Souvenir d’un lieu cher op.42 (orch. A.Glazunov)
Mélodie : Moderato con moto

Régis Pasquier, violin
Baltic Chamber Orchestra
Emmanuel Leducq-Barôme, conductor

From Tchaikovsky: Complete work for Violin and Orchestra (2012)
Released by Saphir Productions


Tchaikovsky: Souvenir d’un lieu cher op.42 –
Mélodie : Moderato con moto


Memory of a dear place was composed by Tchaikovsky in 1878 and dedicated to Brailovo, an Ukrainian country estate which belonged to his benefactress Nadezhda von Meck.

Official website

Concertino for flute and strings, Op.19a – Allegretto

Davis Ellis, arranger
Esther Ingham, flute
Manchester Symphonia
Richard Howarth, conductor

From Malcolm Arnold: Cello concerto / Symphony for Strings (2011)
Released by Naxos


Malcolm Arnold: Concertino for flute and strings, Op.19a – Allegretto


Sir Malcolm Arnold’s preference for classical forms is fully explored in this representative but uniquely distinctive programme. Orchestrations of earlier works form the lyrical Concertino for Flute and Strings and a Saxophone Concerto whose bold statements foreshadow the gritty and powerful Symphony for Strings.

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Piano concerto in E flat major – Allegretto giocoso

John Lenehan, piano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
John Wilson, conductor

From John Ireland: Piano Concerto (2011)
Released by Naxos


John Ireland: Piano concerto in E flat major – Allegretto giocoso


John Ireland’s radiant Piano Concerto was written for his protégée Helen Perkin, and is infused with her sense of vitality. The result is a brilliant work of high spirits and expressive longing. Perkin also premièred Legend, a dark, brooding evocation of the ancient landscape of Harrow Hill on the Sussex Downs.

Official website

El Fandango de candil

Luis Fernandos Pérez, piano

From Granados Goyescas Valses Poéticos (2011)
Released by Harmonia Mundi


Granados: El Fandango de candil


The Goyescas of Enrique Granados, inspired by the Madrid of Goya’s time which the painter immortalised with his marvellous palette of colours, is – along with Iberia by Isaac Albéniz – one of the two great solo piano cycles of Spanish music. It represents both the peak of Granados’s career as composer and performer and his most important contribution to the classical repertoire as a whole.

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Die Taubenpost

Mark Padmore, tenor
Paul Lewis, piano

From Franz Schubert Schwanengesang (2011)
Released by Harmonia Mundi


Schubert: Die Taubenpost


Tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Paul Lewis conclude their acclaimed Schubert triptych with this revelatory account of Schwanengesang, the third and last of the great Schubert cycles, collected and published after the composer’s death. Auf dem Strom for tenor, horn and piano, and the gently hopeful song Die Sterne complete the programme. Singer and pianist are perfectly matched in temperament and musicality, and every note has been lovingly considered . . . Exquisitely thoughtful and refined. – The Telegraph, UK (Review of Die schöne Müllerin)

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Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno – Aria “Lascia la spina”

Lucy Crowe, soprano
The English Concert
Harry Bicket

From Il Caro Sassone Handel in Italy (2011)
Released by Harmonia Mundi


Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno – Aria “Lascia la spina”


Soprano Lucy Crowe joins The English Concert led by Harry Bicket in this dazzling programme of Handel arias and cantatas dating from his sojourn in Italy, where he was affectionately dubbed “the dear Saxon”.

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Piano Concerto after Arabian Themes – I. Allegro

Elmira Nazirova / Fikret Amirov, composers
Farhad Badalbeyli, piano
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitry Yablonsky, conductor

Azerbaijani Piano Concertos (2011)
Released by Naxos


Elmira Nazirova / Fikret Amirov: Piano Concerto after Arabian Themes – I. Allegro


All of the composers here combine elements of ancient Azerbaijani tradition with Western forms, colorful orchestration and vivid musical storytelling. This is epitomized in Vasif Adigezalov’s symphonically proportioned Fourth Piano Concerto, while Amirov and Nazirova add a touch of Arabian exoticism into their Concerto.

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We wish you a Merry Christmas (arranged by Paul Hillier)

Theatre of Voices
Ars Nova Copenhagen
Paul Hillier, Artistic Director

From The Christmas Story (2011)
Released by Harmonia Mundi


We wish you a Merry Christmas (arranged by Paul Hillier)


The Nativity story told through plainchant, motets, 17th Century dialogues and traditional folk carols. Interlude wishes you a Merry Christmas …. and a Happy 2012 !

Official website

Sir John Tavener (b.1944)
The Lamb
For Simon’s third birthday
With extreme tenderness, flexible, always guided by the words -
Poco meno mosso – A tempo, moving forward – Poco meno mosso

Choir of St.John’s College, Cambridge
Andrew Nethsingha

On Christmas Night (2011)
Released by Chandos


Sir John Tavener (b.1944): The Lamb


Another wonderful recording by the celebrated Choir of St.John’s College, a must have during this holidays seasons.

Official website

Concerto for 2 piccolos in C major RV533
Allegro molto

Orchestre National de France
Jean-Pierre Rampal, conductor
Jean-Louis Beaumadier, piccolo
Philippe Pierlot, piccolo

From Antonio Vivaldi: Concerti for piccolo (2011)
Released by Saphir Productions


Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 piccolos in C major RV533 – Allegro molto


Uplifting, sunny, energetic, any day is brighter and happier with Vivaldi.

Official website