Mendelssohn: Symphonies No. 1 & 4

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton

“From the hushed polyphony of the slow introduction [of the First]...to a truly exultant finale, Litton and his spruce Bergen orchestra banish any hint of turgidity. Tempo and character are acutely judged...Litton's Scottish likewise combines verve, textual clarity and a vivid sense of atmosphere.” --Gramophone Magazine, June 2010

“…one of the most enjoyable discs I've listened to in a long time… Litton, for my money, gets it right every time. He… makes clear distinctions between fast and slow: in the Italian Symphony, the first movement goes like the wind, though with no sense of undue haste, while the third movement still retains the grace and dignity of the minuet from which it derives.

How good, too, to come across a conductor who is not afraid to make his orchestra play pianississimo! ...one of the most delicious moments comes near the start of the second movement of the Italian Symphony where the strings are joined by the two flutes, both vibrato-free. At the other extreme, the C major coda of this movement lifts you out of your seat.” --BBC Music Magazine, February 2010 *****

Respighi: Chamber Works

This disc contains the premiere recording of Respighi's String Quartet in D minor. The Ambache, a group of between three and thirty musicians, was formed in 1984 by Diana Ambache, one of the few women in Britain to found and direct her own classical chamber orchestra.

"The Ambache, an eminent group of five on this disc, play it all superbly well" --musicweb-international.com

Like most of us, I am sure, knowledge of Ottorino Respighi’s music is probably restricted to the Roman tone poems, Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. He was a fine orchestrator, and rather trapped into pastiche arrangements of the works of his greater predecessors like Bach. Strangely, I came across him when writing my biography of Max Bruch, for, like Vaughan Williams, Respighi was an unlikely pupil of the old man when he was Professor of Composition at the Berlin Academy from 1890-1911. Bruch would have approved of Respighi (he castigated VW for his use of the flattened seventh, and luckily the Englishman ignored his teacher’s advice to stop using it for it became his trademark for the rest of his life!) because the Italian had an obvious respect for and assimilation of the past in his own music. Even Rachmaninov deferred to Respighi when he entrusted the orchestration of five of his Etudes-tableaux for piano ‘to your masterly hands’. He is due for rediscovery, or maybe it is more basic than that, discovery.

This disc goes some way to doing just that. The music is a surprising revelation, very delightful, tuneful, and imaginative. The Presto of the string quartet had me reaching for the skip-back button. All the works cover the first decade of the last century, when the composer was in his thirties, the Brahms influence still strong yet not without the sunny southern Italian climes of Respighi’s own nature, at the same time, Janus-like, looking ahead to what would happen in the first two decades of the 20th century, monumental times for music. Add in some Rimsky-Korsakov (another brilliant colourist), a dash of Mendelssohn, and some Richard Strauss and you have pretty well got an idea of how attractive this music is. Apparently there’s a lot more undiscovered chamber music to be explored, so the auguries are good.

The Ambache, an eminent group of five on this disc, play it all superbly well, the crowning duo of Ambache and Crayford in the beautiful Six Pieces rounding off a highly enjoyable feast of unfamiliar music.

Christopher Fifield, musicweb.internacional.com

Alwyn: Symphonies No. 2 & 5 'Hydriotaphia', Lyra Angelica

Suzanne Willison (harp)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones

“I would… strongly recommend this performance of the Lyra Angelica, Lloyd-Jones and harpist Suzanne Willison revealing more dark and ecstatic poetry than in any other performance had led me to expect.” --BBC Music Magazine, October 2005

“All three works here show the composer at the height of his powers. The Second Symphony (1953) was Alwyn's own favourite of his five. Economically argued and cast in two parts, it's a stirring, heartfelt creation, full of striking invention and resplendently scored. Impressive, too, is the Fifth from 1973 (dedicated 'to the immortal memory of Sir Thomas Browne', from whose 1658 elegiac discourse Hydriotaphia the work derives its inspiration), a tightly organised singlemovement essay of considerable emotional impact and touching sincerity.

Lloyd-Jones provides a tauter, more convincingly paced view than either of the earlier recordings but the RLPO, enthusiastically though they respond, can't quite match Richard Hickox's LSO (Chandos, only available as a download) in terms of tonal sheen.

