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Hexameron / Blanchard, Buche, Goicoechea, Sorieux, Yoshikane, Yoshikane

MDG

SACD

$24.99 Mar 01, 2013

t was billed as a battle of titans. Franz Liszt had invited the leading pianists of his time to compose variations on Bellini's "March of the Huguenots." The international keyboard stars Chopin, Thalberg, Pixis, Czerny, and Herz had agreed to compete, but they never actually performed together in Princess Beliojoso's Paris salon. Claudius Tanski has now recreated this event with his master pupils. Unlike Liszt 175 years ago, he collaborates on equal terms with this circle of brilliant young stars emulating their immortal models with sovereignty and grandeur.

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Hexameron / Blanchard, Buche, Goicoechea, Sorieux, Yoshikane, Yoshikane
MDG Mar 2013
SACD
$24.99

Sheppard: Media Vita / Choir Of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney

Linn Records

$20.99 Oct 23, 2020

The Choir of New College Oxford, one of the most acclaimed British choral ensembles, makes its Linn debut with a recording of works by the English Renaissance composer John Sheppard. New College Choir was already 150 years old when Sheppard arrived in Oxford intent on contributing to the wealth of choral polyphony that defined the era. Media vita is his most celebrated work, almost symphonic in its proportions, in which he combines and elevates conventional Tudor musical devices to striking effect. Sheppard’s boundary-pushing polyphony requires the skill and precision of liturgical professionals, and in the hands of director Robert Quinney it is compelling. The programme is completed by several motets in which Sheppard sets text from the Old Testament; we are delighted that four of these motets are premiere recordings: A solis ortus cardine, Inclina Domine, Iudica me Deus and Confitebor tibi. This is another distinctive and stylish performance from this acclaimed choir, which marks the first in a new series of recordings for Linn Records.

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Sheppard: Media Vita / Choir Of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney
Linn Records Oct 2020
CD
$20.99

Paganinni: 24 Capricci / Roberto Noferini

Tactus

$29.99 Oct 14, 2014

Roberto Noferini performs the brilliant and alluring 24 Caprices of Paganini on an instrument and bow of Paganini's time.

"The electricity I feel when I'm dealing with the magic harmony" Paganini wrote on 15, January 1832 in a letter to his friend Luigi Guglielmo-Germi. There could be no better definition of Paganini's musical temperament. After hearing Paganini play in a concert, Franz Schubert wrote: "I have heard the voice of an angel." And Franz Liszt's comment was: "How much passion, how much suffering in those four strings." How can we imagine Paganini's art today, at such a distance in time, unless we refer to the impressions of his contemporaries, of the people who had the chance to see him, listen to him and be thrilled by his music? The search for a performance that endeavors to be as near as possible to the magic of a live concert of this great Genoese musician can only start from here. In order to attempt this feat of moving musically back two centuries, it is necessary to aquire to the wood, horsehair strings and bow technique within painstaking attention to the directions left by Paganini in his original scores (this was in fact the advice of violinist Artur Grumiaux.) To all this we add the talent of a present-day virtuoso who is less subject to the harsh law of time and can find another way of bringing back to our time the masterpieces of the past. - Tactus

Established in 1986 by Serafino Rossi, Tactus is devoted to the discovery and preservation of the enormous and still unexplored Italian classical music repertoire, from Gregorian chants to Contemporary Classics.

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Paganinni: 24 Capricci / Roberto Noferini
Tactus Oct 2014
CD
$29.99

Ludford: Missa Regnum Mundi; Pygott: Salve Regina / Blue Heron

Blue Heron Renaissance Choir

$21.99 Mar 30, 2012

The second installment in Blue Heron’s 5-CD series of Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks features Nicholas Ludford’s radiant Missa Regnum mundi, sung in a musical context like that of its probable original occasion, a festal mass for St Margaret, with plainchant items from the Proper according to the Use of Salisbury. The disc concludes with Richard Pygott’s extraordinary Salve regina, one of the longest votive antiphons extant and a marvel of rhetorical expression.

