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Weigl: Symphony No 6, Old Vienna / Sanderling, Francis

BIS

Available as CD

$21.99

Nov 01, 2005

In 2002 we released the first recording of Karl Weigl's (1881-1949) Fifth Symphony, subtitled 'The Apocalyptic' and dedicated it to the memory of Franklin Roosevelt. Completed in the last year of the Second World War, it is a programmatic work describing the world hovering on the brink of total destruction - a very natural way of seeing things for an Austrian refugee of Jewish decent living in the US during that troubled time. But there was more than the destiny of his beloved Vienna that occupied Weigl. He was very much part of an old central-European tradition, the tradition of Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler, which - as he must have realized - was threatened by whatever the outcome of the war. Described by his fellow student Schoenberg as 'one of the best composers of the old school, one of those who continued the glittering Viennese tradition', Weigl in one of the first works written after his flight to the US in 1938, celebrates one aspect of his native city: the waltzes of the Strauss family. In 'Old Vienna' we get a rhapsody of Vienna-style waltzes, executed with the affection - and nostalgia - of someone who had been present at the time. (Weigl was a regular guest at the soirées of Adèle Strauss, widow of Johann Strauss II, in whose home he met his first wife.) Compared to this work and to the Apocalyptic Symphony, the 'Sixth Symphony', composed eight years later and Weigl's last major work, is a piece of absolute music. But here too, in the music itself, is a testament to the tradition that for political and aesthetic reasons had already become a memory in the old world that had fostered it. Neither of the works was performed in the composer's lifetime, and in fact the Symphony had to wait until the present recording. The previous Weigl release on BIS (CD1077) was greeted with a 2003 Cannes Classical Award and great acclaim by reviewers who called Weigl 'a fascinating voice' and 'a major discovery' while naming the performances, by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Tomas Sanderling, 'exceptional' and 'committed'. The ones on the present disc - on which conductor Alun Francis also appears - certainly are no less!

Weigl: Symphony No 6, Old Vienna / Sanderling, Francis

$21.99
CD

BIS

Nov 01, 2005

BIS-CD-1167

HAPPY DAYS

ANDRE RIEU

Available as CD

$15.70

Dec 13, 2019

2019 release. Happy Days celebrates Andr� Rieu's amazing career on the occasion of his 70th birthday on October 1. A selection of 20 world famous tunes includes "Second Waltz," "I Could Have Danced All Night" (from My Fair Lady), "Love Unspoken" (from The Merry Widow) and "Happy Days are Here Again." This deluxe album will be accompanied by a Best of DVD from Vienna with Andr� explaining the songs he picked for this album.

HAPPY DAYS

$15.70
CD

ANDRE RIEU

Dec 13, 2019

AREU3134200.2

Puccini: La Fanciulla del West / Foster, Transylvania State Philharmonic

PENTATONE

Available as SACD

~~$32.99~~ $24.99

Feb 05, 2021

Lawrence Foster conducts Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (1910), together with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, Cluj-Napoca and a cast of seasoned Puccini singers, including Melody Moore (Minnie), Marius Vlad (Dick Johnson) and Lester Lynch (Jack Rance). Puccini’s “Spaghetti Western” is not only an exploration of the New World, with the delightfully charismatic saloon owner Minnie running the show, but equally of new music; a pioneering work full of harmonic innovation and state-of-the-art orchestration effects. The depth of the orchestration, as well as of the various ensemble scenes that are characteristic of the opera, fully comes to life in this studio recording. Lawrence Foster has a vast PENTATONE discography, including operettas and operas such as Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (2018) and Der Zigeunerbaron (2016), as well as Verdi’s Otello (2017). The latter album features Melody Moore and Lester Lynch, who have also starred in recordings of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Puccini’s Il Tabarro (both 2020). Marius Vlad and the Transylvania State Philharmonic and Choir, Cluj Navoca make their PENTATONE debut.

On Sale

Puccini: La Fanciulla del West / Foster, Transylvania State Philharmonic

~~$32.99~~ $24.99
SACD

PENTATONE

Feb 05, 2021

PTC5186778

New Year's Concert 2019 / Thielemann, Vienna Philharmonic

Sony Masterworks

Available as CD

$13.99

Jan 25, 2019

There are few concerts in the world that are awaited with as much excitement as the New Year’s Concert from Vienna. Under the direction of Christian Thielemann, the Vienna Philharmonic ushers in the New Year with a concert in the magnificent Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

The concert is relayed to over ninety countries all round the world, reaching an audience of more than fifty million.

The 2019 New Year’s Concert will be conducted for the first time by Christian Thielemann. A native of Berlin, Thielemann has been a regular and welcome guest of the Vienna Philharmonic since 2000, with the result that his first New Year’s Concert may be seen as setting an example and providing an appropriate tribute to his previous work with the orchestra. According to the orchestra’s chairman, Daniel Froschauer, orchestra and musicians trust each other completely: “The profound musical understanding and trust that have existed from the outset and that have always functioned perfectly have subsequently borne remarkable fruit in the symphonic repertory as well.”

