Cat in The Agraharam

This is the second recording which the Academy of St Martin in the Fields has made of Handel's 12 Concerti grossi, Op. 6. The first was directed by Neville Marriner whereas the new one is directed by Iona Brown. handel assembled his twelve ''grand concertos'', as he called them, during the autumn of 1739 and they were published by subscription in the following year. Their stylistic terms of reference are marvellously diverse and, in this respect they represent an apotheosis of what had become, by the 1730s, an old-fashioned form of concerto writing on the continent. Variety in form, ingenuity of thought and Handel's own unmistakeable personality ensure that in no other sense can these satisfying concertos be regarded as archaic.

These distinguished, if not perfect, recordings made in 1984. They should be amongst everyone’s preferred renditions. They are brisk but not tense, dramatic and even playful when need be. Occasionally, but only at rare moments, such as the beginning of the “Prague” Symphony, I would like something a little fiercer. Mostly Marriner is right on, as in the transition between the darkish introduction to the first movement of the Symphony No. 39 and its exuberant main theme.

A collection of orchestral showpieces with captivating, sparkling sound conducted by Marriner, who is most familiar with how to make the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields sound brilliant. Flight of the Bumblebee, Dance of Time, William Tell Overture, and more. Recorded between 1982 and 1992.

In anticipation of Beethoven's 250th birthday in 2020, Jan LIsiecki presents a full cycle of Beethoven's five piano concertos, accompanied by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 has particularly played a significant role in Lisiecki's career. In 2013, he performed the work with Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado in Bologna, an indisposed Martha Argerich at short notice, and he performed the same work at his Carnegie Hall debut.

Universal is the tenth studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released on 2 September 1996 by Virgin Records. Frontman Andy McCluskey opted for a more organic, acoustic sound on the record, which spawned the singles "Walking on the Milky Way" (a UK no. 17 hit) and "Universal". The media's resistance to OMD, who were rendered unfashionable by the prevalence of indie rock and Britpop, prompted McCluskey to dissolve the group. Universal would remain their final album for over a decade until the band's reunion.

The amazing soprano Lucia Popp largely owes her success to her unforgettable roles in the grand German Romantic repertoire by Richard Strauus & Richard Wagner. She was also known to be a brilliant performer of lighter lyrical works, with which such composers as Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss or Carl Zeller triumphed at the Theater an der Wien or the Wiener Staatsoper, ultimately entertaining the Austrian high society to a great degree. This exquisite collection of Viennese bonbons is accompanied by Sir Neville Marriner, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus featured in choral excerpts from The Merry Widow, Giuditta or Casanova.

This is the third, and apparently, the last single of OMD taken from their 2013 album "English Electric". The CD is divided in two parts: "Night Café" in five different versions and… five non-album B-Sides, including the never released before "Kill Me". As per "Night Café", we have of course, the album version that really didn't need any further editing or remixing as the song in itself is just brilliant. A pure typical OMD songs in the vein of ‘Secret’ or "If You Leave", with a more melancholic and darker side probably. The four remixes are just what a New Wave fan expect from a remix: just enough experimentation and twittering, extending and fresh production with great respect of the artist's work, keeping some synth lines and not playing too much with vocals.

This is not strictly a compilation of what the British would term "light music," for there is music of substantial weight on these two discs: e.g., Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending, Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad, and Elgar's Introduction and Allegro, but for the most part, Marriner and his charges offer less weighty fare that is familiar to many classical music-lovers and certainly dear to the heart of Anglophiles like this writer. From Vaughan Williams's perennial favorites, Fantasia on Greensleeves and the English Folk Song Suite, and George Butterworth's nigh-ubiquitous The Banks of Green Willow to less familiar fare like Delius's Serenade (composed to honor the 70th birthday of Frederick Delius) and the suite from Elgar's incomplete opera The Spanish Lady, this compilation of recordings–originally made in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1979–embodies the spirit of England and does so faultlessly. This is a well chosen and exemplarily executed collection of English orchestral miniatures proffered by a conductor and orchestra whose names have become synonymous with the repertoire.

This is a summit meeting in these Mozart late piano concertos between two specialists of the Classical era!