Shura Cherkassky - The Complete 78 RPM Recordings, 1923-1950
APR
CD
$16.49$32.99Save 50%Nov 03, 2023
In his later years, SHURA CHERKASSKY (1909–1995) was regarded as one of the last ‘Romantics’ – a throwback to the so-called ‘golden age’ of pianism in the first decades of the 20th century. As a pupil of Josef Hofmann, he had an impeccable pedigree, but we tend to forget his long career meant he was already playing and recording in that ‘golden age’. Here then are these early recordings, complete for the first time, starting in the acoustic era with the young prodigy’s 1923 Victor discs. Much of the repertoire is unique in his discography, including his only recording of chamber music – the Rachmaninov cello sonata. The Tchaikovsky 2nd Concerto, Cherkassky’s earliest concerto recording, has never previously been reissued and reveals the 36-year-old artist at his virtuoso peak.
REVIEWS:
It is a joy to have all these recordings available together. Cherkassky was a supremely gifted and communicative pianist and there is something to admire in every piece in this collection.
-- MusicWeb International
Of special note are the many Chopin pieces and a smashing performance of the Fantasy in F minor from 1950. The latter has reasonably decent sound and gives us the opportunity of hearing what Cherkassky can do with one of Chopin’s masterworks.
Outstanding in-depth notes are supplied by Jonathan Summers, and special praise must be given to Seth B. Winner for his detail about restoration techniques. No lover of the art of the piano can afford to be without this set.
The Romantic Room is an expansive six-volume set exploring the rich and often overlooked chamber music of Louis Spohr, brought vividly to life by the Wdr Sinfonieorchester Chamber Players. Once hailed as the "German Paganini" and revered across Europe, Spohr was a pivotal figure of early Romanticism - an innovator who shaped the transition from Classical refinement to Romantic expression. This collection showcases his elegant string quintets and sextets, daring double quartets, and characterful potpourri, offering a portrait of a composer whose expressive range and artistic integrity remain strikingly relevant today. Spohr's chamber works are richly crafted and musically intricate, offering both technical challenges and expressive depth. These performances reveal a composer deeply rooted in tradition yet unafraid to experiment, blending lyrical intimacy with bold structural ideas. Following the highly acclaimed Brahms: String Sextets (Diapason d'Or) and String Quintets, the The Romantic Room: Chamber Works by Spohr box set is the Wdr Sinfonieorchester Chamber Players' third release on PENTATONE. The WDR Symphony Orchestra has also released an extensive discography with the label.
Mahler 2 is the second album from Philharmonia Records; following their first album - Santtu conducts Strauss. “[Also sprach Zarathustra] Rouvali’s conducting of both is certainly interesting and personal... impressive; an expansive reading that sees the work whole...[An Alpine Symphony] undeniably picturesque; vivid and dramatically projected...top-notch playing; and this extravagant score also enjoys notable recorded sound... lingering lyricism; invariably heartfelt and; in conclusion; cathartic”; Founded in 1945; The Philharmonia Orchestra creates thrilling performances for a global audience and has premiered works by Richard Strauss; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Errollyn Wallen; Kaija Saariaho and many others. The Philharmonia has an extraordinary 77-year recording legacy; and has recorded around 150 soundtracks; with film credits stretching back to 1947. In the 2021/22 season the Orchestra performs in Romania; Spain; Finland; Greece and Germany.
Santtu-Matias Rouvali is a Finnish conductor and percussionist; and is currently principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Rouvali continues his relationships with orchestras across Europe; including with the Berlin Philharmonic; New York Philharmonic; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Munich Phillharmonic and the the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
REVIEW:
In the first movement Rouvali is animated and engaged, using a lighter hand than most other conductors. Such a natural lyrical bent would seem to run counter to music that Mahler originally conceived as a funeral rite (Totenfeier), and it’s certainly unusual for a conductor to have such a relaxed grip on the drama and still make the first movement work.