Sandwiched between the symphonies comes Lyra angelica, the ravishing concerto for harp and string orchestra that Alwyn penned in 1953-54. Inspired by lines from Christ's Victorieand Triumph (1610) by the English metaphysical poet Giles Fletcher, it's a work of unbounded lyrical beauty and leaves an indelibly rapt impression here.

The immaculate soloist, Suzanne Willison, is placed well forward in the sound picture without any undue masking of detail. In the symphonies, on the other hand, the orchestral balance is neither as effortlessly natural nor helpfully transparent as that struck by the Lyrita engineers three decades earlier – and the distant toot of a car horn breaks the spell after the diminuendoa niente conclusion of No 2's first half.
Small niggles but not enough to withhold a solid recommendation.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Bassani: Sinfonie (12), Op. 5

Ensemble StilModerno

Giovannni Battista Bassani (born in 1650 in Padua) was one of the foremost representatives of the Bolognese School. His works were well known during his lifetime, and composers like Handel and Bach knew and esteemed them highly. The Sinfonie Op. 5 displays a wide variety of styles, from solemn toccatas to playful dances, and is written for a several string instruments and basso continuo. Ensemble StilModerno adheres to the Historically Informed Performance Practice, and plays these original and skilfully written works with passion and virtuosity. 

New recordings, liner notes written by specialists in this field.

Giovanni Battista Bassani, born c.1650 in Padua, Italy, was one of the representative composers of Bolognese music; during his lifetime he stood alongside the likes of Torelli and Corelli, but the popularity of his music declined rapidly after his death. This new recording of his Sinfonie Op.5 is an opportunity for listeners to become acquainted with his music, which thoroughly deserves to be rediscovered. Not only was Bassani one of the most celebrated musicians of his era, held in high esteem by Bach and Handel, his Sinfonie Op.5 proved extremely popular with audiences and performers: four reprints were made and a number of handwritten copies spread throughout the world.

Somewhat confusingly, the work is actually a set of 12 sonatas for strings and basso continuo, possibly written with church use in mind. Stylistically, these sonatas demonstrate Bassani’s versatility and ability to draw together different styles and techniques; movements range from solemn toccatas to quick dances, and, in many cases, music of great contrast is created through building upon the same musical materials. Displaying Bassani’s skill as a composer, violinist and organist, the sonatas that make up the Sinfonie Op.5 are some of the most accomplished and forward-looking works of the late 17th century, foreshadowing sonata form in their structures.This new recording is an exciting chance to discover Bassani’s previously overlooked music, played by Baroque-performance specialists Ensemble Stil Moderno.

Martin, Honegger & Schoeck: Three Cello Concertos

Christian Poltéra (cello)
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Tuomas Hannikainen

“Poltera connects convincingly with the overall mood of [the Honegger]...The lyrical interweaving of soloist and orchestra [in the Schoeck] is beautifully realised on this memorable recording...although Poltera enjoys a fairly prominent place on the sound stage, his contributions never hog the limelight unduly. First-rate in every way.” --Gramophone Magazine, July 2012

“Christian Poltéra performs throughout with style and sensitivity. His playing never sounds self-conscious. He delivers bold playing that he projects extremely well. Under Tuomas Hannikainen the Malmö Symphony Orchestra is highly responsive and cannot be faulted.” --MusicWeb International, July 2012

Balakirev: Piano Concertos

Anastasia Seifetdinova (piano)
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitry Yablonsky

“The performances are impressive...Dmitry Yablonsky conducts the Russian Philharmonic with considerable elan, too.” --The Guardian, 10th April 2009 ***

“All three pieces are given proficient performances..” --The Telegraph, 28th April 2009 ***

Leader of the ‘Mighty Handful’ of Russian composers, Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev was praised by Rimsky-Korsakov as “an excellent pianist … endowed by nature with a sense of correct harmony and part-writing”, qualities abundantly evident in his two piano concertos, the second of which was completed by Sergey Lyapunov.

Brimming with Romantic bravura, rich orchestrations and solo writing that, while distinctive, can often stand comparison with Tchaikovsky, these are highly appealing works.

With his Grande Fantaisie on Russian Folksongs, Balakirev made an important contribution to Russian nationalist music.

