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Handel: Coronation Anthems

Rias Kammerchor

Classical - Released April 28, 2023 | harmonia mundi

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Just in time for the coronation of King Charles III comes this release, featuring music written for the coronations of George II in 1727 and of George I before him. The Handel works, written for the 1727 event, are the pure public Handel, with imposing choral-orchestral chords interspersed with straightforward but not simple episodes of counterpoint. They are meant to be crowd-pleasers, and indeed, they are; they're hard to ruin. What is on offer here from the RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin and the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin under conductor Justin Doyle are elegant but undersized performances characteristic of the Continental historical performance movement. Reports from Handel's time indicated an orchestra of 160; here are but 20 players. The choir, at 36 singers, is closer to Handel's 40, and this veteran group delivers a rich, satisfying sound with a rounded tone from the smaller solo group (not indicated in the score but often performed as it is here). The anthem The Lord Is a Sun and Shield is not by Handel but by William Croft, and one will be struck by how close it is to Handel stylistically. The overture to Handel's Occasional Oratorio, HWV 62, serves as an overture to the whole program, and there is a typically odd Chaconne by John Blow as an interlude. These are less-splendid but highly enjoyable performances for reliving the coronation atmosphere.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Handel: Messiah

Monteverdi Choir

Classical - Released January 1, 1983 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography
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Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 (Live)

Collegium 1704

Classical - Released April 19, 2019 | Accent

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Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, M. 57 (1955 Recording)

Charles Munch

Classical - Released January 20, 2015 | Sony Classical

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Chandos Anthems

Gaétan Jarry

Classical - Released August 26, 2022 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

Alternative & Indie - Released July 5, 2005 | Asthmatic Kitty

Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography - Pitchfork: Best New Music
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Live In Helsinki St. John's Church

Apocalyptica

Rock - Released November 17, 2023 | Harmageddon Records

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Messiah

Franco Fagioli

Classical - Released November 17, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Handel: Messiah

London Symphony Orchestra

Classical - Released October 9, 2007 | LSO Live

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April In Paris: Charlie Parker With Strings - The Genius Of Charlie Parker #2

Charlie Parker

Bebop - Released August 8, 1957 | Verve

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Hallelujah & Songs from His Albums

Leonard Cohen

Pop - Released June 3, 2022 | Columbia - Legacy

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Bartok: The Wooden Prince (Final Version)

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Classical - Released March 29, 2024 | Onyx Classics

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Bartók's The Wooden Prince of 1917 is much less well-known than his later ballet, The Miraculous Mandarin. The reasons seem clear enough; it uses a monster orchestra, and it sounds more like a mashup of Strauss, Wagner, and Debussy than Bartók. Among the work's champions was Bartók himself, who continued to revise the work several times after its 1917 completion; what is heard here is the final version, in which he axed about a quarter of the original piece. That probably did the work good, but this seems to be the first recording of this version, and it fits the dry style of conductor Thomas Dausgaard, leading the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Dausgaard is splendid in bringing transparency to Bartók's rich orchestral detail. Hear the subtle winds and solo violin in "The Princess' Seductive Dance" for just one example. All this is magnificently rendered by the Onyx label's engineers at the Glasgow City Halls (incorrectly rendered as City Hall in the booklet). The brass glitters, and the impression is of a vast space, colorfully filled. Audiophiles will get a real treat here, but Dausgaard's exacting, precise treatments, with the orchestra delivering what must have been strenuous demands, is attractive for anyone, and the album landed on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo
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I Watch You Sleep

Claire Martin

Jazz - Released March 29, 2023 | Stunt Records

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Handel: Israel in Egypt, HWV 54

Apollo's Fire

Classical - Released October 6, 2023 | Avie Records

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Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, bombed at its first performance in 1739 and was heavily revised by Handel. The revisions go even further here, in what is marked as an adaptation by Apollo's Fire director Jeannette Sorrell. She makes wholesale cuts, removing numerous arias, consolidating others, and leaving only a few recitatives. Sorrell retains, however, the three-part structure of Handel's first attempt (the librettist was probably Charles Jennens of Messiah), consisting of the "Lamentations by the Israelites for the Death of Joseph," "Exodus," and "Moses' Song." She also keeps the chorus-heavy quality of Handel's originals. The nearly three-hour oratorio usually heard is sliced to just over 74 minutes. All this might seem an unwarranted intrusion, but Handel himself obviously struggled with the material of this oratorio, which isn't one of his more commonly heard works. And lo, Sorrell's reworking succeeds solidly, creating convincing dramatic arcs where they previously existed only in outline. The ten plagues are shortened considerably but make more of an impact in their abbreviated form. The greatest strength here is the choral writing, in many places the equal of anything in Messiah. Apollo's Fire is a rather underrated choral-orchestral group from the U.S. Midwest that offers a satisfyingly good-sized choir with clear text articulation and a fine sense of expressing what they are singing about. A strong offering that will be appreciated by Handel lovers during the 2023 holiday season and beyond.© James Manheim /TiVo
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The Mothers 1971

