{"title":"Bamberger Symphoniker","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"jascha-horenstein-conducts-strauss-wagner-mahler-et-242898","title":"Jascha Horenstein Conducts Strauss, Wagner, Mahler, Et Al","description":"Horenstein Conducts Strauss, Wagner, Mahler \u0026amp; Schoenberg","brand":"Vox","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44625291182314,"sku":"047163552922","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4334566-3178017.jpg?v=1778207876"},{"product_id":"the-classical-novaes-beethoven-mozart-242888","title":"The Classical Novaes - Beethoven, Mozart","description":"Seeing the name Guiomar Novaes makes me feel like a kid again, blowing my allowance on Everests and Vox Boxes and Vanguards and the like (Serious Record Collector's Disease can strike early and hard—parents, know the telltale signs!). By the time I hit puberty (the verb is entirely appropriate) I had acquired several of the Brazilian pianist's Chopin discs for Vox, although I did so more by happenstance than by design. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e And then I was a child no more, and it was time to put away childish things. Novaes and her discographie companions were filed away with the rest of my immaturity as I graduated to bigger allowances, and bigger labels and artists. A few years ago I remember actually sneering at an acquaintance's suggestion that we listen to Novaes's recordings of a few Chopin Nocturnes. \"How good could she be?' ' I asked him and myself.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e I now eat my words, because Novaes is very good indeed. These three sets were both a trip down Memory Lane and a voyage into new territory. I knew about her close association with Chopin's music, but I didn't know to what extent she made her mark in Romantic and Classical repertoire. \"The Classical Novaes\" is Exhibit A: consider her serene, stately \"Emperor\" Concerto, a performance which doesn't deign to impress the listener with mere technical display. Also, consider her Mozart, a perfect blend of clarity and emotional involvement. This is music from the Classical period played with a Romantic sensibility, but one that doesn't glorify the artist at the expense of the art. With Novaes, Beethoven and Mozart came first.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The other two sets are similarly impressive by means of similar virtues. Novaes never hurries, never pounds, and never distorts, and while it would be easy to find more viscerally exciting or technically mind-boggling performances of these works, it would be hard to find ones that are classier or more poised. The Grieg concerto is a particular highlight: this is an uncommonly serious reading, one that blows the powdered sugar right off the snow drifts, and frankly, one of the best that I have ever heard. As for the Chopin, it goes straight to the listener with its intimacy. There's nothing special about Novaes's fingers, particularly in the Études and in the concerto, but the playing goes to the heart. And those Nocturnes! There are several great recordings of these works, but Novaes's are the ones that makes the recording process itself disappear, with her mellow colors and seamless line.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The orchestral accompaniments are passable and better than I expected, particularly when Perlea is on the podium. The 1955-ish sound ranges from dim (the Chopin sonata) to quite good (the Nocturnes), although one would expect some distortion in the concerto recordings. Vox has given us better-looking and better-made booklets than in the past, and the program notes are surprisingly intelligent and thorough, considering the price you'll pay for these sets. Oh yes, the price. Vox Boxes, usually go for $5-6 per disc, which means that you can pick up all three of the sets, plus Vox Box CDX2 5501, which includes some more of Novaes's concerto recordings (Beethoven 4, Chopin 2, and Schumann, all conducted by Klemperer) and some treasurable encores, for about the cost of a routine visit to the dentist. Skip a visit, eat fewer sweets, floss more often, and buy these discs. They would make great presents for old and new CD collectors too.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vox","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44624803823850,"sku":"047163551222","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4334570-3178013.jpg?v=1778215704"},{"product_id":"suder-works-for-chamber-orchestra-orfeo","title":"Suder: Works For Chamber Orchestra","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Orfeo","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44624314630378,"sku":"4011790372129","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2057015.jpg?v=1778320259"},{"product_id":"famous-flute-concertos-jean-pierre-rampal","title":"Famous Flute Concertos \/ Jean-Pierre Rampal","description":"A household word when speaking of repertoire, legendary flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal devoted just as much effort to establishing the masterpieces in their rightful place as to unearthing countless works from the baroque, classical and romantic eras. As far as concertos are concerned, cornerstones by Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi thus gained worldwide fame, and it went the same way for Ibert, Jolivet and Nielsen. Unfailing lyric sense, purity of style, magnificent tone, grace of phrasing, fabulous virtuosity, tremendous commitment... Critics, colleagues and the public were all running out of superlatives. Immediately valued as references, his recordings still fascinate and often leave the listener exhilarated. This 12 CD set tries the challenge of surrounding these marvels with some of the most dazzling rediscoveries, offering famous and less famous music, but equally glorious interpretations.","brand":"ERATO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":45862047187178,"sku":"5054197605000","price":44.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4223978-2988430.jpg?v=1778354535"},{"product_id":"italian-perspectives","title":"Italian Perspectives","description":"On Italian Perspectives, the Bamberger Symphoniker and Riccardo Frizza trace the revival and evolution of Italian instrumental music. Giuseppe Martucci's Symphony No. 1 in D minor, completed in 1895, illuminates the Italian symphonic tradition often overshadowed by opera, blending Brahmsian rigor with striking, passionate outbursts. Respighi's Trittico Botticelliano brings Renaissance paintings to life with luminous chamber orchestration, while his masterful orchestrations of Rachmaninoff's *5 �tudes-Tableaux* reveal a rare synthesis of Italian colour and Russian narrative depth. From desolate seascapes and dramatic funeral marches to the playful, suspenseful tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Respighi transforms piano works into vivid orchestral landscapes, preserving every nuance of Rachmaninoff's originals.    