“For a critic, hearing a new pianist with a truly warm, luscious tone is like breathing in the scent of jasmine blooming - a pleasure to be recalled again and again - and so I’m happy to report that from the first note she touched at her Weill Hall recital, Anastasia Seifetdinova was a genuine pleasure to listen to.” New York Concert Review

The Very Best Of Beethoven

Beethoven was a musical giant. He wasn't taller or fatter than everyone else, but his music is big and his name is important. Beethoven is like the Olympic champion of classical music. Some of the music he wrote is strong and serious, and some of it is very gentle. Listen here to orchestras, pianos, violins and other instruments playing some of the most famous pieces of all.

Ives: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3

Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Litton

'What a wonderful surprise it has been, seeing the release of the complete Ives symphonies on Hyperion. I have no doubt that Andrew Litton's cycle will serve as the reference for many years to come ... You won't hear a more insouciant account of the finale anywhere, while the second movement has a real spring to its step - its final bars are simply hilarious, less outrageous than the symphony's ending, but no less surprising in their own way ... 

The Third Symphony isn't as easy to play as it sounds, and Litton not only captures the music's flow to perfection, he gives the small wind and brass complement plenty of opportunity to shine, albeit sensitively ... Finally, the engineering is rich, clear and vibrant. A major achievement, no doubt about it' --ClassicsToday.com

'[No other version] quite probes or reveals the unique and compelling world of Ives's imagination as does this' (International Record Review)

'These performances represent all that's best about American orchestras and conductors' (MusicWeb International)

'A truly haunting effect' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Litton and the Dallas Symphony realise very well Symphony no 3...a powerful sense of community is captured - the hymn singing at camp meetings - the whole finely modulated and pointed, the second movement Scherzo being especially ear catching, and the finale ideally intense' (Fanfare, USA)

Saygun: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Gülsin Onay (piano), Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Howard Griffiths

If you can imagine the combination of Bartók's alternately nocturnal and percussive keyboard writing (and scoring) married to the chromatic luxuriance of Szymanowski or Scriabin, then you have a good sense of what to expect from these two marvelous concertos. Saygun was without question a major composer, one of the last of the great ethnic nationalists. 

The influences of Turkish folk music have been fully absorbed into an evocative, personal idiom that has enough ties to Western tradition that aficionados of the great Romantic concertos won't lose their bearings while still savoring the many new, colorful, and atmospheric sounds that Saygun evokes.

The First Concerto dates from the 1950s, the Second (composed for the splendid soloist on this recording) from the 1980s. There's perhaps a touch more refinement to the scoring of the Second Concerto, but both are full of ear-catching ideas and offer plenty of virtuoso opportunities to the pianist. We probably won't get any more recordings of these pieces anytime soon, so it's a good thing that the performances here sound wholly fresh, idiomatic, and full of fire. I've been pushing Saygun's distinctive, masterful body of work for years, but if you haven't taken the plunge then this excellently engineered disc makes a great place to start. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Nobuo Uematsu: Piano Arrangements [MEGA]

If ever there were an indication that the slow legitimisation of music originally conceived for video games has born fruit, this is surely it. That the historic Deutsche Grammophon label, highly esteemed for the quality of its core classical releases, should now release a whole album of solo piano arrangements of one Japanese game composer shows recognition of the recent surge in popularity of this form. Where once players were content for music to be an adjunct to the game experience, now they seek to make it central. Evidence of this can be found in the increasingly popular concerts of ‘video game music’, in the market for OST (Original Sound Track) releases, and, as here, in high-quality arrangements.

Nobuo Uematsu enjoys huge esteem, especially in Japan, largely on account of his contributions to the soundtracks of various entries in the vastly popular Final Fantasy series published by Square Enix. Understandably the selection here trades heavily on that legacy, but also include arrangements from several of Uematsu’s more recent scores, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Read more...

Vivaldi: String Concertos Vol. 3

Collegium Musicum 90, Simon Standage

“This third volume of Collegium Musicum 90's survey of Vivaldi's string concertos offers a varied selection of works which bears testament to their composer's untiring imagination. Vivaldi composed more than 40 of these sparky little miniatures, united by an (almost) uniform adoption of a three-movement format and by the lack anywhere of any kind of soloist; for this reason they're also sometimes known either as 'concertos for orchestra' or 'ripieno concertos'. None lasts longer than eight minutes, and most come in under five.

CM90 perform with accomplished ease, attempting nothing outrageous but maintaining a relaxed bonhomie and clear-cut eloquence entirely suited to the music's modest aspirations. Theirs isn't the taut Vivaldi sound we have become used to hearing from other ensembles, but they have no difficulty serving up lyrical sweetness or joyous energy as required. Realistically and lucidly recorded, the disc leaves little to be desired.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Górecki: The Three String Quartets

Royal String Quartet

INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW 'OUTSTANDING'

'The quartets were commissioned by Kronos, whose recordings on Nonesuch must command respect and attention, but the Royal's performances rival them with playing that is passionate and sharp-edged, capturing the emotional depth and intensity of the music equally vividly' --BBC Music Magazine

'The Royal Quartet is outstanding in every respect … The sheer poise of the playing in the last movement of the Third, never slackening for a moment, is absolutely remarkable … This is an outstanding tribute to a great composer' --International Record Review

'The players are suitably violent and relentless as Górecki creates driving, looping friezes of sound. They are terrific at sustaining long, slow lines of musical thought, a skill much needed in the predominantly slow Third Quartet … It is very fine playing, superbly recorded' --The Strad

'The Royals do it full and utter justice, from the reluctant liveliness of its central Allegro to fourth and fifth movements featuring harmonies cool enough for a jazz chart' --New Zealand Herald

Italian dances of the Renaissance

Musica Antiqua, Christian Mendoze

"The musicians really do know how to find appropriate combinations that both sound well together and lend themselves to the mood of the piece at hand. This is a serious -and seriously fun- collection that will enhance anyone's existing early music library, and makes a good foundation for novice who wish to star one" --Classics Today.com

"Quite simple, this is the finest single recorded program of dance music from the High and Late Renaissance. Every early-music collector should have it. I will listen to it repeatedly with ever-renewable delight. Gosh, what a wonderful release! --American Record Guide

Taneyev: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4

Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Valeri Polyansky

'This is a striking, and very well-recorded pair of performances, well worth the attention of lovers of Russian music who have not yet encountered the works.'--Gramophone

'With astute confidence and pounding vigour, Valeri Polyansky commands a lucious sound and first-rate perfomance from the Russian State Symphony Orchestra.' --The Observer

“Polyansky provides a splendidly passionate and invigorating introduction to music that we really should know better in the West. The Fourth Symphony has always been the most popular of Taneyev's symphonies, and with good reason.

He writes a powerful opening Allegro and a wellbuilt finale, but for all his symphonic skills here, it's in the middle two movements that the most personal music is to be found. The scherzo dances along with the vitality that many a Russian composer has brought to comparable movements, and with the rhythmic quirks that he liked so much; but it's in the Adagio that something more is discovered. Taneyev has routinely been reproached for lacking melodic distinction, sometimes with reason, but this superb movement comes close to the manner of Bruckner, or sometimes Mahler. For English ears, the sense of 'stately sorrow' serves as a reminder that the phrase was coined of his own music by Elgar.

Conductor and players make of this fine music a tragic statement, and it's here that they're at their most intense. Polyansky also produces a strong case for the Second Symphony, his sense of structure holding the rather oddly organised opening movement together, as a powerful chorale passage has to be integrated with a sonata Allegro. He doesn't play down the suggestions of Dvorák, whom Taneyev clearly found sympathetic.
This is a striking, and very well-recorded, pair of performances, well worth the attention of lovers of Russian music.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Volume 1

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)

 

“Muted beginnings from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet...Make no mistake, his playing is immaculate. Yet in a number of sonatas his is, mostly, an immaculate presentation of their structural logic...The tide with Op. 10. Excellent pianism now gets bedded into genuine interpretation. Bavouzet jettisons fastidious reserve for a personal perspicacity that reaches deep into the music...Bavouzet when performing at his finest is the thing here.” --Gramophone, August 2012

“Bavouzet's performances are distinguished and virtuosic, but he does overemphasise the storminess of some passages, the results sounding perilously close to self-parody...But Bavouzet is quite marvellous in the many quirky, violent and mischievous movements, and in the slow movements where he does not seek to be intensely expressive...so all told this is a most desirable set overall.” --International Record Review, June 2012
   

