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Covid-19: Update: 17th Feb 2021
During the current unprecedented situation, Chandos Records continues to trade as normally as possible. As many of our staff are working remotely, we would ask you to submit any queries online here rather than by telephone. CD orders are being despatched on the next working day, but understandably due to the pandemic delivery times will vary and take significantly longer than usual, depending on your location. Please note there are also countries ‘on suspension’ by UK’s Royal Mail. Following Brexit EU customers should view this page regarding taxation. We thank you for your understanding.
BBC Orchestral Winner
Wilson & SoL's Respighi wins BBC Orchestral Award
BBC Chamber Winner
Little & Lane win BBC Chamber Award
The Prison wins a GRAMMY
Smyth premiere recording wins at March 2021 awards.
Barry Douglas Podcast
Father-son-duo Barry & Liam start new music podcast.
BBC R3 Record of Week
Weinberg String Quartets is Record Review pick of week.
Desert Island Disc
Beethoven is Keir Starmer's castaway pick on BBC R4.
Welcome, Francesca!
Francesca Dego joins Chandos in exclusive signing.
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We are sorry to hear of the passing of pianist Eric Parkin, aged 96. Eric made over
20 albums for Chandos; his musicianship and artistry are fondly remembered.
Jennifer Pike MBE
Violinist awarded MBE for services to Classical Music.
We are all moved by today’s news that soprano Erin Wall has been taken from us by cancer, aged just 44. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family & friends.
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Queen's Medal
Imogen Cooper awarded Queen's Medal for Music
Gramophone Awards
BBCSO, Bergen Phil & CBSO Orchestral nominees
Korngold BBC triumph!
Korngold wins Orchestral BBC Music Award 2020
Ralph Couzens Interview
Presto interviews Managing Director Ralph Couzens
Artist in Focus
John Wilson
John Wilson has a large and varied discography which includes a series of discs with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra exploring the works of Richard Rodney Bennett, with the BBC Philharmonic devoted to the symphonic works of Aaron Copland and Eric Coates. In 2019 Chandos released Wilson’s first recording with the Sinfonia of London which featured Korngold’s Symphony in F Sharp, followed by a highly praised French album Escales. His latest release with the orchestra, the Respighi Roman Trilogy, reached Number 1 in the UK Classical Charts in August 2020 Save 20%!
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“… This irresistible compilation features nine singers and a pianist who attended and sang in King’s College in their youth. They have now come together to perform the best of British solo vocal music. The results are dazzling, an exquisitely musical emotional journey. Each of the vocalists is first class and the repertoire is enchanting. In each song, a different voice is highlighted; I particularly adored all three countertenors…”
“… This irresistible compilation features nine singers and a pianist who attended and sang in King’s College in their youth. They have now come together to perform the best of British solo vocal music. The results are dazzling, an exquisitely musical emotional journey. Each of the vocalists is first class and the repertoire is enchanting. In each song, a different voice is highlighted; I particularly adored all three countertenors…”
“… Excellently engineered, this disc allows Dego - and Leonardi, in the four pieces they play together – to savour the hall’s acoustic and to project Il Cannone to its fullest advantage.”
“… Excellently engineered, this disc allows Dego - and Leonardi, in the four pieces they play together – to savour the hall’s acoustic and to project Il Cannone to its fullest advantage.”
Pizzicato Supersonic
“… The leaders of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra have now come up with something particularly fine. First of all, they engaged a lot of well-known soloists for the concertos themselves, such as Mahan Esfahani, Ante Weithaas, Hakan Hardenberger, Tabea Zimmermann, Pekka Kuusisto, Göran Fröst or Claire Chase. And they commissioned six composers to write a supplementary work for a particular concerto, to be heard after the first five Brandenburgs and before them in the case of the sixth. These new pieces were to have more or less the same instrumentation as the Bach concertos. It is also striking that these new compositions are not short commentaries, as one has experienced with such Bach modern projects, but substantial works … the interpretations of the Bach concertos alone could have served for an exciting complete recording. This is due to the cast of soloists, who without exception tackle their tasks with great playfulness, and provide, together with Dausgaard’s very personally conducting, one of the most lush, ornate, contrasting, flourishing, detailed, colorful, and dancing interpretations I know … All in all, a grandiose result has been achieved in this production, a feast for the ear of a kind one all too rarely gets to hear, a subtly and differentiatedly realized performance whose effect one cannot escape, not least because Bach has more to say here than I ever got to hear. Dausgaard’s conducting is phenomenal. But the new works are also worth hearing and ultimately then make the project something very special…”
Pizzicato Supersonic
“… The leaders of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra have now come up with something particularly fine. First of all, they engaged a lot of well-known soloists for the concertos themselves, such as Mahan Esfahani, Ante Weithaas, Hakan Hardenberger, Tabea Zimmermann, Pekka Kuusisto, Göran Fröst or Claire Chase. And they commissioned six composers to write a supplementary work for a particular concerto, to be heard after the first five Brandenburgs and before them in the case of the sixth. These new pieces were to have more or less the same instrumentation as the Bach concertos. It is also striking that these new compositions are not short commentaries, as one has experienced with such Bach modern projects, but substantial works … the interpretations of the Bach concertos alone could have served for an exciting complete recording. This is due to the cast of soloists, who without exception tackle their tasks with great playfulness, and provide, together with Dausgaard’s very personally conducting, one of the most lush, ornate, contrasting, flourishing, detailed, colorful, and dancing interpretations I know … All in all, a grandiose result has been achieved in this production, a feast for the ear of a kind one all too rarely gets to hear, a subtly and differentiatedly realized performance whose effect one cannot escape, not least because Bach has more to say here than I ever got to hear. Dausgaard’s conducting is phenomenal. But the new works are also worth hearing and ultimately then make the project something very special…”
