Latest News: Classical, Chandos (label)
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Recording of the Week,
Andrew Davis conducts orchestral works by Bax 1st September 2014James listens to the culmination of Chandos's Bax project, including the first ever recording of his Four Orchestral Pieces, conducted by Andrew Davis.
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Recording of the Week,
Walton from Edward Gardner and Tasmin Little 21st April 2014This week, James listens to Edward Gardner’s fiery rendition of Walton’s tempestuous Symphony No. 1 and Tasmin Little’s nimble account of his Violin Concerto.
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Recording of the Week,
Neeme Järvi conducts Richard Strauss’s ballet, Josephslegende 10th June 2013Strauss himself may have spoke slightingly of this work (commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1914), but Chris is won over by the range and combinations of orchestral colours, and Järvi’s carefully calculated tempos and tempo relationships.
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Recording of the Week,
Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty from Neeme Järvi 10th December 2012A new trilogy of complete Tchaikovsky ballet scores from the veteran Estonian conductor and the Bergen Philharmonic gets off to a glittering start, with outstanding solo contributions from violinist James Ehnes and cellist Robert deMaine.
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Recording of the Week,
Elgar and the First World War 5th November 2012Sir Andrew Davis presides over a touching account of the incidental music for The Starlight Express, whilst John Wilson champions wartime rarities including Polonia, Carillon, and Le drapeau belge*; Simon Callow narrates with gusto on both recordings.
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Recording of the Week,
Two important Elgar rarities 9th November 2009Sir Andrew Davis conducts The Crown of India with the BBC Philharmonic, and Roderick Williams and others explore The Fringes of the Fleet, a patriotic song-cycle setting texts by Rudyard Kipling.
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Recording of the Week,
Sarah Connolly gets Purcell year off to a flier 2nd February 2009The British mezzo ushers in the 350th anniversary of Purcell’s birth by masterminding a new recording of Dido and Aeneas, on which her assumption of the title-role ranks with the very best on disc.
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Recording of the Week,
Reginald Goodall's revelatory 'Mastersingers' 30th June 2008Broadcast by the BBC in 1968 and sung in English by a largely British cast, the controversial conductor’s take on Wagner’s only comedy impresses with its ‘immense depths of mood and meaning’.
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Recording of the Week,
Bach Fugues from Onyx and the Emersons 16th June 2008A British brass quintet and American string quartet (who recently recorded an impressive account of The Art of Fugue) tackle fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier.
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Recording of the Week,
Undeservedly neglected music - John Marsh and Juan de Araujo 28th January 2008Ex Cathedra explore the rich legacy of a sixteenth-century Spanish composer who spent much of his career in South America, whilst the London Mozart Players focus on the music of an English lawyer who was also one of the most prolific English composers of the eighteenth century.
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Recording of the Week,
Debussy's new champion 14th May 2007The French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet begins a new Debussy cycle with arresting performances of the Préludes and Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon.