Vocal, Songs, Vaughan Williams (composer)
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Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge & other songs
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Timothy Ridout (viola), Piatti Quartet
The famous cycle On Wenlock Edge (1909) has of ten been recorded, but this is a fine rendering with ‘Bredon Hill’ providing some particularly sublime moments. As always Julius Drake’s accompanying... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2022, Choral & Song Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, April 2022
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Song
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Chamber Music
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Special offer. A Shropshire Lad
English Songs Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Roderick Williams (baritone), Hallé Orchestra, Mark Elder
Williams is accompanied throughout by his own orchestral reimaginings; and he’s evidently an orchestrator with a fine ear and lively imagination...This is all exquisitely sung too. The melodic... —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, November 2022
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2023
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Shortlisted - Voice & Orchestra
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Imaginative, sensitive programming has been a constant feature of Ruby Hughes’s collaborations; and this latest with the perennially adventurous Manchester Collective is no exception...A disc... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, March 2024, Choral & Song Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Shortlisted - Voice & Ensemble
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Sunday Times, 20 Best Classical Albums of 2024
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Devos’s genuine affection for this repertoire shines through…With Britten’s cycle On this Island, Devos’s sheer accuracy and panache outshines many sopranos on record. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, Critics' Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2021, Editor's Choice
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Presto Editor's Choice, February 2021
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Song
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Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony
Recommended& other works
Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Mary Bevan (soprano), Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal College of Music Brass Band, Martyn Brabbins
Brabbins conducts the [Symphony] with a sense of purposeful directness, likeably enhanced by the expressive warmth of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s response. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2017, Editor's Choice
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Building A Library, March 2026, Top Choice
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Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica, Concerto for Two Pianos & Four Last Songs
RecommendedMari Eriksmoen (soprano), Louis Lortie, Hélène Mercier (pianos), Roderick Williams (baritone)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Either [Lortie] or Hélène Mercier could probably polish off the original [Concerto] by themselves, but their partnership develops its intensity without strain, particularly attractive in rich... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th September 2017
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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Diapason d’Or, December 2017, Nouveauté
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With his resplendent mezzo-soprano-ish tone quality and ease of vocal production, the much-awarded Hugh Cutting represents a new level in the evolution of the countertenor voice in this debut... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2025, Editor's Choice
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The New York Times, Best Classical Music Albums of 2025
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Awards:
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Building a Library, January 2021, Also Recommended
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The English Song Series Volume 14 - Vaughan Williams 2
RecommendedRoderick Williams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano)
Naxos' English Song Series comes up trumps again - here Roderick Williams delivers sensitive performances of the two song-cycles Songs of Travel and The House of Life. An especial highlight... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, January 2021, Also Recommended
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Special offer. Vaughan Williams: Retrospect
London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron, Jack Liebeck (violin), Andrew Staples (tenor, Thomas Carroll (cello)
The two choral works showcase the unforced sensitivity of the London Choral Sinfonia, who skilfully avoid overheating the patriotism of Kipling’s text for ‘Land of our Birth’, and the funerary... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2024, Editor's Choice
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