Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

A year before his death in 1948, Richard Strauss composed his masterpiece, Four Last Songs, expressing a calm acceptance of the inevitability of his own death.

Classical Music

The song was Richard Strauss' lifetime companion, from Weihnachtslied written at the age of six and Nebel written when he was fourteen, to his masterpiece, Four Last Songs, that completed his life' work.

The Turkish pianist Idil Biret was one of the greatest child prodigies of the 20th century. Her recital at the Boston Conservatory demonstrated that she is no less prodigious today. She played a long and demanding program with the power, concentration. 747313127177 NXS8571271.2 14507984 .00 14.99 .21 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/30/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/8/2/5/1525282.jpg 4 1 N FAURE / RAVEL / HERSANT / MOZART / TRIO CERES TRIO CERES 812864018226 OEHM730.2 14554551 .00 14.99 .23 OEHMS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/30/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/9/2/5/1525296.jpg 92 1 N DUN / AUDI / WORKMAN / CASTLE / RICHARDSON / LUNDY MARCO POLO Charles Workman, Sarah Castle, Stephen Richardson, and Nancy Allen Lundy star in this production of the Tan Dun opera with the composer conducting the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Cappella Amsterdam. 809478070290 BOPU7029BR 14508608 .00 42.99 .25 BBC / OPUS ARTE BLU-RAY CLASSICAL OPERA / OPERETTA / ORATORIO 06/30/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/4/3/5/1525343.jpg 65 1 N SCHWARTZ,ELLIOTT HALL OF MIRRORS 726708668129 IOV681.2 14378829 .00 16.99 .20 INNOVA RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/14/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/8/9/0/1500983.jpg 8 1 N VIOLETTE,ANDREW SONATA FOR UNACCOMPANIED VIOLIN 726708671129 IOV711.2 14077982 .00 23.99 .21 INNOVA RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 11/25/2008 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/8/5/7/1437588.jpg 4 2 N DVORAK / PRIMAKOV PIANO CONCERTO IN G MINOR 090404930928 BRI9309.2 14722790 .00 18.99 .25 BRIDGE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 10/13/2009 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/87/1345587-2553005.jpg 4 1 N DEBUSSY / SCHUBERT / VOLK SOLO PIANO WORKS 044747291321 CAV2913.2 13982690 .00 18.99 .20 CENTAUR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/30/2008 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/0/8/1/1421800.jpg 12 1 N MOZART / RAMPE COMPLETE CLAVIERWORKS 11 760623131122 MDGE3411311.2 14928475 .00 23.99 .24 MDG COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/06/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/0/7/8/1628701.jpg 87 1 N GLASS / CARDUCCI QUARTET STRING QUARTETS NOS 1-4 Although Philip Glass came late to the string quartet, his contribution to the genre has since become a significant one. 636943963623 NAAC8559636.2 15101365 .00 19.99 .19 NAXOS AMERICAN COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/29/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/4/8/7/1657842.jpg 1 1 N ROCHBERG / PINKAS PIANO MUSIC 3 George Rochberg' relationship with the past is not one of nostalgia; it is one of intimate, living familiarity. 636943963326 NAAC8559633.2 15101358 .00 19.99 .24 NAXOS AMERICAN COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/29/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/5/8/7/1657850.jpg 0 1 N WHITACRE / ELORA FESTIVAL SINGERS / EDISON CHORAL MUSIC Eric Whitacre dedication to the beauty of sound, paired with exquisite texts, results in a poetic combination that creates a unique sonic experience. 636943967720 NAAC8559677.2 15101372 .00 19.99 .23 NAXOS AMERICAN COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/15/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/5/8/7/1657854.jpg 39 1 N KWAK / MARTINU / DORATI / HOLLIGER / GORITZKI CONCERTO FOR OBOE & SMALL ORCHESTRA / SONATA FOR 760623158662 MDGE9031586SACD 14928505 .00 24.99 .23 MDG SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/06/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/2/7/8/1628722.jpg 17 1 N GOPLERUD / CONSTANTINIDES / MONDS / SANDOZ / MANN VIGNETTES FROM MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE 044747294223 CAV2942.2 14156328 .00 18.99 .20 CENTAUR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 11/25/2008 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/7/1/2/1452178.jpg 7 1 N BERNARD,GILLES CHAPEAU DE MA 690579001227 EFFC1227.2 26066448 .00 16.99 .25 EFFENDI COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 01/01/2000 01/12/2021 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/7/1/4/1504171.jpg 1 1 N BRIDGE / BEBBINGTON PIANO MUSIC 2 748871308220 SOMM82.2 14374678 .00 20.99 .21 SOMM RECORDINGS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/14/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/4/1/5/1495142.jpg 3 1 N SCHUBERT / SCHUBERT / MAHLER / MEINDERS TRANSCRIPTIONS 5709499671009 DAN671.2 14370663 .00 18.99 .18 DANACORD RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/14/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/4/2/6/3896248.jpg 3 1 N STAROBIN / CARTER / KAVISTA / LAVISTA / SONDHEIM FAVORITE TRACKS 2 090404929229 BRI9292.2 14370168 .00 18.99 .21 BRIDGE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/14/2009 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/77/1336377-2552993.jpg 7 1 N HAYDN / BONDI / EDER / REICHARDT / FANTAPIE STABAT MATER Haydn's wonderful Stabat Mater is far less well known than those of Pergolesi and other composers; this recording made in Paris in 1978 was a pioneering version using reconstructed scores and revised by renowned musicologist and scholar H C Robbins Landon. Also included is the even rarer LIBERA ME, only discovered in the mid 20th century. The soloists are: ANNA MARIA BONDI (soprano), CLAUDIA EDER (mezzo), AXEL REICHARDT (tenor) and KERT KRATTINGER (bass) with the Choral Philippe Caillard. As bonus tracks, we include classic 1964 recordings of the 44th Symphony (Trauersinfonie) and the rare Double Concerto for Violin and Harpsichord, which features violinist Jacques Francis Manzone and harpsichordist Francoise Petit. 809730121227 DVRT21212.2 14374692 .00 27.99 .27 DIVINE ART COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL OPERA / OPERETTA / ORATORIO 04/14/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/8/1/5/1495187.jpg 34 2 N CARTER / MACDOWELL ROZSA / SEIVEWRIGHT AMERICAN PIANO SONATAS This CD celebrates two notable milestones in American music: The 100th birthday of Elliott Carter (to whom we dedicate the CD) and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Miklis Rizsa, who sadly is no longer with us. Each wrote just one Piano Sonata - of which this is currently the only recording of the Rizsa piece) and they are presented with the Fourth Sonata (the Keltic) of Edward MacDowell. Splendid performances. This is the first of four projected volumes. 809730505225 DVRT25052.2 14374722 .00 19.99 .22 DIVINE ART COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/14/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/9/1/5/1495191.jpg 21 1 N CASKEN / WEIR / SAXTON / KREUTZER QUARTET NOTHERN LIGHTS: BRITISH STRING QUARTETS The three composers featured on this CD are in themselves leading lights of the contemporary music scene in the UK, and their works (of which these are first recordings) very fine examples of the modern string quartet, all extremely accessible. 809730850721 METI28507.2 14371738 .00 19.99 .22 METIER COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/14/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/9/1/5/1495196.jpg 9 1 N ARCIULI,EMANUELE GATES TO EVERYWHERE 8011570579089 STU57908.2 14253690 .00 18.99 .16 STRADIVARIUS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 02/10/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/1/8/1/1471814.jpg 22 1 N TILZER / HEYMANN / CHAUVIN / KEIZER / DIJIKER KIRVANI REVISITED 608917229523 CHLL72295.2 14174995 .00 18.99 .17 CHALLENGE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/13/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/6/0/3/1463064.jpg 6 1 N BEETHOVEN / BACH,J.S. / MAKANOWITZKY / LEE COMPLETE VIOLIN SONATAS OF BEETHOVEN & BACH 723721397753 DREM7946.2 14173745 .00 81.99 .39 DOREMI RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS BOX SETS (AUDIO / VIDEO ONLY) 01/13/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/8/0/3/1463088.jpg 8 4 Y ROGIER / ROMERO / NAMUR CHAMBER CHOIR / LA FENICE MASSES 5400439002715 RCR271.2 14175169 .00 20.99 .28 RICERCAR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/13/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/2/1/3/1463123.jpg 26 2 N BACH / RILLING ORCHESTRAL WORKS 11 040888257127 HAC92571.2 10776001 .00 117.99 .20 SWRMUSIC COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 08/01/2004 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/58/1394258.jpg 1 12 Y MOZART / YOUNG-HOON / KASSEL SPOHR CHAMBER ORCH MASONIC MUSIC (COMPLETE) During his seven years as a Mason, and in addition to the incidental music for Thamos, King of Egypt and the Magic Flute, which abound in Masonic symbolism, Brother Mozart adapted or newly composed a number of works for his fraternity, some of which. 