Riccardo Frizza, featured on PENTATONE in The Three Queens and Signor Gaetano (2022), leads the Bamberger Symphoniker in their PENTATONE debut, bringing these works to life with precision, colour, and expressive intensity.","brand":"PENTATONE","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012461678826,"sku":"8717306264198","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4474315-3493624.jpg?v=1778218734"},{"product_id":"les-eolides-grande-piece-symphonique-la-nuit-de-walpurgi","title":"Les Eolides \u0026 Grande Piece Symphonique - La nuit de Walpurgi","description":"Anyone who entitles an organ piece a Grand Pi�ce Symphonique should not be surprised if this very title one day is used as a benchmark to determine the legitimacy of this claimed attribute. This is exactly what the organist, composer, and pedagogue Zsigmond Szathm�ry did at the behest of his young colleague Christian Schmitt when he examined the orchestral possibilities of C�sar Franck's \"great symphonic work\".    The result of this exploration gives us the world premiere of a concert piece in which the king of instruments and it's personified registers - i.e. The orchestra - form a captivating synthesis.    Next to Franck's well-known tone poem Les �olides (The Daughters of Aeolus), the programme includes a rarely recorded work by Charles-Marie Widor - a Walpurgis Night that easily rivals the most famous witches' dances in the Romantic literature.","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012543336682,"sku":"761203563227","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4467014-3467569.jpg?v=1778196429"},{"product_id":"mahler-strauss-wagner-liebestod-4260234832983","title":"Mahler, Strauss, \u0026 Wagner: Liebestod \/ Hruša, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe music of Wagner, Mahler and Strauss is very close to the heart of the Bamberg Symphony and even seems to have ingrained itself in their DNA, to which the award-winning recordings of Mahler 4 with Jakub Hruša and Mahler 9 with Herbert Blomstedt impressively attest. With this concept album, they reflect on the topic of death, which Jakub Hruša does not interpret solely as a moment full of despair and tragedy. Rather, he sees in death an element \"that gives our lives meaning.\" And it is this idea that the orchestra and its principal conductor convey with their interpretation of four key works by Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. The result creates a form of dialog between the composers, who build on each other historically and stylistically. A dialog that, says Hruša, \"charms our ears and touches our hearts.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012629811434,"sku":"4260234832983","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4177075-3187348.jpg?v=1778237225"},{"product_id":"accentus-musicbruckner-symphony-no-9","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 \/ Hruša, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnton Bruckner 200 (1824-2024)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sincerity and, at the same time, emotionality of Anton Bruckner's musical thoughts create an inimitable magnetism that makes one 'forget' time in the very best sense of the word. Anyone who wants to approach Bruckner only analytically will find their mind boggled, especially at the first encounter. His great power is a certain 'transcendental charm' that is common to all his symphonies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2024, the music world celebrates the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner's birth on September 4, 1824. On this occasion, the Bamberg Symphony - an orchestra well-versed in the interpretation of Bruckner's symphonic cosmos - and their music director Jakub Hruša present a new recording of the composer's last and unfinished symphony, his Ninth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn 30 November 1894, Bruckner completed the third movement of his Ninth symphony, which, like all of its predecessors, was laid out in four movements. Work on the finale began on 24 May 1895, around 16 months before his death. He composed the first 172 bars of the movement in full, after which the score is at least partially orchestrated for a further 200 bars. Although a playable version of the finale of Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 is now available, in practical life the three-movement torso has become the norm. It seems as if the non-completion paradoxically claims its place. The Austrian critic and musicologist Walter Weidringer wrote that the Ninth 'may be taken as one of those examples from music history that prove that even fragments can display a degree of completion which no longer seems capable of improvement.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA production of Accentus Music in co-production with BR-KLASSIK.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012632236266,"sku":"4260234833010","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4322763-3141544.jpg?v=1778233804"},{"product_id":"strauss-tag-und-nacht-vier-letzte-lieder-songs-with-pia","title":"Strauss: Tag und Nacht - Vier Letzte Lieder \u0026 Songs with Pia","description":"Today, Katerina Knezikova is a well-known name in the world of opera (Glyndebourne) and on concert stages (BBC SO, Bamberger Symphoniker, Czech Philharmonic, LPO, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, RLPO etc.). After her album Phidyle, which attracted considerable critical attention (Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine Award), she let herself be carried away by the world of Richard Strauss's songs, full of micro-dramas, transparent emotions, and deep intimacy. Her partner and guide on this journey is Jakub Hrusa with the Bamberger Symphoniker in an enchanting live performance of the Four Last Songs, and- surprisingly for many-also in the supremely intimate world of songs with piano. The sensitive Lieder selection covers Strauss's entire career spanning nearly 70 years. The composer's songs bear the impressions of major events of his whole life and the atmosphere of his times, leading to the themes of parting and death heard in his Four Last Songs. Each of the songs is a perfectly polished gem, the beauty of which is enhanced by the extraordinarily harmonious interplay of the two artists.  The Songs of Richard Strauss - perfectly polished gems","brand":"Supraphon","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012638036202,"sku":"099925434625","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4368995-3232694.jpg?v=1778203352"},{"product_id":"bruckner-symphony-no-2","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No. 2","description":"In September 2024, the music world celebrates the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner's birth in 1824. To coincide with the anniversary itself, and following the release of Bruckner's Ninth    4 earlier in 2024, Accentus Music will release the recording of Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 with the Bamberg Symphony, this time under the musical direction of their conductor laureate Christoph Eschenbach. Composed in a rather restless and pessimistic state of mind, Bruckner's Second oscillates between heartfelt prayers, desperate outbursts, helpless silence, and ecstatic dance scenes.    