The point is underscored in the minuet-like second movement, usually a throwaway, which is captivating in Rouvali’s hands, a nostalgic poem. The Scherzo is taken at quite a clip, divorcing the music from the gently satiric song in Des Knaben Wunderhorn about St. Anthony preaching to a school of transfixed fish. Rouvali sharpens the edges and makes the movement rambunctiously exciting—I can’t remember any other conductor leading this music one beat to a bar.
As the soloist in the raptly reverent “Urlicht,” mezzo Jennifer Johnston is sensitive and sincere, but Rouvali leads such an eloquent orchestral part that one wishes he had a singer of the highest caliber. Johnston’s German is more than a shade too basic for the poetry. The thunder and brass that open the fifth movement display excellent balance, bringing forward this conductor’s ability to extract beautiful playing for which the word “burnished” was invented. The many solos and ensemble passages in the final half hour of the “Resurrection” Symphony come off with unforced gorgeousness, needing no shred of rhetoric to make an impact.
Rouvali has held his fire to some extent, making it all the more thrilling when he unleashes the full power of the finale in moments of blazing climax. He must have had the audience on the edge of their seats. Against this tumult, the sudden whispered quiet of the chorus is doubly effective. Soprano Mari Eriksmoen emerges with melting lyricism, and yet you are aware that Rouvali milks nothing for effect—his eye is fixed on the musicality of every measure. You also notice how even the softest passages retain a restrained intensity that keeps the moving line tensile and alive. This is particularly helpful in the duets for mezzo and soprano, where the momentum is most likely to sag. Here, not a single transition is awkward or faltering.
The final apotheosis is so magnificently handled that I can’t blame the producers for including a minute of excited applause from the audience in Royal Festival Hall. For anyone who has harbored doubts about Rouvali’s meteoric rise, a performance as imaginative and beautifully shaped as this one should dispel them. I’m convinced that he has a special gift. I cannot wait to see how it will unfold in the coming years.
Various types of march are featured on this CD. The military march gets a hearing through one of the best known of them all, "Colonel Bogey," the only slightly-lesser known "The New Colonial," and, for good measure, a brilliant arrangement for brass band by Gordon Langford of Under the Double Eagle. This is a wide range of marches guaranteed to bring delight to listeners of all musical tastes.
Aho: Symphony No 1; Hiljaisus: Violin Concerto / Gräsbeck, Vänskä, Lahti Symphony
BIS
CD
$21.99Mar 01, 1989
Given Sibelius’s reputation as one of the great symphonists of the last century, contemporary Finnish composers may be forgiven for feeling a little overshadowed. Fortunately for the young Aho, Rautavaara’s advice and support proved decisive in shaping this symphony, which began life as a string quartet. The work is in four movements, the mysterious opening and ascending brass figures of the Andante strongly reminiscent of Shostakovich. Indeed, this is confirmed by the noted music publisher Fennica Gehrman, in a short article on the Finnish Musical Information Centre website.
There is no obvious programme here, but in his refreshingly unpretentious liner-notes – a welcome feature of this entire cycle – Aho does speak of ‘nightmares’ and ‘psychological crises’. Even without these pointers the Andante has a certain bleakness – desolation, even – although there’s none of the trenchancy one associates with Shostakovich in similar mood. That said the grim little waltz in the Allegretto could so easily be attributed to DSCH, not to mention the quiet but insistent tread in the lower strings.
By contrast the Presto kicks off with an arresting moto perpetuo that drives this fugue like a musical dynamo. This movement has some of the most individual writing so far. That said the shade of Shostakovich hovers nearby, the laconic waltz tune and a splintered remnant of the opening theme bringing the symphony to an enigmatic close.
The other works on this disc – Hiljaisuus (Silence) and the Violin Concerto – date from the early 1980s. According to Aho, Hiljaisuus, a Finnish Radio commission that was to last no more than five minutes, was intended as an introduction to the recently completed Violin Concerto. It’s a strange swirl of a piece, a mix of unsettling glissandos and unearthly sonorities. Sample the short passage at 4:02 and you may be forgiven for thinking you’re listening to Ligeti.
