For over four decades, the Chilingirian String Quartet has thrilled critics and audiences around the world with it's vibrant, virtuosic performances of classical and contemporary chamber music. The Quartet has a sound that is both powerful and precise - richly interpretive yet always true to the composer's vision. Yuko Inoue is a Japanese violinist who studied at Kunitachi College of Music then went on to study with several famous violinists. She is currently a professor at the Royal Academy of Music.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes estampie(s) real by Anonymous. Ensemble: St. George's Canzona. Conductor: John Sothcott.

Classical Music

George Frideric Handel, one of the giants of the Baroque, is primarily known for his magnificent full scale operas and oratorios, and his brilliant orchestral music. His output in chamber music however is of equal quality and diversity, full of melodic and instrumental invention. This set offers the complete chamber music, the violin sonatas, oboe sonatas, flute sonatas, recorder sonatas and the complete trio-sonatas. Expertly played by L’École d’orphée, playing on authentic instruments, with such illustrious names as Philip Pickett, John Holloway and Stephen Preston.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

William Hayes was Professor of Music at the University of Oxford from 1741 to 1777. A keen admirer of Handel, he composed celebratory music for many Oxford occasions. On this release, The Choir of Keble College and Instruments of Time & Truth revive music written for the chapels of Oxford, University ceremonies at the Sheldonian Theatre, and for grand concerts given in the Holywell Music Room, the earliest purpose-built public concert room in Europe. Instruments of Time and Truth was founded in 2014 to provide a platform for international performers resident in and around Oxford, many of whom hold Principal positions with groups such as the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Since its inception, IT&T has assumed a significant role in underpinning the tradition of choral excellence in Oxford in collaborations with the choirs of New, Keble, Magdalen, The Queen’s, St. Peter’s and Merton Colleges, as well as with choirs from within the community. Keble College Choir is one of Oxford’s leading mixed-voice ensembles. Since 2015, the group has performed around the world, and regularly broadcasts on BBC Radio. Much of the choir’s repertoire is based around music of the 16th to 18th centuries.

It would be hard to imagine more amiable performances of these two strongly characterized Brahms works...intense as well as warm, plainly derived from long experience performing this music in concert... The romanticism of the Nash approach comes out particularly strongly in the opening Andante of the Horn Trio, with the horn soloist, Frank Lloyd, producing exceptionally rich, braying tone to remind one of Dennis Brain. After relaxed accounts of the first three movements the galloping finale is then given with great panache, conveying more fun than the more virtuoso reading from Ashkenazy, Perlman and Tuckwell. Thanks partly to the CRD recording, the Nash performances are made to sound satisfyingly beefy, almost orchestral, though some may find the full-bodied sound a degree too reverberant, with the piano rather in front of the strings. The disc can be strongly recommended, particularly as this is the only available coupling of these two works.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone