MORRISON & CO TRUST - MMT2023 (full price): ELEGY

Frank Bridge: Adoration; Go not, happy day: Love went a-riding; Douglas Lilburn: Song cycle "Elegy"; John Ireland: Great Things; Sea Fever; When lights go rolling round the sky; C W Orr: Song cycle "A Shropshire Lad"; Gerald Finzi: Song cycle "Let Us Garland Bring".

Paul Whelan (baritone) with David Harper (piano)

Total time: 65.00

(GB pounds 14.50)

Winner of the Lieder Prize at the Cardiff 'Singer of the World' competition in 1993, New Zealand born baritone Paul Whelan has appeared at all of the world's major opera houses including the Royal Opera, New York Met. and Paris Bastille. Now resident in London, he recently appeared with the New Zealand National Youth Choir and gave a recital with David Harper at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. His splendid voice is presented to wonderful effect in this enterprising mix of familiar and less well-known songs by English and New Zealand composers, recorded in St George's Hall Brandon Hill, Bristol.

John Steane in May 2000 Gramophone - "Fine songs for singing and (many of them) rare songs to hear. Much interest will attach to Paul Whelan's debut recital on record...his firm, sympatheticbaritone records well, at its best in the quieter passages...he hasn't quite the way of making words live, but neither is he dull or inexpresive. David Harper, Whelan's fellow New Zealander, is an excellent accompanist, and the record has been well produced in all respects."

MORRISON & CO TRUST - MMT2029 (full price): CHOIR OF THE WORLD

Te Wehi Whanau: Haere mai hga iwi; Mendelssohn: Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe; Rossini: O salutaris hostia; Pachelbel: Magnificat; Poulenc: Petites Prieres de St. Francois d'Assise; David MacIntyre: Ave Maria; Zdenek Lukas: Requiem aeternam; Ivan Hrusovsky: Rytmus; David Hamilton: Didn't it Rain; Christopher Marshall: Minoi, minoi; William Dawson: Ain'-a that good news; Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs.

New Zealand National Youth Choir, conductor Karen Grylls with Paul Whelan (baritone) and Andrea Watson (organ)

Total time: 54.15

(GB pounds 14.50)

Issued to celebrate their victory as Choir of the World at the 1999 Eisteddfod in Llangollen, these live recordings of the New Zealand National Youth Choir were made at Llangollen and at St John's Smith Square, London, during their 1999 European Tour.

Raymond Tuttle for Seaford Music web site and Classical Net - "The music-making on this CD is extremely impressive. The members acquit themselves with professionalism and maturity which belie their years. Several of the works performed here are so difficult that they must have been composed as test-pieces. Rapid shifts in harmony, key, rhythm, and time signature challenge even the most seasoned choirs; they don't seem to ruffle the New Zealand Youth Choir very much. Here's something for New Zealand to feel proud of and for the rest of us to enjoy." Click here for the full review.

Henry Fogel in September/October 2000 Fanfare - "This disc merits attention largely because of its varied and interesting repertoire, from its fascinatingly engaging opening Maori song of welcome through its closing number, William Dawson's touching arrangement of a famous African American spiritual. The sound is nicely balanced...A pleasant, enjoyable, if not essential disc."

PROPIANO - PPR224529 (full price): GODOWSKY: JAVA SUITE

Leopold Godowsky: Java Suite; Alexandre Tansman: Danse Javanaise from Novelettes; La flute de bambou dans la foret de Bandoeng; Le Gamelang de Bali.

Esther Budiardjo (piano)

Total time:60.38

(GB pounds 14.50)

Listen to an extract

Winner of the 1996 International William Kapell Piano Competition, Indonesian pianist Esther Budiardjo plays world-premiere recordings of music inspired by Indonesia. Godowsky's suite of twelve finely wrought keyboard miniatures convey the subtleties of Javanese scenes experienced during his visit after the first world war. His Polish compatriot Tansman visited in 1932/3 and his pieces were also inspired by his experience.

Michael Anthony in Minneapolis Star Tribune: 16 January 2000 - "Interest in Godowsky, both as pianist and composer, is on the rise and it was inevitable that someone, especially someone as gifted as Indonesian pianist Esther Budiardjo, should record one of Godowsky's major works, the 'Java Suite'...Budiardjo is the perfect pianist for this music. Her seemingly limitless technique combines with velvety sound and a feeling for the surging rise and fall of Godowsky's music, which needs a generous spirit like hers to get it just right."