747313089772 NXS8570897.2 14230578 .00 19.99 .21 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/27/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/1/3/3/1463319.jpg 2 1 N ETERNAL GUITAR / VARIOUS ETERNAL GUITAR / VARIOUS The best of Eternal Guitar accompanied by Camerata Cassovia Orchestra under the direction of Johannes Wildner and Peter Breiner bring such classics as Vivaldi's Lute Concerto in D Major, RV 93: II. Largo (arr. G. Garcia for guitar and orchestra) and Bach's Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974 (after the Oboe Concerto by A. Marcello): III. Presto (arr. E. Voorhorst for guitar) to life. 747313218271 NXS8572182.2 14256363 .00 19.99 .20 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS V/A COMPILATIONS 01/27/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/2/3/3/1463328.jpg 99 1 N SHENG / LIN / SCHUB / SVABODA / SHENG SPRING DREAMS Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng acknowledges no aesthetic borders, weaving together haunting melodies and sonorities from sources as diverse as Chinese, Kazakhstani and Tibetan music. 747313060177 NXS8570601.2 14250828 .00 19.99 .19 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/27/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/1/3/3/1463314.jpg 3 1 N GOSSEC / VANHAL / CAPPELLA COLONIENSIS / LINDE CLASSICAL SYMPHONIES 811691011745 PNX174.2 14254413 .00 12.99 .22 PHOENIX EDITION COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/27/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/4/3/3/1463341.jpg 2 1 N FASCH / LES AMIS DE PHILIPPE / REMY DRESDEN SINFONIAS 761203742424 CPO777424-2.2 14256776 .00 18.99 .25 CPO RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 02/10/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/5/3/3/1463359.jpg 0 1 N HERRING,VINCENT AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 710357271120 NIM2711.2 14299001 .00 16.99 .20 NIMBUS RECORDS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/10/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/8/1/9/1489184.jpg 3 1 N UPSHAW,DAWN / GARRETT SINGS WOLF STRAUSS RACHMANINOFF IVES & WEILL 710357252129 NIM2521.2 14312212 .00 16.99 .23 NIMBUS RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/10/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/1/2/9/1489210.jpg 6 1 N HANUS / EBEN / HAAS / ENGLICHOVA / VEVERKA RISONANZA 099925399320 SPP3993.2 14566332 .00 31.99 .27 SUPRAPHON COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 07/28/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/1/5/0/1540517.jpg 5 1 N NQO BLESSINGS MBUBE & GOSPEL FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA 5019396219922 ARM2199.2 14274220 .00 16.99 .24 ARC MUSIC COMPACT DISCS POP INT'L & WORLD MUSIC 02/24/2009 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/13/1400513.jpg 9 1 N RAUTAVAARA: THE 8 SYMPHONIES / VARIOUS RAUTAVAARA: THE 8 SYMPHONIES / VARIOUS 761195114520 OND1145.2 14300271 .00 32.99 .27 ONDINE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC V/A COMPILATIONS 02/24/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/5/0/0/1470050.jpg 0 4 Y GRIEG / POMPA-BALDI WORKS FOR PIANO 9 044747293028 CAV2930.2 14322136 .00 18.99 .19 CENTAUR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 02/24/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/2/5/3/1483528.jpg 7 1 N DENHOFF PLAYER PIANO 8 760623140827 MDGE6451408.2 14354656 .00 23.99 .22 MDG COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 07/21/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/7/9/0/1490973.jpg 68 1 N MOZART / MOZART AKADEMIE AMSTERDAM / LINDEN SYMPHONIES 40 & 41 842977032871 BRLT93287.2 14354380 .00 13.99 .20 BRILLIANT CLASSICS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/07/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/0/0/1/1491009.jpg 6 1 N KEISER / OCHS CHRISTMAS ORATORIO 409350834172 CARU83417.2 14049514 .00 20.99 .25 CARUS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS / CHANUKKAH 10/14/2008 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/9/2/8/1438290.jpg 18 1 N MALECKI / WEIHNACHTSLIEDER-ZYKLUS FUR GEMISCHTEN CICHA NOC: STILLE NACHT 409350834189 CARU83418.2 14049545 .00 20.99 .25 CARUS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS / CHANUKKAH 10/14/2008 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/9/2/8/1438291.jpg 20 1 N SACKMAN / MICHAL / SACKMAN / MCKINLEY / MICKA DIVERGENCE 896931000581 NVON5858.2 16007239 .00 18.99 .12 NAVONA COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/27/2011 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/6/3/0/1890364.jpg 4 1 N SHOSTAKOVICH / SCHMIT / GUENEBAUT ROTHSCHILD'S FIDDLE 3760179360097 FONN1110009.2 25747294 .00 23.99 .25 FONDAMENTA COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/28/2014 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/2/5/3/2003527.jpg 31 1 N TCHAIKOVKSY / FRICSAY SINFONIE 6 HAYDN SINFONIE 4035122402001 ARCH200.2 27556207 .00 10.99 .25 ARCHIPEL COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/01/2012 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/64/1719564-2628533.jpg 