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    ALTO

    VIOLIN MASTERCLASS 24 CONCS FROM BACH TO VIVALDI

    CD · 10 discs

    $44.49
    Composer
    0
    Artist
    OISTRAKH, DAVID
    Released
    Mar 09, 2021
    David Oistrakh captured the hearts of listeners with his impeccable technique, rich tone and emotional power. Born in Odessa, he graduated from Conservatory aged 18 and a year later performed his debut with the Glazunov concerto under the composer's baton. Successful debuts in Leningrad and Moscow followed. His New York debut was 1955 and his entire career was full of searingly memorable performances with major worldwide orchestras and accompanists.
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  • VIOLIN MASTERCLASS 24 CONCS FROM BACH TO VIVALDI

    VIOLIN MASTERCLASS 24 CONCS FROM BACH TO VIVALDI

    ALTO Mar 2021
    10 discs
    CD
    $44.49
    Analekta

    Virtuoso / Angele Dubeau

    CD · 1 disc

    $15.99 $20.99 Save 23%
    Composer
    CHOPIN MOZART PAGANINI
    Artist
    Dubeau, Blazhkov, Hamelin, Kuerti, Mar
    Released
    Nov 10, 2009
    "Even the most pious music lovers here in America will find these performances hard to resist. Dubeau and company play each composition with an infectious, devil-may-care enthusiasm." - Forbes

    "Dubeau is an exciting, dynamic fiddler. The performances were consistently robust and inquiring, taking nothing for granted. Dubeau’s well-drilled band played with agility, power, a nicely weighted sound and a fierce joy in the doing." - Los Angeles Times

    Angèle Dubeau plays on the "Des Rosiers" Stradivarius violin constructed in 1733.
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  • Virtuoso / Angele Dubeau
    Sale

    Virtuoso / Angele Dubeau

    Analekta Nov 2009
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99 $15.99Save 23%
    Channel Classics

    Enescu, Francaix, Gershwin & Honegger: Intrada - Music for Trumpet & Piano / Tomasoni, Ijlstra, Bal

    CD · 1 disc

    $20.99
    Composer
    George Enescu, Jean Francaix, George Gershwin, Arthur Honegger
    Artist
    Omar Tomasoni, Jeroen Bal, Femke Ijstra
    Released
    Jun 10, 2022
    This album presents some of the all-time “classics” of the classical trumpet repertoire. After much deliberation on how, when, what and why, trumpeter Omar Tomasoni explains that two specific events convinced him that now was the time to make the recording: the birth of his son Siebe and the pandemic. The program includes Brandt’s Concertpieces Nos. 1 & 2, Françaix’s Sonatine for Trumpet, Enescu’s Legend for Trumpet & Piano, and Honegger’s Intrada performed by Omar Tomasoni and pianist Jeroen Bal. For a newly commissioned piece by Rob Goorhuis, entitled Canzoni, they are joined by saxophone player Femke IJlstra. The album is concluded by Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, arranged for trumpet & piano by Timofei Dokschitzer. In Omar Tomasoni’s personal note in the booklet he writes: “I want this album to be a testimony to the artist I am today. (...) A big thank you to Rob Goorhuis for accepting my invitation to compose an original piece. His Canzoni went beyond my expectations.” Omar Tomasoni is Principal Trumpet of the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam. He is also a trumpet professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Jeroen Bal is the pianist of the Concertgebouworkest.
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    Orfeo

    Orfeo 40th Anniversary Edition: 40 Ultimate Recordings

    CD · 2 discs

    $14.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Various
    Released
    Jun 19, 2020

    When the ORFEO label was established in Munich forty years ago, surely no one with the music scene back then would have predicted that the record company would develop into a firmly established player on the classical music market. One of the label’s main priorities in the early years was vocal music, with opera rarities top of the list and since the mid 1980s the re-use of historic tape recordings. Big names featured on the label’s own productions, while ORFEO also developed into a talent factory by discovering and nurturing young artist. This “ORFEO 40th Anniversary” 2-album sampler well reflects these two sides of the label by combining highlight tracks of historical recordings with today’s global stars.