A co-production with BR-Klassik","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012641345770,"sku":"4260234833126","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4362708-3236432.jpg?v=1778199933"},{"product_id":"bruckner-symphony-no-16","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No. 9","description":"Anton Bruckner   Symphony No. 9  D minor, WAB 109    Bamberger Symphoniker  Herbert Blomstedt    There is often an occasion for great concerts, but there are rarely several good reasons for a concert recording of an outstanding musical event.    2024 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. For the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt, Bruckner is a genius and the greatest symphonist since Beethoven. No composer is more closely associated with Herbert Blomstedt than Anton Bruckner. And no conductor has dealt with Anton Bruckner more intensively than Herbert Blomstedt.    Probably the world's longest-serving conductor, with an eventful career spanning seven decades, Herbert Blomstedt celebrated his 97th birthday on July 11, 2024. Closely associated with him for years: the Bamberg Symphony, which he has conducted in almost 200 concerts in Germany and over 20 concerts abroad.    In honor of Anton Bruckner and Herbert Blomstedt, the Bamberg Symphony planned a special gift to their honorary conductor. On July 11, 2024, the day of his 97th birthday, Blomstedt conducted Bruckner's 9th Symphony in the Basilica of St. Florian, a place to which Anton Bruckner held close ties throughout his life. The great symphonist began his musical career as a Florian choirboy and later continued there as organist of St. Florian. Anton Bruckner was repeatedly drawn back to the abbey, where he found his final resting place under the organ.    Recorded live at the Basilica of St. Florian Monastery    Contains two bonus films:  A birthday serenade for Herbert Blomstedt's 97th birthday  Herbert Blomstedt on Anton Bruckner","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":46012646916330,"sku":"4260234833249","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4394701-3312265.jpg?v=1778203019"},{"product_id":"bruckner-symphony-no-17","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No. 9","description":"Anton Bruckner   Symphony No. 9  D minor, WAB 109    Bamberger Symphoniker  Herbert Blomstedt    There is often an occasion for great concerts, but there are rarely several good reasons for a concert recording of an outstanding musical event.    2024 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. For the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt, Bruckner is a genius and the greatest symphonist since Beethoven. No composer is more closely associated with Herbert Blomstedt than Anton Bruckner. And no conductor has dealt with Anton Bruckner more intensively than Herbert Blomstedt.    Probably the world's longest-serving conductor, with an eventful career spanning seven decades, Herbert Blomstedt celebrated his 97th birthday on July 11, 2024. Closely associated with him for years: the Bamberg Symphony, which he has conducted in almost 200 concerts in Germany and over 20 concerts abroad.    In honor of Anton Bruckner and Herbert Blomstedt, the Bamberg Symphony planned a special gift to their honorary conductor. On July 11, 2024, the day of his 97th birthday, Blomstedt conducted Bruckner's 9th Symphony in the Basilica of St. Florian, a place to which Anton Bruckner held close ties throughout his life. The great symphonist began his musical career as a Florian choirboy and later continued there as organist of St. Florian. Anton Bruckner was repeatedly drawn back to the abbey, where he found his final resting place under the organ.    Recorded live at the Basilica of St. Florian Monastery    Contains two bonus films:  A birthday serenade for Herbert Blomstedt's 97th birthday  Herbert Blomstedt on Anton Bruckner","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46012647604458,"sku":"4260234833256","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4394702-3312266.jpg?v=1778196320"},{"product_id":"stravinsky-bartok-martinu-works-for-violin-orchestra-zimmermann-hrusa-bamberg-symphony","title":"Stravinsky, Bartók \u0026 Martinů: Works for Violin \u0026 Orchestra \/ Zimmermann, Hruša, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eStravinsky, Bartok and Martinu were established international figures when they wrote these works for violin, travelling across Europe as well as the United States. With the onset of World War Two, all three composers would ultimately emigrate because of their rejection of fascism. In an age of political upheaval and cultural displacement, each of them found an individual approach to reinventing the language of tonal music, laying down roots in the west without abandoning their Eastern European identities. While the Russian-born Stravinsky was experimenting with possibilities of modern violin technique in his concerto, Martinu took these efforts a step further in his Suite concertante by blending the sounds of his native Bohemia with the colours of French neo-classicism. In the Rhapsodies, Bartok turned to the folk music of Hungary and Romania.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank Peter Zimmermann, joined here by the Bamberger Symphoniker and its conductor \u003cspan class=\"kY2IgmnCmOGjharHErah\" style=\"-webkit-line-clamp: 3;\" data-mce-style=\"-webkit-line-clamp: 3;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eJakub Hrůša\u003c\/span\u003e, continues his exploration of the great violin works of the 20th century after his acclaimed recordings of works by Hindemith (BIS-2024), Shostakovich (BIS-2247) as well as Martinu and Bartok (BIS-2457), a recording unanimously acclaimed by the critics, gaining a Diapason d’or and named ‘Concerto Choice’ by BBC Music Magazine, ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone and one of Classica’s ‘Chocs de l’annee’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eWith Jakub Hrůša and his super-attentive Bamberg orchestra, Frank Peter Zimmermann trumps the self-confident projection of his younger self. Stravinsky’s framing movements seem defter now, particularly the opening Toccata with its chortling bassoons\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir interpretation of Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto becomes an equally sarcastic and seriously elaborated confrontation. Even in the opening Toccata, taken from the baroque form, the notes buzz and chirp like a summer meadow full of birds and insects. In general, the performers give the work a floating lightness that dispels everything earthly. At no point do you notice the technical demands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the two arias, too, the participants maintain the intensity and musical pressure. The concluding Capriccio then gives Zimmermann another opportunity to let his violinistic fireworks leap, jump, and shine in an artfully choreographed manner. He knows he is in the best of company with his accompanists, as they also carry the sarcastic aspects of the score as well as demonstrating the ambiguity with pointed articulation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBartok’s rhapsodies are constructed in two parts, like a Csárdás, which has a slow and a fast part. Bartok has retained much of the character of the music here, which he borrowed from folk melodies. The performers know how to show this raw side of the music of the people with verve and well-dosed energy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first version of the Suite concertante already had a difficult genesis, as Martinů was, to put it casually, lovesick during its composition. The elegiac music of the meditation therefore has a special depth of expression, which Zimmermann and his accompanists shape with deep feeling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMartinů created the fundamentally new second version of the suite primarily at the request of the soloist Samuel Dushkin. The Aria from this version links up with Stravinsky’s concerto, as does the same original soloist. Many of the elements that characterize Martinů’s works – references to Czech folk music, vitality, changing rhythmic patterns and a mostly traditional harmony that does not exclude harsh dissonances – can also be found in the suite.