“Throughout these discs, Bavouzet enhances his interpretations with pianism of a virtuosity familiar from his earlier recordings...with sound as clear and realistic as one previous Chandos releases...On the basis of this first instalment, he has much to say about this music that is relevant and necessary: one can only look forward to the continuation of this cycle.” --BBC Music Magazine, July 2012 ****beetho

Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton

“Not only does Litton turn...limitations into values (stiffness becomes strength, academicism becomes technical wizadry and a source of delight), he incorporates them into an overall view of the Symphony....It's easy to see why any orchestra would play its heart out for a conductor of such musical intelligence.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 *****

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn's birth in 1809, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and their music director Andrew Litton have recorded a three-disc survey of the composer's symphonies. This final disc in the series opens with the 'Scottish' Symphony (No.3), conceived during the composer's visit to what was at the time regarded as the Romantic retreat par excellence, celebrated in literature as the retreat of solitary heroes amid the rugged Highland scenery.

From Edinburgh Mendelssohn wrote to his parents: 'At dusk we went today to the palace where Mary Stuart lived and loved. Everything there lies rotten and in ruins; the clear daylight shines right in. I think that today I found the beginning of my Scottish Symphony.' It would take him many years to complete what was begun that day in 1829, however, for the symphony was not ready until 1842 - actually more than 12 years after the 'Reformation' Symphony, even though this carries a higher opus number. The reason for this confusing state of affairs is that Mendelssohn was less than happy with the work he wrote for the 1830 celebrations of the Lutheran Reformation, and therefore refused to let it be published in his lifetime.

Both works contain references to their stated subjects - the Scottish-sounding 'folk tune' in the finale of the Third Symphony, the use of Luther's chorale 'Ein' feste Burg' in that of the Fifth - but they also share the musical lightness of touch and the inventiveness that have made Mendelssohn a favourite with concert audiences for close to two centuries. These qualities are mirrored in the performances of Litton and the Bergen PO, whose recording of Symphony No.2, 'Lobgesang', earlier this year was described in a review in Financial Times as 'suitably glowing', with its emphasis 'on mercurial invention and spontaneity'.

C. P. E Bach - Concertos & Symphonies

Raphael Alpermann (harpsichord) & Peter Bruns (cello)
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

“Enthusiasm and energy make this disc of lesser-known works a worthy reissue. The Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik had no trouble displaying their customary enthusiastic high-energy style and rigorous tight ensemble. ” --Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

At the end of the 18th century, the most famous member of the Bach family was not Johann Sebastian, but his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel! This prominent representative of the school of German, and more especially Prussian composers, a pioneer of Empfindsamkeit (the cult of “sensibility”), was prized above all for what his contemporaries termed his “originality” – by which they meant the sovereign ease with which he forged his own style.

To understand this, one need only listen to the nine symphonies from his Berlin period, whose radical departure from traditional forms symbolises a stylistic revolution in itself. As for his innovative treatment of the concerto, which overturns all the principles of symmetry so dear to Baroque composers, it seems already to prefigure Romanticism.

Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major

“I do not think that Mozart's K563 has ever had a finer performance on record than this. The balance between the instruments is ideal and the realization of the part-writing is, in a word, perfect...with the consequence that the profound quality of the music is at all times conveyed...a superlative achievement which I cannot imagine ever being improved upon.” --International Record Review, March 2011

“Mozart’s arrangements of Bach make an apt frame for one of his divertimentos. The warmth and bloom on this recording by the Hermitage Trio is immediately inviting, and the player’s incisive, well-considered readings of Mozart’s trios are a treat...” --Catherine Nelson, The Strad, March 2011

"Many hours of supreme musical pleasure are guaranteed." --John Sheppard, MusicWeb-International, February 2011

Vivaldi, Boccherini: Cello Concertos

Maisky has the distinction of being the only cellist in the world to have studied with both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky. Rostropovich has lauded Mischa Maisky as "... one of the most outstanding talents of the younger generation of cellists. His playing combines poetry and exquisite delicacy with great temperament and brilliant technique."

