Hill - film, 2004 - is again hyper-romantic and rounded in its progress. I was rather sad that there was nothing here from Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male or from Porterhouse Blue or from Middlemarch.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e A wide soundstage complements a lavish audio image each of which articulates the often simple textures yet meets with a fierce embrace the grander statements.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027520180458,"sku":"095115162521","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1769868.jpg?v=1778332993"},{"product_id":"elgar-the-crown-of-india-davis-bbc-243033","title":"Elgar: The Crown Of India \/ Davis, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cb\u003eAt last a version of this legendary work for pleasure, analysis and study.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   I am normally something of a 'completist' when it comes to music. And that includes works that may not necessarily reflect a composer at his or her best. If Bloggs wrote 101 songs then, if at all possible there should be at least one fair recording made of each – if for no other reason than to provide context. The best can then be compared to the not so good and can be seen to shine. Ivor Gurney may be an exception to this rule: there is much debate about his ‘unplayable and un-publishable’ songs and chamber works yet many folk want to give these an airing - even if it means damaging the composer’s reputation. Imagine a neophyte finds a CD of Bloggs’s  \u003ci\u003eUnknown Songs\u003c\/i\u003e. Further, imagine that they are not very good. Could this put our friend off not only Bloggs but also English lieder? Perhaps they would be best left un-played and unrecorded? Other issues arise, such as the composer’s intentions. Did they regard these pieces as worthy? Or did they suppress them? This argument has surfaced with the repristination of the early music - which had been believed destroyed - by William Alwyn and suppressed works by RVW. I hasten to add that I am grateful for these CDs and have especially enjoyed hearing the former’s tone-poem  \u003ci\u003eBlackdown\u003c\/i\u003e and the latter’s  \u003ci\u003eHeroic Elegy\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  Let us turn to  \u003ci\u003eThe Crown of India\u003c\/i\u003e. Most Elgar enthusiasts will know the Suite derived from this ‘Imperial Masque’. It has been issued in a number of recordings over the years, including a fine version from Chandos with the Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson. The  \u003ci\u003eMarch of the Moguls\u003c\/i\u003e has also been a popular extract. However, up until this present CD, it has not been possible to hear the complete work in its original format. The question is: is this a worthwhile project? \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  Firstly let’s dispose of the anti-Imperial argument. There are two (at least) approaches to history. One is, I guess relative and the other is absolute. Some people will refuse to give any credence to an historical personage if they were involved in any activity that is now regarded as politically incorrect, even if it was not always regarded in this light. Men like Cecil Rhodes and Clive of India are despised or at best belittled by ‘liberal’ society. Yet, surely it should be possible to admire the achievement of a woman or a man who did much good work with their involvement in world affairs. Obviously parts of their careers can be justly criticised, but the person themselves cannot be separated from their milieu. Few people in the world are truly forward-thinking: most of us, both living and dead are and were children of our time. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  I can hear people condemning this present work as jingoistic - as imperial nonsense. It is a work that sets the British Empire up against the people of India. As such it could be argued that it should be consigned to the dustbin of musical history. We no longer think in terms of  \u003ci\u003eBritain Ruling the Waves \u003c\/i\u003e(except at  \u003ci\u003eThe Last Night\u003c\/i\u003e) nor do we necessarily regard the British way of life as being something that must be imposed on other cultures. Things, perhaps, work the other way round these days. So can we justify listening to and perhaps even enjoying this Masque? Only if we can enter the historical setting in our mind’s ear without too many feelings of guilt! However, we ought to judge this work - or any work - on its musical and literary merits rather than its political and cultural resonances down through the years. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ci\u003eThe Crown of India\u003c\/i\u003e is a masque that was written and performed in 1912 to celebrate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Delhi. This was part of a ‘durbar’ in that city as part of the celebrations for their coronation as the Emperor and Empress of India. The masque was commissioned by a certain Oswald Stoll and combined a libretto by Henry Hamilton and the music of Edward Elgar. The work was given its first performance at the Coliseum Theatre in London on 11 March 1912. The masque ran for two performances a day for two weeks. At that time the Coliseum was a variety theatre rather than the opera house we know today. Ironically, Diana McVeagh points out that Elgar’s music was performed alongside a programme that included “gymnastic equilibrists, a ventriloquist, a Russian harpist, a scene from Barrie’s  \u003ci\u003eThe Twelve Pound Look\u003c\/i\u003e, continental mimes, with the  \u003ci\u003eTannhauser \u003c\/i\u003eOverture as interval music.” It must have been quite an evening! \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  The work was conceived in two tableaux, separated by an interlude: it is made up of a dozen pieces or scenes. The first tableau is entitled ‘The Cities of India’ and the second ‘Ave Imperator’. The format called for the personification of ‘India’ and the cities of Agra, Delhi, Calcutta and Benares and also England (not the United Kingdom) by St. George. The chorus consisted of a cast of thousands including Mogul Emperors, Princes, Guards, Executioners, Courtiers, Fan-Bearers, Ladies Attendant Syce (grooms), Litter Bearers, Heralds, and Trumpeters. The work is scored for contralto, bass, chorus and orchestra. However it was not conceived for a symphony orchestra as such but a typical theatre ‘pit’ band of the era although it was considerably ‘augmented’. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  It will be helpful to note the tableaux in a slightly simplified list:- \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  1(a) - Introduction, and (b) Sacred Measure \u003cbr\u003e  2 - Dance of the Nautch Girls \u003cbr\u003e  2(a) – India greets her cities \u003cbr\u003e  3 - Hail, Immemorial Ind! (The Homage of Ind) \u003cbr\u003e  4 - March of the Mogul Emperors \u003cbr\u003e  5 - Entrance of John Company \u003cbr\u003e  6 - Rule of England (St. George’s Song) \u003cbr\u003e  7 - Interlude \u003cbr\u003e  8 - Warriors' Dance \u003cbr\u003e  9 - Cities of India \u003cbr\u003e  10 - Crown of India March \u003cbr\u003e  11 - Crowning of Delhi \u003cbr\u003e  12 - Ave Imperator \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  In the first tableau the cities of Calcutta and Delhi, personified by the two speakers, plead to be made India’s capital city. In the second, the Emperor rather diplomatically resolves the contention. He states that “… Delhi to be his capital names, And of his Empire, further makes decree, Calcutta shall the premier city be”. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  Percy Young has noted that in the early months of 1912 Elgar had moved into Severn House and was conscious “not only of its nobility but also its expense.” So it is fair to say that the commission came at the right time and contributed to the finances. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  It is important not to be too critical about the text of the masque. It is easy to write off Henry Hamilton’s libretto as ‘doggerel’ but it was very much a period piece: it is what would have been expected at the time. However, the composer was not overly impressed with the political tone of the words but was able to see the possibilities it presented for producing a colourful score. Elgar was able to cut a number of the worst parts of the text and began composing the music and falling back on mining some earlier works and sketches as he did so. Music rescued from  \u003ci\u003eThe Sanguine Fan\u003c\/i\u003e,  \u003ci\u003eFalstaff \u003c\/i\u003eand the  \u003ci\u003eApostles\u003c\/i\u003e has been identified. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  So what are we to make, musically at least, of this massive period piece? Percy Young in his 1955 study of the composer has captured its mood. He writes that “despite the skilful spread of motive, there is no genuine consistency in  \u003ci\u003eThe Crown of India\u003c\/i\u003e, but vivid flashes of imaginative treatment, combined with instances of tenderness and charm.” It is a judgement that holds well today. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  The make-weights on the second CD are useful additions to the catalogue of Elgar’s imperial, or less pejoratively, his ceremonial music. The  \u003ci\u003eImperial March\u003c\/i\u003e Op.32 was composed in 1896-7 and was the composer’s first essay in this genre. It was commissioned by Novellos to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. At the same time Elgar also received a commission to write  \u003ci\u003eThe Banner of St George\u003c\/i\u003e. The  \u003ci\u003eImperial March\u003c\/i\u003e received its first performance at a Crystal Place concert on 19 April of the same year. Interestingly, this piece is more in the style of what Eric Coates was to compose some quarter of a century later. There is no great pretence at writing profound music – instead it has a tune that has “a spring in its step, and a sunny dance-like trio”. Elgar was not the first to compose this kind of March. Parry had written a fine example in his incidental music for  \u003ci\u003eHypatia\u003c\/i\u003e. It was however his first essay in what was to become a long line of ceremonial marches. Diana McVeagh notes that it was the  \u003ci\u003eImperial March\u003c\/i\u003e that “first carried his name throughout the land”. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  The  \u003ci\u003eCoronation March\u003c\/i\u003e Op. 65 is a totally different piece. Gone is the light-heartedness of the earlier piece, to be replaced by music that has a depth of emotion and variety of mood that is rare in a work of its genre. The March was a ‘laureate’ work commissioned for the Coronation of King George V in 1911. It has been well said that the composer is mourning the death of the old King rather than cheering the accession of the new. In many ways it has the air of a funeral march rather than a rumbustious paean of welcome for the monarch. I have no doubt that this is one of the best marches that Elgar wrote – or anyone else for that matter. One strange fact associated with this piece is the fact the composer had already written the main opening theme for a projected ballet based on the tales of Rabelais! It is assumed that he abandoned this project because of Victorian prudery and pressure from his wife Alice. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  I have always had a soft spot for the  \u003ci\u003eEmpire March\u003c\/i\u003e even if it is not the best of the bunch. This work was composed in 1924 to inaugurate the British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley in that year. It is interesting, if somewhat poignant, that this is one of the very few works to be completed after the death of Alice in 1920. The Elgar Society webpage suggests that “it is but a pale shadow of his earlier marches, lacking the distinctiveness and decisiveness of melody which so characterised his more successful marches …” Yet there is an interest in these pages and a certain backward glance to happier times. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  I am not quite sure why Chandos have chosen to give two versions of  \u003ci\u003eThe Crown of India \u003c\/i\u003e– one with the spoken text and one without. I would have thought that a single version would have sufficed for what is a very uneven work. However, if it had been a single CD, there would have been no room for the three Marches. Furthermore, I doubt if this work will receive many concert performances, in spite of the fact that the Elgar Society have just published the full score. I imagine that if it  \u003ci\u003eis\u003c\/i\u003e performed it will be in the edited version. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  All this being said, and I have not really made my mind up about this piece yet, this CD is a must for all Elgar cognoscenti even if they are, like me, not over-enthusiastic about the main event. I enjoyed  \u003ci\u003esome \u003c\/i\u003eof this music. I certainly enjoyed the fine performances by Sir Andrew Davis, the soloists and speakers and the BBC Philharmonic. I appreciate the amount of work that Anthony Payne has invested in this project to realise the score. But was it worth it? I will probably not listen to this work again but I will occasionally play  \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003ci\u003eCrown of India Suite\u003c\/i\u003e. However, it is important to know that a version of this legendary work is available for pleasure, analysis and study. The amount of effort that has been required to realise this masque may seem to some a little excessive and perhaps misdirected. \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e  Perhaps the project can best be summed up in two quotations from the sleeve-notes. The first is from Nalini Ghuman: “( \u003ci\u003eThe Crown of India\u003c\/i\u003e is) a fascinating work of imperialism: historically illuminating and often musically rich, it is nevertheless a profoundly embarrassing piece - a significant contribution to the orientalised India of the English imagination.” And the second is written by Andrew Neill. He concludes his essay by suggesting that ‘although Elgar’s subject is now out of fashion we can hear how, despite its tendentious nature and poor quality, Elgar rises above Hamilton’s text with colourful music of great variety … it may not be India, but it is Elgar, who did this sort of thing better than anyone else.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e    -- John France, MusicWeb International \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027522736362,"sku":"095115157022","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1579664.jpg?v=1778321742"},{"product_id":"the-film-music-of-john-addison-gamba-65558","title":"The Film Music Of John Addison \/ Gamba, Et Al","description":"\u003cp\u003eAddison's scores frequently pay hommage to the time-honoured tradition in film music, which dates back to the silent film era, of alluding to well-known tunes and indulging in innocent tunefulness, yet the scores have achieved iconic status and contributed to turning many of the films into the national treasures they are today. This new addition to the Chandos Movies label, which has been highly sought-after, is sure to be a highlight amongst many gems.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027546951914,"sku":"095115141823","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1077755.jpg?v=1778190090"},{"product_id":"rachmaninov-s-miserly-knight-the-opera","title":"Rachmaninov, S.: Miserly Knight (The) [Opera]","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027547050218,"sku":"095115154427","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1556965.jpg?v=1778342848"},{"product_id":"the-symphonic-euphonium-vol-2-095115199725","title":"The Symphonic Euphonium, Vol. 2","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Childs is joined by the BBC Philharmonic and Ben Gernon for this second volume of Euphonium concertos, featuring music by Vaughan Williams, Mealor, Gregson and Ball. King Edward III once said: \"If you want to train a longbowman, start with his grandfather.