“… Karnavicius composed two profoundly romantic pieces, with music that is luminous, sometimes virtuosic, but often very lyrical. The two introverted, soulful Andante movements leave a particularly strong impression. The musicians from Vilnius put a great deal of reflectiveness into these two movements and are thus able to effectively display the great beauty of the quiet passages. But also in the other movements the performance is of the highest tonal purity, of the greatest possible precision and rhythmically well defined as well. In addition, the four musicians also play very expressively and with much spontaneity to keep the listener’s attention intensely during 75 minutes.” ****
“… Karnavicius composed two profoundly romantic pieces, with music that is luminous, sometimes virtuosic, but often very lyrical. The two introverted, soulful Andante movements leave a particularly strong impression. The musicians from Vilnius put a great deal of reflectiveness into these two movements and are thus able to effectively display the great beauty of the quiet passages. But also in the other movements the performance is of the highest tonal purity, of the greatest possible precision and rhythmically well defined as well. In addition, the four musicians also play very expressively and with much spontaneity to keep the listener’s attention intensely during 75 minutes.” ****
“… The Fine Arts Quartet plays the fast parts very passionately and grippingly. The Andante religioso, whose theme Dvorak reused in later works, is interpreted most sensitively. The final short Polonaise for cello and piano is agreeably brilliant and virtuosic.” ****
“… The Fine Arts Quartet plays the fast parts very passionately and grippingly. The Andante religioso, whose theme Dvorak reused in later works, is interpreted most sensitively. The final short Polonaise for cello and piano is agreeably brilliant and virtuosic.” ****
“… Elizabeth Chang and Steven Beck play it [Kirchner’s Second Duo for Violin and Piano] intensely with the utmost commitment, the violinist continually delighting with ravishing cantabile… Chang and cellist Alberto Parrini perform Robert Sessions’ Duo for Violin and Cello with real flair and commitment. Like Sessions’ Duo, Schoenberg’s Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47 (1949), is the composer’s last chamber work. The dodecaphonic composition is virtuosic and sometimes genuinely dance-like, while being really technically challenging in the violin part. But Elizabeth Chang masters this brilliantly and elegantly at the same time, her playing standing out pleasantly to my ears from the far more brash approach of a Gidon Kremer. And so the line of excellent interpretations runs through a program of transformations….” ****
“… Elizabeth Chang and Steven Beck play it [Kirchner’s Second Duo for Violin and Piano] intensely with the utmost commitment, the violinist continually delighting with ravishing cantabile… Chang and cellist Alberto Parrini perform Robert Sessions’ Duo for Violin and Cello with real flair and commitment. Like Sessions’ Duo, Schoenberg’s Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47 (1949), is the composer’s last chamber work. The dodecaphonic composition is virtuosic and sometimes genuinely dance-like, while being really technically challenging in the violin part. But Elizabeth Chang masters this brilliantly and elegantly at the same time, her playing standing out pleasantly to my ears from the far more brash approach of a Gidon Kremer. And so the line of excellent interpretations runs through a program of transformations….” ****
“… The orchestration is striking, with Fisher giving the woodwinds an exceedingly important role. The music is joyful, fresh and light-heartedly hearty, not unoriginal, but, pleasant as it is to hear, it leaves few lasting impressions. The fact that the music is so nice and entertaining is also due to the fact that the Pardubice orchestra and conductor Halasz are so decidedly committed to this music, which has never been recorded before. There has definitely been a lot rediscovered that can’t compete with Fisher’s symphonies.” ****
“… The orchestration is striking, with Fisher giving the woodwinds an exceedingly important role. The music is joyful, fresh and light-heartedly hearty, not unoriginal, but, pleasant as it is to hear, it leaves few lasting impressions. The fact that the music is so nice and entertaining is also due to the fact that the Pardubice orchestra and conductor Halasz are so decidedly committed to this music, which has never been recorded before. There has definitely been a lot rediscovered that can’t compete with Fisher’s symphonies.” ****
“… Despite contemplative moments as well, Pilsan’s interpretation is not an introverted one, it is almost playful, good-humored and vital, as well as always eager to make room for the composer’s compositional audacities. Pilsan’s very personal view of things, his excellent playing technique and a superb, very transparent and natural recording quality, make this Well-Tempered Clavier a good 100 minutes of witty and inspiring entertainment.” *****
“… Despite contemplative moments as well, Pilsan’s interpretation is not an introverted one, it is almost playful, good-humored and vital, as well as always eager to make room for the composer’s compositional audacities. Pilsan’s very personal view of things, his excellent playing technique and a superb, very transparent and natural recording quality, make this Well-Tempered Clavier a good 100 minutes of witty and inspiring entertainment.” *****