Among the works that will be heard at the 2019 New Year’s Concert is the Transactions Waltz by Josef Strauß. Its title could serve as a motto for the 150th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan. Since 1987 the New Year’s Concert has been shown live on Japanese television. Among the works by Johann Strauß that Christian Thielemann is conducting are his Express Polka, his waltz Pictures of the North Sea, excerpts from his only fully-fledged opera, Knight Pázmán, and the overture to The Gypsy Baron. In addition to works by other members of the Strauß family, the concert also features music by Josef Hellmesberger (ii) and Carl Michael Ziehrer.

The tradition of presenting New Year’s Concerts began in 1941. The first concert marking the New Year was given in 1939, albeit on 31 December. The first conductor was Clemens Krauss. Willi Boskovsky took over in 1955 and conducted no fewer than twenty-five New Year’s Concerts between then and 1979. The list of musicians who have conducted New Year’s Concerts reads like a who’s who of leading maestros. The New Year’s Concert was first broadcast live on television in 1959. The Vienna Philharmonic regards this now traditional event as a way of wishing the world a Happy New Year through the medium of music in a spirit of hope, friendship and peace.

New Year's Concert 2019 / Thielemann, Vienna Philharmonic

$13.99
CD

Sony Masterworks

Jan 25, 2019

19075902892

J. Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus / Armstrong, Allen [Blu-ray]

Opus Arte

Available as Blu-Ray

$42.99

May 27, 2008

*** This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD or HD DVD players. ***

3223070.az_J_STRAUSS_II_Die.html

J. STRAUSS II Die Fledermaus • Vladimir Jurowski, cond; Pamela Armstrong ( Rosalinde ); Thomas Allen ( Eisenstein ); Håkan Hagegård ( Dr. Falke ); Pär Lindskog ( Alfred ); Malena Ernman ( Prince Orlovsky ); Lyubov Petrova ( Adele ); Ragnar Ulfung ( Dr. Blind ); Artur Korn ( Frank ); Udo Samel ( Frosch ); Reneé Schüttengruber ( Ida ); Glyndebourne Ch; London PO • BBC/OPUS ARTE 7004 (Blu-ray Disc: 198:00) Live: Glyndebourne 8/17/2003

& Cast & costume galleries. The Genesis of the Waltz. The Architect Returns. Interviews. Frosch interlude

This pretty-much-perfect production of Strauss’s pretty-much-perfect operetta is an ideal specimen to demonstrate the visual and sonic virtues of the Blu-ray medium. The Glyndebourne staging is a feast to watch: the sets and costumes are lavish, the dancing accomplished. Opus Arte’s 24-bit PCM sound is way better than anything you’ve ever heard on a traditional DVD, both the stereo version and the spacious multichannel that puts the listener in the middle of the appreciative audience who experienced the real thing in Sussex back in August of 2003.

Director Stephen Lawless has moved the setting of Die Fledermaus ahead a few decades to around 1910, the Vienna of Sigmund Freud and Gustav Klimt. (Eisenstein’s dressing gown, in fact, is a facsimile of Klimt’s The Kiss .) This Fledermaus is clearly viewed as a play that happens to have awfully good music, and Lawless and Daniel Dooner have created new dialogue for the production. In the hands of an ensemble of terrific singing actors, the texts never impede the headlong momentum of this comic masterpiece.

What a cast! Pamela Armstrong, as Rosalinde, handles the part vocally quite well but is equally concerned with her character’s development: when she dresses up as someone else, Eisenstein’s wife discovers her “real self” (as the soprano puts it in one of the disc’s “extras”). Thomas Allen notes that the high tessitura of his role was a bit of a challenge—it sure doesn’t sound it—but his comic timing is impeccable and the man can actually dance. As Dr. Falke, Håkan Hagegård gives his character an edge: the practical joke that Eisenstein played on him months before the curtain rises for act I has deeply wounded him, and Falke is serious about getting revenge. Singing Alfred in an appropriately seductive manner is Swedish tenor Pär Lindskog who, like Allen, is obviously quite a versatile artist. You’d never know from this performance that the guy also sings Siegfried and Parsifal.

The kudos go on. Lyubov Petrova’s rendition of Adele’s big second-act aria is a showstopper and Malena Ernman is utterly convincing as the terminally bored and sexually ambiguous Orlovsky. It’s a surprise every time Ernman starts to sing and her voice jumps up an octave or two. The smaller parts—Dr. Blind, Frank, Ida, Frosch—are all covered quite well.

Vladimir Jurowski takes the music very seriously (as, the notes remind us, did Gustav Mahler) and his leadership of the LPO is spirited and knowingly inflected. To accompany the curtain calls, Jurowski conducts a rousing “Radetzky March.” Opus Arte provides subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch. There’s a generous supply of extras, including cast and costume “galleries” and brief featurettes on the history of the waltz and the new (in 1994) opera house at Glyndebourne, as revisited by the architect who designed it. We also get observations on Fledermaus from Armstrong, Allen, Hagegård, Jurowski, and director Lawless and, to close, some shtick, mostly about champagne, by Udo Samel, the actor who has the speaking role of the jailer Frosch.

Yes, this one’s on my Want List.

