{"title":"Munchner Rundfunkorchester","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"don-giovanni-2","title":"DON GIOVANNI","description":"DON GIOVANNI","brand":"Orfeo","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":44722664505578,"sku":"4011790214214","price":37.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3893045.jpg?v=1778397183"},{"product_id":"symphonies","title":"Symphonies","description":"Indeed, Vienna is so rich in composers [...], that it is but just to allow it to be, among German cities, the imperial seat of music, as well as of power. Sir Charles Burney, the famous observer of European music, was quite correct. This city on the Danube was bubbling over with talents and masters who all made their livelihood there. This included Johann Baptist Wanhal, one of the innumerable Bohemians that tried their luck in the shadow of the court palace. He contributed many beautiful pieces to his preferred medium of instrumental music. The small selection of the present production alone well demonstrates that Wanhal was able to hold his own in the symphonic genre next to Joseph Haydn, who was seven years his senior. Subtle orchestral colours, a fine sense for dramatic events, especially in the minor keys, and striking melodies are characteristic of the creations that were enjoyed not only in the old imperial city.","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012439363818,"sku":"761203543328","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4442526-3418363.jpg?v=1778192990"},{"product_id":"devcic-lazic-ronjgov-istrian-rhapsody-4035719003321","title":"Istrian Rhapsody \/ Repušic, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe folk music of the Croatian peninsula of Istria is as characteristic as it is extraordinary. Its melodies, harmonies and rhythms are unique, and sonorously expressed by the sopila - a traditional shawm instrument - as well as through choral singing and folk dances. The music with its asymmetrical rhythms is based on the so-called \"pentatonic Istrian scale\", which consists of major and minor seconds and is thus clearly different from the other musical styles of Croatia. Numerous non-Istrian musicians and composers have been fascinated by it - among them the Croatian composer Natko Devčić, with his \"Istrian Suite\" for orchestra (1946), or the young Croatian pianist and composer Dejan Lazić with his \"Concerto in Istrian Style for Piano and Orchestra” op. 18 (2014\/2021), or his \"Alterations on the Istrian Folk Hymn\" op. 29 (2022).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNatko Devčić was one of Croatia's most important composers and music educators, leaving a lasting impression on subsequent generations of musicians. His most lasting success as a composer came with his \"Istrian Suite\" for orchestra from 1946, which uses Istrian folk music as a source of inspiration and as a link between Slavic late Romanticism and the avant-garde.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDejan Lazić’s five-movement \"Concerto in Istrian Style for Piano and Orchestra” op. 18 is closely connected to Istrian music, with its melodies, harmonies and rhythms, and features the \"Istrian scale\" as well as the typical melodies played in thirds. The central movement of the concerto is an extended cadenza in which Lazić – who has already composed cadenzas for piano concertos by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven and also arranged Brahms' Violin Concerto op. 77 for piano and orchestra – demonstrates his diverse experience in this field. Lazić's \"Alterations on the Istrian Folk Hymn\" op. 29 were written for the present CD and are dedicated to the Munich Radio Orchestra and its principal conductor Ivan Repušic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe song \"Draga nam je zemlja\", recorded by Ivan Matetić Ronjgov, was and continues to be sung as a folk hymn in Istria, and in his work Lazić has taken its melody as the basis for a theme and twelve variations with coda for orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012442771690,"sku":"4035719003321","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4202369-3141334.jpg?v=1778206883"},{"product_id":"golden-age","title":"Golden Age","description":"This captivating new release from PENTATONE celebrates the glittering world of 19th-century opera and the timeless beauty of the golden age of bel canto. Featuring music by Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Rossini, Georges Bizet, Leo Delibes, and Giuseppe Verdi, the album showcases soprano Erin Morley and tenor Lawrence Brownlee two of today's most exciting voices joined by the Munchner Rundfunkorchester under the baton of conductor Ivan Repusic. Together, they bring fresh brilliance to the French and Italian repertoire with performances that balance vocal agility, lyrical finesse, and emotional power.    This carefully curated collection of operatic gems highlights iconic duets and arias that continue to resonate with modern audiences through their passion, beauty, and dramatic flair. It marks an exciting PENTATONE debut for both Lawrence Brownlee and Ivan Repusic, while Erin Morley returns following her acclaimed performance in the label's recording of Handel's Alcina (2024). The Munchner Rundfunkorchester also makes a welcome return, having previously appeared on PENTATONE's release of Gordon Getty's Plump Jack (2012).","brand":"PENTATONE","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012445819114,"sku":"8717306264006","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4446484-3422700_d95b8eb4-20b6-4c21-9b88-12a8028455d0.jpg?v=1778210031"},{"product_id":"hindemith-cardillac-soltesz-munich-radio-orchestra","title":"Hindemith: Cardillac \/ Soltész, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eBR-KLASSIK presents the live recording of a concert performance of Hindemith's opera \"Cardillac\" from the Prinzregententheater in Munich on October 13, 2013, in memory of the great conductor Stefan Soltész. Soltész