Chandos

These lamentations are beautifully conceived by Zelenka who has a knack for providing wonderful melodies imbued with mysticism and dignity both for chorus and orchestra. Each lamentation is about twenty four minutes long and is split into two parts that contain some crafty, intelligent writing. The three soloists are quite magnificent in their portrayals of Christ's passion with Michael George particularly impressive in all pieces.

In 1717, Handel was in dire straits. Living in London, his pension of 200 pounds a year for teaching the Royal princesses had stopped, and the public's enthusiasm for opera had faded. Fortunately, he was to gain a new patron: James Brydges, Earl of Carnarvon and Duke of Chandos. Brydges offered Handel residence at Cannons, his newly built palace in Edgware, then a rural area outside London. Set up as a rival court to King George I, he employed Handel to replace Johann Pepusch as Kapellmeister. Among his commissions were the Chandos Anthems and Chandos Te Deum.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra - 125 Years of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (2016) {2CD Set Chandos CHAN 241-55}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 712 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 382 Mb
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© 2016 Chandos Records | CHAN 241-55
Classical / Orchestral

In the 2015 / 2016 season, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra celebrates a proud 125-year history of bringing the best in classical music performances to audiences right across Scotland and beyond. Marking its recording relationship with the Orchestra, Chandos has compiled a two-disc set (at the price of one CD) of the finest of thirty years of recordings that have shaped the reputation of the Orchestra as well as the label. The RSNO has amassed a tremendous discography on Chandos over the years, including great recording series devoted to works by Dvorak, Elgar, and Prokofiev. Now on SACD, its releases continue to receive high praise.

Arvo Part - Collage - Neeme Jarvi, Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus (1993) {Chandos CHAN 9134}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 269 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 147 Mb
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© 1993 Chandos Records | CHAN 9134
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Orchestral / Symphony / Choral

For all of those who look for early works of Pärt this is a precious recording. I believe there are a lot of people who don't find much appeal in Pärt's late repetitive, mystic works for the very same reasons others prefer them. So what's up here is that Pärt has a few lesser known works before, say, his third symphony which are the "opposite" of the mentioned above. Those who are found of Schnittke will surely appreciate this. The most remarkable composition in this record is maybe the "Credo" for piano mixed choir and orchestra. It consists of 13 minutes of duel between the forces of the past (represented by Bach's well known motifs) and the eruptive resources of modernist aleatoric clusters of sound. So, pools of beautiful passages are interrupted by (or combined with) destructive (or desconstructive) interventions of the orchestra till the whole, peaking sometimes the frenetic, becomes yet a powerful block of distinctive sound.

This series of eleven church anthems is a sterling example of doing more with less. Though their format is multiple movements for soloists and chorus and inviting of grand treatment, Handel had available only a couple of oboes and a small string band and choir (with no violas or altos for nos. 1-6). Yet each one of these anthems is a gem. Handel's music captures well the changing moods of the Psalm texts–from somber penitence to serene bliss to infectious joy to the raging of storms and seas.