5 1 N SCHMID,STEFAN EXTENDED 608917110524 DMOO71105.2 16600256 .00 13.99 .14 DOUBLE MOON COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 06/12/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/1/9/2/1972912.jpg 10 1 N GERSHWIN / ALKI GUITAR TRIO / CALLAHAN / RISCHETTE PRELUDE NOS. 1 & 2 & 3 5411707260669 GHA126066.2 16362604 .00 19.99 .14 GHA COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 02/28/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/6/1/3/3893168.jpg 10 1 N BUXTEHUDE / PURCELL QUARTET VII SUONATE OP. 2 095115078426 CHN784.2 16339545 .00 21.99 .22 CHANDOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 02/28/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/9/3/7/1957390.jpg 35 1 N GOOSSENS / GIBBS / FENYO COMPLETE MUSIC FOR VIOLIN & PIANO A member of one of the most important English musical dynasties of the 19th and 20th centuries, Eugene Goossens trained as a violinist and composer but gained fame as a conductor. 747313286072 NXS8572860.2 16381896 .00 19.99 .20 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/1/4/7/1957418.jpg 1 1 N HANDEL / BEETHOVEN / MENDELSSOHN / BRITTEN SIR NEVILLE MARRINER Sir Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in works by Handel, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Britten. 5060244550643 ICAS5064DVD 16381483 .00 26.99 .21 ICA CLASSICS DIGITAL VIDEO DISC CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/2/4/7/1957424.jpg 63 1 N LOBO / ELLINGTON / CRIS LOBO TATI 600685102022 URT202.2 16382367 .00 16.99 .14 URTEXT RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/3/4/7/1957438.jpg 14 1 N SCHOLA CANTORUM KAROLUS MAGNUS MARTYRED VIRGINS This stirring new CD sets Gregorian, Ambrosian chant and two episodes from the life of St Agnes, creating a musical memorial to female victims of violence and abuse, raising a plea for freedom, respect and peace to be established in today's world. Poems and texts by Tehlia Lieberman and Marthe Link, read in English, punctuate the chants, and there are moving accounts by women raped in Central Africa and girls forced to enter homes for single mothers and give up their children. - Recording made in 2011, A moving and powerful program of the old and new, dealing with an important and shocking issue that is still with us in the 21st century. 5028421943145 BRLT94314.2 16380868 .00 13.99 .25 BRILLIANT CLASSICS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/4/4/7/1957445.jpg 3 1 N DAVIES / BBC PHILHARMONIC / DAVIES SYMPHONY NO. 1 & MAVIS IN LAS VEGAS Peter Maxwell Davies' visionary music has gained him a knighthood, the prestigious position of Master of the Queen' Music and a leading position among the foremost composers of our time. 747313234875 NXS8572348.2 16381834 .00 19.99 .20 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/4/4/7/1957447.jpg 1 1 N OSTERLING / HELSINGBORG SYM ORCH / BORREGAARD NARCISSUS 7393787111346 DBPD134.2 16381186 .00 18.99 .26 DB PRODUCTIONS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/6/4/7/1957460.jpg 6 1 N SCHUETZ / DRESDNER KAMMERCHOR / RADEMANN ZWOELF GEISTLICHE GESAENGE 4009350832398 CARU83239.2 16380943 .00 20.99 .24 CARUS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/27/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/9/4/7/1957497.jpg 5 1 N ELSNER / FRANCK / POLISH RADIO CHOIR / ENGELS CHOIR MUSIC FROM POLAND & BELGIUM 5412327920728 PHDA92072.2 16546585 .00 18.99 .19 PHAEDRA RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/10/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/9/3/3/1963399.jpg 5 1 N BRAHMS / EIDSTEN DAHL ORGAN WORKS 7090020180243 LAWO1023.2 16546509 .00 18.99 .18 LAWO CLASSICS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/10/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/0/4/3/1963409.jpg 8 1 N URSPRUCH / BROBERG / URBAN ZAUBERDUNKEL UND LICHTAZUR 4003913125859 THR2585.2 22714947 .00 24.99 .25 THOROFON COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 08/22/2011 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/2/3/1/1961327.jpg 7 1 N STRAUSS / SEATTLE SYMPHONY / SCHWARZ ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA This is as good a performance and interpretation - and technical recording - of Also sprach Zarathustra as one would expect to find" (Gramophone). Inspired and inspiring, Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra is one of a series of tone poems which pushed the form to it's limits. The famous opening introduces a musical interpretation of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise, taking Zarathustra on a complex search through human aspirations. Based on an incident in Strauss's own life, the suite from Intermezzo distills domestic strife and misunderstanding into four jocular vignettes.