Frank Zappa

Rock - Released March 18, 2022 | Frank Zappa Catalog

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Prokofiev For Two

Martha Argerich

Classical - Released March 23, 2018 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Nestled up cosily with Sergei Babayan, gazing into the distance, rather like Juliet next to Romeo, Martha Argerich seems to have had an eye on marketing when she produced the "Prokofiev for Two" album cover for her longstanding publisher, Deutsche Grammophon. Although well-known, these works haven't yet been released in this format: each of the 19 pieces is an accomplished transcription by Sergei Babayan. More than half of this album is given over to extracts from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, originally a symphonic work, but one that sounds devilishly good when brought to life by these two exceptional pianists. The remainder of the album is made up of various pieces of stage music, from Hamlet, Eugene Onegin and the opera War and Peace. This is a reinvigorating album, with an eighty-year-old Martha Argerich who has lost none of her extraordinary technique. As for the Armenian pianist Sergei Babayan, a student of Mikhail Pletnev and a teacher of Daniil Trifonov, he seems to be having great fun with his own transcriptions alongside his long-time partner and friend. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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True Genius

Ray Charles

Soul - Released September 10, 2021 | Tangerine Records

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In the year of his 90th birthday (which he would have celebrated on the 23rd of September 2020 had he not died in 2004), Ray Charles is honoured with a new 90-track compilation box set. Just another compilation like all the rest? Yes and no. Ray Charles is undoubtedly one of the most-compiled artists in the history of music. Published by Tangerine, the label that the musician set up at the end of the 50s to keep the rights to his songs, this box set starts out like all the others: with the post-Atlantic hits, Georgia On My Mind, Hit The Road Jack, One Mint Julep, Busted... These are timeless treasures of proto-soul, but there doesn't seem to be much novelty here. The rest is much more interesting, and much rarer: tracks recorded between the second half of the 1960s and the 2000s, many of which were only released on vinyl, never reissued on CD and until now unavailable on digital. This is the first time that Ray Charles' lesser-known years have been given the compilation treatment in this way, and it is a revelation. In the 90s and 2000s, the production of his songs had a synthetic feel, and they did not age too well. These rarer songs are often hidden gems of southern soul, flavoured with country and wrapped in sumptuous symphonic orchestrations. Whether he is singing the Muppets (It's Ain't Easy Being Green) or Gershwin (Summertime, a duet with Cleo Laine), Ray Charles is always deeply moving. Now, the dream is to hear reissues of all these albums in their entirety. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz
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Handel: Messiah

The Sixteen

Classical - Released September 1, 2008 | Coro

Admirers of Harry Christophers and his exemplary choral ensemble The Sixteen will no doubt have the highest expectations for this 2008 Coro release of George Frederick Handel's Messiah, especially because the group is almost ideal in size, sonority, and technical mastery to render this work in the best period performance style. Even the most demanding listeners will not be disappointed in this recording because Christophers' scholarship is impeccable, and he leads the performance with sharp Baroque rhythms, brisk tempos, vivid interpretations, and a great flexibility in instrumental combinations, which gives the music greater richness through doublings of the stings with woodwinds and supplies a pleasantly varied basso continuo. The four vocalists -- soprano Carolyn Sampson, alto Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Mark Padmore, and bass Christopher Purves -- are all seasoned Handelians, and their arias are eloquent in expression and beautifully delivered with a tasteful modicum of ornamentation, but no more than that. The most thrilling highpoints are the glorious choruses in which The Sixteen sounds utterly seraphic in its pure tone and pristine in its transparent lines. As if this extraordinary performance of Messiah was not enough to compel purchase, the special edition set includes a bonus CD that offers attractive excerpts from Coro's numerous Handel titles. This set is highly recommended for aficionados of recordings of Messiah and newcomers alike.© TiVo
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Handel: Messiah

René Jacobs

Classical - Released October 2, 2006 | harmonia mundi

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Handel: Messiah

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

Sacred Oratorios - Released October 16, 2020 | PentaTone

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Handel’s Messiah has been adored by the English since it premiered. It’s a masterpiece in the British repertoire and has never been eclipsed. It’s been sung in every possible style, in every possible size. “Bigger is better” seems to be the general rule of thumb and the number of musicians and singers has approached the thousands. Attending one of these huge performances, Haydn was inspired to write his own oratorio: Die Schöpfung (The Creation).Recorded in January 2020 in Berlin’s famous Jesus-Christus Church, where so many legendary performances have been recorded, this new version uses the ‘reasonable’ size of its 1742 Dublin premiere. The fabulous RIAS-Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin joined forces for the occasion with an amazing English vocal quartet consisting of Julia Doyle (soprano), Tim Mead (countertenor), Thomas Hobbs (tenor) and Roderick Williams (bass).After their three editions devoted to Handel's Concerti grossi, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin continues to invest in the music of the most English of German composers. Just to give you a taste of what it’s all about, the RIAS-Kammerchor has been led by English choirmaster Justin Doyle since 2016. Here he gives an intimate reading of Messiah, conducting an incredible choir and orchestra that are among the best in the world at performing this music. Berlin was treated to this at the Philharmonie for the 2020 New Year Concert a few days before this recording. © François Hudry/Qobuz