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Ludford: Missa Regnum Mundi; Pygott: Salve Regina / Blue Heron
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir Mar 2012
CD
$21.99

Heroines of Love & Loss / Hughes, Brinkmann, Nordberg

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Mar 03, 2017

The women appearing before our ears throughout this program range from the Virgin Mary and Dido, queen of Carthage, to Shakespeare's Desdemona and the unfortunate Anne Boleyn, waiting for her execution in the Tower of London in 1536. But the disc also features four other heroines - the Italian composers Claudia Sessa, Francesca Caccini, Lucrezia Vizzana and Barbara Strozzi. All active between 1590 - 1675, they will have required great courage to rise above the social conventions of the time, but this surprisingly productive period for female composers also offered an opportunity that would disappear in later centuries: the all-female environment provided by the convent. More than half of the women who published music before 1700 were nuns, including Sessa and Vizzana, who are here represented by brief meditations on teh suffering and death of Christ. Caccini and Strozzi, on the other hand, lived very much in the secular world - Caccini at the Florentine court and Strozzi as a free-lance musician and composer in Venice. Unhindered by the restrictions imposed by the church on sacred music they both adhered to the new stile moderno championed by Claudio Monteverdi. Celebrated for their singing, they composed vocal music which makes 'the words the mistress of the harmony and not the servant', to quote Monteverdi's brother Giulio Cesare. The soprano Ruby Hughes has already made her name for herself in a wide-ranging repertoire, but has a special love for the constellation of lute, cello and voice. With Jonas Nordberg and Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann - who also contribute instrumental solos - she here reveals in the dramatic and expressive potential offered by this trio combination, and by the music by these female composers and their English colleagues Henry Purcell and John Bennet.

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Heroines of Love & Loss / Hughes, Brinkmann, Nordberg
BIS Mar 2017
SACD
$21.99

Thorsteinson & Schumann / Róbertsson, Sigurðardóttir

Fuga Libera

$20.99 Oct 22, 2021

Icelandic bass-baritone Andri Björn Róbertsson, and pianist Ástríður Alda Sigurðardóttir, perform Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis op. 24 and Liederkreis op. 39, along with seven songs by the Icelandic composer Árni Thorsteinson. The two Liederkreise were composed during Schumann´s Year of Song in 1840. More than sixty years later Thorsteinson began publishing his songs, and they were instantly regarded as national treasures by the Icelandic nation. The program invites the listener on a mysterious journey through nature, love, death and the unknown. Andri Björn Róbertsson studied at the Reykjavík Academy of Singing and Vocal Arts in his native Iceland, RAM and the National Opera Studio. In the 2020/21 season, Icelandic bass-baritone Andri Björn Róbertsson returns to Zurich Opera with the La Scintilla Orchestra for St John’s Passion and revisits the roles of Witness 3 and Madman in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at the Châtelet.

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Thorsteinson & Schumann / Róbertsson, Sigurðardóttir
Fuga Libera Oct 2021
CD
$20.99

Rameau: Gavotte, Etc; Scarlatti, Mozart, Haydn / Robert Casadesus

Sony Masterworks

$17.99 Aug 16, 2007

A delightful collection. Casadesus plays Rameau to the manner born. Highlights include a comically zippy Le Rappel des Oiseaux and a lusciously flowing Les Niais de Sologne--the latter featuring a particularly impressively sculpted, sensitively balanced left hand. The Scarlatti sonatas rise to the same level. Casadesus achieves a harpsichord-like clarity of articulation while never denying himself the sensitive dynamic shadings unique to the piano. In the hugely virtuosic K. 533 and K. 14 his trills and runs rival Horowitz's, and he understands the need to project the horn imitations in K. 430 with brassy brilliance and verve. On the other hand, Casadesus' legato but always pointed phrasing in the great B minor sonata, K. 27, projects just the right smooth elegance. Recorded in 1952, the mono sound has been nicely remastered and in no way limits the impact of the performances.