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  • Orfeo 40th Anniversary Edition: 40 Ultimate Recordings

    Orfeo 40th Anniversary Edition: 40 Ultimate Recordings

    Orfeo Jun 2020
    2 discs
    CD
    $14.99
  • The Trumpets of Matthias Höfs / Matthias Höfs
    Berlin Classics

    The Trumpets of Matthias Höfs / Matthias Höfs

    CD · 1 disc

    $20.99
    Composer
    HAYDN JOLIVET RAVEL
    Artist
    Hofs, German Brass, Concerto Koln
    Released
    May 07, 2021

    On his new album "The Trumpets of Matthias Höfs" trumpeter Matthias Höfs gives an insight into his private trumpet collection. In the course of his career he has not only collected a large number of modern trumpets, but also historical models which he even partly reconstructed himself. "The gigantic variety of trumpet instruments has always fascinated me," says Höfs. "There is hardly any other instrument that is so versatile in sound and expression combined with this enormous dynamic range and possibilities". In cooperation with the Bremen wind instrument manufacturer Thein Brass, a treasure chest of over 30 different instruments has been collected over the years, which Matthias Höfs opens for this album. Meanwhile he plays exclusively on the trumpets he helped develop. "We are constantly trying to improve the intonation and trick the physics in the process, to test the sound characteristics of the most diverse materials and alloys and to make the instruments even easier to play. Every time it is like Christmas for me, when the instrument is then freshly shining and ready for the first concerts. For me it is a great luck to have these possibilities. When composers are interested in it and compose for special instruments, it's fantastic!"

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  • The Trumpets of Matthias Höfs / Matthias Höfs

    The Trumpets of Matthias Höfs / Matthias Höfs

    Berlin Classics May 2021
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Orchestral Music (Russian) - Tchaikovsky, P.I. / Gliere, R.

    Orchestral Music (Russian) - Tchaikovsky, P.I. / Gliere, R.

    Delos Jan 1999
    1 disc
    CD
    $18.99
    Naxos

    My First Classical Albums

    CD · 9 discs

    $53.99
    Composer
    BEETHOVEN TCHAIKOVSKY MOZART
    Artist
    Various
    Released
    Oct 14, 2016
    The ‘My First’ album series from Naxos is the ideal springboard for a lifelong journey through classical music. Each selection is carefully tailored for younger listeners and includes famous tracks as well as unexpected gems. The booklet is full of information on every piece of music. Unique and imaginative, these CDs will open a door to a wonderful world that children and parents can discover together.

    CONTENTS:

    • My First CLASSICAL MUSIC Album
    • My First MOZART Album
    • My First BEETHOVEN Album
    • My First TCHAIKOVSKY Album
    • My First PIANO Album
    • My First VIOLIN Album
    • My First BALLET Album
    • My First LULLABY Album
    • My First ORCHESTRA Album
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  • My First Classical Albums

    My First Classical Albums

    Naxos Oct 2016
    9 discs
    CD
    $53.99
    WARNER CLASSICS

    COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS

    CD · 30 discs

    $98.49
    Artist
    ZIMMERMANN, FRANK PETER
    Released
    Sep 29, 2023
    Limited 30 CD set. A violinist of outstanding accomplishment and integrity, Frank Peter Zimmermann has for decades sustained achievement at the highest level as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. As the New York Times has written, "Mr. Zimmermann's style is based on an absolutely clean technique and a true ability to let music unfold and develop at a natural pace." Before recording any work in his repertoire, from essential masterpieces to intriguing rarities, Zimmermann has taken time to understand and define the meaning of every note in the context of his interpretation. As a consequence, each of these 30 albums - originally the fruit of his long collaboration with EMI Classics (and Teldec) - bears witness to the grace, insight and authority of his playing.
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  • COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS

    COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS

    WARNER CLASSICS Sep 2023
    30 discs
    CD
    $98.49
    WARNER CLASSICS

    Antonio Pappano - Complete Santa Cecilia Symphonic,Concertante & Sacred Music Recordings

