CD Review - Building a Library - Strauss: Alpine Symphony

CD Review with Andrew McGregor - all that's new in the world of classical music recording including 9.05am HANDEL: “Cleopatra” – arias from Giulio Cesare Natalie Dessay (soprano) / Le Concert d’Astree / Emmanuelle Haim Virgin Classics 50999 907 87225 (CD) HANDEL: The Triumph of Time and Enlightenment Lucy Crowe (soprano), Anna Stephany, Hilary Summers (mezzo), Andrew Staples (tenor) / Early Opera Company / Christian Curnyn (conductor) Lucy Crowe/Early Opera Company/Christian Curnyn Wigmore Hall Live WHLive0042/2 (2 CDs) ARNE: Artaxerxes Christopher Ainslie (Artaxerxes), Elizabeth Watts (Mandane), Caitlin Hulcup (Arbaces), Andrew Staples (Artabanes), Rebecca Bottone (Semira), Daniel Norman (Rimenes) / Classical Opera Company / Ian Page (conductor) Linn CKD 358 (2 Hybrid SACDs) 9.30am Building a Library William Mival surveys the currently available recordings of Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and makes a top recommendation. Top choice: Berlin Philharmonic / Herbert von Karajan (conductor) DG 439 0172 (CD) 10.20am New Release SMETANA: Piano Trio Op. 15; LISZT: Tristia; Elegie No. 1; La Lugubre Gondole; Romance oubliee; Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth Trio Wanderer Harmonia Mundi HMC 902060 (CD) 10.35am A Library of Early English Music: David Skinner, scholar and conductor of the early music choir, Alamire talks about his ambitious project to record 250 years of music from the medieval cloister to the Commonwealth in 30 volumes. Includes tracks from the following new release: TALLIS / BYRD: Cantiones Sacrae 1575 Alamire / David Skinner (conductor) Obsidian CD706 (2 CDs) 11.05am Berlin Philharmonic soloists VIVALDI: The Four Seasons; Concerto for Oboe & Violin RV548; Cello Concerto RV424; Viola d‘amore Concerto RV397 Berlin Baroque Soloists / Rainer Kussmaul (director) Phil. Harmonie 06003 (CD) BACH: Violin Partitas No. 2 BWV1004; No. 3 BWV1006 Kolja Blacher (violin) / Frank Arnold (speaker) Phil. Harmonie 06007 (CD) SCHUMANN: “Lieder ohne Worte” - Dichterliebe Op. 48; Liederkreis Op. 39 Martin Stegner (viola) / Tomoko Takahashi (piano) Phil. Harmonie 06002 (CD) STRAVINSKY: The Soldier’s Tale Kolja Blacher (violin) / Dominique Horwitz (voice) / Soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic Phil. Harmonie 06005 (CD) RAVEL arr. Renz: Le Tombeau de Couperin; MUSSORGSKY arr. Renz: Pictures at an Exhibition Ensemble Berlin Phil. Harmonie 06001 (CD) SCHULHOFF: “Brückenbauer in die neue Zeit” – Concertino for flute, viola & double bass; Flute Sonata; String Sextet ‘Das autobiographische’ Soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic / Berlin Philharmonic String Sextet Phil. Harmonie 06004 (CD) 11.45am Disc of the Week VIVALDI: Ercole sul’Termodonte Rolando Villazon, Patrizia Ciofi, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Vivica Genaux, Philippe Jaroussky, Romina Basso, Topi Lehtipuu / Europa Galante / Fabio Biondi (conductor) Virgin Classics 50999 6945 450 9 (2 CDs)