died unexpectedly on July 22, 2022 - exactly one year ago - after collapsing while conducting Richard Strauss' \"Die schweigsame Frau\" at the Munich National Theatre. The Hungarian-born Austrian conductor was General Music Director of the Essen Philharmonic and Artistic Director of the Essen Aalto Music Theatre from 1997 to 2013. Both institutions were decisively shaped by him and received several awards during his era. He was a welcome guest conductor with the orchestras in Munich. In addition to the standard works from Mozart to Strauss, an important focus of his opera repertoire was Classical modernism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaul Hindemith's three-act opera \"Cardillac\", composed in 1925\/26, was the composer's long-awaited first full-length stage work, and was based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's novella \"Das Fräulein von Scuderi\". Hindemith’s librettist Ferdinand Lion created a large-scale opera that focused primarily on the goldsmith Cardillac and on the madness that leads him to murder. Any logically structured plot was replaced by individual, self-contained scenes, resembling isolated snapshots. The premiere took place on November 9, 1926 at the Dresden State Opera under the baton of Fritz Busch, who thus spectacularly continued his series of important world premieres. Although the opera's radical style was perceived as highly unusual, it was nevertheless well received. After 1933, the work disappeared from German-language repertoires, but it promptly returned in 1946. Hindemith undertook a fundamental revision, and it was premiered in Zurich in 1952 - combined with a performance ban on the first version. As early as 1960, however, the release of the 1926 version was achieved – and it went on to supplant its revised version almost completely. This recording also features the original, first version of the opera.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012449259754,"sku":"4035719003451","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4218698-3006102.jpg?v=1778234011"},{"product_id":"zemlinsky-a-florentine-tragedy-munchner-rundfunkorchester","title":"Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy \/ Hahn, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eGuido Bardi, the son of the Duke of Florence, kneels before Bianca, the wife of the rich merchant Simone, and holds her hands. Simone, who has returned early from a business trip, then enters the room. The very beginning of Alexander Zemlinsky's one-act opera \"A Florentine Tragedy\", based on Oscar Wilde's play of the same name in the German translation by Max Meyerfeld, presents the conflict from which the tragedy arises. This stage work by the Austrian composer, who was forgotten for many decades, had its world premiere on January 30, 1917, in Stuttgart and was not performed again until 1977. This CD from BR-KLASSIK documents the Munich premiere on November 27, 2022, with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Patrick Hahn, recorded live at the city’s Prinzregententheater.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the \"Florentine Tragedy\", albeit rather belatedly, Zemlinsky followed the fashion for Renaissance and one-act works at the turn of the century. Richard Strauss had made his mark in that genre with \"Salome\" and \"Elektra\" – and the literary basis for the former had also been provided by Oscar Wilde. In the very first notes, seemingly aware of this similarity with Strauss’s work, Zemlinsky goes on the offensive with an \"upbeat fanfare\" – as the prelude to an orchestral introduction that can easily be interpreted as a musical representation of the main romantic relationship. At the transition to the actual stage action, however, Zemlinsky switches to a somber minor-key atmosphere. When Simone appears, the music already makes it clear that the plot cannot end otherwise than tragically. For whom, we do not yet know…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the Munich premiere of Zemlinsky's \"A Florentine Tragedy\", Rachael Wilson (mezzo-soprano) sang the part of Bianca, Benjamin Bruns (tenor) was Prince Guido Bardi, and Christopher Maltman (baritone) portrayed the merchant Simone. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester performed under the young conductor Patrick Hahn. Last year, the 27-year-old Austrian – who since 2021 in Wuppertal has been the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in the German-speaking world – was engaged as the Münchner Rundfunkorchester’s Principal Guest Conductor.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012450865386,"sku":"4035719003475","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4313754-3141336.jpg?v=1778240898"},{"product_id":"lauridsen-lux-aeterna-runestadt-earth-symphony","title":"Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna; Runestadt: Earth Symphony","description":"This production is dedicated to the works of two American composers, of whom Morten Lauridsen is certainly the better known in Germany. His choral work O magnum mysterium (1994) in particular has become one of the hits of contemporary choral literature in recent years. Lauridsen (born 1943) grew up in Portland, Oregon, the son of Danish immigrants. The songs of Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers were very present in his home. He initially studied English and history and worked as a fireman. He then turned his attention entirely to music and moved to the University of Southern California, where, after graduating, he taught music theory and later became a professor of composition. As a creator of primarily vocal music he received many awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 2007. From 1994 to 2001, he was composer in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of the leading professional choirs in the USA, which also premiered his Lux aeterna. All five movements of this cycle refer to the \"Eternal Light\". While Lauridsen was setting the underlying liturgical texts to music, his mother was dying - but the words about light as a universal symbol of all-encompassing enlightenment gave him consolation.   