jw
Jonathan Woolf
Sauer & Ansorge: Piano Concertos (Capriccio)
Two German contemporaries and their very different approaches to the piano concerto [JW]
Antheil: Venus in Africa (cpo)
A late satiric opera by Antheil, splendidly realised, devoid of Bad Boy but not devoid of spice and wit [JW]
Coral: Aurora Borealis (Tempus Clasico)
Sonic and structural explorations from a leading Mexican composer [JW]
Scott: Orchestral Music Vol. 4 (Toccata Classics)
Kick off your shoes and take to the dancefloor with Scott’s tapestry of orchestrated dances [JW]
Blodek: V studni (Supraphon)
A comic Czech opera recorded in 1959 heard for the first time in stereo [JW]
In the Cabinet of Wonders (False Azure Records)
A Hamburg organ-and-violin duo of the Baroque comes alive [JW]
The Graceful Ghost – Contemporary Piano Rags (Rivermont)
The Contemporary Piano Rag in the vitalising hands of a master practitioner [JW]
Decruck: Concertante Works, Vol 2 (Claves)
Modest in proportion but full of beguiling colour [JW]
Korngold: Symphony in F sharp (Supertrain Records)
Korngold plays his Symphony in a previously unreleased piano version [JW]
Quartets Through a Time of Change (First Hand Records)
An imaginative selection of French string quartets [JW]
Elgar: Boult’s Elgar – The forgotten recordings (SOMM Ariadne)
A Boult miscellany spearheaded by the first CD appearance of the Second Symphony with the Scottish National Orchestra [JW]
Sinding: Symphonies (Capriccio)
A fitful, erratic Norwegian symphonic cycle that rises to heights [JW]
Slavík: Violin Concertos (Private release)
Paganinian virtuoso Josef Slavik finds a home in Italy in sometimes vulnerable filming but always virile and stylish performances [JW]
Landmarks from Dawn of Electrical Recording (Pristine Audio)
A centenary salute to the early months of the revolutionary electrical recording process [jw]
Elgar: Violin Concerto (Channel Classics)
Elgarian musing taken to interminable lengths, and unnecessary Delian reclothing [JW]
Albert Sammons (violin) & William Murdoch (piano): Complete Sonata Recordings (Biddulph)
Pioneering sonata recordings from one of the world’s most distinguished duos [JW]
Ketèlbey: In a Monastery Garden & Other Works (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Heartily recommended to Ketèlbey’s once more growing band of admirers [JW]
Wood conducts Bach and Handel (Pristine Audio)
Wood’s reputation belied by his recordings: mobility and directness in Bach [JW]
British Light Music Premieres Vol 5 (Dutton Epoch)
Purchase with confidence [JW]
Büttner: Symphony No.2 (cpo)
A semi-forgotten German symphonist does not really convince [JW]
What plaintive melodies are these? (Oboe Classics)
Warmth as well as veiled melancholy in previously unrecorded British songs for oboe and voice [JW]
Carl Schuricht in New York (Archipel)
Schuricht leads the Vienna orchestra with surety and command [JW]
Wurmser: Piano Works (Hortus)
A near-forgotten man of French music reappears with a piano retrospective [JW]
Loeillet: Six Suites for Harpsichord (Prelude Classics)
A beautifully performed and recorded set of six modestly-conceived and barely known harpsichord suites [JW]
