Cd

Steffani: Niobe, Regina di Tebe (Niobe, Queen Of Thebes) (The Royal Opera)

Steffani: Niobe, Regina di Tebe (Niobe, Queen Of Thebes) (The Royal Opera)

Véronique Gens (Niobe); Jacek Laszczkowski (Anfione); Delphine Galou (Nerea); Iestyn Davies (Creonte); Tim Mead (Clearte); Lothar Odinius (Tiberino); Amanda Forsythe (Manto); Bruno Taddia (Tiresia); Alastair Miles (Poliferno);

"It's sung with terrific verve by a top cast - French soprano Veronique Gens as Niobe and Polish male soprano Jacek Laszczkowski as her husband, Anfione, are outstanding. And the production is opulently costumed, full of flashes of humour and one unforgettable scene in which giant black balloons float around like ominous planets as we are transported to the heavens. But the gods are wayward and the bubble will soon burst." (The Daily Mail)

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (The Royal Opera)

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (The Royal Opera)

Anna Tomowa-Sintow (The Marschallin); Kurt Moll (Baron Ochs); Ann Murray (Octavian); Barbara Bonney (Sophie);

"Andrew Davis has firm control of the score, its textures iridescent, the momentum sustained with a grace and urgency exactly suited to the psychological turmoil afflicting the protagonists. Don’t miss the new cast at any cost." (Opera)

Susan Chilcott: The Shining River (Opus Arte)

Susan Chilcott: The Shining River (Opus Arte)

Susan Chilcott (Voice); Iain Burnside (Piano);

"It is rare to come across an opera star who is as good an actress as she is a singer." (Antonio Pappano)

Tavener: Choral Ikons (BBC Worldwide)

Tavener: Choral Ikons (BBC Worldwide)

"The power of the performances is overwhelming and the credit goes to James Whitbourn and his vocal ensemble The Choir." (The Organ)

The Discovery Recitals

The Discovery Recitals

Francesca Chiejina (Soprano); Ashley Riches (Baritone); David Shipley (Bass); David Junghoon Kim (Tenor); Kiandra Howarth (Soprano); Luís Gomes (Tenor); Hanna Hipp (Mezzo-soprano); David Gowland (Piano);

The Pillar of the Cloud - Five Centuries of Oxford Anthems (Choir of Magdalen College, Oxf

The Pillar of the Cloud - Five Centuries of Oxford Anthems (Choir of Magdalen College, Oxf

The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford (); Mark Williams ();

"Appointed music director at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 2017, Mark Williams is only now making his first statement with the choir on disc. ‘The Pillar of the Cloud’ is a mixed recital that pays tribute to Oxford’s many composers, whether graduates – Weelkes and Tomkins or, more recently, William Walton and Lennox Berkeley – or those with longer professional associations such as William Harris, Leighton, Parry and Rubbra. There’s some wonderfully, unfairly unfashionable repertoire here. What a joy to find Basil Harwood, Rubbra and Magdalen’s own Bernard Rose here alongside more core Oxbridge choral fare. Magdalen’s sound has always had an unmannered, forthright quality to it, something Williams celebrates in the jagged, ecstatic dance of Leighton’s Let all the world and the surging unison swell of the Harwood. The trebles’ naturally bright tone illuminates Berkeley’s O that I once past changing were but is turned deftly down to achieve the softer blend of Parry’s Crossing the Bar and Sheppard’s setting of the Lord’s Prayer. The extended opener Lead, kindly light is nicely paced and calibrated for drama, with an outstanding solo from tenor Maximilian Lawrie, while Rubbra’s There is a spirit puts the fine treble Thomas Pennington-Arnold in the spotlight. There’s real generosity, directness and energy from these singers, but that can just sometimes work against them. Walton’s A Litany lacks, for me, that spare edginess that can bring out both its extraordinary harmonies and the text’s fragile exhortation (though the basses give a wonderful anchor), while the Rubbra feels just a little too earthy, lacking that cloudy impermanence, that sense of the ‘spirit’ that animates the verse. The tradition may be a long one but Williams, who recorded this at the end of his first year in post, is still just at the beginning with Magdalen. It will be interesting to see where he takes the choir and its sound over the next few years." (Gramophone)