Bryce Morrison in May 2000 Gramophone - "A world premiere recording of Godowsky's Java Suite is surprising until you stop to confront its savagely ornate and idiosycratic demands. Most pianists would rather consider such complexity from a distance. Not so Esther Budiardjo, herself Javanese (though resident in America), who resolves some formidable problems with such natural grace that you are able to concentrate exclusively on the music of an exotic land...they are beautifully played, and the quality of Esther Budiadjo's Kawai has been excellently recorded throughout a considerable dynamic range. Music for an exclusive taste, this is a special issue."

Adrian Corleonis in May/June 2000 Fanfare - "A native of Jakarta now working toward her doctorate at the New England Conservatory. Budiardjo presumably has the sounds Godowsky evoked, with such impossible flair, in her blood, so to speak. In any case, she has set the Java Suite magnificently before us and, while one hopes to hear these pieces many times from many pianists...for their coloristic possibilities are infinite - Budiardjo's will be a difficult act to top. Sound is whelmingly, transparently immediate."

Jeremy Nicholas in May 2000 International Record Review - "At last, Godowsky-philes have waited a long time for a complete account of this intriguing music, the first collection of what was intended to be a series of 'Phonoramas: Tonal Journeys for the Pianoforte'...her expressive playing of 'The Gardens of Buitenzorg' invites comparison with Hamelin, Hough, Loesser and the composer's own sonically primitive recording...this superbly recorded and produced issue."

PROPIANO - PPR224522 (full price): CHOPIN RECITAL

Chopin: Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat min., Op.35; Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22; Berceuse in D flat maj., Op.57; Nocturne in C sharp min., Op. Posth; Introduction and Variations on "Je vends des scapulaires" from Herold's Ludovic in B flat maj., Op.10.

Katia Skanavi (piano)

Total time: 55.17

(GB pounds 14.50)

Listen to an extract

Bryce Morrison in February 2000 Gramophone - "Russian-born Katia Skanavi has enough technique to set the final pages of her curtain-raiser ablaze and to spin an iridescent, gossamer lightness round the Berceuse...these performances are never less than brilliant and characterful. ProPiano\rquote s sound, like others in this fascinating series, is of superb range and clarity."

Jeremy Nicholas in March 2000 Classic CD - "In the Berceuse and Nocturne it is the pianist's glowing tone that commands attention, but it is the fiery tempo she adopts for the opening movement of the Sonata that is the kind of thing that loses piano competitions. I loved it, a true molto agitato played with real conviction." (*****)

Michael Glover in June 2000 International Record Review - "Katia Skanavi offers a Chopin recital of searing temperament and rich sonority, recorded on a finely prepared hamburg Steinway and in startlingly lifelike sound by ProPiano. Some listeners will doubtless find skanavi's approach as wilful and slick as others will find it involving and tempestuous, but playing of such accomplishment and vivid character demands to be heard."

TALL POPPIES - TP105 (full price): JAMAICAN RUMBA

Piano Music of Arthur Benjamin, Vol.1 - Jamaican Rumba; Scherzino; Siciliana; Chinoiserie; Suite; Fantasies I; Pastorale, Arioso & Finale; Fantasies II; Saxophone Blues; Three New Fantasies; Romance-Impromptu; Odds & Ends I; Haunted House; Odds & Ends II; Brumas Tunes; Let's Go Hiking; Elegiac Mazurka.

Ian Munro (piano)

Total time: 77.52

(GB pounds 14.50)

Noted Australian pianist, Ian Munro, plays volume one in a complete recording of the piano music of his compatriot, Arthur Benjamin (1893 - 1960). The piano miniatures on this disc range from the popular Jamaican Rumba to more serious compositions.

Ivan March in May 2000 Gramophone - "Arthur Benjamin's Jamaican Rumba was the result of a visit there in 1938 and it soon became a world hit. He did not repeat that success, yet his other genre pieces here are full of attractive ideas and catchy rhythmic invention, at times cool in the jazz sence of the word (Saxophone Blues), at others (the Odds and ends or the Fantasies, for instance) offering writing of charming simplicity. The performances here are first class; so is the recording."