The Violin Concerto has more momentum and contrast than Hiljaisuus, although it shares the latter’s concentrated, more dissonant idiom. It isn’t the most grateful start to a violin concerto, the solo part – sensitively played by Manfred Gräsbeck – rather less prominent than one might expect. That said it would be difficult to hear it above the orchestral eruptions that punctuate the first movement. At 8:30 the soloist is given some insistent phrases that rise above muted timps, culminating in an equally restrained close.
The repeated phrases at the start of the second movement – marked Leggiero – lead into music that fluctuates between light and shade. The soloist has some rhapsodic passages all to himself before we plunge into the spectral waltz of the finale. La Valse this isn’t, but the wild, somewhat demonic element is certainly present. Gräsbeck phrases these tunes like a Mahlerian Ländler – listen to the passage beginning at 3:37 – before he is crushed by a massive orchestral climax worthy of Bartók in Miraculous Mandarin mode.
Whatever hints there may be of other sound worlds Aho has fashioned something altogether individual here, combining a range of ear-pricking sonorities with music of considerable punch and power. Nothing quite prepares one for the gentle, introspective close to this concerto which, as I have discovered, is something of an Aho trademark.
Despite its obvious influences the symphony is remarkably assured for a student work. It’s economically scored, light on its feet and direct in its appeal, the chamber-like qualities much enhanced by the airy recording. The concerto is more roughly hewn; it’s a protracted tussle between soloist and orchestra, yet it has real presence and power. All credit to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra – just 40 years old when this recording was made – who play these scores with commitment and care. An excellent entrée to Aho’s distinctive sound world.
Recorded in 1982/83, Ivan Moravec's Debussy and Chopin recitals for Vox count among the most attractively engineered piano recordings from the early days of digital. Max Wilcox's engineering does full justice to Moravec's luminescent tone and ultra-discreet mastery of the sustain pedal. The runs and arpeggios in Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau, Mouvement, and Poissons d'or flow so naturally and unmechanically that you don't immediately notice how precise and even they really are. The hushed, sustained atmosphere of Debussy's Des pas sur la neige and Estampes' exotic overtones come alive through Moravec's acute sense of timing and tonal application.
Although his less-heroic, more inward path through Chopin's C-sharp minor Polonaise and Polonaise-Fantasie contrasts with Artur Rubinstein's firmer swagger, the approach proves equally valid. And Moravec coaxes half tints and inner voices from his selected Mazurkas and Waltzes without unduly underlining them (the trio of the C-sharp minor Waltz, for instance). Even if you already possess Michelangeli's Debussy Images, Richter's Estampes, or Rubinstein's Chopin, Moravec deserves equal space in your collection. A bargain not to be missed. [2/26/2002] --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
A Choral Christmas / Jones, Trinity Choir Of Boston
Sono Luminus
CD
$18.99Jul 23, 1997
From the first few seconds of this new recording from Brian Jones and his Trinity Choir, you know it's Christmas. The flute and bell sounds, the dancing rhythm from the organ, the prodigiously joyful voices, and the catchy, unmistakably Rutter-esque melody combine to set off the sparks that promise a bright, happy, thoughtfully and lovingly compiled program. I say "lovingly" because this is the type of programming that, as usual with Jones, is not made with the "snooty" or "snobbish" in mind, but comes purely from the heart and from the experience of a director who knows and cares about the real listening tastes of his audience. (You've got to admire anyone who convincingly and with conviction programs "The Holy City" alongside works by Britten and Vaughan Williams, as he did on an earlier recording for Gothic Records.) And, as reflected here, those tastes, especially in Christmas music, cover a fairly wide range--from Rutter (three pieces) to Poulenc (O magnum mysterium) to Luboff (his well-loved arrangement of the Austrian carol Still, still, still).