\" This adage holds just as true for British euphonium soloist David Childs, born in 1981, to a family whose name had been synonymous with brass for the last two generations. His grandfather John was a well-respected euphonium player from the Welsh Valleys who inspired his sons, Robert \u0026amp; Nicholas to take up euphonium. Robert began teaching his son David from an early age and in recent years David has emerged as one of the finest brass soloists of his generation. In the year 2000 he broke new ground for the euphonium becoming the first euphonium soloist to win the brass final of the televised 'BBC Young Musician of the Year’ which led to David’s highly acclaimed première performance of Philip Wilby’s Concerto for Euphonium with the BBC Philharmonic under Yan Pascal Totelier. In the same year David was awarded the coveted ‘Euphonium Player of the Year’ title, a title he won again in 2004 and still holds today. Since that time David has been instrumental in raising the euphonium’s profile in the classical world of music and has not ceased to wow audiences with his astonishing technique, extrovert musicality and engaging stage presence.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027549311210,"sku":"095115199725","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3747069-2510871.jpg?v=1778227669"},{"product_id":"rozsa-film-music-gamba-bbc-po-86946","title":"Rozsa: Film Music \/ Gamba, BBC PO","description":"These performances by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Rumon Gamba, who have many a cinematic credit to their name, carry the conviction of an original soundtrack recording in state-of-the-art sound.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – Gramophone \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The story of how Miklós Rózsa left his native Hungary and brought his talents as a composer of film music to the West is well known. He went first to London and then to California, when the outbreak of war necessitated moving Jungle Book lock, stock and barrel to Hollywood. Though there have been some fine recordings of his more ‘serious’ music - Chandos themselves have made three of them - it’s for his film music that he will be most remembered. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The BBC Philharmonic and Rumon Gamba were the performers on those three earlier Chandos recordings. This orchestra and conductor also has a long-established history of fine recordings of film music for the label, so it’s only fitting that they should be chosen for this new project. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  For all that I enjoyed the earlier albums, I shall be very surprised if this recording of the film music doesn’t outsell all three of them put together. It certainly deserves to be very successful. At least two of the films are all-time classics and I greatly enjoyed this evocation of The Thief of Baghdad and Ben-Hur. In case the music doesn’t quite do the trick for you, there are still photos in the booklet. I don’t think I ever saw Sahara and I’d forgotten Hugh Griffith’s part in Ben-Hur until I saw the photo, though I certainly remember his hell-raising Falstaff on, and reputedly off stage, at Stratford in the early 1960s. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  It may seem odd to spend more time on the booklet than the performances but I found the notes most enlightening while I can be short and sweet concerning the performances and say that, short of someone brushing up the original film scores in modern digital sound, they are unlikely ever to be bettered. Rumon Gamba and his team capture the tender aspects of the music just as well as its more dramatic moments. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The recording, to which I listened in CD-quality 16-bit sound, is very good indeed. It captures the colourful nature of the music without ever being over the top or as brightly lit as the composer’s own Phase 4 recordings. Movements such as the Parade of the Chariots, however, which concludes the album on track 24, are suitably Technicolor, though you may well find that you need to turn up the volume to hear the recording at its best. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Try some of Gamba’s other film music recordings for Chandos, too. The original music for Scott of the Antarctic is one of my favorites - it makes a fascinating comparison with the Sinfonia Antartica into which Vaughan Williams later shaped most of the material.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The chief rival to this new recording comes from Australian Decca (Eloquence 4803790, 2 CDs at budget price: A Bargain of the Month with Rózsa himself in the late 1970s conducting the music for Ben Hur and Quo Vadis and Bernard Herrmann the music for Julius Cæsar. Dutton have also given us a 2-CD release of the two composer-conducted recordings, originally made in Phase 4 (CDLK4332). The Ben-Hur suite, which forms the climax of the new recording stands up against even that competition. While the album is not qualified with a ‘Volume 1’ addition, I do hope that Chandos will give us the BBC Philharmonic and Rumon Gamba in the Quo Vadis music, too, as a sequel. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027557339370,"sku":"095115180624","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2527309.jpg?v=1778296899"},{"product_id":"karen-geoghegan-plays-mozart-crusell-kreutzer-178921","title":"Karen Geoghegan Plays Mozart, Crusell \u0026 Kreutzer","description":"\u003cb\u003eMuch to enjoy here … listen to this and marvel at playing of such eloquence.