Chandos
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This most welcome second volume of British overtures serves to accentuate the sheer diversity of works this country produced in the genre between the 1890s and the 1940s and, moreover, where... —
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It may sound like faint praise to describe these as 'well-managed' performances, but to shape and steer all Seven Symphonies convincingly is no mean feat. When it comes to overview and attention... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, December 2015, First Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2015, Finalist - Orchestral
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Building A Library, August 2025, Recommended Recording - Symphony No. 1
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Chandos’s recording is full and rich... The Reflections on a sixteenth century tune is a real discovery that should surely be snapped up by Classic FM audiences. —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, March 2019
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Britten: War Requiem
RecommendedHeather Harper (soprano), Philip Langridge (tenor), John Shirley-Quirk (bass-baritone), Martyn Hill (tenor)
Choristers of St Paul`s Cathedral, London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Richard Hickox
Britten's War Requiem is the composer's most public statement of his pacifism.
The work is cast in six movements and calls for massive forces: full chorus, soprano soloist and full orchestra... —Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1992, Winner - Choral
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Gramophone Awards, 1992, Winner - Engineering
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Building a Library, June 2017, Also Recommended
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Anyone who doubts Bavouzet's abilities should sample the playful romp through the third of the Images, the quasi-Etude 'Mouvement', or his beautifully atmospheric 'Et la lune descend sur le... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2008, Disc of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Winner - Instrumental
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Building a Library, March 2021, Recommended Recording
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Britten: Death in Venice
Philip Langridge (Aschenbach), Alan Opie (Traveller/Elderly Fop/Old Gondolier/Hotel Manager/Hotel Barber/Leader of the Players/Voice of Dionysus), Michael Chance (Voice of Apollo)
BBC Singers, City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
The Pears/Bedford version tends to emphasise the opera's elegiac side… The Chandos… is certainly not lacking in depth. But it also has an incisive clarity matching Richard Hickox's generally... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2005, Finalist - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2005, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2005, Editor's Choice
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Elgar: Falstaff, Orchestral Songs; Grania and Diarmid
Roderick Williams (baritone)
BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis
The performances of the songs are ardent, warm and full of conviction. As ever Roderick Williams sounds completely on the composer’s side. But after Falstaff it’s all too clear that they really... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, October 2017
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2018, Editor's Choice
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2018, Winner - Symphonique
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Diapason d’Or, April 2018, Nouveauté
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Buxtehude - Sacred Cantatas
Emma Kirkby, Suzie LeBlanc (sopranos), Peter Harvey (bass)
Purcell Quartet
Several of these Sacred Cantatas by Buxtehude aren't otherwise available, and if you'd like to put some flesh on the bare bones of the man admired, and eclipsed, by Bach, then I can't currently... —
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Strauss: Ariadne on Naxos
RecommendedSung in English: translation by Christopher Cowell
Christine Brewer (Ariadne/Prima Donna), Robert Dean Smith (Bacchus/The Tenor), Alice Coote (Composer), Gillian Keith (Zerbinetta), Stephen Fry (Major-Domo), Alan Opie (Music Master), John Graham-Hall (Dancing Master/Scaramuccio), Roderick Williams (Harlequin), Matthew Rose (Truffaldino), Wynne Evans...
Brewer's luscious Ariadne had to be captured on disc...There's another essential performance from Alice Coote...with unflinchingly full top notes that few other genuine mezzos possess...I've... —
Awards:
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Sunday Times, 2010, Albums of the Year
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Gramophone Awards, 2011, Shortlisted - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2010, Opera Choice
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Building A Library, September 2025, Recommended Recording
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Audio formats guide -
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Op. 44/3 is the longest of the quartets, and the outer movements can sometimes come across as prolix. The Doric’s performance steers clear of this trap – again through the controlled variety... —
Awards:
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2019, Nominated - Chamber
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