The opening tune indeed is by John Rutter, a setting of the 15th-century text "Sing we to this merry company", and it's quickly followed by the Luboff arrangement, Gerald Near's setting of Ding! dong! merrily on high, and the well-known Pearsall version of In dulci jubilo. The combination of familiarity and audience-favorite continues throughout the rest of the 21 selections, with classics such as Rutter's all-time most-popular What sweeter music, Elizabeth Poston's Jesus Christ the apple tree, and Poulenc's motet O magnum mysterium. But mixed in among these revered gems are many less well-known pieces, including a snazzy, bluesy Noël nouvelet arranged by Stephen Jackson, Michael Head's charming and lovely The little road to Bethlehem, and of course a Charles Wood arrangement, Once as I remember (Wood is a Jones favorite).
The choir, one of North America's treasures, always is a treat to hear, displaying not only an enormous stylistic command but also uncommon technical range and interpretive sensitivity. I've said this before, but it's still true: The soprano section would be the envy of any choir. However, the entire ensemble manages a consistent cohesiveness and sonic refinement that's rare among amateur choirs in any part of the world. Even in small details, the choir shows extraordinary care and attention--for instance, in the perfectly rendered endings to the simple but so-often-troublesome "Gloria" line in Ding! dong! merrily on high. And for sheer strength and unity of sound, listen to the choir's rendition of Holst's On this day earth shall ring. Other highlights include Bob Chilcott's Mid-winter, a setting of the Christina Rossetti text "In the bleak mid-winter" that's become an instant favorite all over the world. Jones himself contributes a very effective arrangement of O little town of Bethlehem that joins the two "competing" tunes St. Louis and Forest Green. Although I would prefer a warmer, softer-edged sound in the Poulenc to really capture the "mysterium" in the work, and slightly better-tuned tenors in some places (What sweeter music, for example), this is a first rate recording that will satisfy all listeners looking for an ideal all-around Christmas choral collection. The sound, made in Boston's Trinity Church, captures the detail of choir, organ, and occasional percussion while faithfully capturing the fullness and resonance of the church's magnificent space. --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com
The internationally renowned pianist Yulianna Avdeeva presents Metanoia, a profound exploration of the late piano works of Franz Liszt, tracing his radical transformation from virtuoso to visionary. Liszt's late works mark a decisive break with traditional musical language and form, opening the door to 20th-century modernism through bold harmonic experimentation, compressed structures, and strikingly dissonant sonorities. Stripped of conventional melodic development, these brief but intense works convey deep existential reflection, touching on themes of faith, mortality, and the human condition. Initially met with resistance, they would later become a major influence on composers such as Bartok, Scriabin, Debussy, and Ravel. The album unfolds in reverse chronology, culminating in Liszt's Sonata in B Minor and Legende No. 2. The Sonata in B Minor stands as one of the most important works in the piano repertoire: a single-movement structure of extraordinary dramatic and philosophical scope, where contrasting themes emerge, collide, and transform into a journey from darkness to transcendence. For Avdeeva, Liszt's music is never purely virtuosic, but an existential inquiry into the deepest aspects of human experience - light and darkness, faith and doubt, life and death - revealing a composer who continually expanded the possibilities of musical thought and expression. Yulianna Avdeeva returns to PENTATONE after a string of critically acclaimed releases: her label debut Resilience (2023), followed by Chopin: Voyage (2024) and Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 (2025). Together, these recordings have garnered international awards and widespread acclaim across the globe.
Symphonie Russe sur l'Airs Ukrainiennes, Symphonie Russe & O
CPO
CD
$18.99Aug 21, 2026
History teaches us that we should be wary of attaching such absolute labels as "inventor of " or "father or mother of ' with the blanks to be filled in with every conceivable phenomenon from the string quartet to film. For time and again, deeper research necessitates revisions - as in the case here, where suddenly two new fathers of Russian music relegate the younger Mikhail Glinka and the mighty handful to the back seats. Bohemian Ernst Wanczura (pronounced Van-CHUR-a), born ten years before Mozart, ended up in St Petersburg and was possibly the first composer to use folk songs in his delightful Symphonies Op. 1 and Op. 2. His colleague Fomin, fifteen years his junior, with the beautiful first name Yevstigney Ipat'yevich, a pupil of the famous Bolognese Padre Martini at the state's expense, was particularly successful with stage works. His melodramas and operas are veritable parabolic mirrors in which Italian, Russian and Western stylistic features coalesce into a distinctive expression that could undoubtedly have become a significant force had Fomin been granted a longer life.