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Mozart’s sole bassoon concerto dates from 1774. As the booklet points out, every bassoonist plays it at some time, and most seem to harbour an ambition to record it. I have come to regard the results as a very special test of a player’s musicianship. A technically proficient but dull performance will leave you wondering why you bothered to spend a quarter of an hour with such tedious music, whereas in the hands of a player with real imagination and energy it can be a most exhilarating experience. Fortunately, and no surprise to those who have enjoyed her earlier discs for Chandos, this performance falls resoundingly into the latter category. Right from the soloist’s first entry the listener is engaged by Karen Geoghegan’s ripe tone, crisp articulation, imaginative phrasing, total technical control and above all her ability to communicate directly. The variety of tone that she gets from the instrument is one of her chief assets, together with an ability to surprise the listener by minute variations of phrasing. The slow movement, with its muted upper strings and subtle textures is an especial delight, and the Rondo Minuet finale has just the rhythmic lift it needs to keep it alive. The only criticism I would venture is the length of the cadenzas in the first two movements, but she is certainly not alone in this and they are of greater interest than those used by many of those of her rivals that I have heard. The very positive contribution of the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda is a major part of the success of this performance and their efforts are helped in turn by the transparent recording. Perhaps the soloist is a shade too forward for my liking, but I soon adjusted to it. \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e Similar remarks could be made about the performance of the Crusell Concertino, his last work in this form. The Kreutzer Fantasie falls into three sections, ending with a Polacca. In style, form and length it is very similar to Weber’s Clarinet Concertino, and whilst not as memorable as that work it is enjoyable and is given a first class performance here. \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e The remaining work is one I had not heard before – the “Rossini” Concerto. I understand that this was only discovered in the 1990s and that some Rossini scholars doubt that he wrote it. Whilst I have not read their reasoning for that view, I must say that I find it hard to believe that he had a hand in it. The booklet refers to its “veritably Rossinian wit” but each time I listened to it I missed it, although I certainly acknowledge that it does “display various kinds of bravura agility” with playing of a breathtakingly confident style. I am glad to have heard it but doubt if I will wish to return to it often. \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e This disc offers four works for bassoon and orchestra from the late 18 \u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e and early 19 \u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e centuries in superb performances well recorded and presented. Only one is a real masterpiece, two are pleasant if second rate, and one is wholly forgettable. If the programme appeals to you there is much to enjoy here, and wind players in particular should listen to this and marvel at playing of such eloquence.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- John Sheppard, MusicWeb International\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027572838634,"sku":"095115161326","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1745549.jpg?v=1778288862"},{"product_id":"wolf-ferrari-orchestral-works-noseda-geoghegan-bbc-104364","title":"Wolf-Ferrari: Orchestral Works \/ Noseda, Geoghegan, BBC PO","description":"\u003cp\u003eGianandrea Noseda continues his Italian series with a recording of works of Wolf-Ferrari. This will be promoted as the March Featured Release. This is a project very close to the heart of the BBC Philharmonic's Principal Conductor, something reflected in the passionate performances he creates. BBC Music magazine commented early on that 'Noseda's affection for the music is evident throughout'. Even at the time of his appointment, he spoke of his ambition to record the works of the twentieth-century Italian composers, and he has since recorded works by Respighi and Dallapiccola. 'Gianandrea Noseda understands the music's lyrical strength and fragile sound-world perfectly; the playing of the BBC Philharmonic is exemplary, too', wrote The Guardian on the Dallapiccola disc. Known mainly for his operatic compositions, perhaps especially the overture to Il segreto di Susanna, Wolf-Ferrari was that rare phenomenon, famously exemplified by Busoni, of an Italian composer better known in Germany than in his homeland. The son of a German painter and his Italian wife, Wolf-Ferrari made his home in Munich and was throughout his life divided by the two cultures, something that provided a foundation of his creative existence, particularly in his attachment to the neo-classical style. Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic present extracts from five operas, I quattro rusteghi, Il segreto di Susanna, I gioielli della Madonna, Il campiello and La dama boba. They are complemented by the Suite-Concertino for bassoon, two horns and strings. The soloist is Karen Geoghegan who recently made her debut on Chandos following her appearance on the television programme Classical Star. With such distinguished and sympathetic advocacy, the music of Wolf-Ferrari should achieve the worldwide recognition that it deserves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027574608106,"sku":"095115151129","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1494665.jpg?v=1778329811"},{"product_id":"roussel-evocations-pour-une-fete-de-printemps-79449","title":"Roussel: Evocations, Pour une fete de printemps \u0026 Suite in F \/ Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eMaestro Yan Pascal Tortelier celebrates his twenty-five-year recording career and seventy-album discography on Chandos with this album of three of Roussel’s most remarkable compositions. It follows a highly praised Birmingham concert with the same forces, namely the exceptional BBCPO and CBSO Chorus, and three revelatory soloists: Kathryn Rudge, 2017 BBC New Generation Artist, the young tenor Alessandro Fisher, joint first prize winner at the 2016 Kathleen Ferrier Awards, and François Le Roux, famous for his award-winning performances of French operas. Although very rarely recorded, Évocations stands as a monument in the compositional life of Roussel, depicting scenes, sounds, and colors from his experiences of India. Also featured are the audacious Pour une fête de printemps, originally composed as a Scherzo for his controversial Second Symphony, and the later Suite in F, which was performed in Paris several times after its Boston premiere, to critical acclaim.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027576180970,"sku":"095115195727","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3782820.jpg?v=1778247689"},{"product_id":"rozsa-orchestral-works-vol-2","title":"Rozsa: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027578835178,"sku":"095115167427","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1855917.jpg?v=1778342889"},{"product_id":"rachmaninov-the-isle-of-the-dead-youth-243021","title":"Rachmaninov: The Isle Of The Dead, \"Youth\" Symphony, Symphony No 1 \/ Noseda, BBC PO","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first Rachmaninoff recording by Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic; 'Francesca da Rimini', received the accolade of 'Classical CD of the Week' from The Daily Telegraph and elicited the comment, 'Noseda sculpts the brooding passions of Rachmaninoff's dramatic score with trhilling intensity', from The Times. They return with three highly charged orchestral works. Noseda writees of his journey with Symphony No.1: 'Having conducted several times the Rachmaninoff second and third symphonies, I've been wondering continuously why the first of his symphonies has been neglected or considered not as good as its later sisters. In the last couple of years the level of my curiousity has increased so much that I've taken seriously the task of studying, learning and finally performing Rachmaninoff's first symphony. The result astonished me greatly: the symphony has such a beauty in the melodic line, the harmony is so refined, the structure is well controlled and yet everything seems naturally fluent.' Regarded as one of the most remarkable composers of the twentieth century, Serge Rachmaninoff wrote three romanticalldy inclined symphonies, two of which are now standard orchestral repertoire. However, the premiere of Symphony No.1 was such a disaster that Rachmaninoff refrained from composing anything more for the next three years. The conductor, Glazunov, is reputed to have been drunk, and Rachmaninoff was unable to attend the entire performance. He reacted by tearing up the score. Thankfully for posterity, the instrumental parts were preserved and rediscoverd in 1945, permitting the work to be restored. It is a work full of youthful fervour, distinctive and sweeping themes, and nationalist sentiments, and is now widely regarded as a vivid example of his early talent. It is complemented here by the 'Youth Symphony', the first movement of a projected but never completed symphony in D minor, composed when Rachmaninoff was only seventeen, and the great symphonic poem 'The Isle of the Dead', inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting of the same name which Rachmaninoff had seen on display in Paris in 1907. Composed in 1909, it is still a relatively early work, but contains some of the dark Russian spiritual qualities which Rachmaninoff was to develop further in his later compositions. Gianandrea Noseda has a particular affinity for Russian music, which perhaps grew from his time with Gergiev at the Kirov. It is clear from his conducting that Rachmaninoff's music is deeply personal to him. Orchestra and conductor will perform this work at the BBC Proims in summer 2008 and at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall in November. Gianandrea Noseda will also conduct Rachmaninoff with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in June.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027611603178,"sku":"095115147528","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1367426.jpg?v=1778337030"},{"product_id":"arensky-symphony-no-2-etc-sinaisky-bbc-87065","title":"Arensky: Symphony No 2, Etc \/ Sinaisky, Bbc Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Russian composer, conductor and pianist Arensky was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov at St Petersburg Concervatory and later taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where his pupils included Rachmaninov and Scriabin. His music is an ecclectic blend of Russian idiom and late romantic tradition. Vassily Sinaisky is a master of this repertoire and has made a string of recordings of Russian music with the BBC Philharmonic, all of which have received tremendous critical acclaim. Recorded in: New Broadcasting House, Manchester 9-11 April 2002 Producer(s) Brian Pidgeon (Executive) Mike George (Recording) Sound Engineer(s) Stephen Rinker \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027612193002,"sku":"095115102428","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/585400_d7798e78-5cae-4264-81b1-fe16f8b7db2b.jpg?v=1778342100"},{"product_id":"the-film-music-of-alan-rawsthorne-gamba-177708","title":"The Film Music Of Alan Rawsthorne \/ Gamba, BBC Philharmonic","description":"Alan Rawsthorne's music was the soundtrack to adventure. Between 1937 and 1964, he scored 27 films, most with a military or adventurer's theme. Bold brass and soaring strings characterize his vivid musical illustrations of conflict and courage.\u003cbr\u003eHis music has a larger than life quality, fitting perfectly with the big screen. The regal style originates from a time when movies were still magic and audiences regarded performances as major events. Rawsthorne captures the essence of drama on the epic scale required by the stories. Recorded in 1999 by Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic, this album improves upon the original soundtracks with superior sound quality.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027615502570,"sku":"095115974926","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/304147.jpg?v=1778185416"},{"product_id":"albeniz-orchestral-works-mena-roscoe-bbc-philharmonic-79456","title":"Albeniz: Orchestral Works \/ Mena, Roscoe, BBC Philharmonic","description":"The newest installment in the Chandos La Musica de Espana series with the  \u003cb\u003eBBC Philharmonic\u003c\/b\u003e and chief conductor  \u003cb\u003eJuanjo Mena\u003c\/b\u003e explores the music of Isaac Albeniz, one of the greatest Spanish composers to have ever lived. This album includes his Piano Concerto No. 1 \"Concierto fantastico\", Suite espanola, Rapsodia espanola, and Suite from “The Magic Opal.” The featured soloist for the Piano Concerto and Rapsodia espanola is British pianist  \u003cb\u003eMartin Roscoe\u003c\/b\u003e, who has already been critically praised for his previous recordings on the Chandos label.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027623071978,"sku":"095115189726","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3370885.jpg?v=1778261196"},{"product_id":"coates-orchestral-works-vol-1-wilson-bbc-283778","title":"Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 \/ Wilson, BBC Philharmonic","description":"John Wilson’s first album in a series of recordings of the orchestral works of Eric Coates, using his own definitive editions of the scores. includes the suites The Jester at the Wedding and London, and the miniature overture The Merrymakers. Infectiously idiomatic playing from the BBC Philharmonic! Eric Coates was born on August 27th, 1886, at Hucknall. Coates showed an interest in music at an early age, studying first the violin and then the viola with George Ellenberger, a pupil of Joachim, and harmony with Dr Ralph Horner in Nottingham. At the age of twenty he arrived in London determined to make a career in music despite some family misgivings. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied viola with Lionel Tertis and composition with Frederick Corder. Eventually, in 1919, when neuritis in his left hand made playing the viola more and more difficult, Eric Coates turned exclusively to composition. Eric Coates' work is in the tradition of polished melodic light music started by Sir Arthur Sullivan and continued by Edward German.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  -----\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  REVIEWS:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Wilson is relishing every second of the music. The BBC Phil is in great nick, and Stephen Rinker’s engineering brings sound of clarity and fidelity, every detail, dynamic, and subtlety captured perfectly.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  – ClassicalSource.com\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Volume 1 implies we are to get more like this and they can’t come soon enough. Eric Coates is surprisingly undervalued, even with the resurgence of interest in light music. There are some very familiar pieces here – The Merrymakers, By a Sleepy Lagoon, London Suite – alongside the ballet The Jester at the Wedding and two symphonic rhapsodies. All engaging and here splendidly played by the BBC Phil under one of the real champions of light music, John Wilson.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  – Lark Reviews","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027624579306,"sku":"095115203620","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3718715-2502934.jpg?v=1778257700"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/collections\/BBC_Philharmonic_logo_b88c54f2-e942-43cc-9b8a-fcc9572c930e.jpg?v=1777642612","url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/bbc-philharmonic.oembed","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}