Jake Runestad is one of the latest additions to the list of great American composers and is in the process of securing his place in US music history. Born in 1986 in Rockford, Illinois, he grew up in a family that sang a lot. There was also a piano, and during his primary school years he began to play little melodies on it - also teaching himself Scott Joplin's The Entertainer. From 2009 to 2011, he studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, after which he quickly gained recognition, especially in the field of choral music. However, his catalogue of works also includes operas, orchestral pieces and chamber music. He has received commissions from the Washington National Opera, the vocal ensemble VOCES8 and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. His first album, The Hope of Loving, was immediately nominated for a Grammy Award. A keen mountaineer and camper, Runestad finds nature a great source of inspiration. In his Earth Symphony, Mother Earth herself is given a voice; the five interrelated sections deal with her destruction, her sorrow, her healing, and also her hope for humanity.","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012456435946,"sku":"4035719003550","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4424574-3387779.jpg?v=1778194866"},{"product_id":"brahms-ungarische-tanze","title":"Brahms: Ungarische Tanze","description":"JOHANNES BRAHMS - HUNGARIAN DANCES: Before the publication of his Hungarian Dances in their original version for piano four hands, Johannes Brahms was hardly known to the educated middle classes, but the works ensured that the composer became a household name. In their subsequent orchestral versions, the Dances entered the repertoire of prestigious concert orchestras and, after music had become technically reproducible, went on to become even more massively popular. On this CD, BR-KLASSIK presents Brahms' 21 Hungarian Dances in their orchestral versions, in a studio production with the Munich Radio Orchestra under it's former chief conductor Roberto Abbado. Johannes Brahms had become acquainted with Hungarian melodies and scales through the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi, with whom he had undertaken his first concert tour in 1853. His Hungarian Dances for piano four hands were composed from around 1858 onwards; the first ten were published in 1869, the others in 1880. In 1872, Brahms presented a version of the first ten dances for solo piano and in 1873 he orchestrated Dances Nos. 1, 3 and 10, premiering them in Leipzig on February 5, 1874. In his Hungarian Dances, Brahms skilfully combined various Hungarian folk song melodies with his own. The fact that the originals were, and remain, unknown to most listeners is probably what makes the compositions so appealing. His Hungarian Dances were extremely popular right from the start, and are still among his best-known works today. None other than Antonin Dvorak was responsible for the orchestrations of other dances, and popular orchestral versions were also produced by Albert Parlow, Andreas Hallen, Martin Schmeling, Paul Juon and Hans Gal.","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012459483370,"sku":"4035719003604","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4409990-3332349.jpg?v=1778196122"},{"product_id":"wilms-symphony-no-6-op-58-overtures","title":"Wilms: Symphony No. 6, Op. 58; Overtures","description":"In 2017, Croatian conductor Ivan Repusic succeeded Ulf Schirmer as chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra. In this role, he made his cpo debut in 2023 with works by the Swedish composer Gunnar de Frumerie. Now, at the helm of \"his\" orchestra, he is devoting himself to one of those classics that take second place to the undisputed masters of the era: Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772-1847), who gained renown in Amsterdam as a composer, organist, and flutist. Two years younger than Beethoven, he was a devoted admirer of Joseph Haydn, whose spirit imparted a peculiar flair even to Wilms' later symphonies. The dramatic tone, which also characterizes long stretches of his overtures, never turns into something fatal and inevitable - and precisely, this balancing act gives the music of the man from Leichlingen in the Bergisch-Gladbach district it's unique charm.","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012459712746,"sku":"761203547227","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4371538-3238073.jpg?v=1778236287"},{"product_id":"brk-bruckner-mass-in-e-motets-bruckners-world-vanhoefer","title":"Bruckner: Mass in E minor \u0026 Motets - \"Bruckner's World\", an introduction to the works by Markus Vanhoefer","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his symphonies, Anton Bruckner is best known for his sacred works: his stirring masses and his deeply moving a cappella motets. On this new BR-KLASSIK CD, to mark the Bruckner Year 2024, the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Peter Dijkstra present his Mass No. 2 together with five well-known motets and the two short Aequali for three trombones from 1847. The new studio recordings were made in connection with the opening concert of the 2023\/24 season on October 28, 2023. On a second CD, \"Bruckner's World\" by Markus Vanhoefer offers not only an introduction to the recorded works but also a detailed description of the life and work of this important Late Romantic composer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter Bruckner's uncommissioned Mass (No. 1) in D minor had brought him to the attention of a wider public – following its premiere on November 20, 1864 in the Old Cathedral in Linz and a repeat performance in the city’s Redoutensaal – Bishop Franz Joseph Rudigier commissioned a second mass from the composer. Bruckner wrote the work between August and November 1866, and it