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZimmermann also demonstrates his violinistic skills in the suite, which are characterized by elegance and mastery of the instrument, in an engaging and memorable, yet spontaneous manner, so that the suite shines with fresh brilliance and brings Martinů to the trapeze. Hruša and the Bambergers are still to be found at his side and are audibly at ease with the music of their not only geographical neighborhood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Pizzicato\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012657336554,"sku":"7318599926575","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4275131-3149165_97ed2142-729e-485f-a500-c074a06b9afd.jpg?v=1778237021"},{"product_id":"martin367-violin-concertos-1-2-zimmermann-hrua-397016","title":"Martinů: Violin Concertos 1 \u0026 2 \/ Zimmermann, Hruša, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrank Peter Zimmermann, one of today’s most highly regarded violinists, takes our breath away with this recording together with the Bamberger Symphoniker and their chief conductor Jakub Hruša – one of the leading Martinu conductors of today. They start off by exploring the lyrical side of Bohuslav Martinu, offered in the Second Violin Concerto (1943), to dive into the neo-classical idiom championed by Stravinsky that informs the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin closes the album. Composed in 1944, only a year before Bartók’s death, it is a deeply personal statement which fuses the overall layout of Bach’s solo violin sonatas with Hungarian folk tradition with results that are as fascinating to the listener as they are challenging to the performer.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHrůša is as fine a Martinů interpreter as anyone on the podium currently. What impresses most here, however, is the clarity and naturalness of Zimmermann’s performances, remarkable in combining an intimate knowledge of the music (the result of long study) with a freshness of approach. This is, for me, the top recommendation for these two works and, frankly, is how Martinů should always be played.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e– Gramophone (\u003cstrong\u003eEditor's Choice\u003c\/strong\u003e, January 2021)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012989014250,"sku":"7318599924571","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3862596-2667303.jpg?v=1778245197"},{"product_id":"brahms-dvorak-orchestral-works","title":"Brahms \u0026 Dvorák: Orchestral Works","description":"This is how Dvorak described his first encounter with the Third Symphony by Johannes Brahms: \"I can say without exaggeration that this work surpasses his first two symphonies; if not in grandeur and power of conception, then surely in beauty! It's mood is not often found in Brahms. What glorious melodies are there! It is pure love, and the heart soars as one listens to it!\" And in the same vein, we may add that the last two movements perfectly match Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, even if Brahms once said that Dvorak's Eighth was very well crafted as a symphony, but lacked the \"most important thing.\" This contradictory viewpoint makes the present combination particularly informative. Another aspect of this concept album lies in the character of the two works, such as for instance the last movements: Brahms ends with a farewell song- anticipating Mahler, where after solemn, comforting chorales the music falters and dies away... and the audience, overwhelmed, remains silent, too. The contrast with Dvorak's last movement is extreme: this is a turbulent movement which begins with fanfares that almost bring us to our feet, and ends triumphantly, showing that Dvorak has entirely freed himself from the shackles of tradition.","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46013088923882,"sku":"812973017431","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3682619-2411372.jpg?v=1778273679"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-4-anna-lucia-richter-397595","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 4 \/ Richter, Hruša, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen the Bamberg Symphony and their principal conductor Jakub Hruša went on tour in Germany with Mahler's Fourth Symphony in January 2020, no one would have thought that this symphony in particular would become a kind of \"symphony of fate\" of the year, for only two months later, the performance of major symphonic works was impossible for a long time after the \"corona lockdown\" in Germany, which hit cultural institutions particularly hard. The Bamberg Symphony were involved at an early stage in investigating the effects of making music together on the spread of the virus and helped to develop concepts for safe concert performances. This enabled their renowned Mahler Competition to take place in early July 2020, with Mahler's Fourth Symphony at its center. Even though it is the smallest Mahler symphony, these were the first symphonic performances after months, which then led to one of the first symphonic album recordings in times of the pandemic - seated apart, but musically closer than ever.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013102194922,"sku":"4260234832433","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3890263-2659668.jpg?v=1778249816"},{"product_id":"bruch-symphonies-nos-1-3-trevino-bamberg-291377","title":"Bruch: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 \/ Trevino, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eMax Bruch has never made things easy for fond listeners or performers of music; his contemporaries found him hard to handle, and so have later generations. The reason behind this has nothing to do with the superlative, worldwide renown of the first of his violin concertos, or with his musical language, which had already fallen out of fashion when he died exactly a hundred years ago. Instead, Bruch himself much too quickly and all too often lost his faith in his “musical progeny” because he did not have the patience to let them mature in peace and to secure a place in the broader public consciousness. This applies to the opera Die Loreley, which offers a rewarding listening experience, as well as to his three symphonies composed between 1868 and 1882 and originally intended as a series of works forming a trilogy. However, Max Bruch set aside the third part in order to focus on dramatic and choral symphonic projects. He first wanted to write his second opera, Hermione after The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare, and Odysseus, his first secular oratorio. As things turned out, the spectacular long-term success of these musical pictures from antiquity meant that his original symphonic project was relegated to the back burner. However, once we experience the three sister works in their originally planned context, as the present new production enables us to do, the tide turns in their favor. The revealing path from the heroic idea underlying the first symphony, which, by the way, we are presenting for the first time in its original five-movement version, over the tragic stance of the second symphony, to the “Rhine idyll” of the third symphony leads us to the realization that this triad deserves much more credit than its meager performance figures would make us believe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013126443242,"sku":"761203525225","price":36.