FANFARE: Andrew Quint

Picture Format: 1080i High Definition, NTSC 16:9
Sound Format: 2.0 / 5.0 PCM Audio
Region Code: 0 (All Regions)
Menu Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch
Running Time: 198 min

J. Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus / Armstrong, Allen [Blu-ray]

$42.99
Blu-Ray

Opus Arte

May 27, 2008

OA BD7004D

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire / Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Alpha

Available as CD

~~$20.99~~ $15.99

Apr 09, 2021

Pierrot lunaire, premiered in Berlin in 1912, is a series of twenty-one short melodramas for voice and five instruments on German translations of poems by Albert Giraud. Here the composer first introduces Sprechgesang (speech-song), a technique that revolutionised declamation. Schoenberg wanted the piece to be ironic, at once tender and grotesque, in the manner of cabaret songs. Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the violinist who is also an occasional actress, had long dreamt of playing and reciting this unique work. It was a pain in her arm preventing her from playing the violin that one day propelled her into the role of narrator: ‘All my life I have felt that I was Pierrot. Every time I played this piece on the violin when I was a student, I would say the words in my head.’ She has now played and performed Pierrot in many venues around the world, including the Berlin Philharmonie, several cities in the United States, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Now she has assembled a number of her musician friends and decided to record it for posterity. Schoenberg’s Phantasy op.47 and Six Little Piano Pieces op.19 complete the programme, along with works by Webern (Four Pieces for violin and piano op.7) and Schoenberg’s arrangement of Johann Strauss’s Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz) op.437.

On Sale

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire / Patricia Kopatchinskaja

~~$20.99~~ $15.99
CD

Alpha

Apr 09, 2021

ALPHA722

DANCE FANTASIES

Antes Edition

Available as CD

$24.99

Jul 14, 2017

Great piano composers did not confine themselves to writing piano sonatas. Many of them wrote dances, too: minuets, sarabandes, gavottes and particularly waltzes. The tradition of great composers writing and arranging dances starts with Bach and Rameau, encompasses Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and Tchaikovsky and ends with Maurice Ravel, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, whose Waltz No. 2 is regularly played on German classical radio stations. The only problem was that these dances were too easy for the virtuoso pianists, which is why some of these artists turned unassuming minuets waltzes and polkas into glittering virtuosic pieces which could be played only by professional pianists. One of the greatest pianists of all time was also a great arranger of music, Leopold Godowsky. This American virtuoso of Polish extraction arranged hundreds of pieces by other composers, especially works by Chopin and the waltz king Johann Strauss, and turned them into sparkling studies and encores, that test the technique and stamina of even the most accomplished player. The Viennese pianist and Beethoven pupil Carl Czerny, for generations the specter of all piano students and today remembered for his etudes, is also the composer of a charming arrangement of Franz Schubert’s bittersweet mourning waltz. Catherine Gordeladze, a native of Tiflis, Georgia, today lives and works out of Frankfurt, Germany. Ms. Gordeladze studied the piano in her native Georgia, Frankfurt and Weimar and is the winner of prestigious prizes and competitions. She has been playing with renowned orchestras in major concert venues all over the world. The artist gives piano recitals in many countries and is also much sought after as a chamber music partner. In her award-winning albums, which have been praised by critics and the public alike, the pianist concentrates on challenging virtuoso pieces apart from the mainstream repertoire.

DANCE FANTASIES

$24.99
CD

Antes Edition

Jul 14, 2017

BM319300

The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration (1918-2018)

Belvedere Edition

Available as DVD

$26.99

Feb 08, 2019

Franz Welser-M�st has conducted The Cleveland Orchestra in a series of acclaimed video and audio productions, further enhancing the ensemble's storied recorded legacy. At the Anniversary Gala on September 29, 2018, documented in the present video recording, he programmed works touching on more than a century of Viennese musical traditions. Opening with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, featuring soloist Lang Lang, a regular collaborator with the orchestra since 2000, it also includes works by Richard and Johann Strauss, concluding with Ravel's cataclysmic La Valse. The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918. Over the ensuing decades, the Orchestra quickly grew from a fine regional organization to being one of the most admired symphony orchestras in the world. Seven music directors have guided and shaped the ensemble's growth and sound: Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodzinski, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohn�nyi, and Franz Welser-M�st. The opening in 1931 of Severance Hall as the Orchestra's permanent home brought a special pride to the ensemble and it's hometown, as well as providing an enviable and intimate acoustic environment in which to develop and refine the Orchestra's artistry. Touring performances throughout the United States and, beginning in 1957, to Europe and across the globe have confirmed Cleveland's place among the world's top orchestras. For this anniversary concert, The Cleveland Orchestra will be joined by none less than world famous pianist Lang Lang. Heralded by the New York times as "the hottest artist on the classical music planet, " Lang Lang works with many of the best classical musicians of our time. He first appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2000.

