Camberley's Finest

Graham Parker and the Rumour : Stick To Me Thanks to the recent BBC4 documentary for reminding me of maybe my favourite band from back in the day. Will pick up a few of the old albums but began with the problem child, Stick To Me, since it appears to be out of print and one copy was available at a normal price from a reseller as opposed to paying mega bucks. A "problem" album because the master tapes were wrecked during remixing and it had to be hurriedly re-recorded without the production values and added musicians of the original. But without that knowledge of what might have been, it still holds up as a fine album with some great songs.

He Who Would Valiant Be

Pilgrim's Progress by Vaughan Williams Performers : London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult with full cast of soloists headed by baritone John Noble playing "Pilgrim". I saw the 2012 production at ENO which coped very well with the question of "is it an opera or is it an oratorio?" Though this does undoubtedly pose problems on stage, on disc it works in the piece's favour and makes a rewarding listening experience without missing the stage action.

Finding His Polish Voice

Szymanowski : Symphony No 2, Symphony No 4 "Symphonie Concertante", Concert Overture. Performers : BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner, Louis Lortie piano. Very ( Richard ) Straussian overture and second symphony, then Szymanowski found his own voice and the fourth symphony ( almost a piano concerto ) is the stand out work here.

Classical Brazil

Brasileiro : Villa-Lobos and Friends. Performer Nelson Friere, piano. Friere championing the music of his homeland. Villa-Lobos is clearly the dominant and most accomplished composer featured but there are characterful pieces by lesser known names Guarnieri, Oswald, Levy, Netto, Fernandez, Santoro and Mignone. These provide native colour to go alongside the Debussy / Ravel influence displayed frequently by Villa-Lobos.

Voice Of The cello

Britten Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata and Cello Suites. Performers : Alban Gerhardt cello, Steven Osborne, piano. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze. Late Britten from when he had more or less stopped composing purely instrumental music except at the behest of Rostropovich. Gerhardt does not suffer at all by comparison.

Byzantium To Ottoman

La Sublime Porte - Voix D'Istanbul - 1430-1750 Performers Hesperion XXI directed by Jordi Savall. Another of Jordi Savall's investigations of various Mediterranean traditions and cultures with musicians from Armenia, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Greece, Israel, Morocco and Turkey.

Period Baroquery

Girolamo Frescobaldi Toccatas and Partitas. Performer : Fabio Bonozzoni Harpsichord / organ. A double cd set, two thirds of which is on harpsichord. The organ pieces being recorded on location on a barqoque organ in Mantova Italy.