The second half of the recital jumps ahead to the Classical Period, and to the early 60s sonically speaking. The Haydn sonata sports an especially lovely central Adagio, and Casadesus catches its simple eloquence without a trace of affectation. He also takes Haydn at his word in the dazzling Presto finale, playing with a breezy velocity that enhances the music's good-humored sense of fun. The Mozart quintet unites Casadesus with some distinguished partners, including John de Lancie (oboe) and Mason Jones (horn). It's a sincere compliment to say that they play the music like Poulenc: in other words, the performance has pungent wit, urbanity, and a nicely modern, "sec" quality that perfectly marries classical poise with surprising touches of sentiment (in the last two movement particularly). Sony France's ongoing tribute to Casadesus has come up with another intelligently planned, essential installment.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Rameau: Gavotte, Etc; Scarlatti, Mozart, Haydn / Robert Casadesus
Sony Masterworks Aug 2007
CD
$17.99

Arena di Verona Collection, Vol. 1

BelAir Classiques

DVD

$42.99 Jul 26, 2019

For their 88th year the prestigious Arena di Verona Festival paid tribute to internationally acclaimed Italian stage director Franco Zeffirelli. Zeffirelli delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of the Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles. Russian soprano Maria Guleghina gives a brilliant rendition of Turandot. Salvatore Licitra's trump card is his imposingly radiant tenor voice of which he remains in sovereign control even in the role's much-feared highest register. The soprano Tamar Iveri is a beautiful and sensitive Liù. Romeo et Juliette had not been performed at the Arena since 1977. The new production was entrusted to Italian director Francesco Micheli, who opted for a personal, highly original version: 'An arena within the Arena, like a blood-red Elizabethan theatre. A senescent world that will not let it's own children live.' Juliette is sung by Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze, returning to one of her early roles at the Salzburg Festival. Stefano Secco, often heard at the Opera Bastille in Paris and other international venues, is Romeo. Artur Rucinski interprets Mercutio, Romeo's friend and the rival of Jean-Francois Borras's Tybalt. The page Stephano is sung by soprano Ketevan Kemoklidze. Aida To celebrate the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi's birth, La Fura dels Baus opens the 'Centenario Festival 2013' of the Arena di Verona. Carlus Padrissa and Alex Olle sign a brilliant new version of Aida. Aida is the most popular opera at the Verona Festival, the only one performed every year, 17000 spectators enjoy the show every evening. This new production is designed by La Fura dels Baus. They transform the arena into a huge desert, creating mechanical animals and manufacture a solar power plant. They use their experience in leading large-scale shows and opera to create the Aida of the XXIst century splendidly conducted by a young talented conductor : Omer Meir Wellber.

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Arena di Verona Collection, Vol. 1
BelAir Classiques Jul 2019
DVD
$42.99

Verdi: Il Trovatore / Netrebko, Morandi, Arena Di Verona Opera [Blu-Ray]

C Major Entertainment

Blu-Ray

$45.99 Nov 20, 2020

It's an event that draws many thousands of music lovers to one of the most beautiful cities in the world every summer: the opera season at the ancient Arena di Verona. The 2,000-year-old roman amphitheater with its gigantic stage dimensions is one of the largest and best preserved Roman construction of its kind, and with over 22,000 seats it is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular open-air venues of the world! The revered master of opera Franco Zeffirelli, who died shortly before the premiere of Il Trovatore, created a legendary scenery with groups of giant sized armored knights, a fortress turning into a luminous cathedral, an enormous choir, horses, breathtaking fights: “his perhaps best arena production” (Opernglas). It brings Anna Netrebko to the Arena of Verona where she is giving her much-anticipated debut in one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most popular operas. Next to Anna Netrebko as Leonora perform Verdi accomplished baritone Luca Salsi as Count di Luna and Yusif Eyvazov returns to the Arena as his powerful-voiced opponent Manrico. MET star Dolora Zajick as Azucena and young rising Italian bass Riccardo Fassi as Ferrando join the prestigious ensemble. “Zeffirelli gives to the arena what it merits: a colourful, multifaceted staging in which impressive mass scenes alternate with intimate moments [...]“ (Der Neue Merker) “Unforgettable” (Verona Settegiorni)

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Verdi: Il Trovatore / Netrebko, Morandi, Arena Di Verona Opera [Blu-Ray]
C Major Entertainment Nov 2020
Blu-Ray
$45.99