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3826223-2576453.jpg?v=1778257120"},{"product_id":"madsen-works-for-horn","title":"Madsen: Works for Horn","description":"On his debut Genuin recording, Christoph E+� performs horn concertos by contemporary Noewegian composer Tryve Madsen. Christoph E+� currently holds the position of principal horn of the Bambery Symphony Orchestra. In 2007 Christoph won seven special prizes in the prestigious \"Prague Spring\" international music competition. The following year he was awarded the soloist prize of \"Mecklenburg-Vorpommern\" and in 2009 won a scholarship from the German Music Competition at the Geothe Institut. In 2011, he performed in the \"Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists\" concert that was recorded in Zurich. He has held a faculty position at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart since 2009.","brand":"Genuin","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013135519978,"sku":"4260036252521","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2059017_59800d5d-47cb-4308-874a-a13933942003.jpg?v=1778313223"},{"product_id":"tcherepnin-narcisse-et-echo-op-40-borowicz-291376","title":"Tcherepnin: Narcisse et Echo, Op. 40 \/ Borowicz, Bamberger Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eNikolai Tcherepnin (not to be confused with his son Alexander!) represents a generation of composers who not only combined two diametrically opposed epochs – the nineteenth and twentieth centuries – but also followed the path of stylistic change leading from late romanticism to impressionism and from impressionism to modernism. His name stands not only for the culture of his native Russia but also in equal measure for Western European art – and especially that of France. In the symphonic prelude Princesse lointaine, a short early work, Tcherepnin develops his compositional aesthetic, and we already detect what later would be a dominant element in his mature works: an interest in legends and sagas. The ballet music for Narcissus and Echo forms the focus of this album. Tcherepnin realized the underlying ideas of the designer Léon Bakst and the choreographer Michel Fokine in his score and did so not merely in an illustrative way but on the strength of his own expressive means. The colorful gradations that Bakst discovered as an optical solution, sometimes the contrast between the Dionysian and Apollonian principles, and the contrast between the bright attire of the Booetians and the dark, muted color of the nymph Echo, who laments her unrequited love, are reflected in the changing orchestral coloration of the music. Tcherepnin’s music, in part pervaded by a tenor’s vocalises and a vocal ensemble, becomes a brilliant, highly pictorial subject. This is a stylized antiquity with an exquisiteness, beauty, and refinement integrated into a cult, and these characteristics situate the Narcissus score – one of the interesting aesthetic artistic monuments of the early twentieth century – in the vicinity of impressionism and modernism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013290381546,"sku":"761203525027","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3819898-2575740.jpg?v=1778257277"},{"product_id":"goldmark-symphonic-poems-vol-2-bollon-bamberg-397396","title":"Goldmark: Symphonic Poems, Vol. 2 \/ Bollon, Bamberg Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eCarl Goldmark was not a symphonist – and that is no secret. His few attempts in this field – an early work, in part lost, and his second symphony, his op. 35, did not add up to much, and the Ländliche Hochzeit, to which the generic label »symphony« was assigned, does nothing more than confirm that this master of orchestral colors was above all good at atmospheric and character pictures. Goldmark very evidently needed a programmatic or dramatic “pretext” in order to rise up to his creative best, which is why he was able to gain the greatest fame and to score his most important successes with his stage works (tops here: Die Königin von Saba) as well as with his concert overtures. As he himself said, a change of milieu was good for his powers of inspiration, and so he repeatedly sought out extremes while selecting his materials and subjects. Accordingly, this new album with the Bamberg Symphony and the conductor Fabrice Bollon is also a “composite”: it complements Vol. 1 (555 160-2) with a program including the three mirthful overtures Im Frühling (In the Spring), In Italien (In Italy), and Aus Jugendtagen (From the Days of Youth), the preludes to his last two operas, Götz von Berlichingen and Ein Wintermärchen (A Winter’s Tale), and a special rarity in the form of the symphonic tone picture Zrinyi – a musical monument to this Hungarian-Croatian national hero and a work with which Goldmark wanted to express his gratitude to his home Magyar territory.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013305389290,"sku":"761203525126","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3886816-2650430.jpg?v=1778252072"},{"product_id":"bruckner-symphony-no-4-the-3-versions-945061","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 - The 3 versions \/ Hruša, Bamberger Symphoniker","description":"\u003ctable\u003e  \u003ctbody\u003e  \u003ctr\u003e  \u003ctd\u003eBruckner’s Fourth Symphony occupies a special position in Anton Bruckner's symphonic cycle. It heralds the cycle of his \"mature\" symphonies and with it the composer addressed his audience directly and wanted to be understood by them. He succeeded in this - today the “Romantic” is one of Bruckner's most popular symphonies. Still, he revised it time and again and today there are three versions of it. With the Bamberg Symphony, which can draw on many years of Bruckner interpretation, Jakub Hrusa has now recorded all versions of the Fourth Symphony. For a conductor, it is a unique opportunity to be able to record all versions of a symphony. In addition, as Hrusa says, the project enables the interested audience to form their own opinion of the quality and tailoring of the respective version. In this way, listeners can decide for themselves whether the composer was right in his doubts, and whether it makes any sense at all to “pit” one version against the other.