Dvorák Symphony No 2; Slavonic Rhapsody

Neeme Järvi | Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Jarvi directs a characteristically warm and urgent performance of this exuberant inspiration of the 24-year-old composer. It is by far...

Reviewed by Edward Greenfield in issue: 7/1988

Orff Carmina Burana

Bo Skovhus | Jochen Kowalski | London Philharmonic Choir | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Southend Boys' Choir | Sumi Jo | Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta's new Carmina burana was made at The Maltings, Snape, and its resonant acoustic encompasses the climaxes spectacularly, even...

Reviewed by Ivan March in issue: 2/1994

Britten & L. Berkeley: Orchestral Works

English Chamber Orchestra | Lorraine McAslan | Steuart Bedford

This is a refreshingly unusual Britten selection on disc. Canadian Carnival is not a major piece and is heavily influenced...

Reviewed in issue 12/1990

Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Stephen Kovacevich

Stephen Kovacevich

Stephen Kovacevich is introduced to this series by Beethoven and Beethoven alone. This is not the mature and latterly magisterial...

Reviewed by hfinch in issue: 10/1998

Tchaikovsky Orchestral Works

Gennady Rozhdestvensky | Kazuhiro Koizumi | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra

Hot on the heels of Dohnanyi's Vienna version on Decca—beautifully played and richly recorded but lacking something in temperament until...

Reviewed by Edward Greenfield in issue: 4/1992

Chopin Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2

Complementing its Chopin release from Cortot and Moiseiwitsch, Naxos now offers the first disc in a series devoted to Arthur...

Reviewed by Bryce Morrison in issue: 12/2008

Beethoven Overtures; Minuets; Dances

Academy of St Martin in the Fields | Kurt Masur | Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra | Neville Marriner

It is a pleasure to find a company using its back-catalogue for reissues as imaginatively as Philips are doing in...

Reviewed by Edward Greenfield in issue: 5/1994

Stokowski conducts Philadelphia Rarities

Alexander Kelberine | Benjamin de Loache | Jeanne Behrend | Leopold Stokowski | NBC Symphony Orchestra | New York City Symphony Orchestra | Philadelphia Orchestra

“Everybody in the whole Academy was singing – except one music critic,” recalled a light-hearted Leopold Stokowski at a 1935...

Reviewed in issue 5/1996

Myung-Whun Chung conducts Messiaen

Catherine Cournot | Maîtrise de Radio France | Myung-Whun Chung | Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France | Roger Muraro | Valérie Hartmann-Claverie

DG’s in-house Messiaen expert Myung-Whun Chung leads performances of the niche Trois Petites Liturgies and Hymne as part of the...

Reviewed by Philip_Clark in issue: 12/2008

A. Merikanto Orchestral Works

Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra | Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen

Aarre Merikanto’s career divided broadly into three phases, those of apprentice, radical and conservative, and there are works from each...

Reviewed in issue 8/1998