Bought For The Prokofiev

Shostakovich, violin concerto no 1 and Prokofiev violin concerto no 1. Performers : Berlin Philharmoniker conducted by Simon Rattle. Sarah Chang violin. I already have a recording of the Shostakovich but wanted Prokofiev's fist concerto and there did not seem to be any couplings other than with the Shostakovich or with Prokofiev's second which I also already have. These are good solid performances.

Anglo-Scottish Take On New Music

Sally Beamish : Violin Concerto, Callisto ( concerto for flute and orchestra ), Symphony No 1 Performers : Royal Scottish national Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins, Anthony Marwood violin, Sharon Bezaly flute. Representative selection of the composer's output, all pieces occupying a similar sound world but the different lead instruments creating enough variety. The programmatic aspect of the violin concerto being based on All Quiet On The Western Front not immediately discernible.

Another One For Completists

Schubert Complete Works for Violin and Piano Alina Ibragimova violin, Cedric Tiberghien piano Two cd set comprising the four violin sonatas plus a rondo, a fantasy and a transcription. Another welcome addition to the growing discography of this pair.

He Wrote The Songs

Rachmaninov Songs. Three disc box of Rachmaninov's complete songs curated by Iain Burnside and sung by seven native Russian speakers using the voice types envisaged by Rachmaninov for each song without transpositions. Performers : Evelina Dobraceva soprano, Ekaterina Siurina soprano, Justina Gringyte mezzo-soprano, Daniil Shtoda tenor, Andrei Bondarenko baritone, Rodion Pogossov baritone, Alexander Vinogradov bass, Iain Burnside piano.

Icles Not Atas But It's All Cant

Britten : The Five Canticles. Performers : Principally Mark Padmore tenor and Julius Drake piano. But significant contrbution from Iestyn Davies counter tenor and also Marcus Farnsworth baritone, Lucy Wakeford harp and Richard Watkins horn. Live recording from a concert in Wigmore Hall.

Looking Out For A Hero

Gliere Symphony No 3, Il'ya Muromets. Performers : Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta Programmatic symphony on a possibly mythical hero from medieval Russia. Highly atmospheric even without knowing the programme, though the short ( relative to the rest of the symphony ) scherzo seems to belong to another symphony altogether.

Bach Ascending

Bach Cantatas Volume 28 For Ascension Day. Performers : The Monteverdi Choir, The English Baroque Soloists conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. Lenneke Ruiten soprano, Meg Bragle alto, Andrew Tortise tenor, Dietrich Henschel bass. Not up to owning all 28 volumes but a beautiful representative set to set alongside Herreweghe and Suzuki.