Bach: The Conductors' Transcriptions

“…Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra relish the considerable technical challenges posed by these transcriptions… those who enjoy their Bach as a full meat-and-two-veg course will love this release, and the Chandos recording is suitably lustrous.” --BBC Music Magazine, September 2004 ****

Gramophone Magazine
Editor's Choice - October 2004

''eveyrthing here is worth sampling at least once, and most of it more often than that. It's a real treat and the sound is excellent. Need I say more?' --Gramophone 'Editor's Choice' (October 2004)

'It's a wonderful listen and a worthy follow-up to Slatkin's earlier five-star CD of orchestrations by various composers (CHAN 9835)' --The Independent

'Le choix de l'audiophile' 'Le choix de l'audiophile' --Classica (France)

''this rewarding anthology receives an opulent and lucid recording. An enlightening project then, and a testimony to Bach's indestructible music and his ability to inspire.' --International Record Review

Joseph Martin Kraus: Viola Concertos

“Their Haydnesque scale and formal clarity suggest they're all early works. There's a passionately Strum und Drang quality to the bleak opening unisons, but Kraus was clearly a fine melodist; all three slow movements include touching lyrical passages, beautifully drawn out and shaped by Aaron Carpenter's solo viola.” --BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 ****

“Carpenter is a sensitive and knowledgeable guide through these works, which he plays as if they've always been with him. Viola players will surely rejoice that their concerto repertoire now has three challenging and beautiful additions.” --Gramophone, September 2012

Soprano

An impressive debut recital by this young American prize-winner

Here’s an hour of enchantment from the American soprano who won the 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World. There she swept the board with her final item, Teresa’s taxing but rewarding aria from Benvenuto Cellini. Here it forms the centrepiece of a recital that takes her with extreme accomplishment through a varied programme.

 Perhaps the French pieces suit her best of all, and she seems happy singing in the language. She delivers Juliette’s Waltz Song with insouciance, then follows it with a deeply soulful account of Juliette’s last-act aria. “Depuis le jour” is right up there among the best of the past, with the high note towards the end, so often a disappointment, touched with pure lightness. The dash of the bolero from Les filles de Cadix is a fizzing as it should be.

But Cabell can do many other things so well as to satisify the most fastidious connoisseur of fine singing. Her bel canto skills are disclosed in Julietta’s opening aria from Capuleti, with the even legato a pleasure to encounter. Norina’s flighty aria from Don Pasquale is done with just the requisite allure. The two popular Puccini arias again show off her clear, clean tone and secure technique, even if one would sometimes like a bit more light and shade in her bright voice.

It’s big leap from there to Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, but once more Cabell gives every evidence that she knows what she is about and the aching phrases hanging in the air. The Menotti aria is well sung but musically nothing special; “Summertime” gets a lovely reading.

Sir Andrew Davis and the LPO find the right mood for each piece in turn and the recording is faultless. Who knows, maybe Decca has a new Sutherland in view.

-- Alan Blyth, Gramophone [5/2007]

Dvorák: String Quintet & String Sextet

Dvorák’s chamber music is one of the most popular parts of his repertoire and contains some classics of the genre. Thoroughly Romantic, endlessly imaginative and imbued with Slavonic fire, the String Quintet and String Sextet are elegantly performed by the virtuoso musicians of The Raphael Ensemble.

'Delightful works, delightfully played' --Gramophone

'Warmly effusive playing, captured in exquisite sound' --American Record Guide

Vivaldi: String Concertos Vol. 2

'Collegium Musicum 90's stylish performances, distinguished by characterful phrasing and nimble rhythmic vivacity, add the final sheen to this captivating disc.' --BBC Music Magazine ('Pick of the Month', March 2000)

--'Another excellent disc from Collegium Musicum 90' Great entertainment.' --Early Music Review

'…each [of the concertos] has a character that is unfailingly captured by the ensemble. Baroque playing of this calibre may make it difficult to settle for pale imitations elsewhere.'--The Times

'…Collegium Musicum 90 don't resort to fancy effects and tricks… they pick lively tempi, they shape phrases beautifully, they use a wind trio in three of the pieces for variety… and they lend just a hint of flair with little improvised ornaments here and there.' --Early Music Review

Berlioz: Symphony Fantastisque, Etc

...[E]xcellent Berlioz performances... Leonard Bernstein's dramatic yet classically structured recording of the Symphonie fantastique was highly regarded when it was first issued, but outside of purchasing an import LP, American audiences have not been able to hear it in all its glory until now... I have always felt that Previn's ardent, exceptionally well played readings of...the composer's overtures is highly underrated... -- Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com [reviewing EMI 73338]