SACD, Barber (composer)
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New. Barber: Vanessa
Nicole Heaston (Vanessa), J'Nai Bridges (Erika), Matthew Polenzani (Anatol), Susan Graham (The Old Baroness), Thomas Hampson (The Old Doctor), National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda
This new live Kennedy Center recording hits the mark. Noseda draws playing of real lustre from the National Symphony Orchestra. He is alert, too, to the score's unease...The more compelling... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 30th May 2026, Record of the Week
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2026, Opera Choice
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Tchaikovsky & Barber: Violin Concertos
RecommendedJohan Dalene (violin), Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Blendulf
Dalene’s freshness, vitality and interpretative charisma [in the Tchaikovsky] swept me along…If anything, the Barber is finer still, perhaps the closest anyone has yet come (at least on disc)... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 25th January 2020
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2020, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, March 2020, Concerto Choice
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Diapason d’Or, April 2020, Découverte
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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this celebration of song is infused with heartfelt joy. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Finalist - Song
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Well known for their witty, well crafted arrangements, the Calefax Quintet are on top form here in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Barber’s jaunty Excursions. Azmeh and Hekkema’s Airports for... —
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The organ has a really gutsy, symphonic core... Jan Kraybill... plays with considerable verve and a feeling both for colour and for the grand gesture. —
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 62nd Awards (2019), Nominee - Best Classical Instrumental Solo
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A performance full of interest and vividly communicative artistry. —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, July 2019
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2019, Choral & Song Choice
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Special offer. Barber: Cello Concerto & Sonata
Christian Poltéra (cello), Christian Poltéra (cello) & Kathryn Stott (piano)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton
Poltera meets [the Concerto's] technical demands with almost complete ease, and projects the more lyrical moments with subtle inflections of line and beautifully centred tone...Poltera and pianist... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2013, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. American Piano Concertos
Xiayin Wang (piano)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Peter Oundjian
You only have to hear the soloist's first entry [in the Barber] to know that in Xiayin Wang you have a virtuoso with all the power and pizzazz to encompass the work's demands - and more...This... —
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Special offer. Barber: Vanessa
Susan Graham, Christine Brewer, William Burden, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Neal Davies
BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Gian Carlo Menotti took as his starting-point for the libretto of Vanessa the atmosphere of Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales. His story is original, but the ideas that fired him can be found... —
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Vadim Gluzman plays Barber, Bernstein & Bloch
Vadim Gluzman (violin)
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, John Neschling
Gluzman is at his very finest in the Bloch, soaring aloft with a heart-warming intensity that captures the music's melodic plangency to perfection. —