Alma: Ibero-American Songs

SOMM Recordings

$18.99 Jul 18, 2025

SOMM Recordings is excited to explore the fascinating and largely unknown repertoire of Ibero-American art songs. A shared passion for showcasing hidden jewels of Latin American song inspired the collaboration of Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong and Portuguese pianist Joao Araujo, who began their partnership while studying at the Royal College of Music. Julieth received the 2018 RCM President's Award presented by RCM President, HM King Charles III. She won the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Audience Prize in the 2023 Cardiff Singer of the World competition and was recently named one of Opera Wire's Top Ten Rising Stars. Joao was awarded best collaborative pianist prizes at the Concours Musical International de Montreal in Canada and the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at Wigmore Hall, and he has been nominated for the Gerald Moore Award. Their recital includes songs in Spanish and Portuguese from seven countries. Reflecting Argentina is "Dance of Two Brothers" by the Impressionistic composer Carlos Guastavino, and "Cancion de cuna India," a haunting lullaby by Gilardo Gilardi, inspired by Argentina's indigenous music. Maria Grever was the first Mexican female composer to gain international success. Her innate melodic gifts are evident in "My Soul" and "You Said 'I Love You'." "Uirapuru," by Brazilian composer Waldemar Henrique, describes the song of the so-named musician wren, while the evocative "Bluebird" by compatriot, Jayme Ovalle, was embraced by sopranos like Victoria de Los Angeles and Montserrat Caballe, and baritone Gerard Souzay. Ernani Braga's gift for transforming Afro-Brazilian musical elements is underscored in a song reflecting Brazilian folk religion and a sugar-mill workers' song. The simple originality of Spanish composer, Maria de Pablos Cerezo, who tragically spent her final decades in a mental institution, is heard here in "The Water Wheel." Ernesto Halffter's much-admired arrangement of a popular fado, "Oh, What a Beautiful Girl" is followed by two selections arranged by the Spanish poet and playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca: "The Moorish girls from Jaen" and "Sevillian Lullaby." Barcelona native Fernando Obradors conjures the Andalusian dance, "El vito," and from zarzuela composer, Joaquin "Quinito" Valverde Sanjuan, we have his sublime "Carnations." "Lullaby to Put Albertico to Bed" and "Rojo," a description of sunset, reflect the folkloric research by Venezuelan musicologist-composer, Modesta Bor. Colombia is represented by the haunting lullaby, "Promises So You Can Sleep" from Luis Carlos Figueroa Sierra; a loving picture of a country girl, "La campesina," by Jaime Leon Ferro; and "Four Questions" from a heartbroken lover by Pedro Morales Pino. The recital ends with two songs from Portugal. "The Willows" by Luis Costa is one of the gems of Portuguese art song. Finally, from Antonio Fragoso, a victim of the 1918 influenza epidemic, we have "Cradling the Little Boy."

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Alma: Ibero-American Songs
SOMM Recordings Jul 2025
CD
$18.99

Weiss: Lute Sonatas Vol 8 / Robert Barto

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 30, 2007

Silvius Leopold Weiss loved the lute. An exact contemporary of J.S. Bach, he worked in the Dresden court composing hundreds of lute pieces. This volume by American Robert Barto is the eighth in his Naxos series.

For a variety of reasons - including an interdict on their distribution by his patron and the fact that many survive only in tablature, not to mention their extreme difficulty - it’s a wonder that we’re able to hear them at all. The provenance, near destruction and geographical scattering - collections exist in London and Dresden - make teeth-chattering reading. Indeed a sonata on the already-published Volume 1 (Naxos 8.553773) was misidentified as Number 36: it should be Number 11. This is all the more unnerving when one remembers in what high esteem Weiss was held both in Germany as lutenist while still alive, and subsequently by musicologists aware of his gifts and tantalised by the wished-for prospect of his having written music other than for the lute.

Barto presents three sonatas on this CD: Numbers 36, 19 and 34. It can be said from the start that the playing is sharp and expressive and thus that the CD can be immediately recommended. It will be interesting to see how a ‘rival’ series by Yasunori Imamura on Claves - so far only Volume 1 has been released on 50-2613 - compares. Barto’s approach more earthy than Imamura’s with slightly more poise and a ‘stringier’ sound; perhaps even more downright accomplished. Each has its merits and each more than passes muster. Reviews of previous volumes in the Naxos/Barto series on MusicWeb have been enthusiastic. Volume 8 is no exception.