was to be premiered at the consecration of the Votive Chapel of the New Cathedral; due to delays in the construction work, however, the performance could not take place until September 29, 1869. The premiere of the Mass (No. 2) in E minor for eight-part mixed choir and wind ensemble was also a great success, and Bruckner described it as “the most glorious day” of his life. The unusual instrumentation was due to the occasion and the open-air performance venue on the cathedral building site (the new chapel had proven too small for the choir). The work derives its particular tension from the sharp contrasts between archaic, psalm-like monophony and a strictly polyphonic movement structure modeled on Palestrina, combined with the \"modern\" wind accompaniment in sweeping, romantic harmony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBruckner thoroughly revised the Mass (No. 2) between 1876 and 1882, and the premiere of the second version in the Old Cathedral on October 4, 1885, as part of the Diocesan Jubilee in Linz, was once again an outstanding success. The composer \"stood at the organ during the performance and gazed rapturously at the vault of the cathedral, his lips moving in silent prayer.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBruckner's sacred motets are characterized by Catholic worship and the church spaces that were Bruckner's home from childhood. In 1837, at the age of 13, he was admitted as a choirboy to the Augustinian canons' monastery of Sankt Florian near Linz, where he worked as an organist from 1848 to 1855. His religious devotion and early influence meant that he initially saw himself as a church musician, before broadening his scope to include symphonic music - in whose sound architecture the organ also found an audible echo.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012484616426,"sku":"4035719009408","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4322768-3149130.jpg?v=1778201035"},{"product_id":"massenet-ariane-bruzane","title":"Massenet: Ariane \/ Campellone, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003e‘It would be difficult to find a simpler and more poignant subject’, Massenet remarked during the composition of Ariane, a vast score in five acts premiered at the Paris Opéra in October 1906. The libretto by Catulle Mendès is part ancient drama, part symbolist poem, and sets Phaedra and Ariadne, two sisters in love with Theseus, in violent conflict with each other. This epic work does not shrink from relating the combat against the Minotaur, from showing a ship tossed by the raging billows, nor even from transporting the audience to the Underworld where Persephone reigns. Despite its flamboyant orchestration, its grandiose scenography and its triumphant premiere, Ariane remains one of the few Massenet operas never recorded until now. The young Egyptian soprano Amina Edris takes the title role with ardour and passion, surrounded by a cast well versed in the specificities of the French style. The Bavarian Radio Chorus provides dedicated support in the epic scenes, under the baton of Laurent Campellone, a great champion of Massenet.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bru Zane","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012553199850,"sku":"8055776010120","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4235471-3144017.jpg?v=1778233848"},{"product_id":"clemence-de-grandval-mazeppa","title":"Clemence de Grandval: Mazeppa","description":"'The subject of Mazeppa has inspired Mme Cl�mence de Grandval to write a truly remarkable score, the success of which will cause a stir in the musical world.' It was with these flattering words that the press greeted the premiere of the five-act opera by one of the women composers most frequently performed in late nineteenth-century France. For her career was regularly marked by flattering reviews and lasting successes, spanning all genres, from chamber music to oratorio and opera. Yet Mazeppa, though regarded as her testamentary work, did not enjoy the honour of a premiere at the Paris Op�ra and had to fall back on Bordeaux to reap the rewards of glory. A model of concision, this powerful, dramatic opera relates in a little over two hours the apotheosis and fall of the Cossack general Ivan Mazeppa, a fugitive in war-torn Ukraine. It was predicted that the work would enjoy a long career, but the subsequent evolution of the musical language of the Belle �poque, followed by the composer's death, meant that Mazeppa sank into oblivion for more than a century. It was high time for it's hero to get back in the saddle.","brand":"Bru Zane","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012562243818,"sku":"8055776010250","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4484259-3505487_b898cf87-65f0-48a1-8693-b0fd5594ecc0.jpg?v=1778218606"},{"product_id":"kalman-grafin-mariza-theis-munchner-rundfunkorchester-945110","title":"Kálmán: Gräfin Mariza \/ Theis, Münchner Rundfunkorchester","description":"\u003cp\u003eEmmerich Kálmán: Countess Maritza. “When the evening falls, when the sun sets, when the song of the violin is heard from the puszta …” or “I too was once a fine csárdás cavalier.” The operetta and the Munich Radio Orchestra – now that is a passionate relationship that has grown over many years. Now we are releasing one of the most performed works in German-speaking Europe: Emmerich Kálmán’s successful operetta (with which he rounded off the dozen) Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritza), which according to the German Music Information Center in 2016 was No. 10 on the operetta hit list. For the conductor’s job the Munich Radio Orchestra once again sought out a proven operetta specialist: Ernst Theis. The work tells the story of a countess who amidst much confusion finds her true love in an impoverished count. The music with hits like “Komm mit nach Varazdin,” “Komm Zigan, spiel mir was vor!,” and “Wo wohnt die Liebe?” made the operetta famous and a favorite with the public.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012613951722,"sku":"761203739929","price":18.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3998753-2743747.jpg?v=1778226694"},{"product_id":"paysage-munchner-rundfunkorchester","title":"Paysage \/ Gens, Niquet, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this recital, Véronique Gens and Hervé Niquet bring back to life a neglected aspect of France’s Romantic heritage: songs with orchestral accompaniment. Aside from a few pieces by Debussy and Duparc, and Berlioz’s famous Nuits d’été, orchestral mélodies form a virtually forgotten continent. In collaboration with the specialists of the Palazzetto Bru Zane, Alpha now revisits these musical landscapes, taking us from Brittany (Hahn) to Persia, whose beauties Fauré and Saint-Saëns exalt in very different ways. Mélodies by Chausson, Gounod and Dubois and rarely heard instrumental pieces by Massenet, Fauré and Fernand de La Tombelle round out the journey with their musical reveries.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012729721066,"sku":"3701624510308","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4405912-3329886.jpg?v=1778195398"},{"product_id":"the-christmas-album-2","title":"The Christmas Album \/ Benjamin Appl","description":"German baritone Benjamin Appl celebrates Christmas through the enduring tradition of Bach chorales and popular carols, from as far afield as Germany, Austria, America, Britain, Sweden, France and the Netherlands. For this truly universal Christmas celebration he is accompanied by Germany's most famous children's choir, of which he was a member in his youth, the Munich Radio Orchestra and instrumentalists (including his own mother on guitar): \"Christmas evokes intense memories and emotions in all of us. It takes us back to our childhood: that sense of magic and excitement, so often reawakened by the sight of a traditional Nativity scene, or the lights on a Christmas tree, or by hearing Christmas carols... It was with all these images in mind that I returned to my home town to record this album with 'my' boys' choir. When, after more than twenty years, I found myself back among the choristers and heard the familiar sound, the emotion was very intense.\"","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012762063082,"sku":"3701624510797","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4365172-3225864.jpg?v=1778232328"},{"product_id":"die-vier-grobiane-2pk-291367","title":"Wolf-Ferrari: Die Vier Grobiane \/ Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe conductor Ulf Schirmer has a special knack for the light Muse – as his regular operetta performances with the Munich Radio Orchestra, many of them documented on cpo, have shown over the years. Munich was also the site of the 1906 premiere of Die vier Grobiane \/ I quatro rusteghi by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, a work answering to the description of a modern comic opera and displaying this composer’s typical combination of marvelously chatty parlando and charming melodicism. There are two sides to the conflict fueling the plot: four curmudgeonly husbands who believe that they can and should exercise absolute rule over their wives and children and female characters who engage in intrigues. The action of the opera is set in Venice and elaborates a source text by Carlo Goldoni (1760). The composer scores his points with a tone of considerable lightness, a small orchestral ensemble entrusted with the presentation of a famous intermezzo, and spirited melodies in part based on folk songs. The wealth of ideas developed in his harmonic scheme remaining within tonal limits is also surprising.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012929868010,"sku":"761203514021","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3835887-2586422.jpg?v=1778262574"},{"product_id":"romance-nafornita-wilson-munich-radio-orchestra-290094","title":"Romance \/ Nafornita, Wilson, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"Very appropriately, Valentina Nafornita devotes half of her debut album released on Outhere to the composer who makes the highest vocal demands, with his incomparable dramatic complexity and inspired musical invention. Ever since she sang her first Papagena as a new ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera in the autumn of 2011, she has repeatedly enjoyed enormous success performing Mozart’s great female roles, which are so challenging in their diversity. The charismatic Moldovan soprano impresses with an astonishingly wide palette of expression and emotion. The second part of the CD is devoted to the Slavonic repertory. With her rich, bronze timbre, she is ideally suited to the tragic depth of expression of Dvorák’s ‘Song to the Moon’, with which she made her breakthrough at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and to Tchaikovsky, whose Iolanta she sang at the Opéra de Paris in May 2019. The recording ends with a song dedicated to Valentina by the Moldovan composer Eugen Doga, recounting the life story of this singer who has been known as ‘The Nightingale’ in her homeland since she was five years old.","brand":"Outhere Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012941730026,"sku":"3760195737057","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3760276-2540021.jpg?v=1778269533"},{"product_id":"gotovac-ero-s-onoga-svijeta-repusic-croation-291362","title":"Gotovac: Ero s onoga svijeta \/ Repusic, Croation Radio TV Choir, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003ethe Joker is the absolute all-time favorite opera among Croatians. A couple of years ago it celebrated its seven hundredth performance alone at the Zagreb National Theater. The Croatian Jakov Gotovac, one of the most trailblazing composers of the earlier Yugoslavia, premiered the opera in 1935. After its immediate success it toured through what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and today it continues to be a favorite selection for performance programs