George Benjamin's Sudden Time has been recorded and the recording appeared a few years back on the Nimbus label. Unfortunately since that time Nimbus has gone into receivership and it appears unlikely that this recording will appear again before the creditors have all been paid.
Without knowing precisely which songs
are being performed, it is difficult
to give any recomendation. One might
assume that since tonight's selection
is being performed by a tenor, then
they are from the set for tenor.
Chandos really pushed the boat out
and recorded the complete set of
Rachmaninov's songs and these appear
on a choice of full price CDs. As
three separate sets of the complete
songs we find CHAN 9405, CHAN 9451
and CHAN 9477. The songs for tenor
are to be found on CHAN 9562, performed
by Sergej Larin and Eleonora Bekova.
Andras Ligeti on Naxos gives a performance of concertos 9 and 27 on CD 8550203. Alfred Brendel's account now available as a Philips Duo on 442 5712 is well worth buying, not just for the superb performance, but also for the quantity of music - five concertos. At mid price Emil Gilels offers a performance with the Vienna Philharmonic under Boehm worthy of its Penguin rosette on 4636522. At full price Brendel's later recording (2000) with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra surpasses the earlier benchmark. The coupling on 468 3672 is the Concerto no 22.
On Naxos we find this work coupled with Heldenleben on 8554417 in a performance from the NSO of Ireland under Gerhard Markson. One of the best performances of this rare work can be found on the Chandos label with the RSNO under Neeme Jarvi, a 2 CD set at mid price CHAN 7011/12. Also included in the set are the Symphonia Domestica, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote and Zarathustra. There is also a six disc set from Decca on 4709542 which offers a wide range of Strauss pieces from a variety of orchestras and conductors.
At budget price Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra on SBK 48163 is well worth considering for the quality of performance. A Double Decca offers a wide range of Ravel's repertoire including Bolero, the Second Daphnis & Chloe suite and La Valse which finds Charles Dutoit and the Montreal SO on top form on 4602142. In the mid price range a superb performance from Karajan and the BPO sweeps the board; the dilemma here is in choosing the coupling - 447 4262 has Debussy's La Mer and Mussorgsky's Pictures, 427 2502 also has La Mer plus Debussy's Prelude and the Daphnis & Chloe Suite No 2.
This overture is one of fourteen overtures
on a Naxos collection played by the Capella Istropolitana
under Barry Wordsworth on 8550185. The recording
picked up the 3 star accolade in the Penguin Guide.
One feature about this CD is that the overtures are arranged in
chronological order. Also at budget price is an EMI Encore CD of
ten overtures 5850602 played by the
Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner.
Some may want to explore the opera
further after tonight's taster, the recording of highlights from Klemperer's
recording can be warmly recommended (CDM 5655682), although for preference
I would plump for the full opera with
Klemperer's 'dream team' of soloists on CMS5673882.
Takako Nishzaki has recorded all the Violin
concertos for Naxos; the choice is between
the 3CD set (8503002) or the individual discs.
The fourth concerto comes coupled with the
Sinfonia Concertante K364 on 8550332.
Also on Naxos, this time on their historical
label is Joseph Szigeti's recording with the
LPO under Sir Thomas Beecham coupled with
Bruno Walter conducting the Beethoven concerto (8110946).
At mid price DG have a set of the concertos
played by Itzhak Perlman with James Levine
conducting the VPO on 4555352. There is also a
Philips Duo recording with all five concertos,
this time played by Arthur Grumiaux on 4383232
which is well worth buying for the performances.
Two recordings of the complete ballet music compete
for attention. The Naxos recording uses the Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra under Halasz, a recording described
in the Penguin Guide as boasting neat and fresh playing
on 8553404.
At full price the Hyperion alternative
features Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra on CDA 66748; this, too, is
highly recommended. It would also be worthwhile
to investigate the set of Beethoven's Contredanses
on Naxos 8550433 to study another stage in the
evolution of the Prometheus-Eroica theme.
It is very difficult to draw up a shortlist of
this work because there are so many recordings
to choose from. In recent years a new edition
of the symphonies has been prepared and twice recorded.
The earlier recording at budget price on Arte Nova
74321 592142 with David Zinman and the Zurich
Tonhalle picked up a Gramophone Editor's Choice
award. Certainly this Eroica will be a new
experience for many used to the more traditional
edition. The coupling is the 4th Symphony.
The Naxos coupling of the Eroica with the 8th
Symphony comes on 8553475. At mid price a Naxos
reissue by Toscanini which dates from 1939 finds
the NBC Symphony Orchestra on fine form, although this is a 2CD set.
Among the full price recordings is that by Sir
Simon Rattle and the VPO on EMI, again a recording which uses the
new edition. This is available either singly or as a
box set of the complete cycle 5574452.
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