Symphonic Suites

Composer Pino Donaggio teamed with filmmaker Brian DePalma to forge one of the most memorable collaborations in cinema history, writing a series of suspenseful, hauntingly atmospheric scores evoking Bernard Herrmann's landmark work for Alfred Hitchcock.

César Guerra-Peixe was one of the most versatile Brazilian musicians of the 20th century, gaining a particular mastery of orchestration and creating his own inimitable sound through extensive work in radio, television and cinema. The toe-tapping dance rhythms and lyrical expressiveness in his two Symphonic Suites were inspired by research into Brazilian folk traditions, further enhanced by a broad range of vibrantly eloquent global influences. The lighthearted Roda de Amigos mischievously caricatures Guerra-Peixe’s musical circle of friends and their various woodwind instruments.

Marking the triumphant return of live music to London's West End, Andrew Lloyd Webber has brought together an 81-piece orchestra to record Symphonic Suites - an album featuring three newly-orchestrated suites from his award-winning musicals Evita, Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard. This recording is the first live performance to take place at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane, following his LW Theatres' 2-year, œ60m total restoration.

In Puccini’s anniversary year, Chief Conductor of Welsh National Opera Carlo Rizzi has created new, purely orchestral versions of some of his most well-known and beloved works. Staying pure and faithful to Puccini’s original orchestration without anything added to ‘cover’ any perceivable lack of vocal line, the brilliance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Tosca, and other works shine through in this album of world premiere recordings.

With its titanic guitar solos, symphonic suites, and multi-layered melodies, Muse's fifth album operates under the assumption that bigger is better. This is the very definition of a super-sized album, an album that takes its cues from Queen, its lyrics from science fiction novels, and its delivery from rock opera. It's also the first time that Muse has truly sounded like Muse, as few bands since Queen have so readily explored the intersection of bombast and extravagance. The Resistance is most certainly extravagant – there are snatches of classical piano entwined throughout, not to mention bilingual lyrics, concert hall percussion, coronet solos, and song titles like "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2 (Cross-Pollination)" – but it's also quite beautiful, capable of moving between prog rock choruses and excerpts from Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major" within the same song.

Beecham had an exquisite ear for detail, and his Peer Gynt has more fantasy — more subtlety, too — than anyone else's: Ase s Death and Anitra 's Dance are simply magical. So is the Symphonic Dance, and if In Autumn and the variations occasionally seem a litde thin musically, Beecham makes amends with keenness of attack and eloquent phrasing. The orchestra is superb and the transfers (which give us the variations in stereo for the first time), excellent.

This is a welcome re-release from Hyperion on its budget Helios label. When these performances first appeared in 1990, critical opinion was divided as to their merits. The back of this CD quotes statements of high praise from the American Record Guide and Classic CD, among others. From memory, the review that appeared in Gramophone Magazine was harsh in its criticism. For my part, I incline more to the former view. This disc has much to recommend it.