    CD · 27 discs

    $100.49
    Composer
    Alexander Glazunov, Camille Saint-Saëns, Antonín Dvořák, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Edouard Lalo, Pablo Casals, Ottorino Respighi, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Anatoly Liadov, Sergej Rachmaninoff, Gustav Mahler, Benjamin Britten, Nikolai Rimsky-Korssakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Serge Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Leonard Bernstein, Michel Legrand, John Williams, Philippe Sarde, Claude Bolling, Georges Delerue, Wojciech Kilar, Ennio Morricone, Francois Lai, Vladimir Cosma, Gabriel Yared, Marvin Hamlisch, Ryuichi Sakamoto
    Artist
    Han-Na Chang, Christine Rice, Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazon, Rene Pape, Anna Netrebko, Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Mario Brunello, Marina Rebeka, Sara Mingardo, Francesco Meli, Alex Esposito, Ian Bostridge, Thomas Hampson, Beatrice Rana, Daniele Rossi, Martha Argerich, Bertrand Chamayou, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Nadine Sierra, Alessandro Carbonare, Eleonora Buratto, Michael Spyres, Teresa Iervolino, Alexandre Tharaud
    Released
    Aug 09, 2024
    The collaborative efforts, the mutual emulation and inspiration of Sir Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome have spanned 18 years, led to one of the world's greatest and most versatile virtuoso ensembles and to acclaimed live and studio recordings showcasing an eclectic selection of symphonic and choral music. Their repertoire features already legendary performances of Verdi's Requiem and Quattro pezzi sacri. In addition, their recording of Bruckner's 8th Symphony features here for the very first time! This box brings together all the recordings that the British conductor Sir Antonio Pappano (b.1959) made with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in the years from 2005 to 2022 for Warner Classics.
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    WARNER CLASSICS

    Wolfgang Sawallisch: Complete Symphonic, Lieder & Choral Recordings - Warner Classics Edition, Vol. 1

    CD · 65 discs

    $200.17
    Composer
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner, Antonín Dvořák, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner, Paul Hindemith, Carl Orff, Henri Tomasi, Bohuslav Martinů, George Enescu, Alexander Glazunov, Alexander Goedicke, Niels Viggo Bentzon, Edvard Hagerup Bull, Eugene Bozza, Gabriel Pares, Jacques Ibert, Leopold Stokowski
    Artist
    Youri Egorov, Annie Fischer, Johanna Martzy, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Margaret Price, Marjana Lipovšek, Peter Seiffert, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Peter Schreier, Brigitte Fassbaender, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hildegard Behrens, Helen Donath, Adolf Dallapozza, Lucia Popp, Francisco Araiza, Erika Rüggeberg, Julia Falk, Maria Venuti, Josef Protschka, Robert Tear, Thomas Hampson, Krisztina Laki, Mitsuko Shirai, Stephen Kovacevich, Ann Murray, Nobuko Imai, Marie Luise Neunecker, Natalia Gutman, Emanuel Ax, Richard Woodhams, Dennis Brain, Agnes Giebel, Paul Kuen, Marcel Cordes, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Heinrich Schiff
    Released
    Aug 09, 2024
    For five decades Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) held a central position in the musical world. That centrality was reflected in a series of top orchestral and operatic posts and in his interpretations, free of self-regarding eccentricities. His modest but highly effective conducting technique also made him the ideal recording artist. Sawallisch was a Bavarian born in Munich, city of orchestras and a great opera company, which he headed for 21 years. He started his career as an outstanding pianist and remained a sought-after accompanist to great Lieder singers and instrumentalists. Volume 1 of a complete conspectus of his Warner Classics recordings (made for Electrola and EMI Classics between 1954 to 1997) includes wonderful Lieder and song collaborations, as well as famous concerto accompaniments for eminent soloists and a heartwarming traversal of Schubert's secular vocal and sacred choral music with Bavarian Radio colleagues. But the main focus among the 65 discs is on his symphonic achievements: Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Bruckner and Dvorak - the latter's Eighth Symphony was his first published recording, from 1954. Richard Strauss, an early influence, is strongly represented. This 65CD-box brings together all the non-operatic recordings that the German conductor and pianist Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) made in the years from 1954 to 1997 for EMI Classics and Electrola (now Warner Classics).
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  • COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS
    WARNER CLASSICS

    COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS

    CD · 78 discs

    $240.21
    Artist
    PERLMAN, ITZHAK
    Released
    Aug 29, 2025
    Itzhak Perlman, born in 1945, is the supreme violinist of his time. Over the past 60 years he has become established as one of the great violinists of history - a player on a level with such legendary figures as Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrakh, and an influential musician admired around the world by a broad and varied public and by students of his instrument. Presenting his art in all it's warmth, generosity and brilliance, this comprehensive 78-CD edition features all the recordings Perlman made for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics over a period of more than 40 years. The recordings document his collaborations with the world's greatest orchestras and feature an array of superlative fellow soloists and conductors, including Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Lynn Harrell, Yo-Yo Ma, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn and Pinchas Zukerman.
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  • COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS

    COMPLETE WARNER CLASSICS RECORDINGS

    WARNER CLASSICS Aug 2025
    78 discs
    CD
    $240.21
    Naxos

    Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 8 - The Seasons / Anissimov

    CD · 1 disc

    $19.99
    Composer
    GLAZUNOV
    Artist
    Alexander, Anissimov
    Released
    Mar 30, 1998
    1998 release. Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865-1936) Orchestral works 8, the Seasons, Op. 67; Scenes de Ballet, Op. 52, Scene Dansante, Op.81 performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra Alexander Anissimov conductor. Recorded at Mosfilm Studio, Moscow, Russia in August 1995.
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  • Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 18 / Yablonsky, Russian PO
    Naxos

    Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 18 / Yablonsky, Russian PO

    CD · 1 disc

    $19.99
    Composer
    GLAZUNOV, ALEXANDER
    Artist
    Yablonsky, Russian Po
    Released
    Jul 28, 2009
    Glazunov never published his incidental music to Lermontov’s Masquerade, perhaps because it consists of so many very short numbers. There are a couple of larger bits: a mazurka, a gallop, a polonaise, and a Valse-Fantasia. The music is typically tuneful, beautifully crafted, and the use of the chorus, both wordless and normally, adds immeasurably to the effect. The remaining items have been recorded previously on occasion, and they are also more substantial than their titles might otherwise suggest (the Romantic Intermezzo particularly). These are excellent performances, warmly and vividly played, and boldly engineered, though as usual from this source the sonics are a touch “studio bound”. This is volume 18 in Naxos’ ongoing series of Glazunov orchestral works, and it’s certainly one of the most interesting. Give it a shot, if you’re curious.

    -- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

    The Naxos mission to record all of Glazunov’s orchestral legacy has reached volume 18. Almost by definition that fact alone makes this review redundant. If you are a Glazunov acolyte you will have pre-ordered this disc as soon as it was advertised, but if you are new to his music I cannot imagine this disc being a point of entry of choice. Even though it proves to be a hugely charming disc few would claim that this music is central to one’s appreciation of the composer – there are other places to start for that. As with many of the other discs in the series Naxos make use of their Russian ‘house’ orchestra – The Russian Philharmonic this time under the baton of Dmitry Yablonsky. This is an orchestra whose playing can range from the inspired to the positively pedestrian so I’m pleased to report that on this occasion it is neat and alert with some aptly characterful solos taken when required. The recording too is clear and warm without some of that glassy resonance that occasionally afflicts the engineering from this source. Most interestingly added to the mix is the Gnesin Academy Chorus. More of their role in the music later but enough to say that they sing well and blend into the musical textures effectively.

    The main work here is the thirty-six or so minutes of incidental music Glazunov wrote for a 1917 staging of Mikhail Lermontov’s 1835 play Masquerade. Keith Anderson’s detailed liner-note explains that this significant score by Glazunov existed only in manuscript. Confusion is compounded by the fact that the exact musical sequence and how they relate to the play is unclear. Hence we have a detailed synopsis of the play and in parallel a musical sequence that is satisfying in itself but not necessarily one that follows the action of the play. The problem arises from the fact the much of the score provides music for the various balls that constitute many of the scenes. Glazunov has composed a score that is both practical – as in the dance sequences above and emotionally illustrative, seemingly underlining the prevailing mood or emotion of a scene. The score is divided into twenty-six tracks running from a miniature fife and drum march lasting just seventeen seconds to a full blown Valse-Fantasie at five and a half minutes. The latter is authentic Glazunov, very much in the style of the similar movement from Raymonda or the Concert Waltzes. It could be argued that this continuity/similarity is both Glazunov’s strength and his weakness. Really it could date from any point during his compositional career and certainly as a piece dating from 1917 breaks no musical frontiers – although why should it if the requirement is for a romantic waltz. Glazunov’s fabled orchestral mastery is on display throughout – the previously mentioned fife and drum is a perfect example how just two instruments are used to perfect effect (track 14 – Pantomime 8). Elsewhere the greatest musical interest is provided in the movements featuring the chorus. The very opening track is instantly atmospheric and full of foreboding - the synopsis makes it clear that this is a dark and tragic play with echoes of Eugene Onegin and Othello. This is sung to great effect by the Gnesin Academy Chorus with a definite Russian colour to their sound that feels absolutely right although lacking that last ounce of deep implacable resonance. Apart from the cantatas used as fillers on Valery Polyansky’s cycle of the Glazunov Symphonies on Chandos there have not been many opportunities to hear Glazunov’s writing for voices. I particularly like the way he uses them colouristically on occasion. Elsewhere they sing a text in traditional style. Act IV of the play depicts the final descent into madness and death of the Othello-like character Arbenin. The music accompanying Act IV Scene 1 here (track 22) is a marvellous unaccompanied chorus. Sadly there is no text given in the liner notes. It is sung with a beautiful tonal blend and sensitivity – a real highlight of the disc – but I have no idea what they are saying. The tracks have been well sequenced so that the movements flow one to another – very important with many short cues. This is an excellent addition to the Glazunov discography. One interesting and diverting thought; Khachaturian’s suite Masquerade is also incidental music written for a 1941 production of the same play. Given the synopsis outlined by Keith Anderson I am even more at a loss as to how Khachaturian’s riotously good humoured music - at least as far the suite is a sample - fits!

    The rest of the disc is filled with judiciously chosen pieces. Naxos has consistently shown considerable care and imagination with the couplings in this series and this disc is no exception. None of the music is revelatory or startling but in style and mood they match well. The two pieces forming Op. 14 are slight and charming and beautifully played here. Likewise the dance fragment that is the Pas de caractére Op.68. The largest single piece on the whole disc is the Romantic Intermezzo Op.69 which in turn is also the most familiar piece. It has appeared as a filler for part of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky’s symphony cycle on Olympia as well as Evgeny Svetlanov’s similar traversal on Melodiya. The title says it all – a lyrical slow movement in all but name it receives another sympathetic performance here although one that tends to the lugubrious. It runs about a minute longer than either of the other named versions.

    To summarise: an automatic purchase at this price for anyone with an interest in this composer or the byways of theatrical music. The comparison with Khachaturian’s suite is quite fascinating – two such varying responses to literally the same text. It is better engineered than some in this series and is conducted and played with sympathy and insight.

    Appealing yet very rare music performed with great aplomb.

    -- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International
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  • Glazunov: Raymonda / Järvi, Scottish National Orchestra
    Sold Out

    Glazunov: Raymonda / Järvi, Scottish National Orchestra

    Chandos Mar 1986
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99
  • Glazunov: Complete Music for Piano, Vol. 1
    Sold Out

    Glazunov: Complete Music for Piano, Vol. 1

    Bridge Records Nov 2000
    1 disc
    CD
    $18.99
  • Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos / Znaider, Bavarian RSO
    Sony Masterworks

    Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos / Znaider, Bavarian RSO

    CD · 1 disc

    $11.98
    Composer
    PROKOFIEV GLAZUNOV
    Artist
    Nikolaj Znaider
    Released
    Mar 19, 2002
    We all know this: debut albums come and go; young wizard violinists who for the most part all sound alike come and go; and certainly marketing efforts come and go. Aside from tepid reviews for a Nielsen concerto performance at Carnegie Hall with the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Herbert Blomstedt in late 2001, there hasn't been much attention paid to 26-year-old violinist Nikolaj Znaider, but in the meantime RCA Red Seal signed him to an exclusive deal. (In the interest of full disclosure, the label asked me to write the short Znaider biography that appears on its website, but I have no attachment to this disc.)