Rob Barnett for Classical Music on the Web, November 2000: "In much the same way that Sinding’s ‘fame’ is rooted in ‘The Rustle of Spring' so Arthur Benjamin’s renown is founded on the ‘Jamaican Rumba’. In fact he was a composer of much broader accomplishment...Tall Poppies are a firm to be watched. With little publicity they have ploughed an individualist’s furrow and have reaped a rewarding harvest. They have teamed up with Ian Munro to produce a Benjamin series and it is to be hoped that this disc and the chamber music one will not be the final entries in the lists...Perhaps you already pride yourself on having the Chandos collection of Howells’ piano music or the Moeran, Goossens or Bax piano music or the Ireland or Mayerl CDs. If so track down a copy of this disc. The idiom is similar without being a slavish facsimile. Highly commended."

The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs 2000/2001 Yearbook - "Ian Munro revels in the music's dashing bravura. Throughout he plays with great style and elegance and obvious affection. This is a wholly delightful recital with never a dull moment throughout its 78 minutes. The recording is admirably natural."

TALL POPPIES - TP123 (full price): DEBUSSY PIANO MUSIC VOL.2

Debussy: Images oubliees; Preludes, Book 2; Berceuse heroique; Page d'album; Elegie; 2nd Suite bergamasque.

Roy Howat (piano)

Total time: 71.38

(GB pounds 14.50)

This is the second volume in the series of the complete piano music of Debussy being made by Australian pianist, Roy Howat for Tall Poppies and includes the relatively unfamiliar Images oubliees. A former pupil of Vlado Perlemuter, Roy Howat has an intimate knowledge of the composer\rquote s manuscripts and he has edited most of the music for Durand's Complete Debussy Edition with corrections from Debussy's pen and other authentic sources.

Charles Timbrell (author of the book French Pianism) on Volume One in Gramophone's International Piano Quarterly, Autumn 1997 - "In short, imagination and eleganze characterize the playing and everywhere we are allowed to hear what Debussy seems to have wanted us to hear."

TALL POPPIES - TP135 (full price): DAVID STANHOPE PLAYS

Bach/Busoni: Prelude & Fugue in E flat; Chopin: Study, Op.10/5; Godowsky: Studies on Chopin's Study, Op.10/5; Chopin: Study, Op.25/6; Godowsky: Study on Chopin's Study, Op.25/6; Passacaglia; Beethoven/Liszt: Symphony No.8.

David Stanhope (piano)

Total time: 76.43

(GB pounds 14.50)

One of Australia's leading conductors and pianists, this disc features virtuoso piano transcriptions and elaborations by masters of the genre - Busoni, Godowsky and Liszt. In the case of the Chopin works, the original precedes Godowsky's studies on Chopin's studies.

Bryce Morrison in August 2000 Gramophone - "when you hear him tackle some of the most formidable peaks of the viruoso repertoire with an ease and grandeur that shame more celebrated painists. Godowsky's massive Passacaglia is, again, played with a masterly aplomb and never more so than in the final pages, which seem to ignite the entire keyboard...Tall Poppies' sound is both immediate and refined."

CEDILLE - CDR90000048 (full price): EARLY CHAMBER MUSIC OF ELLIOTT CARTER

Carter: Pastoral for Clarinet & Piano; Woodwind Quintet; Sonata for Cello and Piano; Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for Woodwind Quintet.

Chicago Pro Musica

Total time: 57.12

(but currently unavailable)

Contemporary American composer Elliott Carter has a reputation for difficult music but here is a Carter CD that can be confidently recommended to both those who are curious about the composer and to Carter afficianados. The music on this disc is accessible from beginning to end and the Chicago Pro Musica, comprised of members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, have a close relationship with Carter.

Robert Carl in March/April 2000 - "These performances are all first-rate. John Bruce Yeh in particular can be heard infusing the interpretations with his own special brand of electricity...and their performances have a wonderfully relaxed quality that emphasizes the essential naturalness, but does not compromise on the energy, of the music."

CEDILLE - CDR90000049 (full price): SONGS OF THE CLASSICAL AGE

27 songs by Josef Haydn; Vincenzo Righini; Nicola Dalayrac; Chevalier de Saint-Georges; Felice Blangini; Corona Schroter; Anna Amalia von Sachsen-Weimer; Schubert; Johann Friedrich Reichardt; Maria Theresia von Paradis; Mozart; Beethoven; Sophia Westenholz; Pauline Duchambge; Maria Szymanowska; Isabella Colbran and Bellini.