Richard Strauss revived some of his less well-known scores in later years, turning his richly imaginative fairytale opera Die Frau ohne Schatten into an attractively compact orchestral tone-poem. Strauss preserved the storyline and tuneful highlights of both this and his Diaghilev-commissioned ballet Josephs-Legende, which describes a biblical drama in soaring themes and splendid orchestral effects. The charming and lyrical Serenade for Winds, written when Strauss was only 17, drew the composer to the attention of Hans von Bulow, whose support and influence was of importance to Strauss's early career.

Autobiographical in content, Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben is one of a series of tone-poems, including, Also Sprach Zarathustra (Naxos 8.571215), in which he explored the utmost limits of extra-musical content in this form. The hero passes through love and adversity, confrontation, triumph in battle and fulfilment in a single, powerfully descriptive symphonic span. Gerard Schwarz's Ein Heldenleben has been acclaimed as "exciting and inspired" (Gramophone). The opera Capriccio is a romantic struggle to choose between words and music which opens with a gloriously bitter-sweet string sextet.

Called a 'symphony' by its composer, Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony is nevertheless a symphonic poem, and as such it is the last in a series of works that includes such masterpieces as Don Juan, Also sprach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben. In 1900, when Strauss first mentioned any plans for the work, he spoke of a symphonic poem in two parts that would begin with a sunrise in Switzerland. When he returned to the idea some ten years later, the work soon grew so vast that he decided to be content with one single movement, depicting the 'worship of eternal glorious nature'. To regard the Alpensinfonie simply as an impression of landscape would be a mistake, however. It does make use of Strauss' entire repertoire of orchestral pictorialism, but behind it are ideas much less simple: nature is being worshipped in the intoxicated spirit of Nietzsche's superman, the liberation of the soul is achieved through hard work - the climber's struggle to gain the mountaintOp.The work is divided into 22 sections that flow in an unbroken sequence, marking the ascent and descent of the mountain, from before sunrise to after sunset. It was scored for the largest orchestra ever used by Strauss for a purely orchestral piece, and he later said that it was in the Alpine Symphony that he had 'finally learned how to orchestrate'. The experience must in any case have been useful when he composed his next work, the opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, with an even more opulent orchestration. The opera was premièred in 1919, but it wasn't until 1946 that Strauss, in his 82nd year, returned to the score in order to make his Symphonic Fantasy, based on high points from the opera. These huge, and enormously colourful works are performed here by the eminent São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, whose highly praised recordings of the Choros by Villa-Lobos have been described as 'an orgy of colours and rhythms' (Diapason) and 'an assured blend of lush colours, pulsating rhythms and supple phrasing' (International Record Review). The orchestra is conducted by Frank Shipway, with fine credentials in late-Romantic Austro-German repertoire.