Sonata - we should probably call it a Suite - 36 is highly typical of Weiss’s later approach: a three-part texture in cantabile style. It’s a lovely, gentle, work with intricacies and simplicities in equal measure. At times redolent of Bach - listen to the development of the end of the allegro, tr. 6, for example - the six movements follow one another like a happy, dancing couple.

Number 19 is harmonically conservative and shies away from anything at all angular or extrovert, though the music is full of impact and makes special use of folk dances. After listening to the Sonata, one seems to have experienced as much as heard the tunes, the overt and hidden rhythms and the contrasts between movements. Barto is highly skilled at leading us through that experience.

Number 34 is one of Weiss’s most popular sonatas and evidently was used for teaching. But it’s no simplified exercise. With superb part-writing and luminous, improvisatory singing sequences, it contains arguably the most lovely music on this CD.

If you’ve been collecting Barto’s Naxos Weiss series until now, you’ll need no encouragement to buy this latest volume. If you haven’t come across it yet, this is as good a place to start as any. If it’s the sound of the lute you’re after, then Weiss’s expertise drawing out every nuance will thrill and reward.

-- Mark Sealey, MusicWeb International

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Weiss: Lute Sonatas Vol 8 / Robert Barto
Naxos Jan 2007
CD
$19.99

Schubert: Schwanengesang & Schumann: Dichterliebe / Behle, Gordes, Orchester Der Kammeroper Munchen

Genuin

$20.99 Sep 04, 2020

For the first time, star tenor Daniel Behle sings in a GENUIN production: Together with the Orchestra of the Munich Chamber Opera, he interprets two of the most beautiful song cycles ever, namely Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang and Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe. In both cycles, Alexander Krampe transforms the original piano accompaniment into an exciting orchestral arrangement. This is supported by the tonally rich and supple voice of Daniel Behle in the most fortunate manner: from the delicate textures of Schubert's Liebesbotschaft to the pale expanses of his Doppelgänger to the cutting rhythms of Schumann's Die alten, bösen Lieder.

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Schubert: Schwanengesang & Schumann: Dichterliebe / Behle, Gordes, Orchester Der Kammeroper Munchen
Genuin Sep 2020
CD
$20.99

Prokofiev: Ivan The Terrible / Strobel, Berlin Radio Symphony

Capriccio

$29.99 Feb 16, 2018

Ivan the Terrible – the second joint project of Sergei Eisenstein and Sergei Prokofiev – is, much like Alexander Newski, a historical epic, portraying the rise and fall of the autocratic ruler Ivan IV in the 16th century. Sergei Prokofiev’s musical portrayal is unique in film history, for the score conceives both parts of the film on an epic scale. Prokofiev’s rich melodic invention thrives on the expressive sound palette of his native Russia, mostly as they echo the spiritual works of the Russian-orthodox liturgy. These film scores were not published during Prokofiev’s lifetime. They were arranged as an oratorio for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Levon Atovmyan, one of Prokofiev’s assistants, in 1961. This version received its concert premiere in Moscow that same year. This, however, is the original, straight from the composer’s hands, receiving its world premiere recording.

-----

REVIEW:

The music is well worth the listener’s time: it is very inventive and highly atmospheric owing to the composer’s uncanny ability to depict the characters, moods and historic aspects of the story. As mentioned, the performances are quite fine and Strobel, who earlier gave us the world premiere recording of the complete film music from Alexander Nevsky, has a grasp on Prokofiev’s film music style that few other conductors do.

– MusicWeb International

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Prokofiev: Ivan The Terrible / Strobel, Berlin Radio Symphony
Capriccio Feb 2018
CD
$29.99

Bach: Trio Sonatas For Organ / Robert Quinney

Coro

$20.99 Sep 26, 2011

Among Bach’s organ works none are more purely enjoyable to listen to or embody the spirit, the voice(s), the vitality inherent in the instrument more than the six Trio Sonatas. Although I prefer the somewhat brighter, “flutier” sound and generally quicker tempos of Lionel Rogg, who performs on the historic Silbermann organ at Arlesheim, Switzerland (Harmonia Mundi), Robert Quinney (currently the sub-organist at Westminster Abbey) gives solid and informed interpretations of these formidably difficult works. (Apparently Albert Schweitzer—who as an organist and Bach scholar certainly knew his Bach and his organ works—is said to have claimed that anyone who masters the trio sonatas has achieved the height of technical virtuosity. If you can find it, there’s a wonderful old EMI recording of Schweitzer playing Bach—no trio sonatas, however!)

