Now Playing...

Every now and then, just for the fun of it we’ll be letting you know what compact discs have been getting a lot of playing time with RCO staff. Here’s my recent list, in no particular order:

-- Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic (Kronos Quartet; Wu Man, pipa) – Nonesuch
-- Bedrich Smetana: Orchestral Music (Janacek Philharmonic conducted by Theodore Kuchar) – Brilliant Classics
-- Big Blue Ball (Various artists) – Real World
-- Geirr Tveitt: Piano Concerto No. 4 “Aurora Borealis” (Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Bjarte Engeset; Havard Gimse, piano) – Naxos
-- Piotr Tchaikovsky: Symphonies (Philadelphia and Philharmonia Orchestras conducted by Riccardo Muti) – Brilliant Classics
-- The Rough Guide to Bollywood (Various artists) – World Music Network
-- Sigur Ros: Takk… (Geffen Records)
-- Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 (Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Carlos Kleiber) – Deutsche Grammophon
-- Trio Mediaeval: Folk Songs (ECM)
-- Heitor Villa-Lobos: Rudepoema and other piano works (Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano) – Hyperion

And for the sake of completeness, here are a couple of recently released music-related DVDs that have impressed me greatly:

-- “O Thou Transcendent”: The Life of Ralph Vaughan Williams (Tony Palmer Films)
-- Leos Janacek: From The House Of The Dead (Olaf Bär, John Mark Ainsley, Erik Stoklossa et al; Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez – Deutsche Grammophon)