Haydn: Seven London Symphonies—Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (DeutGram 4778117)

In the late 1980s Claudio Abbado began recording Haydn's "London" Symphonies (Nos. 93-104). Though the cycle was left unfinished, this box set includes the seven symphonies that were recorded. Also included are the Overture to Il Mondo della Luna and the popular Sinfonia Concertante in B-flat. Fanfare called the recordings in the set "...a paradigm of modern-instrument Haydn fully attuned to the 18th-century spirit as well as to the composer's wit and mastery of the orchestra." It's a steal this month at ArkivMusic.com: four discs for only $22.99.

Featured Wed 7/1, Fri 7/10, Tues 7/21, Thurs 7/30

Fête Française—Ensemble Vivant (Opening Day 9379)

David Olds writes on the grigorian.com website: "Of particular note for me is the Debussy Piano Trio in G, an early work which was suppressed by the composer and only came to light in 1980. The CD includes two other rarities, a charming collection of Alsatian folk melodies...by Charles-Marie Widor, and a Septet by Camille Saint-Saëns. This latter is a backward-looking work which had it been composed 50 years later—in 1930 instead of 1880—would have been called neo-classical, or more accurately neo-baroque...Congratulations to Ensemble Vivant for uncovering these works and presenting them with their usual flare."

Featured Thurs 7/2, Mon 7/13, Wed 7/22, Fri 7/31

The Dance Album—Kristo Käo, guitar (Kitarrikool 2008)

Kristo Käo is an Estonian guitarist, tutor and researcher. He is the author of the unique guitar method book Guitar School—The Key to the Practical Guitar Playing and founder of the web-based music school Kitarrikool.eu. Kristo graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music as a classical guitar soloist. He has also studied at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Denmark and in master classes with Scott Tennant and Manuel Barrueco among many others. This is a very personal collection of international dance works with commentary by the artist.

Featured Fri 7/3, Tues 7/14, Thurs 7/23

The Sacred Flame—Cambridge Singers/John Rutter (Collegium 134)

We featured The Sacred Flame in June and I decided to bring it back this month for a simple reason. WCLV listeners can't seem to get enough of it! We get calls and e-mails whenever we air it. Apparently you agree with the assessment on the ArkivMusic website: "Artistic Quality: 10, Sound Quality: 10."

Featured Mon 7/6, Wed 7/15, Fri 7/24

Mozart: Flute Concertos—Peter-Lukas Graf, flute; English Chamber Orchestra/Raymond Leppard (Brilliant 93290)

In January, Swiss flutist and conductor Graf celebrated his 70th birthday. He still teaches at the Basle Academy and gives master classes internationally. These recordings were originally made for the Swiss label Claves in 1984, and this Brilliant disc is a special-order bargain at $6.98 from ArkivMusic.com!

Featured Tues 7/7, Thurs 7/16, Mon 7/27

Abraham Lincoln Portraits—Barry Scott, narrator; Nashville Symphony/Leonard Slatkin (Naxos 559373-4)

For the Lincoln Bicentennial, a two-disc set of music inspired by the Great Liberator. The first Lincoln piece you'd think of is Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait and it's here, along with Vincent Persichetti's similarly scored A Lincoln Address, which created a big controversy at the 1973 Nixon Inaugural. I had never before heard several of the works in this collection. That includes Ernst Bacon's 1946 suite Ford's Theater: A Few Glimpses of Easter Week, 1865 and Paul Turok's delightful Variations on an American Song: Aspects of Lincoln and Liberty, which uses an Irish tune Lincoln used as a campaign song!

Featured Wed 7/8, Fri 7/17, Tues 7/28

Handel: Messiah—Carolyn Sampson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Padmore, Christopher Purves; The Sixteen/Harry Christophers (Coro 16062)

This 3 disc set came out last year, but I held it back until the summer as an out-of-season treat: we don't often hear Handel's most popular work in July! Here's one opinion of this production from Ron Salemi, writing for Fanfare: "Harry Christophers here records Messiah for the second time. While it very often happens that a second recording is less successful than the first one, and this has been especially true of Messiah recordings, Christophers has succeeded in making a better recording the second time around...For a period-instrument performance, this...is as good as any I have heard, and I highly recommend it."

Featured Thurs 7/9, Mon 7/20, Wed 7/29