Anton Rubinstein and Alexander Adolfovich Winkler represent two generations of Russian Romanticism, and their sonatas for viola and piano reveal contrasting yet complementary approaches to chamber music and to the expressive potential of the viola. Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894), one of the founders of the Russian conservatory system and a towering figure as pianist, conductor, and composer, approached chamber music with a distinctly European Romantic sensibility. His Sonata for Viola and Piano is notable for it's lyrical breadth and dramatic contrasts. Rubinstein treats the viola not merely as an accompanying voice but as a fully expressive partner to the piano, exploiting it's warm, dark timbre and vocal qualities. The sonata's sweeping melodies, rich harmonic language, and expansive formal design reflect Rubinstein's admiration for composers such as Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms. At the same time, moments of intense lyricism and emotional weight highlight his belief in music as a direct vehicle for personal expression. Alexander Adolfovich Winkler (1865-1935), a student of Sergei Taneyev and a representative of a later Russian school, brings a more refined and introspective character to his Sonata for Viola and Piano. Winkler's writing is marked by structural clarity, contrapuntal skill, and subtle harmonic color. His sonata emphasizes the viola's expressive nuance, often favoring intimate dialogue between the instruments rather than virtuosic display. The work blends Romantic warmth with Classical balance, revealing Winkler's interest in formal discipline and textural transparency. Luca Sanzò is a pupil of Bruno Giuranna. His concert career has taken him to the world's major concert halls, both as a soloist and in collaboration with leading musicians. He has collaborated as principal viola soloist with various orchestras, including those of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, and the early music orchestra Concerto Italiano. He teaches viola at the Conservatorio di S. Cecilia in Rome. He has recorded for Nuova Era, Bottega Discantica, BMG Ricordi, Opus 111, Tactus, Edi Pan, Stradivarius, Naïve, Chandos, and Naxos. Italian pianist Maurizio Paciariello, schooled by Aldo Ciccolini and Paul Badura-Skoda and prizewinner of the ARD Competition, is a champion of rare repertoire and a specialist on period instruments.
This is a set that no one who cares about Dvorák’s symphonies can afford to ignore. These performances really do belong in every serious collection.
Supraphon has finally released Václav Neumann’s 1970s Dvorák symphony cycle, and what a wonderful event it is. These performances are, on the whole, fresher and freer than his digital remakes, fine though those are, and more warmly recorded. The only exception is the somewhat shrill engineering in the First Symphony, but in general the sonics are comparable to other cycles of the period—Kertész, Kubelik, and Rowicki—and this is unquestionably the best played of them all. It’s difficult to overestimate the value of having the Czech Philharmonic in top form in this music, but the sound of the ensemble really does speak for itself. Kubelik’s Berlin Philharmonic might have the best strings, and the London Symphony for Kertész and Rowicki the boldest horns, but the Czech Philharmonic has the best ensemble, top to bottom, at least in Dvorák.
Consider one example: the climax of the first movement of the Seventh Symphony, a work that shows both the orchestra and Neumann at their very best. If you imprinted on this performance, nothing else can match it in power and intensity. The passionate lyricism of the strings, the thrilling low timpani roll that propels the trombones’ upward arpeggio, and those bright, sforzando trumpets combine to make an unforgettable impression (sound clip below), and it’s all exactly as Dvorák wrote it. Interestingly, where Neumann deviates from the printed page, as in the main theme’s fortissimo counterstatement in the first movement, or in the work’s concluding chorale, he gives the doubling parts to the trumpets rather than the horns, as in most other performances, and this too proves the better decision.