\u003c\/td\u003e  \u003c\/tr\u003e  \u003c\/tbody\u003e  \u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Accentus Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013326393578,"sku":"4260234832440","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3998712-2764570.jpg?v=1778269290"},{"product_id":"matthias-kirschnereit-plays-mozart-396967","title":"Mozart: The Piano Concertos \/ Kirschnereit","description":"“Youthful and vibrant accounts” of the Mozart Piano Concertos (Classical Net) recorded between 2001 and 2005 by Matthias Kirschnereit, a fine pianist still not sufficiently known outside his native Germany. In this 10-album survey, he is accompanied by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frank Beermann. A MusicWeb International reviewer has called Kirschnereit “a pianist who is a perfect fit with Mozart’s warm and loving utterances”. Matthias Kirschnereit is counted amongst the most riveting and successful German pianists of his generation. The ECHO-Classic-Laureate performs 50 concerts annually and is celebrated as the \"poet on the piano\" by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In this, he is following his artistic ideal of finding and communicating the musical emotions, the story and the human element of the pieces.","brand":"Sony Masterworks","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013383999722,"sku":"194397929225","price":29.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3862739-2652132.jpg?v=1778243233"},{"product_id":"the-baton-a-documentary-by-michael-wende-115095","title":"The Baton: A Documentary by Michael Wende","description":"The Baton, a documentary by Michael Wende, puts the conducting profession under the magnifying glass. In it, an animated character called the Baton-Designer follows twelve conductors who are participating in the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition. The film’s style, with its sharp cuts, tongue-in-cheek allusions and clever graphics, delivers humor and tension in equal measure. It is an entertaining and illuminating cinematic crash course on the conducting profession, featuring Herbert Feuerstein as the voice of the Baton-Designer.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  65 Minutes\u003cbr\u003e  Dolby Digital 2.0 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  NTSC\u003cbr\u003e  Region 0\u003cbr\u003e  German \u0026amp; English","brand":"Belvedere Edition","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":46015347753194,"sku":"4280000101273","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2870188.jpg?v=1778280997"},{"product_id":"symphony-no-4-ouvertures-be","title":"SYMPHONY NO. 4, OUVERTURES 'BE","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025338028266,"sku":"812973011132","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/782281.jpg?v=1778187303"},{"product_id":"bruckner-symphony-no-3-nott-bamberg-so-154733","title":"Bruckner: Symphony No 3 \/ Nott, Bamberg So","description":"BRUCKNER  \u003cspan class=\"ARIALb\"\u003e Symphony No. 3\u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL\"\u003e (first version, 1873) \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIALb\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL\"\u003e Jonathan Nott, cond; Bamberg SO \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIALb\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL\"\u003e TUDOR 7133 (Multichannel Hybrid SACD: 63:12)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eFanfare \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e28:3, I briefly described the three versions—1873, 1877, and 1889—of Anton Bruckner’s Third Symphony, while reviewing Kent Nagano’s recording of the 1873 version with the Deutsches Symphony of Berlin (Harmonia Mundi 901817, also available as a multichannel hybrid SACD, HMC 801817). For all its virtues of interpretation, execution, and sound—and sounding even better in the SACD version—I judged it not quite as compelling a performance as one by Georg Tintner and the Royal Scottish Orchestra on Naxos 8.553454. Now a new SACD from Tudor further complicates the picture. Jonathan Nott, an English conductor enjoying a major career in Europe, leads a powerful performance of the symphony, and the Bamberg Symphony never sounded better. In “super audio” five-channel sound, this is now clearly the best recording to date of the 1873 version. It is also one of the shortest; Nagano is more than five minutes longer, and Tintner more than 14! The first commercial recording by Eliahu Inbal and the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra clocked in at 65:12, and the fastest ever, by Roger Norrington and his London Classical Players, zipped by at 57:25. In placing Nott and Tintner at the head of my list, I obviously do not care how fast the music is played, but how convincing a conductor and orchestra can make their interpretation sound. Nott, like Tintner, creates drama through persuasive dynamic and rhythmic contrasts, adding up to a complete and compelling conception. It is especially gratifying to find a relatively young (born 1962) conductor creating a profound and exciting performance reminiscent of much older conductors, such as Bruno Walter, Carl Schuricht, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Otto Klemperer, and Eugen Jochum. \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"BLANK\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eTudor’s notes argue, as did Georg Tintner annotating his own performance for Naxos, that the later versions were not so much improvements as attenuations of a great masterpiece that is best heard and understood in its original form. Now that I have become thoroughly familiar with it, I can no longer argue against that view, though there is so much to admire in every version of Bruckner’s symphonies that I prefer to enjoy each on its own terms. It seems more worthwhile to argue against those who, for whatever reason, try to suppress marvelous scores like the Vienna version of the First Symphony, or the final version (1888) of the Fourth, both of which were revised and sent to the printer with the composer firmly in charge, however much help he had from his disciples.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eAn ethical case might be made against the publication (as recently as 1977, edited by Leopold Nowak) of this first version, because the composer never tried to have it performed or published. But every Bruckner enthusiast I know is grateful to hear these alternate versions, and conductors may now choose which version or versions they wish to perform. Similarly, serious collectors can choose which they wish to buy and keep.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThanks to many recordings and concerts heard live or by radio, one can now accept the large number of allusions to the operas of Richard Wagner in the 1873 edition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThis was the version Wagner saw; Bruckner sought and received the great man’s permission to dedicate the symphony to him. This version is characterized by monumental length: 2,056 measures, compared to 1,715 in the 1877 version, and 1,544 in 1889. When performed with such skill and conviction, and recorded in such rich and burnished sound as in Tudor’s new release, one feels that more, indeed, is better.