    Well, RCA made a very smart move: this guy is a powerhouse, and this is one of the most impressive discs I've heard in a long time. (It's actually not his first album; he made a recording of Nielsen and Bruch for EMI that--surprise, surprise--was issued and cut out in near record time, and a lot of people are mistaking this RCA disc as Znaider's debut.) Although he studied with the late Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard, he has honed a distinct sound and a clear point of view, unlike many of DeLay's other students who have an unfortunate tendency to machine-gun their way through difficult scores, firing off passages with rat-a-tat-tat accuracy and zero emotion. Znaider, on the other hand, manages to be both muscular and achingly sweet, an unbelievable combination that works especially well in the shifting moods of the Prokofiev.


    There's a nasty edge to the outer movements, a knowing sourness to Znaider's playing that's reminiscent of Oistrakh. The excitement that builds in the final minute and a half of the concerto's last movement is palpable; the tension of the thudding percussion sets off Znaider's emotionally crazed (but technically impeccable) cross-registral runs. On the other hand, the inner Andante assai offers the violinist a chance to show off a lyrical romanticism that is echoed in the less interesting Glazunov concerto, a piece that compositionally is far more one-dimensional than the Prokofiev. The tossaway here is the Tchaikovsky Méditation, but again it's a chance for the young Danish violinist (of Polish-Israeli heritage) to show off his lush, rich sound and flexible phrasing that undoubtedly will remind many listeners of the golden age of violinists.


    Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony are astute accompanists, playing crisply and cleanly (if a bit leaden-footed in the first movement of the Prokofiev), but the truth is that in all respects this is Znaider's star turn. The sound is realistic and the balance between soloist and orchestra is excellent.
    --Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com
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  • Glazunov: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1
    Naxos

    Glazunov: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1

    CD · 1 disc

    $19.99
    Composer
    Alexander Glazunov
    Artist
    Tippett Quartet
    Released
    Apr 24, 2026
    Alexander Glazunov's seven string quartets extend over the entirety of his composing career and are equal in significance to his symphonies. Fused with nationalist sentiment and Classical discipline the First String Quartet secured the Glinka Prize for the teenage composer in 1884. The advances in expressive range and formal integration in the Second Quartet include a rapturous slow movement considered a highlight of his earlier output, while the Third Quartet has become known as 'The Slavonic' for it's evocative folk-music character.
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    Naxos

    Glazunov: Raymonda / Anissimov, Moscow Symphony Orchestra

    CD · 2 discs

    $29.99
    Composer
    GLAZUNOV
    Artist
    Alexander, Anissimov
    Released
    Mar 18, 1996
    Alexander Anissimov was a conductor unfamiliar to me (some may have heard his much-praised Tchaikovsky Cherevichki at Wexford). He keeps the Moscow Symphony Orchestra on their toes: the strings are keener of articulation than their Bolshoi or Kirov counterparts while balances and dynamics are all observed in an end result of greater sophistication than you might expect from this source (with handsome sound to match). Anissimov excels in the grand symphonic unfolding of the first two numbers and the two Entr’actes, over which he takes more time and care than Fedotov [conducting Kirov].

    -- Gramophone [8/1996]
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  • Glazunov: String Quintet, Etc / Rosen, Fine Arts Quartet
    Naxos

    Glazunov: String Quintet, Etc / Rosen, Fine Arts Quartet

    CD · 1 disc

    $19.99
    Composer
    GLAZUNOV, ALEXANDER KONSTANTIN
    Artist
    Nathaniel Rosen
    Released
    Mar 27, 2007
    I gained significant enjoyment from this desirable release. The delightful and substantial Five Novelettes are a hidden gem worthy of discovery.