in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In Germany, however, this comic opera brimming with musical wit has to be assigned the status of a rarity. Its last performance prior to this one was in Munich in 1942 – in a German translation. But now back to the original: on Sunday, 19 May 2019, the Munich Radio Orchestra under its principal conductor, the Croatian Ivan Repušic, presented a concert performance of Ero the Joker in Croatian. The lead solo roles are sung by native speakers of Croatian, and for the occasion the Croatian Radio Chorus, with which Repušic has launched a cooperative program, made the trip to Munich. Gotovac’s music sparkles with Eastern European and Mediterranean folkloric influences. The composer is regarded as one of the founders of a Croatian national musical language that in the nineteenth century was fueled by the yearning for national identity. Here we hear music full of lyrical and witty moments and with magnificent arias and choral numbers. And its hero is a joker who challenges fate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013123100906,"sku":"761203508020","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3819894-2576452.jpg?v=1778245170"},{"product_id":"great-singers-live-edita-gruberova-71020","title":"Great Singers Live: Edita Gruberova","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdita Gruberova – her very name is melodious. The Slovak soprano is undoubtedly one of today’s most well-known interpreters of coloratura opera singing, and especially of Italian bel canto. She made her debut in 1970 as Queen of the Night in Mozart's \"Magic Flute\" at the Vienna State Opera and, ever since her performances in the same role at Glyndebourne and Salzburg in 1974, she has been a regular fixture on the world’s leading operatic stages and concert podiums. Flattering epithets such as \"the Queen of Coloratura\", \"the Slovak Nightingale\" or \"prima donna assoluta\" are hardly exaggerated, for they really do represent what Edita Gruberova has embodied for almost half a century. She is celebrated all over the world for her perfect mastery of vocal technique, her astonishing ability to master even the most difficult coloraturas and highest notes, her clear and precise intonation and, most importantly, for something that overshadows and transfigures everything else: the seductive and beguiling timbre of her voice. This album, released by BR-KLASSIK to celebrate her 50th stage anniversary, presents nine recordings made between October 1983 and June 2000 at Bayerischer Rundfunk concerts. In addition to well-known as well as lesser-known arias from operas by Handel, Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, and also the Couplet of Adele from Johann Strauss' operetta \"Die Fledermaus\", Edita Gruberova can also be heard in interpretations from Mozart's \"Exsultate, jubilate\", his “Laudate Dominum” from the “Vesperae solennes de confessore,” and also Michael Haydn’s far too rarely performed Christmas cantata “Lauft, ihr Hirten, allzugleich.” This album is more than a historical portrait – it offers a representative musical cross-section of Edita Gruberova's wide-ranging repertoire, and also includes several surprises that complement and enrich her comprehensive discography.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013127655658,"sku":"4035719003253","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3799353.jpg?v=1778382011"},{"product_id":"lehmann-horn-solo-works-ndr-radiophilharmonie-munich-127655","title":"Lehmann-Horn: Solo Works \/ NDR Radiophilharmonie, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe works of the composer Markus Lehmann-Horn have already won several awards. As a border crosser between the classical and the technical-electronic music world, he also wrote numerous film music compositions for national and international film productions and was for this among others awarded the Franz Grothe Prize 2009. He has received numerous nominations and a Best Film Score Award at the annual Jerry Goldsmith International Award in Spain, as well as a nomination for the International Emmy 2012. Lehmann-Horn's music is played by renowned orchestras, conductors and ensembles, including the Ensemble Triolog, Minguet Quartet, BR Rundfunkorchester, the NDR Radiophilharmonie or the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra. On this album, one will find recordings with the NDR Radiophilharmonie and percussionist Alexej Gerassimez and a song for soprano and orchestra with soprano Sibylla Duffe and the Munich Radio Orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Solo Musica","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013179887850,"sku":"4260123642907","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3799366.jpg?v=1778281674"},{"product_id":"fall-die-rose-von-stambul-schirmer-937388","title":"Fall: Die Rose von Stambul \/ Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOur Leo Fall cycle continues with Die Rose von Stambul (The Rose of Stamboul). This operetta in three acts offers music that is full of feeling. This highly emotional work celebrated its premiere with great success at the Theater an der Wien in 1916. Die Rose von Stambul’s 422 straight performances made it the most successful operetta in the history of the Theater an der Wien, next to Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Within the shortest time performances followed throughout Central Europe. However, like Emmerich Kálmán’s The Csárdás Princess, it did not become an international success – primarily because of World War I, since the theaters of the Allied counties had stopped staging German-language works. Achmed Bey, the son of a Turkish minister, is married to Kondja, “The Rose of Stamboul.” However, she has exchanged letters with a passionate novelist and fallen in love with him. What she does not suspect: none other than her husband is behind this pseudonym –which provides plenty of opportunities for the expression of emotions – rendered in the Viennese waltz mode (“Ein Walzer muss es sein”) or tunes of Oriental flair.