Concertos, Viola Concertos
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Special offer. Walton: Viola Concerto, Partita for Orchestra & Sonata for String Orchestra
RecommendedJames Ehnes (viola)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Ehnes, long established as one of the world’s leading violinists, doesn’t offer the same hefty, almost cello-like weight of tone on the viola as some of his specialist colleagues. Then again,... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2018, Editor's Choice
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Record Review, 28th April 2018, Recording of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2018
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Elgar: Viola Concerto & Bloch: Suite For Viola and Orchestra
RecommendedTimothy Ridout (viola), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Ridout’s account of the opening movement is full of richly rhapsodic playing , although the viola suggests more of a wistful musing than the deeper, elegiac contemplation possible on the cello. —
Awards:
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Limelight Magazine, February 2023, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recording of the Week, 20th January 2023
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2023, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Winners, Winner - Concerto
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Special offer. Jennifer Higdon: All Things Majestic
RecommendedRoberto Díaz (viola), James Button (oboe)
Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero
[All Things Majestic] The piece conveys a marvellous sense of wonder in the vastness and minutiae of the natural world, from the soaring brass chorales of 'Teton Ridge' to the raindrop delicacy... —
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Best Classical Compendium
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Grammy Awards, 60th Awards (2017), Best Contemporary Classical Composition
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Walton & Rubbra - Viola Concertos
RecommendedLawrence Power (viola)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov
…Lawrence Power's… playing is stunningly precise, crisply articulated and beautifully projected, with no hint of the little scrambles and occasionally pinched tone that beset even quite famous... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, November 2007, First Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2008, Finalist - Concerto
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Building a Library, March 2023, Recommended Recording
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Bruch: Piano Trio & Other Chamber Music
Simon Crawford-Phillips (piano), Stephanie Gonley (violin), Adrian Brendel (cello), Lawrence Power (viola), Jonathan Stone (violin), The Nash Ensemble
Taking their cue from Stephanie Gonley’s first-violin leadership, the Trio and Quartet performances have a classy verve that convinces strongly, although the lower strings feel rather too hectoring... —
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MacMillan: Symphony No. 4 & Viola Concerto
Lawrence Power (viola), BBC Philharmonic, Martyn Brabbins
MacMillan’s Fourth is notable for its curious use of colour and texture…In some ways, the Viola concerto is similar in character and style to the Fourth Symphony and the pairing works well here.... —
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Special offer. Vaughan Williams: Orchestral Works
RecommendedLouis Lortie (piano), Carla Huhtanen (soprano), Emily D’Angelo (mezzo-soprano), Lawrence Wiliford (tenor) & Tyler Duncan (baritone), Sarah Jeffrey (oboe), Teng Li (viola)
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Elmer Iseler Singers, Peter Oundjian
The solo playing by Toronto Symphony principal Teng Li offers deep weight of tone, rapturous phrasing, and a musical personality that mesmerises the ear; the choral singing is superbly focused... —
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 61st Awards (2019), Nominee - Classical Compendium
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Juno Awards, 2019, Classical Album of the Year - Large Ensemble
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This searing release confirms Vasks’s international stature and, specifically, his affinity for string writing…Rysanov with the exceptional Sinfonietta Rīga wrings every drop of melancholic... —
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It’s every bit as exciting as the first volume...[No. 4] opens with a pungent fanfare, its colours stemming from jazz-band instrumentation and the absence of orchestral violins. Stephen Waarts... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2020, Concerto Choice
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Telemann: Viola Concertos, Overtures & Fantasias
Antoine Tamestit (viola), Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin, Sabine Fehlandt, Bernhard Forck
Tamestit’s celebration of Telemann’s viola writing, and the characterful vignettes which provide indelible colour to his orchestral suites, is an evenly sustained delight. —
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Baroque Instrumental
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