NMC
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Special offer. Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus
RecommendedBBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers, Andrew Davis and Martyn Brabbins
Birtwistle's opera is about the Orpheus myth, but the familiar story has been fragmented. Each of the principal characters is represented by two singers and a (silent) dancer, and much of what... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1998, Winner - Contemporary
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Tom Coult: Pieces That Disappear
Tom Coult, Anna Dennis (soprano), Daniel Pioro (violin), Elena Schwarz, BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins, Andrew Gourlay
There is something ominous about the debut album from Tom Coult . Across four works, he takes us to darkly dramatic places with his expressive writing and playful textures. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Shortlist, Contemporary
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Emily Howard: Torus
Vimbayi Kaziboni, Julian Warburton, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Gabriella Teychenné,
BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mark Wigglesworth, Martyn Brabbins
These recordings sit on the edge of discomfort, relishing in the stark contrasts of timbres available to an orchestra. Oscillating between these extremes, this is music-making at its most dynamic. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Shortlisted - Contemporary
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Oliver Knussen: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
Elaine Barry, Linda Hirst (sopranos) & Michael Collins, Dward Pillinger, Ian Mitchell (clarinets)
The Nash Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas & Oliver Knussen
Here is the essence of him: his precocious song-cycle symphony (No 2) and arresting Symphony No 3 (performed by the Philharmonia)...and that locus classicus of ensemble virtuosity, the five-minute... —
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Saunders explores the sculptural properties of sound, focusing on contrasting and complementary timbre rather than traditional harmony...Juliet Fraser is the spiralling soloist in Skin; swaggering... —
Awards:
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The Guardian Classical Albums of the Year, 2022
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Judith Weir - The Welcome Arrival of Rain
Ailish Tynan (soprano)
BBC Singers & BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
The performances, under the ever-reliable Martyn Brabbins, are excellent, with Ailish Tynan a personable soloist in Natural History. The recordings are clear and bright, like the music itself. —
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Special offer. Ferneyhough: Shadowtime
Nicolas Hodges (piano), Mats Scheidegger, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Nieuw Ensemble, Jurjen Hempel
Bernstein's text makes oblique manoeuvres round the themes of Benjamin's work, and Ferneyhough sets them to complex yet frequently beautiful music, a mixture of tough and tender modernism —
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Special offer. Rushton: The Shops
Darren Abrahams (tenor), Anna Dennis (soprano), Phyllis Cannan (contralto), Richard Burkhard (baritone), Louise Mott (mezzo-soprano) & Paul Reeves (bass)
The Opera Group, Patrick Bailey
Patrick Bailey ably conducts the Opera Group’s excellent performance, recorded at live London performances last year. Doubtless, some will buy this disc to keep their NMC collection up to date.... —
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Richard Ayres - NONcertos and others
Wim Timmermans (horn), Marco Blaauw (trumpet)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, ASKO Ensemble, musikFabrik, Roland Kluttig
Ayres's approach appears to reflect Mahler's wish to include everything, but in its episodic spirit Ayres's music comes across as Janacek for the 21st century and, like both composers, it is... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2010, Editor's Choice
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Spark Catchers
Tai Murray (violin), Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano), Chi-chi Nwanoku (double bass), Chineke! Orchestra & Chorus, Roderick Williams (baritone), Chineke! Orchestra, Chineke! Chorus, Anthony Parnther, Kevin John Edusei, Wayne Marshall
Titular track The Spark Catchers was recorded at the BBC Proms in 2017. Hannah Kendall’s sound whirlpool takes its inspiration from Lemn Sissay’s poem of the same name. There is an itchy brooding... —
Awards:
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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