Quinney performs on the Frobenius organ of Oxford’s Queen’s College, in Quinney’s words not a “historically accurate instrument for Bach”, but nevertheless possessing “exquisite voicing, superb mechanical action, and modest size.” Quinney employs these features mostly very effectively, especially in the last two sonatas, where both the playing and registration choices are freer and more imaginative. Quinney’s performance of the C major sonata most thrillingly captures those traits mentioned above—vitality, spirit, and pure enjoyment. In other places—the opening E-flat sonata, the first movement of the D minor, most of the slow movements—tempos just seem too slow, the registration choices too “plain”. The E-flat sonata is one of the most exuberant creations in the organ repertoire, but here that joyful edge is off. Overall, however, Quinney must be commended—and should be listened to—for his impressive technique and his mostly successful management of Bach's particular demands regarding time and space (Schweitzer--and Einstein--would have approved!), captured in excellent sound (never an easy thing with organs and organ venues).

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

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Bach: Trio Sonatas For Organ / Robert Quinney
Coro Sep 2011
CD
$20.99

Donizetti: Roberto Devereux

BelAir Classiques

Blu-Ray

$31.99 Nov 11, 2016

In the last and most dramatic aria in “Roberto Devereux,” one of the four Tudor period operas composed by Donizetti in 1837 (along with “Anna Bolena,” “Maria Stuarda,” and “Il Castello di Kenilworth,”) the protagonist, Queen Elizabeth I of England, exclaims: “I do not reign, I do not live.” This statement encapsulates great operatic themes, and it is the culmination of an opera that reveals the passions of characters who live among palace intrigues. Written in the mature period of the leader of Italian romanticism, the opera displays a great vocal virtuosity, and is an example of Donizetti prizing the voice above all in the genre. The staging, by South African director Alessandro Talevi, who has been very successful in great opera houses as well as with more experimental theatre, places the play in an undetermined period, focusing on the chiaroscuro. Bruno Campanella conducts the production with Mariella Devia in the lead. “This was a most promising start to the season, a first-class rendition of a neglected work and a joyful confirmation of Mariella Devia’s well-deserved place in bel canto history.” (Bachtrack.com)

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Donizetti: Roberto Devereux
BelAir Classiques Nov 2016
Blu-Ray
$31.99

REVOLUTION WILL BE JAZZ: SONGS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON

SAVANT

$16.63 Jul 19, 2011

Giacomo Gates is an extraordinary vocal stylist. He's often credited as a contemporary Eddie Jefferson, but remains a true innovator, not an imitator. For his Savant debut, Gates has chosen a stimulating selection of songs by the influential and controversial Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron made music that reflected the turbulence and increasing pessimism of the early 70s. This material is tailor-made for Gates, who without question is the best-suited performer to deliver the satirical and insightful lyrics of a true American original, Gil Scott-Heron.

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REVOLUTION WILL BE JAZZ: SONGS OF GIL SCOTT-HERON
SAVANT Jul 2011
CD
$16.63

Johann Jakob Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 4

Athene

$25.99 Oct 10, 2025

The fourth and final volume in Gilbert Rowland's acclaimed Froberger series completes the landmark recording project on specialist early music label Athene. This double album is the latest instalment of Rowland's authoritative traversal of the complete Harpsichord Suites by Johann Jakob Froberger - a composer of profound influence whose innovations shaped the very form of the Baroque suite later adopted by Bach and Handel. Praised for it's "glorious sound" and "energy and a good forward drive", the series has garnered widespread critical recognition. Recorded in the sympathetic acoustic of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, in October 2024, the album reunites Rowland with engineer John Taylor, whose audiophile-standard production has underpinned the previous volumes. Rowland's playing combines historical insight with expressive vitality, delivering performances marked by "impeccable clarity, flawless articulation, and period-perfect embellishments". His interpretations illuminate the elegance and inventiveness of Froberger's writing, making this collection an essential reference for enthusiasts and scholars of early keyboard music. This release is a vital addition for fans of Froberger, Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and historically informed performances, offering both continuity for collectors and a compelling entry point into one of the Baroque's most fascinating keyboard oeuvres.

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Johann Jakob Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 4
Athene Oct 2025
CD
$25.99

Mix & Match

Stamp: Chamber Music, Vol. 2 / Barcelona Clarinets, Corporon, N. Texas Wind Symphony

Toccata

$20.99 Mar 15, 2024

The American composer John Stamp (b. 1954) – universally known as ‘Jack’ – is a familiar figure in the worlds of the symphonic wind-band movement that flourishes in US universities and of the brass band on both sides of the Atlantic. When the Barcelona Clarinet Players asked him for a new work, and then proposed this album, he had to create the repertoire from scratch. The range of moods he has generated here is surprisingly wide, from gentle night-music that caresses the ear, via jaunty fugal textures and buoyant counterpoint, to catchy dance-rhythms that set the foot tapping.

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Stamp: Chamber Music, Vol. 2 / Barcelona Clarinets, Corporon, N. Texas Wind Symphony
Toccata Mar 2024
CD
$20.99

The Decameron (Unabridged)

Naxos AudioBooks

$73.95 ~~$147.98~~ Save 50% Nov 10, 2017

The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio’s answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Known for its widespread influence including Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and poetry by Keats, The Decameron is also a valuable document of life at the time of the Black Death. This is the first unabridged cast recording in English and includes prolific stage actor Simon Russell Beale. Ten original songs are featured, composed by West End composer Steven Edis. Guido Waldman’s vibrant translation captures the exuberance of Boccaccio’s masterpiece.

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Sale

The Decameron (Unabridged)
Naxos AudioBooks Nov 2017
CD
~~$147.98~~ $73.95

Clara & Robert Schumann: Piano Concertos / Rana, Nézet-Séguin, Chamber Orchestra of Europe

WARNER CLASSICS

$17.28 Mar 17, 2023

Beatrice Rana combines Clara Wieck-Schumann and Robert Schumann's piano concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin In an interview with the New York Times, Rana, who called the piano concerto by Clara Wieck "a genius work in many ways," said: "I think that it's very, very underestimated - the intellectual value of this concerto in the history of music. It's fascinating to see that she conceived of this music free from any limitations; that as a teenager she composed an uninterrupted concerto with no breaks between the movements. We think of Liszt's First Piano Concerto as revolutionary in that regard, but Clara wrote hers so much earlier, unbroken and with connecting themes linking the movements."

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Clara & Robert Schumann: Piano Concertos / Rana, Nézet-Séguin, Chamber Orchestra of Europe
WARNER CLASSICS Mar 2023
CD
$17.28

ROBERTO DEVEREUX
VIDEO ARTISTS INT'L Jun 2001
DVD
$37.49

Boito: Nerone

Urania Records

$32.99 Jan 16, 2026

Despite being a work of great importance for the history of Italian opera, Nerone has almost no discography, except for the late Hungaroton edition (with Hungarian interpreters). Fortunately, in 1975, the Italian Rai of Torino produced this precious live edition under the Gavazzeni conduction, without any noise from the audience and with a perfect stereophonic recording. This is the best available performance of an opera that deserves the utmost attention, and which for years has not been available until today, thanks to the restoration by Urania Records.

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Boito: Nerone
Urania Records Jan 2026
CD
$32.99

Weiss: Sonatas For Lute Vol 4 / Robert Barto
Naxos Aug 2001
CD
$19.99

Machaut: Remede de Fortune / Les Délices & Blue Heron

Blue Heron Renaissance Choir

$21.99 Nov 04, 2022

A New Yorker Notable Recording of 2022!

A feast of poetry, song, and visual art animated by a surprisingly Zen-like philosophy, Guillaume de Machaut’s Remede de Fortune tells the tale of a woebegone lover who is counseled by Lady Hope on how to be happy and persevere in the face of the ups and downs dished out by Fortune and her Wheel.