    Founded over sixty years ago in Chicago the Fine Arts Quartet is a highly accomplished ensemble. On the evidence of these superb performances and other recent releases such as the Schumann String Quartets 1-3 they prove themselves to be in the same elevated league as ensembles such as the Emerson, Škampa, Talich, Takács, Hagen, Quatuor Mosaïques, Kodály, Henschel, Belcea and Zehetmair.

    I strongly believe that Glazunov’s substantial output of music is not as well known as it deserves to be. The most frequently heard work is the Violin Concerto (1904). One sometimes hears music from his two major ballets Raymonda (1898) and The Seasons (1900) also the Chant du Ménestrel (1900) in either of its versions for cello and piano or for cello and orchestra. As a frequent attender of chamber music recitals I have yet to hear any performances of Glazunov’s chamber works. Although not known for their progressive or experimental nature his works are generally of high quality and I commend any chamber music lover to hear the two volumes of String Quartets from the Utrecht String Quartet on MDG 603 1236-2 (Quartets 3 and 5) and MDG 603 1237-2 (Quartets 2, 4 and Elegy for Strings) and also the recording of the Quartets 3 and 5 from the Shostakovich Quartet on Regis RRC 1211.

    Grove-Online; Wikipedia and virtually every other resource I have consulted give the composition date for Glazunov’s Five Novelettes, Op.15 as 1886. However, the information in the Naxos booklet notes says 1881; which means that Glazunov would have been a mere sixteen year old when he wrote the score. Evidently he originally gave the less descriptive title of ‘Suite’ to this five movement work. Lasting almost as long in performance as the A major String Quintet the amiable and predominantly folk music-inspired Five Novelettes is an outstanding work and a hidden gem of the chamber music repertoire.

    Glazunov’s Five Novelettes have all been given exotic titles. They open with an appealing Alla spagnuola (In the Spanish style). Briskly performed with high spirits by the Fine Arts Quartet the piece also contains a contrasting dreamy central section. The dance-like piece entitled Orientale has the character of a Percy Grainger folk dance rather than anything terribly oriental. Again there is a contrasting central core. In the Dorian mode the third movement is a reverential Interludium in modo antico that reminded me of sacred music from the Russian Orthodox Church. There’s considerable warmth and good humour to be heard in the Valse. The buoyantly played final piece, marked All’ungherese (In Hungarian style), convey strong evocations of tradition gypsy and Magyar rhythms.

    The four movement String Quintet in A major, Op.39 is scored for a second cello rather than the more usual viola - in the manner of Schubert’s Quintet in C major, D. 956. Here the Fine Arts are augmented by the services of second cellist Nathaniel Rosen. The opening Allegro begins with a glorious melody for the viola. One is struck by the appeal of this highly attractive music infused as it is with lush and brazen Romanticism. Pizzicato strings herald the opening of the engaging Scherzo. The heartrending strains of the Andante could melt even the stoniest of hearts. In the highly-flavoured Russian-sounding themes of the Finale the players successfully conclude proceedings in a robust and vivacious manner.

    There are only a small number of alternative versions of Glazunov’s String Quintet and Five Novelettes and none that I consider an improvement over this superb Naxos release. I am reasonably familiar with what is probably the best known version of the String Quintet from the ASMF Chamber Ensemble on Chandos (c/w Tchaikovsky String Sextet in D minor, Op 70). In the Five Novelettes the versions most likely to be encountered are those from the St. Petersburg String Quartet on Delos and also from the Lyric Quartet on Meridian; both recordings having the String Quartet No. 5, Op. 70 as their coupling.

    I gained significant enjoyment from this desirable release. The sonics are to demonstration standard. The delightful and substantial Five Novelettes are a hidden gem worthy of discovery.

    -- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International
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  • Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 15 / Anissimov, Moscow So
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    Glazunov: Orchestral Works Vol 15 / Anissimov, Moscow So

    Naxos Oct 2000
    1 disc
    CD
    $19.99