HANDEL: WATER MUSIC DIETER KO

Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1, Clarinet Concertino, Clarine

The Heroick Mr. Handel

VOCAL MUSIC OF WAGNER, SCHUMAN

Schumann & Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos - Dvorák: Silhouette

Scriabin: Le poème de l'extase, Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Mi

BACH: VIOLIN CONCERTOS, CONCER

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Op. 20a & The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 6

The Virtuoso French Horn

Fauré: Élégie, Op. 24 - Lalo & Saint-Saëns: Cello Concertos

This release combines well known Sousa marches with Sousa’s less performed but equally enjoyable dances. Erich Kunzel’s direction is spirited and commanding, interpreting these works with the lilt and vigour of a band while maintaining the orchestral sound. Erich Kunzel was known as the “Prince of Pops.” In his long career he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestra, particularly the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, heard here, which he led for 32 years. He first took over the ensemble at their founding in 1977. With the ensemble, he made nearly 90 recordings, most of which would go on to become bestsellers.

Sergey Prokofiev's spectacular music for Ivan the Terrible is arguably one of his finest film scores. This classic recording of the oratorio arranged by Abram Stasevich conducted by Leonard Slatkin is filled with Prokofiev's irrepressible energy and eloquent melodic power. Ivan, the first 'Tsar of all the Russias' is portrayed in the film not as the bloodthirsty tyrant his nickname suggests, but as a sorrowful and lonely man, betrayed by his friends, deprived of love, and determined at all costs to preserve a unified Russia under constant attack from abroad and treasonous intrigues at home.

These ever-popular works by Mendelssohn are performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by its music director (1969-84) Sergiu Comissiona. Originally released on the Vox label in the mid-1970s these recordings have been newly remastered in high definition from the original master tapes.

Romanian-born conductor Sergiu Comissiona galvanised the Baltimore Symphony into an orchestra of national prominence, releasing several albums on Vox. This classic recording of Mendelssohn's 'Scottish' Symphony is coupled with a previously unreleased recording from 1977 of excerpts from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Remastered in high definition from the original tapes.

Classical Music

This classic recording of Wagner's preludes and overtures with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Jerzy Semkow, the orchestra's music director from 1975 to 1979. Digitally mastered in high definition from the original analogue tapes.

REVIEW:

This Wagner CD is one of Jerzy Semkow's finest recordings he made with the orchestra during his tenure as its music director. The program opens with a brilliant Meistersinger Overture, heard in all its glory. The Rienzi Overture is no less inspiring. Semkow gives it verve and power, with an opulent sound at a brisk tempo. This gives the music an unusual fire. The Lohengrin Preludes and the evocative Easter Magician are also excellent. The album concludes with a sonorous Ride of the Valkyries, where the phenomenal sound engineering once again ensures a first-class listening experience. Wagner’s music shines in a thousand colors.

— Pizzicato

Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra are joined by Grant Johannesen in this classic Vox recording of Grieg's Piano Concerto. The programme is completed with the overture In Autumn, the Two Lyric Pieces and the Old Norwegian Melody with Variations. Newly remastered from the original tapes.

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde - Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Nig

Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor & Variations on a Theme by

Beethoven: Choral Fantasy / Wagner: Preludes and Overtures

CHRISTMAS MAGNIFICATS

Debussy, Mendelssohn, Chopin & Others: Piano Works

Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626

SYMPHONIES NOS. 3 & 4

Rudolf Firkusny