Machaut was at once the greatest poet and composer of 14th-century Europe, and the Remede is a narrative poem or dit, around 4000 lines long, with interpolated lyrics set to music. This live recording of a concert production of the Remede—a collaboration between two outstanding American ensembles, Blue Heron and Les Délices—includes all seven musical items from the Remede as well as a selection of other motets, songs, and dances, which take the place of the narration, express the emotions and thoughts of the Lover, and convey Hope’s teachings in lyric form.

Four singers are joined by a delightful ensemble of medieval instruments (recorder, douçaine, fiddle, lute, harp, hurdy-gurdy, and percussion) in performances which are both spirited and deeply informed by the study of historical performance practices. The album booklet contains complete texts and translations, an interspersed synopsis of the story, and numerous full-color reproductions of the pictures that grace the lavishly illustrated first manuscript copy of the Remede, prepared c. 1350 under Machaut’s supervision.

REVIEW:

What is “Remede de Fortune?” Nothing less than a multi-media work of art – created in 1350. Guillaume de Machaut was one of the greatest poets of his time. And one of the greatest composers. But Remede is more than just a combination of Machaut’s words and music. Machaut personally supervised the creation of an illuminated book.

The early music vocal group Blue Heron staged a live performance of “Remede” with Les Délices. Their performance includes all the music contained in the story. The narration was replaced with motets, songs, and dances of the period. It’s a great performance and one that can be enjoyed on several levels. I first listened to the recording cold. The recording works as a pure listening experience. There’s enough variety between the combination of instruments and voices to hold interest.

Blue Heron is still one of the finest vocal ensembles around, and they didn’t disappoint. The music was sung with pure, clear tones of incredible expressive beauty. Les Délices provided subtle accompaniment, supporting the vocalists without detracting from them. The release comes with the complete text for Remede (and thankfully English translation). It also includes several full-color reproductions of the artwork. So one could, as in Machaut’s time, follow along with the text and art as the music played.

It was an extraordinary work of art, and it’s an extraordinary realization. Highly recommended.

-- WTJU 91.1 FM

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Machaut: Remede de Fortune / Les Délices & Blue Heron
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir Nov 2022
CD
$21.99

Roberts: Last Cicada Singing

Cold Blue Music

$5.49 ~~$10.99~~ Save 50% Oct 01, 2009

Composer Christopher Roberts’s four serene yet deeply emotive pieces for solo qin (a Chinese zither-like instrument) are quiet, sparce, slightly eerie, almost Feldmanesque. Performed by the composer, who learned the qin while living and teaching for many years in Taiwan. This is a 30-minute CD EP/single. “So Confucius walks into a bar, just in time for Bill Evans’s last set, and after closing time pulls out his qin for a few solos … That’s the vibe that Christopher Roberts captures in these intimate nocturnal musings where crystalline harmonics dance among gutsy bass slides while elegant harmonies whisper their most private thoughts. A truly haunting recording.” [John Schneider, Host of KPFK’s Global Village] “The most Chinese of instruments, the qin has roots in the ancient literati tradition…. Having studied its classical tradition in Taiwan, the quixotic Roberts (also a double bassist) also brings his own traditions of jazz, blues, and solo improvisation to the table. While starting somewhere near its traditional core, Roberts bends his instrument in new directions entirely, turning it westwards even as he faces east.” [Gramophone magazine] “‘Exotic’ is a relative term. Gorecki's music is exotic compared to Lloyd Webber’s, Ligeti’s music is exotic compared to Gorecki’s, and Christopher Roberts’ music is exotic compared to nearly any music you are likely to think of.… Last Cicada Singing integrates Eastern and Western music so well, finding their common ground in calm reflection of natural sounds and processes. Sit back, relax, contemplate.” [Malcolm Tattersall, Music & Vision] “You-are-there-grade realism. The recording is Christopher Roberts’ hauntingly beautiful and stunningly well-recorded Last Cicada Singing [Absolute Sound magazine] “Mesmerizing sounds...quiet, sparse, serene music.” [Michael Barone, Minnesota Public Radio]

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Roberts: Last Cicada Singing
Cold Blue Music Oct 2009
CD
~~$10.99~~ $5.49