BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - February 2024 Choices
Released on Alpha at the beginning of January, the programme includes Paul Schoenfield's Clarinet Trio, Bartók's Contrasts, and selections from Poulenc's incidental music for Jean Anouilh's play L'invitation au château.
Recording of the Month
'[The playing] can affectionately embrace the whimsical to the manner born, but equally bristles with spellbinding virtuosity, compelling insight and crests a lifeforce carrying all before it.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Orchestral Choice
'Directing from the violin, Alexander Janiczek galvanises a robust and full-bodied string sound, further enhanced by a conspicuously warm and spacious recording. His is assailed by a subtle restlessness.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Concerto Choice
Schumann & Grieg: Piano Concertos
Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Michael Sanderling
'Elisabeth Leonskaja’s live performances of the Schumann and Grieg piano concertos have been cause for wonder...There are other ways of performing these works, but these interpretations are utterly consistent and totally enlightening.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Opera Choice
Donizetti: La Favorite
Annalisa Stroppa (Léonor de Guzman), Javier Camarena (Fernand), Florian Sempey (Alphonse XI), Evgeny Stavinsky (Balthazar), Edoardo Milletti (Don Gaspar) Orchestra Donizetti Opera, Coro Donizetti Opera and Coro dell’Accademia Teatro Alla Scala, Riccardo Frizza, Valentina Carrasco
'Javier Camarena is exemplary as Fernand, every inch the bel canto tenor in his celebrated final act aria ‘Ange si pur’. Florian Sempey’s Alphonse is a gravel-voiced villain.. Annalisa Stroppa’s Léonor is gold.'
Available Format: Blu-ray
Choral & Song Choice
Circus Dinogad
Mike Fentross (theorbo), Maarten Ornstein (bass clarinet), Hilary Summers (contralto), Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
'They move seamlessly through the ages, masters of every musical language they perform: Irish jig , Scottish folksong, Welsh lullaby, Renaissance lute songs, each piece layered with an improvisatory twist. Above all, they know how to have fun.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Choice
'With violinist Isabelle van Keulen and clarinettist Michael Collins spearheading the players, it ’s unsurprising that the performance [of the Ferguson Octet] as a whole is something of a revelation.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Instrumental Choice
'His account of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet suite affords further evidence that he is one of the world’s most accomplished poets of the keyboard, and I have never heard ‘Ondine’ so dainty and insinuating , or ‘Le gibet ’ so gravely beautiful.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Screen Choice
'Produced with no small amount of love, this mighty four-disc ‘Super Deluxe’ release is a must for true fans of the film...Irwin Kostal’s fulsome orchestral arrangements have never sounded better, while the beautifully presented album notes share a detailed account of the film and its music.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