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013252600042,"sku":"761203503629","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3978770-2717174.jpg?v=1778226674"},{"product_id":"v2-oboe-concertos","title":"V2: OBOE CONCERTOS","description":"Classical Music","brand":"MDG","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46013313024234,"sku":"760623159867","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1974880.jpg?v=1778325347"},{"product_id":"messager-passionnement-blunier-munchner-rundfunkorchester-854888","title":"Messager: Passionnément \/ Blunier, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Gramophone Awards!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNormandy in the Années Folles. Romantic encounters, changes of identity and unexpected comic twists: in Passionnément, André Messager places himself at the intersection of café-concert, American popular music and French operetta. The score is swept along with great spirit by Véronique Gens, Étienne Dupuis, Nicole Car and a team of enthusiastic soloists accompanied by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under Stefan Blunier. As witty as Messager’s music, the libretto, with its flavor of boulevard theatre, offers a genuine manifesto of the French spirit in the years after the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeading the cast is the distinguished soprano Véronique Gens in the role of Ketty, an American, former music-hall star. Gens sings beautifully, displaying her artistry and providing the subtleties to capture each mood. Undoubtedly the best-known aria from Passionnément is the act two waltz-song where Robert is missing being with Ketty (Margaret) and is anxious that his love for her should be reciprocated. Clearly savouring the celebrated waltz-song, Dupuis sings with warmth, successfully creating an entirely captivating mood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis revival of Passionnément was recorded live during concert performances in 2020 at the Prinzregententheater, Munich and broadcast live. From what I understand to be a tricky live acoustic, the sound engineers have achieved successful results. As usual, the book is a bilingual edition (English and French) and it's hard to find fault with such detailed and extensive notes. Included is the complete libretto both sung and spoken, a synopsis and five interesting and helpful booklet essays. Bringing its 'French opera' series up to volume 28, Bru Zane's release of Messager's feelgood musical comedy Passionnément receives my wholehearted endorsement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bru Zane","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46013485940970,"sku":"9788409291038","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3964250-2713379.jpg?v=1778230136"},{"product_id":"donizetti-la-favorite-kasarova-viotti-munich-radio-284349","title":"Donizetti: La favorite \/ Kasarova, Viotti, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"This 1999 recording of Marcello Viotti conducting La Favorite is the most recent of the reissued sets from Sony. This four act grand opera by Donizetti is based on the play Le comte de Comminges by Bacular d’Arnaud. The work which premiered in 1840 at the Academie Royale de Musique in Paris has a French libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaez. Ramon Vargas is a featured soloist, who has long been praised for his fluent, stylish arias. He meets the high range of these pieces with virtuosity. “(Marcello Viotti) gets the long lines of Donizetti’s melodies just right and holds the big ensembles together well. His Munich forces play and sing handsomely…” (ClassicsToday.com)","brand":"Sony Masterworks","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46015551242474,"sku":"888751947627","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3312442.jpg?v=1778257799"},{"product_id":"lachner-catharina-cornaro-weikert-munich-radio-orchestra-70260","title":"Lachner: Catharina Cornaro \/ Weikert, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt a time when the majority of German composers turned from the opera to the singspiel and its considerably smaller dimensions, Franz Lachner continued the tradition of the grand historical opera with Catharina Cornaro. Lachner’s once so very successful opera, last performed in Munich in 1903, was forgotten for many decades, but a few years ago the editor Volker Tosta of Stuttgart prepared a new edition of this work, its first published version, especially for the concert performance by the Munich Radio Orchestra. The action of the tragic opera is based on the true-life story of the Queen of Cyprus. Political intrigues and great passions distinguish the plot. It is difficult to believe that this musically so very appealing work, which captivated the audience at Munich’s Prince Regent Theater already with its highly atmospheric overture during the performance on which this album is based, ever could be forgotten. “With this opera the German school has been enriched with a dramatic work that has to be counted as one of the most genial and magnificent of the works belonging to it.” This is what the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung wrote after the premiere, and Max Zenger’s Geschichte der Münchner Oper of 1923 documents the pathbreaking effect of this opera when it states that Catharina Cornaro had “quite literally become Munich’s hallmark, like the two towers of the Cathedral of Our Lady.