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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on the 25th & 30th April and 3rd May 2008.
John Tomlinson, Johan Reuter, Christine Rice, Andrew Watts, Philip Langridge & Amanda Echalaz The Royal Opera Chorus & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano (conductor) & Stephen Langridge (stage director) This world premiere of a gripping new work by composer Harrison Birtwistle and librettist David Harsent, commissioned by The Royal Opera, brings the monstrous, Greek mythological character to the stage. The Minotaur, part man, part beast, trapped in his labyrinth and constrained by his bloodthirsty role there, longs to discover his true identity and his own voice. Athens must pay a blood sacrifice to Crete and among the innocents is Theseus, who has come to challenge the violent Minotaur, but who also attracts the attention of Ariadne, half-sister and keeper of the monster; it is with her help he succeeds. ‘Thanks to a superb cast and impeccable playing under Antonio Pappano, the evening is a glittering success. …what Birtwistle has done is give us one opera inside another. The outer one is strident and earthbound; the inner one – ending with the Minotaur's Caliban-like dying aria – burns with visionary fire.’ The Independent | 
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| |  | Birtwistle - The Fields of Sorrow
London Sinfonietta & Chorus, David Atherton “The recordings, especially of Verses (1969), show their age, but the performances remain uniquely arresting, unsurpassed in their eager response to the challenges and rewards these scores offered to David Atherton, Alan Hacker and their colleagues.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008 |
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| |  | A tragical comedy or a comical tragedy
Stephen Roberts, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Jan DeGaetani, Philip Langridge, David Wilson- Johnson & John Tomlinson London Sinfonietta, David Atherton Punch and Judy elaborates the traditional puppet-play into an opera of stylised violence and
ritual. While the simplicity of the children’s entertainment is retained in the opera by the
characters—familiar and puppet-like—by the invented ‘nursery-rhymes’ of the libretto, and by the
waltzes, lullabies and serenades of the music, the tragi-comic actions of a homicidal puppet are
raised almost to the status of myth as Punch murders Judy over and over again. “This brilliantly sung and played account has a gripping luridness that makes it hard to imagine how the work—a 1960s expressionist masterpiece—could be done differently, never mind better. Setting a libretto of manic intellectuality by Stephen Pruslin, the
opera moves with an implacable, raucous energy that is unique” Sunday Times “As a whole the opera loses none of its powerful and sustained impact when compared with Birtwistle’s own more mature compositions. If anything, its startling primitivisms stand out more vividly, while its not inconsiderable moments of reflection and lyricism acquire an enhanced poignancy. The performance (a 1980 Gramophone Award winner) gains immeasurably from the alert control of David Atherton and the superlative musicianship of the London Sinfonietta.” Gramophone Magazine | | NMC - NMCD138 (CD - 2 discs) Normally: $19.49 Special: $15.59 |
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| |  | 20th Century Masterpieces - 100 Years of Classical Music
Adams, J: | The Chairman Dances City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle | Adès: | Asyla City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle | Barber: | Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas | Bartók: | Piano Concerto No. 3, BB 127, Sz. 119 Martha Argerich (piano) Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Charles Dutoit | Berg: | Violin Concerto 'To the Memory of an Angel' (1935) Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Gianluigi Gelmetti | Bernstein: | West Side Story - Symphonic Dances City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi | Birtwistle: | Tragoedia Melos Ensemble, Lawrence Foster | Boulez: | Le Soleil des Eaux Josephine Nendick, Barry McDaniel & Louis Devos BBC Chorus & Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez | Britten: | Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle | Copland: | Fanfare for the Common Man Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Enrique Bátiz | Debussy: | La Mer Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini | Delius: | Brigg Fair Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham | Dutilleux: | Cello Concerto Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Orchestre de Paris, Serge Baudo | Elgar: | Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 Jacqueline du Pré (cello) London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli | Falla: | Noches en los jardines de Espana Gonzalo Soriano Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos | Gershwin: | Rhapsody in Blue orch. Grofé London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn | Gorecki: | Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' Zofia Kilanowicz Kraków Symphony Orchestra, Jacek Kaspszyk | Henze: | Barcarola City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle | Hindemith: | Symphony 'Mathis der Maler' Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch | Holst: | The Planets, Op. 32 Geoffrey Mitchell Choir & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult | Honegger: | Movement symphonique No. 1 Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons | Janacek: | Sinfonietta Pro Arte Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras | Khachaturian: | Masquerade Philharmonia Orchestra, Efrem Kurtz | Landowski: | Adagio cantabile for string orchestra Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Marcel Landowski | Lutoslawski: | Concerto for Orchestra | Mahler: | Der Abschied (from Das Lied Von Der Erde) Christa Ludwig (soprano) Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer | Maw: | Dance Scenes Philharmonia Orchestra, Daniel Harding | Messiaen: | Et Expecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum Ensemble de Percussion de l'Orchestre de Paris & Orchestre de Paris, Serge Baudo | Milhaud: | La Création du Monde, Op. 81 Orchestre National de France, Leonard Bernstein | Nielsen: | Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 (FS97) Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Blomstedt | Orff: | Carmina Burana Lucia Popp, Gerhard Unger, Raymond Wolansky & John Noble Wandsworth School Boys' Choir & New Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos | Penderecki: | Tren (Threnody), "To the Victims of Hiroshima" Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Krzysztof Penderecki | Poulenc: | Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings & Timpani Gillian Weir City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox | Prokofiev: | Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major, Op. 10 Martha Argerich (piano) Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Charles Dutoit | Pärt: | Spiegel im Spiegel Tasmin Little & Martin Roscoe | Rachmaninov: | Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) Berliner Philharmoniker, Antonio Pappano | Ravel: | Boléro Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan | Respighi: | Pines of Rome London Symphony Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli | Rodrigo: | Concierto de Aranjuez Angel Romero London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn | Schnittke: | Minuet for String Trio Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet & Mstislav Rostropovich | Schoenberg: | 5 orchestral pieces, Op. 16 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle | Shostakovich: | Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 Wiener Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons | Sibelius: | Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82 Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund | Strauss, R: | Four Last Songs Nina Stemme Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Antonio Pappano | Stravinsky: | The Rite of Spring London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras | Takemitsu: | Water-ways London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen | Tavener: | The Protecting Veil Steven Isserlis (cello) London Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rhozdestvensky | Tippett: | Concerto for double string orchestra Moscow Chamber Orchestra & Bath Festival Orchestra, Rudolf Barshai | Turnage: | Drowned Out City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle | Vaughan Williams: | The Lark Ascending Sarah Chang (violin) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink | Walton: | Cello Concerto Lynn Harrell (cello) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle | Webern: | Six Pieces for Orchestra Op. 6 (revised version) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle |
At no time in its long history did European music go through a period of such revolution and diversification as in the 20th Century. Wagner had transformed music in the 19th century to the extent that every composer coming after had to acknowledge his existence, to a lesser or greater extent. The advent of the new century saw a great flourishing of compositional styles and techniques that were largely the direct result of Wagner's influence. Not only that, the new century was to be one of great technological advance and invention. The gramophone and, later, the spread of radio, brought about massive changes in the way that ordinary people accessed and perceived music. Suddenly a whole new world of serious music was to open up to an audience that had hitherto been excluded from what had previously been, albeit unintentionally, an elitist art form. The works in this set of 16 CDs have been arranged in strict chronological order of composition and the first disc begins with a work from 1901 that has become one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire, mainly through it's use in another great 20th-century art form – the film: Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto. Thereafter each disc in the set takes the listener on a fascinating journey through the century, composer by composer and work by work, from Russian Romanticism, French Impressionism, English Pastoralism, Atonalism, Neo Classicism right up to Post Modernism, and from as wide a range of countries and genres as possible. |
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| |  | Birtwistle - Secret Theatre
London Sinfonietta, Elgar Howarth Classic recording from the London Sinfonietta, previously released on Etcetera. (NMC makes another deleted disc permenently available.) Secret Theatre explores Birtwistle’s fascination with ritual and takes its title from a Robert Graves poem. Silbury Air is stark, menacing, and tense and named after the prehistoric mound Silbury Hill in England. ‘No more exciting recording of contemporary music than this has appeared for many a day. It celebrates the virtues, and the virtuosity, of the London Sinfonietta and also celebrates the Sinfonietta’s long association with Harrison Birtwistle, including three of the four most substantial works he has written for them. It is Secret Theatre (1984) that makes this new recording special … it is an enthralling exploration of the interaction between what Birtwistle terms ‘cantus’ and ‘continuum’—chant-like melody and block-like, chordally-constructed harmony. These two elements are of equal importance, and serve to promote the real drama of the music: the confrontation, and achievement of equilibrium, between individual and collective. These compositions leave no doubts as to why Birtwistle is such a formidable, acclaimed presence on the contemporary scene. All that needs to be said about the performances, and the recording, is that they do the music justice.’ Gramophone “Written between The Mask of Orpheus and the no less epic enterprise of Earth Dances, Secret Theatre really does mark a great leap forward, and this performance… is… highly charged, eloquent account of one of the composer's most powerful and most personal scores.” Gramophone Magazine, 2008 Awards Issue |
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| |  | Hodie Gloriosa
London Mozart Players Brass Ensemble, Paul Archibald (director) Hodie Gloriosa (Glorious Today) celebrates the old and the new. The repertoire brings together original music by the classical masters with classically inspired pieces by some of Britain’s most distinguished contemporary composers. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | A Portrait of….Alan HackerClarinet Classics is delighted to present a CD profile of one of the outstanding British clarinettists of the 20th century
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| |  | On Christmas DayNew Carols from King's
Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Stephen Cleobury “King's' CD of new carols is the one unmissable Christmas release” BBC Music Magazine, December 2005 “…catch while you can this rich sampling of the new carols commissioned and performed by the Choir of King's College, including gems by Jonathan Harvey, Judith Weir and Giles Swayne. Even the Birtwistle - with its stratosphere-reaching harmonies, and use of a wild shout and stamp - is sound with a fresh enthusiasm.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2007  BBC Music Magazine
Christmas Special Choice - December 2005 |
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| |  | Leaving Home - Orchestral Music in the 20th CenturyA Conducted Tour by Sir Simon Rattle. Volume 7 - Threads
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Peter Maxwell Davies & Harrison Birtwistle
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