Britten War Requiem

Carlo Maria Giulini | Hans Wilbrink | Melos Ensemble | New Philharmonia Chorus | New Philharmonia Orchestra | Peter Pears | Stefania Woytowicz | Wandsworth School Boys' Choir

This performance is a revelation. Philip Reed, in his authoritative note, points out that, unbeknown to many, Britten and Giulini...

Reviewed by Alan Blyth in issue: 1/2001

Heinrich Schlusnus (1888-1952) - I

Alois Melichar | Berlin State Opera Orchestra | Gerhard Steeger | Heinrich Schlusnus | Johannes Schüler

Schlusnus stands in that royal line of German lyric baritones that runs from Schwarz through him to Janssen and Fischer-Dieskau...

Reviewed by Alan Blyth in issue: 9/1990

Dohnányi/Bartók Second Violin Concertos

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra | Lawrence Foster | Mark Kaplan

Dohnanyi’s immensely likeable Second Violin Concerto nails its wide roster of colours to the mast with “a declamatory sequence of...

Reviewed in issue 9/1997

Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem

Håkan Hagegård | Kurt Masur | New York Philharmonic Orchestra | Sylvia McNair | Westminster Symphonic Choir

The first word of the Deutsches Requiem is “selig”; the last movement reiterates it, and throughout there recur images of...

Reviewed in issue 2/1996

Satie Piano Works

Joanna MacGregor

I began listening to this collection somewhat irritably, but this soon gave way to admiration and a fascinated search through...

Reviewed by Michael Oliver in issue: 12/1994

Brahms Lieder

András Schiff | Robert Holl

There is so much to admire in this thoughtfully prepared and executed and well-filled disc that I feel churlish in...

Reviewed by Alan Blyth in issue: 6/1993

(The) Salzburg Festival

It’s best to skip to Chapter 3, avoiding the vulgar introduction concerned with glitz and glamorous names. Once stuck into...

Reviewed by Alan Blyth in issue: 8/2006

Pictures Reframed

Leif Ove Andsnes

Some artists announce their arrival on the world stage with a youthful fire and passion that settles into a more...

Reviewed by Harriet Smith in issue: 12/2009

Georgy Sviridov Chamber Music

Alexander Mayorov | Alexander Rudin | Alexander Vasiliev | Alexander Vedernikov | Alexei Makarov | Marina Butir | Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra | Natalia Gerasimova | Olga Kolgatina | Tatiana Vinogradova

None of the works on this disc has the individuality of Sviridov’s much later choral music, though the fact that...

Reviewed in issue 1/1996

Mahler/Zemlinsky Lieder

Anne Sofie von Otter | John Eliot Gardiner | North German Radio Symphony Orchestra

This is another absolute winner for both von Otter and Gardiner. Goodness knows why DG have deprived us for so...

Reviewed by Alan Blyth in issue: 3/1997