The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration (1918-2018)

$26.99
DVD

Belvedere Edition

Feb 08, 2019

BVE08054

NEW YEAR'S CONCERT 2018 / NEUJ

Sony Masterworks

Available as CD

~~$13.98~~ $6.99

Jan 05, 2018

2018 release. Since 1939, the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert has become a tradition and the world's most famous classical music event. The list of names of leading conductors who have led the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concerts reads like a veritable who's who of great maestros: Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado and Gustavo Dudamel to name a few. For the New Year's Concert 2018 world-renowned conductor Riccardo Muti returns to conduct the New Year's Concert for the fifth time. He has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic for over 500 concerts, has a very close connection to the orchestra and is one of the most engaged New Year's Concert conductors. Italian conductor Muti holds two music directorships: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. A prolific recording artist, Muti has received dozens of honors, titles, awards and prizes throughout his career. The Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert is unique and has often been imitated, but not equaled, with a live broadcast on television in over 90 countries around the world with over 40 million viewers. The repertoire for the New Year's Concert features works by members of the Strauss Family - Johann Strauss, father and son, as well as Eduard and Josef Strauss. Old favorites from their works are played alongside others that have never been recorded or are rarely heard. All of them programmed around two fixed points in the concert, The Blue Danube Waltz and the Radetzky March.

On Sale

NEW YEAR'S CONCERT 2018 / NEUJ

~~$13.98~~ $6.99
CD

Sony Masterworks

Jan 05, 2018

88985477002

Bilse: Waltzes, Marches, Polkas / Simonis, Cologne West German Radio SO

CPO

Available as CD

$18.99

Oct 28, 2008

BILSE Sturmmarsch Galopp. Baumgartenallee Polka. Marienwalzer. Nur mit Dir. Schlesische Lieder. Catharina Quadrille. Die Fürstensteiner. Mit Bomben und Granaten. Winterflocken Galopp. Victoria Walzer. Königspolonaise. Die Provinzialen. Concerthaus Polka. Schützenmarsch • Christian Simonis, cond; Cologne West German RSO • cpo 777 341 (72:10)

You’ve got to hand it to cpo. I don’t know where they come up with these obscure Romantic composers, but here’s another one. The long-lived, Silesian-born Benjamin Bilse (1816–1902) was known in his time interchangeably as the “Hungarian Strauss,” the “Bohemian Strauss,” and the “Danish Strauss.” A native of Liegnitz, Bilse became steeped in the folk music of Poland and Silesia, founding the Bilse Orchestra in 1842. As was not uncommon for small-town musicians of the time, Bilse was proficient on many instruments and pretty much taught himself composition by studying and conducting the works of contemporaries and peers.

If the foregoing paints Bilse as a provincial, backcountry bandleader, the impression is a false one. By the 1860s, we find him in Berlin, a highly popular composer and presenter of public concerts, an important impresario of musical events, and a hardworking organizer of music societies and organizations. He is even credited with having played a significant role in the establishment of the Berlin Philharmonic.

As a composer, Bilse’s ambitions seemed to be more modest. Like the Danish waltz king, Christian Lumbye, the Austrian Joseph Lanner, the French Waldteufel, and the Austrian Strauss clan, Bilse contented himself with writing waltzes, polkas, and marches for the entertainment of mass audiences. And while such works may have been aimed at satisfying popular tastes, they were superbly crafted—some of them miniature masterpieces—and the ensembles assembled to perform them were of the highest professional caliber.

This is feel-good music. If you love a good John Philip Sousa march, you will joyously feather-dust your furniture to Bilse’s Mit Bomben und Granaten (“With Bombs and Grenades”) and Swiffer your floors to the Sturmmarsch Galopp . My sense is that unlike the waltzes of Johann Strauss II, Bilse’s waltz and polka numbers, such as the Victoria Walzer and the Concert House Polka , were less intended to be actually danced to than they were intended to be listened to as stylized, self-sustaining concert pieces. Of their type, these are masterfully written works, highly polished, handsomely scored with an ear for instrumental color, and tremendously engaging.

Based on the milieu of composers to which Bilse belonged and the musical genre to which he contributed, you will know whether this sort of thing appeals to you or not. If so, I can tell you that the performances and the recording are top drawer, and I, personally, haven’t had so much plain old fun listening to a CD in quite some time. Strongly recommended.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