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESb\"\u003eFANFARE: Robert McColley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025340190954,"sku":"812973011330","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/730748.jpg?v=1778186536"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-5-in-c-sharp-minor-1","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025381544170,"sku":"812973011262","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/730749.jpg?v=1778187261"},{"product_id":"symphony-no-1-an-das-vaterla","title":"SYMPHONY NO. 1 'AN DAS VATERLA","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025381609706,"sku":"812973010999","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/782279.jpg?v=1778189762"},{"product_id":"schumann-works-for-piano-and-orchestra","title":"Schumann: Works for Piano and Orchestra","description":"During his short and turbulent life, Robert Schumann often composed as if in a trance. This exuberance, this impulsivity is particularly apparent in his works for piano and orchestra, all closely connected to his love for Clara Wieck. - \"A cross between symphony, concerto and great sonata, not a concerto for the virtuoso\" was his aim - and this is brilliantly realized; however, these works require a virtuoso with nimble, as well as strong and sensitive fingers, a pianist able to recreate Schumann's unique romantic world. Gerhard Oppitz achieves this in exemplary fashion, flawlessly mastering the technical demands in an interpretation imbued with a very personal passion for one of our greatest composers - all the while supported by and in dialogue with an orchestra ideally suited to his vision: The Bamberger Symphoniker.","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025381871850,"sku":"812973018117","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1973837.jpg?v=1778311021"},{"product_id":"smetana-ma-vlast-hrusa-bamberg-symphony-99891","title":"Smetana: Ma Vlast \/ Hrusa, Bamberg Symphony","description":"Smetana’s cycle “My Country” is a pinnacle of symphonic literature. There is nothing quite like it: six musical poems which, while independent of each other, form an organic whole. As a composer, Smetana was in the vanguard. This visionary work is unmistakably personal, connected to the Czech nation’s tragic history and to the Bohemian-Moravian landscape; it is not only about memory, it also gives hope for the future, brilliantly describing landscapes of the human soul. As such it goes beyond time, to create something of a lasting significance. This is music of nostalgia, which sets thoughts and emotions free. After hearing “My Country,” one emerges stronger. Every one of these six pieces has a tremendous energy, and enables one to live with melancholy and sorrow: the work transforms the listener and enriches his soul.","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025385541866,"sku":"812973011965","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3524978.jpg?v=1778278932"},{"product_id":"stravinsky-le-sacre-du-printemps-etc-nott-171048","title":"Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps, Etc \/ Nott, Bamberg So","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025391309034,"sku":"812973011453","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1507154.jpg?v=1778338334"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-1-in-d-major-113698","title":"Mahler: Symphony No 1 In D Major \/ Nott, Bamberg So","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025392652522,"sku":"812973011477","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1507130.jpg?v=1778328378"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-8","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 2","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025403498730,"sku":"812973011583","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1654454.jpg?v=1778332884"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-11","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 7","description":"The Bamberger Symphoniker and Jonathan Nott present Mahler's Symphony No. 7. Mahler's seventh was described as \"very problematic\" by Otto Klemperer following it's premiere, and as \"a weak piece\" by Theodor W. Adorno. Mahler himself considered this work to be mainly cheerful and humoristic in content. Here, we encounter a masterpiece of formal construction, instrumentation and, above all, content.","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025404874986,"sku":"812973011767","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1973792.jpg?v=1778319510"},{"product_id":"trumpet-concertos-gabor-tarkovi-karl-heinz-steffens-130623","title":"Trumpet Concertos \/ Gabor Tarkovi, Karl-heinz Steffens, Bamberger Symphoniker","description":"This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"The oft-recorded Haydn Concerto is vividly recorded with the signal completely unclouded. This reveals Tarkövi’s peach-tender full fat tone. This is on best display in the Andante of the Haydn which paves the way for the lickety-split allegro. The charmingly decorous two-movement Leopold Mozart Concerto features harpsichord continuo. Neruda’s Trumpet Concerto - like the Hummel work - returns us to the conventional three movement template. Prague-based Neruda wrote 18 symphonies, 10 violin concertos, one bassoon concerto, 34 trio-sonatas and, among much else, this trumpet concerto. It is a fluent work with some very eloquent noble invention in the opening Allegro and many touching and original turns in the solo line in the final Vivace. Hummel opens with sturm und drang before making way for some witty light-on-the-feet material. It is good to be reminded that Hummel wrote such a sweetly inclined concerto. Tarkövi is always pleasingly ripe-toned though he is not always ideally attentive to staccato demands. On the other hand mechanical noise from the pistons is imperceptible except once during the trills at the end of the first movement of the Hummel. There is much to enjoy here among these four concertos written between 1762 and 1803.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  It is typical of Tudor that their booklet which is in three languages is a joy to use. It affords plenty of information about the music and the sensible font design and size is kind to the eyes.\"\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  -- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025404973290,"sku":"812973011699","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1769901.jpg?v=1778323582"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-9-nott-bamberg-so-262798","title":"Mahler: Symphony No 9 \/ Nott, Bamberg SO","description":"Jonathan Nott’s Mahler cycle has now reached the fourth installment. Recordings have already been issued of the First Symphony, the Fifth Symphony and the Fourth. This is the first in the series to come my way. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Before considering the performance I think a few words about the recording itself may be helpful – I listened to these hybrid SACDs as conventional CDs. When I first started listening I thought that the sound appeared almost too close. In fact, I found that my ears soon adjusted as the performance continued and that I didn’t find the closeness to be as much of an issue on further hearings. I suppose the effect is rather akin to sitting just a few rows back from the stage in the concert hall. The orchestra sounds very ‘present’. There certainly seems to be a good spread of sound from one side of the platform, as it were, to the other but I’m less sure that there’s adequate front-to-back perspective. Another feature of the recording is that Nott has divided his violins left and right – of which I heartily approve. However, until the finale, where the strings dominate the scoring for much of the time, I couldn’t hear much of the viola, cello or double bass lines. In fact the strings as a whole are too easily swamped by the wind and brass sections in the first three movements.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e For comparison I put on Simon Rattle’s Berliner Philharmoniker recording, which I so much admired in 2008 (see review by Tony Duggan). Here too the recording is fairly close but much more inner string detail is evident. I strongly suspect that the Tudor engineers have used a limited microphone array in an effort to present a truthful concert hall sound image whereas the EMI team have probably used multiple microphones placed within or above the orchestra in order to capture much more detail. I think the Tudor sound does indeed present the sort of sound that you’d hear in a concert hall – and Mahler’s scoring is very often wind- and brass-heavy – and it depends whether you want a recording for home listening to give you a concert hall perspective or whether you want as much detail as possible.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e So you might want to sample the recording before purchasing. However, even if the sound is not quite your ideal – and, as I say, my ears adjusted quite quickly – sonic considerations aren’t everything here for Nott leads a fine performance of this magnificent, complex symphony.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e He takes a fairly spacious view of I. In fact, at 29:46 his is one of the longest performances I know. Rattle is slightly quicker overall (28:56) but it’s interesting to note that some, though by no means all, conductors of the previous generation have taken less time over this movement. Barbirolli, for example, took 26:53 in his famous EMI Berlin recording, while Kubelik’s live 1975 reading (Audite) took 26:44. The celebrated 1938 Bruno Walter recording flashes by in 24:47. Have Mahler performances broadened over the years?\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nott may be spacious but throughout the movement his control and concentration are impressive. His reading isn’t as passionate as Rattle can be at times; it’s more patient. There were one or two occasions when I thought his speeds were just a little bit too measured but as a whole his reading is impressive. The climaxes are thrust home – at these points one has the impression that the orchestra is playing flat out – but the quiet passages often impress. For example the ghostly passage between 8: 01 and 9:47 is imaginatively presented with lots of good detail – I like the distanced muted horns, for instance. I think it would be fair to say that sometimes the violins sound just a little thin in alt and the string bass line is certainly underpowered – no doubt because one is so used, with many other conductors, to hearing the cellos and basses prominently through the right hand speaker. But, set against that I must say straightaway that much of the playing is vivid, the orchestra’s response is totally committed and there’s a lot of fine solo playing to admire. I have heard more dramatic, angst-ridden accounts of this amazingly rich movement but drama isn’t the whole story by any means and Nott’s account is very convincing and never less than wholly musical. He seems to see the whole movement in one long sweep and I admire his way with it very much.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The two inner movements go very well. There’s a good deal of sharply etched, piquant playing in II. Nott paces the music very well and he judges the many tempo modifications expertly. His reading of III is dynamic and thrusting. He and the engineers bring out a great deal of the teeming contrapuntal detail in the score. The trio (from 5:55) is taken at a suitably relaxed pace. This is nostalgic music but I like the fact that Nott never wallows in the sentiment; on the contrary, forward momentum is nicely maintained – and praise too for the solo trumpeter, whose silvery tone is just right. When the Rondo resumes (10:23) the music is turbulent and exciting right to the last bar.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The strings come into their own in the finale. The opening paragraphs are full-toned but the emotion is not overdone – Nott doesn’t play his cards too soon. The string playing is very good, the tone just weighty enough - and now we do hear a satisfyingly strong bass line. One rather special moment occurs between 4:05 and 4:54 where Nott obtains the most atmospheric playing imaginable from his strings. At this point the bass line is spectral with a wafer-thin violin line on top.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nott unfolds the finale compellingly and the Bamberg strings and horn section in particular do him proud. Once again, this isn’t perhaps the most overtly emotional reading I’ve heard but the patience – perhaps even a degree of reserve? – brings its own rewards. Nott’s ability to take the long view and to build the movement incrementally means that when we reach the sustained ardent passage that lies at the heart of the movement (14:18 – 17:03) the effect is all the greater. The closing pages of this movement are always a huge test for players and conductor alike. Here the test is passed very successfully. During the last four minutes or so, starting with the second violin entry at 21:07, the music gradually winds down, all passion spent.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This Mahler Ninth is a very fine achievement. A host of great conductors and leading orchestras have essayed this symphony on disc over the years and though the seventeen versions on my own shelves don’t quite go from A to Z they do go from Barbirolli to Walter. This new version can certainly contend with the best of them and it’s one to which I’m sure I shall be returning frequently in the future.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e -- John Quinn, MusicWeb International\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025479028970,"sku":"812973011620","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1579882.jpg?v=1778323595"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-4-in-g-major-224937","title":"Mahler: Symphony No 4 In G Major \/ Nott, Erdmann, Bamberg So, Et Al","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46025488761066,"sku":"812973011514","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1507131.jpg?v=1778338395"},{"product_id":"bruckner-mass-no-3-wab-28","title":"Bruckner: Mass No. 3, WAB 28","description":"�Bruckner's last mass is a masterpiece. 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