This brings us to Neumann’s own contribution. Traditionally he has gotten short shrift compared to the competition. Some of this was politics. In the 1960s and ’70s the British naturally preferred anything featuring the LSO, and Kubelik was a symbol of democratic resistance to Communist rule. He also had the superb Berlin Philharmonic at his disposal, rather than his usual Bavarian Radio forces, and Deutsche Grammophon behind him. Neumann, on LP at least, was spottily available on generally horrible pressings, and he had the disadvantage to be taking over from Ancerl, an indisputably great conductor who wound up on the right side of Cold War politics. Then Neumann remade all the symphonies in digital sound, a set that Supraphon promoted intensely, and this earlier effort simply disappeared from sight.
In general, Neumann’s approach might sound a touch “old fashioned”—quick movements move at moderate speeds, slow movements flow without ever dragging. Although not quite so slow in the allegros, conductors like Otto Klemperer come to mind. And yet, Neumann is by no means lacking in energy. His Eighth Symphony is as fresh (and swift) as any in the catalog. He whips up quite a frenzy in the finale of the Fifth, and this Third Symphony might just be the best on disc. Its first movement is as energetic as can be, the central funeral march is gorgeous and never stiff, while the finale actually sounds less mechanical at this moderate speed than it does when taken more quickly. The Sixth seldom has been paced more naturally, and as Dvorák fans all know, Ancerl’s benchmark performance is a tough act to follow. Neumann has nothing to fear from the comparison, especially in the coda of the finale, which is stunning.
Neumann always did well by the “New World” Symphony, and in only a few spots in the first two symphonies does Neumann sound less than fully engaged (though in the former, he’s still more effective than in his digital remake). The third movement of the Second, particularly, needs to be crisper. Suitner on Berlin Classics is unmatched here. For the most part, though, Neumann’s performances have held up extremely well. In particular, he offers an object lesson in phrasing and, especially, the correct use of legato in lyrical passages. So many performances today, perhaps encouraged by the perpetual staccato of the early music movement, break up Dvorák’s melodies into fragments, whereas Neumann conducts in whole paragraphs.
The couplings add greatly to this set’s attractions. They are uniformly excellent. The Symphonic Variations overflows with character; the three concert overtures belong together (they share a theme, heard at the outset of In Nature’s Realm), and these versions of the four late symphonic poems rank with the best available. They are also very well recorded. So to summarize, this is a set that no one who cares about Dvorák’s symphonies can afford to ignore. Even if you have the versions just mentioned, these performances really do belong in every serious collection.
Telemann: The Concerti-en-suite / Tempesta di Mare
Chandos
CD
$21.99May 04, 2018
Expert in Baroque repertoire and making period discoveries, the Philadelphia-based ensemble Tempesta di Mare extends the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Telemann’s death with this unique album played on historically authentic instruments. This recording is the first to bring together Telemann’s three surviving concerti-en-suite, from the intimate Concerto di camera to the more extravagant and impressive Concerto-Suites. Like many seventeenth-century German composers referring to their national idiom as a blend of French, Italian, and German styles, Telemann, who added rustic Polish music to this stylistic soup, quickly became the standard-bearer for this ‘mixed taste’ during the early eighteenth century, writing Italian concertos with a French accent, French overture featuring moonlighting concerto soloists, and Polish folk tunes that exuberantly dance their way into arias, concertos, sonatas, songs, and suites. One of his more interesting mixtures is the concerto-suite, a subgenre in which a soloist is featured in an opening concerto-allegro and in a following series of French dance movements. The three surviving works of this genre are brought together here for the first time.
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REVIEW:
It’s all top-drawer stuff. Not least thanks to the beautifully blended sound of the whole: crisp strings, mellow woodwind, subtle-but-there harpsichord and theorbo and a gorgeous soft-focus halo of horns. In short, every instrumental timbre is beautifully looked after.
This album, featuring violinist Tianwa Yang and the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players, contains one of Igor Stravinsky’s small-scale theatrical works, The Soldier’s Tale (1918). Stravinsky wrote this work in collaboration with author Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, and artist Rene-Victor Auberjonois. The work is based in a Russian folk tale by Alexander Afanasyev, and is scored for two speakers, a narrator, and a septet, as well as a non-speaking dance role. Pamela Berlin directs this production, and Joann Falletta is the conductor of the instrumentalists.
