Loading...

Antonio Meneses Cello Concertos. Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129; Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33; Tchaikovsky variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33. Antonio Meneses, cello; Royal Northern Sinfonia/Claudio Cruz. AVIE AV 2373.  TT: 60.29 Downloads: Amazon.com (mp3); hdtracks.com (AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, WAV); prestoclassical.co.uk (FLAC, HD FLAC, 320 Kbps mp3)'... Read More »

Angela Gheorghiu, soprano; *Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi/Anton Coppola; +Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Antonio Pappano. EMI Classics 50999 9 65938 2 0. TT: 73.35 Madama Butterfly: Un bel dì vedremo; Tu, tu, piccolo Iddio (with Roberto Alagna, tenor). Edgar: Addio, mio dolce amor*; Nel... Read More »

No. 2, Op. 19; No. 3, Op. 27 ("Song of the Night"). Ewa Marczyk, violin; +Ryszard Minkiewicz, tenor; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and +Choir/Antoni Wit. Naxos 8.570721. TT: 60.49 The symphonies of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski effectively arrived in the West with the start of the digital era; the musical press was effusive, but I didn't... Read More »

LISZT: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (with two concert endings). MUSSORGSKY: Night on Bald Mountain. LIADOV: Baba Yaga. FRANCK: The Accursed Huntsman. DUKAS: The Sorcerer's Apprentice. SAINT-SAËNS: Danse macabre. ARNOLD: Tam O'Shanter.  J.STRAUSS II: Lucifer Polka. Minnesota Orchestra/Eiji Oue. Reference Recordings RR-82CD.  TT: 71.56 DOWNLOADS: Amazon.com (mp3); emp3s.co (mp3); itunes.apple.com; qobuz.com ("16-bit" mp3);  referencerecordings.com (Apple lossless, FLAC,... Read More »

PIPKOV: Bulgarian Suite for Piano, Op. 2. HADJIEV: Melodic Etudes. VLADIGEROV: Bulgarian Songs and Dances, Op. 25. Victoria Terekiev, piano. Gega New GR 31.  TT: 48.14 Downloads: amazon.com (mp3); getlinksoundcloud.com (mp3, 128 kbps) The album's title, Wind from the East, momentarily misled me: I was expecting music from rather further east, perhaps on the order of the... Read More »

GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 (rev. Grieg and Grainger)*; Piano Concerto in B minor (fragments); EVJU: Piano Concerto in B minor (on fragments by Grieg)*; GRIEG: Two Songs (trans. Evju for solo piano). Carl Petersson, piano; *Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra/Kerry Stratton Grand Piano GP 689.  TT: 56.35 Downloads: prestoclassical.co.uk (320-kbps mp3, FLAC);... Read More »

Nessun Dorma: The Puccini Album It's happened again. I'd read several years' worth of pro-and-con about Ian Bostridge before hearing the fellow, on a recital disc that I reviewed for this site a few years back. Now, after hearing numerous encomia for tenor Jonas Kaufmann, I've finally heard him sing. Given the novel repertoire for... Read More »

MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Boulez Deutsche Grammophon 289 457 581-2 TT: 79.46 The death of Pierre Boulez earlier this year provides as good an opportunity as any other to consider his recorded legacy, as well as giving me an excuse to check out this 1995 Mahler Ninth, which I'd somehow managed to... Read More »

It's refreshing not to have to cringe at a "new" singer's technical flaws, as I find myself doing more and more. Klaus Florian Vogt, in a program is mostly drawn from the Heldentenor (heroic tenor) repertoire, offers a clear, compact tone, a reliable legato, and some interpretive smarts. Vogt's actual instrument sounds, as recorded, more... Read More »

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor, "Wagner" (Nowak ed., 1877) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/Nikolaus Harnoncourt Teldec 4509-98405-2. TT: 54.35 The "historical performance" movement that arose in the 1960s proved more popular, at first, among academics than among regular listeners; eventually, however, its notions of performing older scores without the stylistic accretions of later eras... Read More »

Despite the virtual disappearance of EMI Classics as a separate label—having been swallowed into the Warner Music combine—Mariss Jansons's inconsistent but always interesting Shostakovich cycle remains worth examining. (Besides, with online and secondhand shops largely having replaced the big music chains as retail sources, the nominal "availability" of this or that item has become moot:... Read More »

The digital era's exploration of the repertoire's byways led to a new interest in the music of Josef Suk—not only the son-in-law of Antonín Dvořák, but once a noted composer in his own right. The Asrael Symphony stands as a major score in his output; yet, despite intermittent attempts to promote it, it never seems... Read More »

SCHUBERT: Allegro moderato and Andante, D. 968; 4 Ländler, D. 814; German Dance with 2 Trios and 2 Ländler, D. 618; Introduction and Variations on an Original Theme in B-flat, D. 968A; Eight Variations on a French Song in E minor, D. 624; Fantasia in F minor, D. 940 Marco Schiavo and Sergio Marchegiani, pianos.... Read More »

BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox. Chandos CHAN 9959. TT: 75.48. Enter Spring. Isabella. Two Poems for Orchestra. Mid of the Night. Downloads: amazon.com (mp3); prestoclassical.co.uk (mp3, 320 kbps; FLAC, lossless) Although the present program was originally released in 2001—"old news" at the current rate of digital obsolescence—it's worth fresh attention. We still don't get to hear... Read More »

CD: Orchestra of Radio Canada/Jean Deslauriers; *unidentified pianist DVD: Nancy De Long (s), Feodor; Misha Raitzen (t), Shuisky; Yoland Guérard (bs), Pimen; orchestra and chorus/Pierre Hétu. Analekta 2 9223-4 (CD+DVD). CD time: 39.09. DVD time: 29.28. CD: BORODIN: Prince igor: Galitzky's Aria; Konchak's Aria. GLINKA: A Life for the Tsar: Ivan Susanin's Aria. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Sadko:... Read More »

SCHUMANN: Kerner Lieder, Op. 35; Lenau Lieder und Requiem, Op. 90; Liederkreis, Op. 39. Darren Chase, baritone; Sergey Schepkin, piano. Arabesque Recordings Z6852 (download only). TT: 79.12. Darren Chase's Schumann program has a great deal to offer. The baritone has a firm, compact voice that takes on a brighter colour as it ascends. The head... Read More »