Patrice Michaels (soprano) with David Schrader (forte-piano)

Total time: 79.30

(but currently unavailable)

Songs of the Classical Age transports the listener back to the salons of the Age of Enlightenment. With 27 songs in four languages, this disc embraces an exceptionally wide range of styles. 17 composers, familiar and unknown, are represented with seven women and a black composer from the French Caribbean.

Joel Kasow in March/April 2000 Fanfare - "This is one of those discs that is a joy to review and possess: Patrice Michaels has put together an enterprising program, written excellent notes about the selections, and, more to the point, sings it very well indeed with the collaboration of David Schrader at the fortepiano."

NEW FROM NORWAY

ALBEDO - ALBCD019 (full price): SEQUENZA

Magnar Am: Like a Leaf on the River; Nils Henrik Asheim: Varp; Ginastera: Guitar Sonata Op.47; Berio: Sequenza XI; Britten: Nocturnal.

Njal Vindenes (guitar)

Total time:60.42

(GB pounds 14.50)

ALBEDO - ALBCD014 (full price): 8. - 10. December 1998

J.K.L - Jorgen Traeen (electronic treatments); Knut Vaage (piano treatments); Lars-Erik ter Jung (violin treatments)

Total time: 46.50

(GB pounds 14.50)

AURORA - ACD5005 (full price): EGIL HOVLAND: Chamber Works

Hovland: Cantus VIII, Op.129 for Oboe & String Quartet; Cantus III, Op.103 for Violin & Piano; Rorate, Op.55; Magnificat, Op.44; Wind Quintet, Op.50.

Various Artists

Total time: 68.11

(GB pounds 14.99)

Guy Rickards in June 2000 Gramophone - "The five works here range from the lively pastoralism of the oboe quintet Cantus VIII (1986) to the kaleidoscopic colours of the suite for organ, chamber orchestra, voices and tape, Rorate (1966-7). Finest of all is the Magnificat for contralto, alto flute and harp (1963). Crisp performances, crystal clear sound (as usual). Worth investigating."

AURORA - ACD5009 (full price): KARE KOLBERG: Certainty and Doubt

Kolberg: Quartetto per Archi; Quartetto per Archi No.2; Aria in Aria; Alluso; Bozza per Orchestra.

Cikada String Quartet; BIT 20 Ensemble; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Christian Eggen; Norwegian State Academy of Music Orchestra, Simon Streatfield

Total time: 69.41

(GB pounds 14.99)

AURORA - ACD5011 (full price): ROLF WALLIN: Boyl

Wallin: Ground for Cello & String Orchestra; Clarinet Concerto; Boyl; Timpani Concerto.

Oystein Birkeland (cello), Leif Arne Pedersen (clarinet), Tom Vissgren (timpani); Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Oslo Sinfonietta; Terje Tonnesen, Christian Eggen, Rolf Gupta

Total time: 71.48

(GB pounds 14.99)

HEMERA - HCD2931 (full price): PETER HERRESTHAL: Please Accept my Ears!

Arne Nordheim: Partita for Paul; Duplex; Olav Anton Thommessen: Please Accept my Ears; Cantabile (Etyde-Cadenza).

Peter Herresthal (violin) with Gonzalo Moreno (piano) and Henninge Batnes (viola)

Total time: 51.45

(GB pounds 14.99)

EURIDICE - EUCD013 (full price): CON BRIO:
Norwegian and English Sacred Music

Music by Britten; Bjorkelund; Richard Farrant; Nystedt; Bowers Broadbent; Purcell; Byrd; Howells & Trad.

Con Brio Choir, Mikael Ronnberg with Bjorn Andor Drage and Christopher Bowers Broadbent (organ)

Total time: 65.09

(GB pounds 14.50)

TOLO GRAMOFON - TO9903 (full price): THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER

Sommerfeldt: Viser og Bilder; Brahms: Deutsche Volkslieder; Donizetti: Ricordi di Napoli; Britten: Folksongs; Ravel: Cinq melodies populaires grecques.

Elisabeth Tandberg (soprano) with Jorunn Marie Bratlie (piano)

(GB pounds 14.50)