Bilse: Waltzes, Marches, Polkas / Simonis, Cologne West German Radio SO

$18.99
CD

CPO

Oct 28, 2008

777341-2

Rebay: Complete Music For Clarinet, Flute, & Guitar / Esteso Trio

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

~~$13.99~~ $10.99

Feb 12, 2021

The dates are deceptive: the Viennese composer Ferdinand Rebay (1880-1953) remained largely unaffected by the turbulent musical currents swirling around him in the Austrian capital during the early 20th century. Instead, he composed highly appealing music, Romantic in harmony and Classical in form, with a particular focus on the guitar. Brilliant Classics have brought his name back to light in recent years with modern recordings of the duets for clarinet and guitar (94171), the quartets for guitar, flute and strings (9250) and the sonatas for flute and guitar (9291). In a similar vein, the Italian Esteso Trio now presents three variation sets scored for clarinet, flute and guitar. The first of them is based on an Austrian folksong and conceived as a series of homages to Rebay’s Viennese forebears: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Johann Strauss. The second takes a Tirolean folksong for inspiration and Rebay supplied his own theme for the third, again popular in character and ending with an ebullient Scherzo. In between these highly attractive variation sets, the Esteso Trio plays a Trio and a Spanish Rhapsody’, both likewise dedicated to Rebay’s niece, the concert guitarist Gerta Hammerschmied, who apparently inspired the composer’s passion for the instrument: ‘Meiner lieben Gerta! Ostern 1941’ reads the title page of the Trio. Rebay worked as a piano professor at the conservatoire and composed prolifically in his spare time – more than 600 works bear his name – in a spirit of relaxed craftsmanship that makes an hour spent in his company full of uncomplicated pleasure. ‘Rebay was no dilettante - as tuneful as his music always is, it is unfailingly imaginative’ (MusicWeb International).

On Sale

Rebay: Complete Music For Clarinet, Flute, & Guitar / Esteso Trio

~~$13.99~~ $10.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Feb 12, 2021

BRI96063

Great Singers Live: Edita Gruberova

BR Klassik

Available as CD

~~$19.99~~ $15.99

Jul 06, 2018

Edita Gruberova – her very name is melodious. The Slovak soprano is undoubtedly one of today’s most well-known interpreters of coloratura opera singing, and especially of Italian bel canto. She made her debut in 1970 as Queen of the Night in Mozart's "Magic Flute" at the Vienna State Opera and, ever since her performances in the same role at Glyndebourne and Salzburg in 1974, she has been a regular fixture on the world’s leading operatic stages and concert podiums. Flattering epithets such as "the Queen of Coloratura", "the Slovak Nightingale" or "prima donna assoluta" are hardly exaggerated, for they really do represent what Edita Gruberova has embodied for almost half a century. She is celebrated all over the world for her perfect mastery of vocal technique, her astonishing ability to master even the most difficult coloraturas and highest notes, her clear and precise intonation and, most importantly, for something that overshadows and transfigures everything else: the seductive and beguiling timbre of her voice. This album, released by BR-KLASSIK to celebrate her 50th stage anniversary, presents nine recordings made between October 1983 and June 2000 at Bayerischer Rundfunk concerts. In addition to well-known as well as lesser-known arias from operas by Handel, Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, and also the Couplet of Adele from Johann Strauss' operetta "Die Fledermaus", Edita Gruberova can also be heard in interpretations from Mozart's "Exsultate, jubilate", his “Laudate Dominum” from the “Vesperae solennes de confessore,” and also Michael Haydn’s far too rarely performed Christmas cantata “Lauft, ihr Hirten, allzugleich.” This album is more than a historical portrait – it offers a representative musical cross-section of Edita Gruberova's wide-ranging repertoire, and also includes several surprises that complement and enrich her comprehensive discography.

On Sale

Great Singers Live: Edita Gruberova

~~$19.99~~ $15.99
CD

BR Klassik

Jul 06, 2018

BRK900325

Massenet: Ballet Music / Gallois, Barcelona

Naxos

Available as CD

~~$19.99~~ $13.99

Nov 19, 2013

This disc is just a peach. Jules Massenet’s ballet music brings together all the most charming musical trends of the 19th century: the new French ballet tradition, the lightness of Offenbach’s operettas, the lush tunes of Strauss’s Vienna, the big splashy orchestration of late-century “exotic” potboilers. The music keeps getting better and better as the CD goes along.

First I listened out of order and decided the opener, Bacchus, was my least favourite. Then I went in order and, mid-Bacchus, wondered what I had been complaining about. Yes, “Chasseresses et Bacchantes” has an early role for a percussion instrument so wimpily played that I’m not sure what it is, but then the most glorious Johann Strauss parody waltz breaks out and all is forgiven. Yes, the final bacchanale isn’t as crazy as Saint-Säens’ or Roussel’s, but what music is?

Hérodiade is an opera about Herod, where he’s the central character, in contrast with Richard Strauss’s Salome. The ballet music comes from a banquet where Herod entertains guests with dances by exotic slave girls from various foreign lands. It’s the shortest selection here.

Then we have big suites from Thaïs and Le Cid, each over 20 minutes, the highlights of the disc. Those who know Thaïs only for its “Meditation” will be happy to hear that the rest of the opera is also jam-packed with beautiful music. It’s varied, too, from the stern timpani roll of the opening andante to the perky Pierné-like flute and piccolo solos of the sixth movement, to the unexpected two-minute church-like organ solo. Le Cid is a festival of Spanish tropes, tunes and clichés from the very start. The inevitable cor anglais solo, in ‘Madrilène’, is just gorgeous. It’s as tuneful and colourful as the Spanish pastiches of Chabrier and Debussy, which is to say it’s a ton of fun.

The Barcelona Symphony plays excellently throughout, that one wimpy percussion issue confined to a single track. They seem to especially enjoy the Le Cid music, but who wouldn’t? Patrick Gallois continues to prove himself an extremely skilled, sensitive conductor of ballet music. You could imagine people dancing to this album. Given how good the music is, it’s extremely rare to have it collected on disc without the full operas alongside. Frémaux and Marriner have recorded Le Cid but for sound, panache and comprehensiveness, it’s hard to beat this. What fun.

– Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International

On Sale

Massenet: Ballet Music / Gallois, Barcelona

~~$19.99~~ $13.99
CD

Naxos

Nov 19, 2013

8573123

The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration [Blu-ray]

Belvedere Edition

Available as Blu-Ray

~~$26.99~~ $13.49

Feb 08, 2019

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Franz Welser-Möst has conducted The Cleveland Orchestra in a series of acclaimed video and audio productions, further enhancing the ensemble’s storied recorded legacy. At the Anniversary Gala on September 29, 2018, documented in the present video recording, he programmed works touching on more than a century of Viennese musical traditions. Opening with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24, featuring soloist Lang Lang, a regular collaborator with the orchestra since 2000, it also includes works by Richard and Johann Strauss, concluding with Ravel’s cataclysmic La Valse. The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918. Over the ensuing decades, the Orchestra quickly grew from a fine regional organization to being one of the most admired symphony orchestras in the world. Seven music directors have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound: Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodzinski, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst. The opening in 1931 of Severance Hall as the Orchestra’s permanent home brought a special pride to the ensemble and its hometown, as well as providing an enviable and intimate acoustic environment in which to develop and refine the Orchestra’s artistry. Touring performances throughout the United States and, beginning in 1957, to Europe and across the globe have confirmed Cleveland’s place among the world’s top orchestras. For this anniversary concert, The Cleveland Orchestra will be joined by none less than world famous pianist Lang Lang. Heralded by the New York times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Lang Lang works with many of the best classical musicians of our time. He first appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2000.

On Sale

The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration [Blu-ray]

~~$26.99~~ $13.49
Blu-Ray

Belvedere Edition

Feb 08, 2019

BVE08055

Christmas in Ainola

Ondine

Available as CD

~~$19.99~~ $14.99

Nov 20, 2008

Christmas in Ainola
Christmas Carols by Jean Sibelius and other Christmas songs

Hynninen, Groop, Tapiola Choir, etc.

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
1. En etsi valtaa loistoa, op. 1 / We Ask For Nothing Rich Or Rare 3:25
2. On hanget korkeat nietokset, op. 1 / The Shining Snows Are Driven High 2:28
3. Jo joutuu ilta, op. 1 Christmas Carol / O'er Hill And Dale 2:06
4. Joulu saapuu portin luo, op. 1 / Now Stands Yule at the Snowy Gate 1:46
5. Tervehtii jo meitä, op.1 / Now is Christmas Coming 2:46
6. Joululaulu (Nyt seimelle pienoisen lapsen) 2:15
7. Andante festivo 4:17

Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
8. Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä / Cast Off Thy Everyday Cares 1:49
9. Enkelien joululaulu (Ylistäkää Jumalaa, taivas ja maa) 1:56

Piae Cantiones
10. Ecce novum gaudium 1:53
11. Angelus emittitur 1:59

Luther
12. Enkeli taivaan lausui näin / From Heaven Above 2:42

Trad.
13. Maa on niin kaunis / The Earth is Beautiful 2:21

Piae Cantiones
14. Psallat scholarum concio 1:46
15. Ave maris stella 1:55

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
16-17. Sonatina op.80
16. Andantino (4:28)
17. Lento-Allegretto-Vivace (3:56)

Trad.
18. Kuului laulu enkelten / Angels, from the Realms of Glory 2:14

Otto Kotilainen (1868 - 1936)
19. Kun joulu on / At Christmastide 2:35

Trad.
20. Joulupuu on rakennettu / The Christmas Tree 1:31
21. No onkos tullut kesä / Is It Suddenly Summer? 1:18

Johann Strauss (1804-1849)
22. Radetzky-marssi / Radetzky March 2:42

Tapiola Choir (1)
Jorma Hynninen, baritone (1)
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (1)
Raimo Sirkiä, tenor (2,19)
Jyväskylä Sinfonia (2,19)
Ritva-Liisa Korhonen, soprano (3)
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (3)
Chamber Choir Kampin laulu (4,5,9-13,20,21)
Pertti Eerola, organ (4,5,12,13)
Jubilate Choir (6)
Virtuosi di Kuhmo (7)
Monica Groop, mezzosoprano (8)

Turku Castle Chamber Choir (14,15)
Yoshiko Arai, violin (16,17)
Eero Heinonen, piano (16,17)
Marita Viitasalo, piano (22)

Jorma Panula, conductor (1)
Pertti Pekkanen, conductor (2,19)
Kyösti Haatanen, conductor (3)
Timo Lehtovaara, conductor (4,5,9-13,20,21)
Astrid Riska, conductor (6)
Peter Csaba, conductor (7)
Markus Lehtinen, conductor (8)
Heikki Seppänen, conductor
Erkki Pohjola, conductor
[ 56:00 ]

On Sale

Christmas in Ainola

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Ondine

Nov 20, 2008

ODE966

Godowsky: Transcriptions

Piano Classics

Available as CD

$21.99

Jan 09, 2026

'Only top-flight virtuosos need apply. Emanuele Delucchi is one of them... in a class of his own' (Gramophone). This is Delucchi's fourth album dedicated to the pianistic art of Leopold Godowsky. It's theme is counterpoint, and the possibilities of polyphony at the piano, which Godowsky expanded beyond previously conceived limitations. The album opens with Godowsky's magnificent transcription of the Sonata for Solo Violin BWV1001 by Bach. Counterbalancing the Sonata, the album closes with the serene Andante from the Solo Sonata BWV1003. In 1929, Godowsky composed his own Prelude and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H as one of a series of pieces for the left hand: a formidable demonstration of technical and compositional ingenuity. 'Imagine a real fugue in three voices,' he wrote to his friends, 'inversions, contractions, pedal points and all kind of devices on B-A-C-H for one hand!' Yet the Fugue itself is far from austere but rather upbeat in mood, no less a joyful celebration of the piano and it's possibilities than the rest of the works here. Godowsky based the first of his Symphonic Metamorphoses on themes of Johann Strauss on the Kunstlerleben waltz. This piece competes with his contrapuntal paraphrase on Weber's Invitation to the Dance (dedicated to Busoni, no less) as perhaps the most complex pieces ever written for the piano on dance themes. As on his previous Godowsky albums, all of them eliciting an enthusiastic critical reception, Delucchi has chosen to record these works on a piano from Godowsky's own time, lending both warm colours and a period flavour to his playing. He has chosen a Steinway piano from 1879 with a warm and poetic sound, well fitted to evoke the mood of fin-de-siecle Vienna, and to unfold the intricate polyphony of a piano genius. Delucchi also contributes his own, succinct and informed booklet essay on the history and context of these pieces.

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Godowsky: Transcriptions

$21.99
CD

Piano Classics

Jan 09, 2026

PCL10329

Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti, Symphonic Dances From West Side Story / Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra

BR Klassik

Available as CD

~~$19.99~~ $15.99

Sep 29, 2009

BERNSTEIN West Side Story: Symphonic Dances. Trouble in Tahiti 1 & • Ulf Schirmer, cond; Kim Criswell ( Dinah ); 1 Rodney Gilfry ( Sam ); 1 Marlene Grimson ( Trio sop ); 1 Adrian Dwyer ( Trio ten ); 1 Ronan Collett ( Trio bar ); 1 Munich RO • BR 719003 (77:43 Text and Translation) Live: Munich 10/12/2008

& German interview with Ulf Schirmer

I have not generally been impressed with German orchestral performances of distinctly American scores such as these by Leonard Bernstein—heavily dependent on Latin dance rhythms and jazz inflections, having found too many of them stiff and uncomfortable with the idiom. I rather imagine that Viennese listeners have a similar reaction when an American orchestra and conductor perform Johann Strauss. Like the subtle inflections of language, there are some things one just absorbs from the culture that are hard to master otherwise.

So it proves here, especially in the “Symphonic Dances.” The percussion get the rhythms, and the brass have the feel as well, though the trumpets seem reluctant to wail with sufficient abandon, but generally, the woodwinds just can’t quite bring themselves to let lose in the long stretches of exuberance, and the strings are too polite by half. Add to that Ulf Schirmer’s tendency to relax momentum in the more lyrical sections—something Bernstein never did—and you have a performance that is a little too pokerfaced to take flight. It is not bad by any means—Schirmer often generates a good deal of energy and excitement—but it is simply not competitive with more idiomatic performances by the composer and others.

Some of that same orchestral stiffness infects the performance of Bernstein’s heavily ironic, autobiographical one-act opera, Trouble in Tahiti —the characters almost certainly represent Bernstein’s mismatched parents, Jennie and Sam—but this performance is harder to pass over. First of all, there are not a lot of recordings around, and more important, these singers have the style to make it work. The issue raised by this interpretation is one of genre: is it opera or is it musical theater? While most performances are cast with classically trained singers who can act, this recording straddles the fence by using an operatic baritone and a Broadway mezzo. (They also appeared in Simon Rattle’s 1999 EMI Wonderful Town .) Both are very fine: Gilfry, with his virile, flexible instrument, is a perfect self-absorbed and egotistical Sam, and Criswell, a singer with a vibrant and colorful voice, though rather limited on top for “I was standing in a garden,” is an emotionally fragile and angry Dinah. Their voices never blend, but one has to wonder if the stylistic contrast is an interpretive choice. Certainly, even if the combination gives less aural pleasure than two matched operatic voices might, it makes some sense for the antagonistic characters. And the choice of Criswell, a brilliant actress, is vindicated by an absolutely stunning performance of the show-stopping, musical theater-style “What a movie!” The Greek-chorus jazz vocal trio is classy with a reasonable sense of swing, and though the balance between the voices is not always ideal, they create just the right balance of satire and empathy.

In the end though, effective as this performance is, it must still take second place to the 1973 Bernstein-led performance on Sony 60969: very stylish and expressive, with excellent soloists and a perfect trio. There are other performances on CD: the student-cast performance by the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater on Newport Classic 85641 is quite good, and the 2006 Calliope recording (9391) in accented English with French performers, is an interesting novelty: urbane and very coolly jazzy. But once you have the Bernstein CD, Gilfry and Criswell make this new release an ideal supplement.

