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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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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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The Essential Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers

Soul/Funk/R&B - Released August 3, 2004 | Epic

Try as companies might, a perfect anthology framing the famous family of funk still manages to elude even the most fickle of aficionados. While 2003's Ultimate Collection is an expansive look at the group's career, it most certainly isn't as thorough as 1999's outstanding Rhino box set, which is simply too rich to satisfy the curious or casual listener. Quite simply, it's nearly impossible to include the group's greatest moments on one disc, and most two-disc sets have a tendency to become ripe with filler. While The Essential Isley Brothers is no exception to the rule, it certainly is the most accessible when measured against the aforementioned anthologies. The track sequencing is erratic but covers many of the group's anthems right away on disc one, the most jarring contrast being between the opening pre-fuzzed good times of "Twist and Shout" and the fuzz-guitar orgy that became "That Lady." Disc two covers every single permutation of the group's later years: from the '80s quiet storm of Isley/Jasper/Isley's "Caravan of Love" to Mr. Biggs' collaborative work with R. Kelly in the early part of the 2000s. To include these later projects serves to give the listener a comprehensive survey of the Isley family evolution over the past five decades, but not much else would warrant the inclusion of "Down Low," especially in contrast with so many of their ultimate anthems. Overlooking that fact, you'll find yourself subconsciously (or intentionally) head-bobbing or toe-tapping along with these discs through and through, and rightfully so, as this is a first-class compilation that casual listeners and loyal devotees will be more than satisfied with.© Rob Theakston /TiVo
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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