Despite his advanced age and the chaos surrounding him, Richard Strauss remained highly productive well into the 1940's. As the Second World War was coming to an end in 1944-45, the eighty-year-old composer was working on his Oboe Concerto and Sonatina No. 2 for winds, as well as the Metamorphosen for strings. While the latter work was an explicit response to the destruction Strauss was witnessing, in the Concerto and the Sonatina the composer seemed to be turning his mind away from the events surrounding him. There is a pastoral quality to the oboe concerto, with a highly tuneful solo part and more than occasional touches of nostalgia for the 18th century. Similarly, Strauss headed the score of the sonatina with a dedication ''to the spirit of the immortal Mozart at the end of a life full of thankfulness''. To an extent, one might say that Strauss at the end of his life returned to the musical models of his youth. It is therefore fitting that these two works frame the Serenade in E flat major for wind ensemble, composed more than sixty years earlier in the tradition of entertainment music by Schubert and Mendelssohn. Alexei Ogrintchouk, one of today's leading oboists, has proven himself in previous recordings for BIS ranging from Bach to Nikos Skalkottas and Antal Dorati. With sterling support from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons, he here makes light of the considerable difficulties of the solo part of the oboe concerto, and also directs his colleagues from the orchestra's wind section in the works for wind ensemble.

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REVIEW:

Late Strauss has a sound very different from the sumptuous, huge-orchestra one of earlier Strauss, and the 1945 Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra, one of the composer’s final works, shows this quite clearly. The live recording of the concerto for BIS by Alexei Ogrintchouk is a very fine, well-played one, and the conducting by Andris Nelsons is sensitive and nicely paced.

Ogrintchouk is both oboist and conductor in the other works on the SACD, which are studio recordings. The short, charming, lively and quite self-assured Serenade for 13 Wind Instruments is from the opposite, earliest part of Strauss’ career, dating to 1881.

The final work on this disc is much more substantial — longer than the other two put together. The label Sonatina therefore seems something of a misnomer. It features very skillful wind writing — a Strauss characteristic that does not always get adequate attention — and an overall warm and mellow sound somewhat reminiscent of that of Brahms. Strauss was something of a natural in wind writing, as the excellent playing on this recording makes abundantly clear.

– Infodad.com

Classical Music

Classical Music