FANFARE: Ronald E. Grames

On Sale

Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti, Symphonic Dances From West Side Story / Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra

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CD

BR Klassik

Sep 29, 2009

403571900300

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

DECCA

Available as DVD

$22.46

Apr 14, 2023

There's certainly no better motto than 'Happy Days are Here Again'! In July 2022, the "King of Waltz" and his beloved Johann Strauss Orchestra finally returned to the Vrijthof square in Maastricht to enchant an audience of 180.000 people from more than 100 countries for a record 15 concerts! No other artist can make an audience laugh, move them to tears and pull on their heartstrings quite like the King of Waltz.

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

$22.46
DVD

DECCA

Apr 14, 2023

DCAB003783209DVD

SOUND OF HEAVEN

ANDRE RIEU

Available as CD

$22.94

Dec 06, 2024

Andr� Rieu's latest album "The Sound of Heaven" (CD + DVD) presents a selection of the most beautiful and romantic pieces of music of all time. Once again, the world-renowned violinist and orchestra conductor takes his listeners on a musical journey full of emotion and passion with truly "heavenly sounds". "The Sound of Heaven" combines a wonderful selection of classical masterpieces, romantic melodies and timeless evergreens, masterfully interpreted by Rieu and his famous Johann Strauss Orchestra. From G.F. Handel to Andrew Lloyd Webber, from Giacomo Puccini to ABBA, from Charles Gounod to John Williams - Andr� Rieu proves once again that music knows no boundaries. The new album delights with melodies from musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music or West Side Story, film music from Star Wars and Titanic, as well as popular and contemplative classical titles such as the Benedictus by Gounod and Jenkins and the famous Canon in D by Pachelbel. Of course, the dreamlike Hijo de la luna and Handel's joyful Hallelujah from the Messiah are not to be missed. As a special gift to his fans, the album also includes a brand new DVD. You can look forward to touching interpretations of classics such as "You Raise me Up" and "Amen" as well as joyful and moving performances of pieces such as "A little night music" and "The Lonely Shepherd". Rieu's unique interpretations and his charismatic presence on stage make this DVD the ideal complement to "The Sound of Heaven".

SOUND OF HEAVEN

$22.94
CD

ANDRE RIEU

Dec 06, 2024

AREU240101.2

JOSEPH KRIPS EDITION: VOLUME 1

ELOQUENCE AUSTRALIA

Available as CD

$120.64

May 31, 2024

The apotheosis of Viennese style: Mozart, Strauss and more under the baton of JOSEF KRIPS. An Original Covers collection of classic Decca albums recorded between 1947 and 1955, including several recordings new to CD. Born and raised in Vienna, Josef Krips trained as a choirboy and studied with Felix Weingartner, who then hired him as a repetiteur at the Volksoper. He his debut there in 1921, before graduating to the Vienna State Opera in 1933. In the aftermath of the Second World War, it was Krips above all who reformed and re-trained the State Opera as a world-class ensemble, and in the most difficult conditions. His pragmatism and understated authority made him a model recording conductor, and Decca hired him to work with orchestras in several of their centers of activity. Mozart was forever Krips's hero: 'My maxim is that everything has to sound as though it were by Mozart, or it will be a bad performance. When you perform Mozart, everything has to be crystal clear, everything has to be in balance, and everything has to have a relaxed sound.' Compiled here for the first time, as one of a two-volume Krips edition, are the conductor's complete mono recordings for Decca beginning with Kingsway Hall sessions in October 1947. Mozart symphonies, concertos, overtures and arias appeared on 78s - newly transferred for this set by Andrew Hallifax. From the early LP era comes the first-ever complete recording of Die Entf�hrung aus dem Serail, with a cast entirely drawn from the Vienna State Opera company, and (also from 1950) a remarkably forward-looking account of the Requiem, recorded with a cathedral-style all-male chorus including boys on the top line, much closer to Mozart's world than contemporary, symphonic-style versions of the piece. Combined with Decca's famous 'ffrr' sound, these Mozartian qualities also illuminate Krips's mono recordings of symphonies by Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert, concertos by Schumann and Dvor�k, Johann Strauss waltzes and a version of Mendelssohn's Elijah which combines the best of the British oratorio tradition with an operatic momentum and a gently glowing orchestral palette. Distinguished soloists on these recordings include Clifford Curzon and Mischa Elman in Mozart; Zara Nelsova in Dvor�k's Cello Concerto; and Hilde Gueden, Maria Reining, Anton Dermota and Richard Lewis singing opera arias (recorded on 78, several receiving their first CD transfer in this box). A companion volume from Eloquence is dedicated to Krips's Decca and Philips recordings from the stereo era (1955-72) and will be released next month. The booklet for each set contains session photos and an essay on Krips's life and legacy by Niek Nelissen.

JOSEPH KRIPS EDITION: VOLUME 1

$120.64
CD

ELOQUENCE AUSTRALIA

May 31, 2024

ELOA4844780.2