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46020003463402,"sku":"761203781225","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3821134.jpg?v=1778247939"},{"product_id":"sondheim-sweeney-todd-henschel-stone-schirmer-241367","title":"Sondheim: Sweeney Todd \/ Henschel, Stone, Schirmer","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eSONDHEIM \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eSweeney Todd \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Ulf Schirmer, cond; Mark Stone (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eSweeney Todd\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Jane Henschel (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eMrs. Lovett\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Gregg Baker (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eAnthony Hope\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Rebecca Bottone (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eJohanna\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Jonathan Best (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eJudge Turpin\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Adrian Dwyer (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eBeadle Bamford\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Diana DiMarzio (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eBeggar Woman\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Ronald Samm (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003ePirelli\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Pascal Charbonneau (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eTobias\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Bavarian R Ch; Munich R O \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e BR 900316 (2 CDs: 123:59) Live: Munich 5\/6\/2012 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eComposer-librettist Stephen Sondheim maintains that \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eSweeney Todd\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e is not an opera, and so does the annotator for the present release. Nevertheless, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (its full title), since it premiered on Broadway in 1979, has been revived by several opera companies, including the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. Why? Musically, it is highly sophisticated, and operatic voices are not wasted on it. Furthermore, with its larger-than-life dramatic themes, including mistaken identity, lust, vengeance, obsession, madness, and murder, how more operatic could a theatrical work be? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThere have been several recordings of this work, including the unforgettable original cast recording on RCA with Len Cariou in the title role, and Angela Lansbury in the role of Mrs. Lovett, his cheerfully amoral partner in crime. That version will never be eclipsed, but each new recording adds a welcome new perspective. The one reviewed here, recorded in the Munich’s Prinzregententheater, is the most operatic yet, even more than the one with the New York Philharmonic which features singers such as Heidi Grant Murphy (Johanna), John Aler (Beadle Bamford), and Paul Plishka (Judge Turpin). This time around, we have legitimate operatic singers in all of the main roles; only DiMarzio appears not to be a “classical” musician per se. In other words, here we have an ensemble of acting singers, as opposed to singing actors such as Cariou, Lansbury, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, and Michael Cerveris, who all have made major contributions to this opera’s . . . I mean, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003emusical’s\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e performance history. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eIt turns out fairly well. I was immediately pulled in by Ulf Schirmer’s conducting, which is tense, taut, and stylish. In fact, you might not hear a better conducted \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eSweeney Todd\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e anywhere. The Bavarian Radio Choir also adds much to the success of this performance. Although their diction is less clear than that of English-speaking ensembles who have recorded this music, their dramatic involvement is high, as is their musicianship. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis is an actual performance. Apparently the time, funds, or energy to correct the inevitable live lapses was unavailable, and thus we have oddities such as Henschel at one point rechristening Beadle Bamford as “Beadle Rumford.” A few memory lapses are covered professionally, but will leave those who know the show well asking, “What did (s)he just sing?” These issues are minor, though. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eI’m more concerned about two other points. One is the lack of (black, very black) humor in this production. For example, I can’t understand why, in “A Little Priest,” the wonderfully uncomfortable pun about a meat pie made from a general (“With or without his privates?”) has been removed. This is a grim show, still there is much about it that can be very funny, and allowing it to be so makes the gore and horror even more effective. As the original Mrs. Lovett, Angela Lansbury was charming and endearing; she might bake you into a meat pie, but you couldn’t stay angry with her for long! Henschel can’t inspire that kind of affection, and she makes it clear that her murderous instincts were present even before opportunity allowed them to come out. The other thing that concerns me is the way in which some of the big dramatic moments are almost thrown away. Todd’s aborted murder of Judge Turpin (interrupted by Anthony’s untimely arrival) should be a big moment, but it isn’t. Similarly, soon after, in Todd’s “Epiphany,” we should feel his mind crack and his murderous rage insanely swell to encompass all of mankind, not just the Judge, but Mark Stone is not that fine an actor, the direction is too hurried, and one of the show’s most Brechtian moments doesn’t come off. The last segment of the show, with its string of murders and its Grand Guignol effects, moves forward jerkily, sometimes grinding to a halt, and sometimes not pausing long enough to make its points. On Broadway, Harold Prince would have fixed these miscalculations, but, at least as I am hearing them on CD, they were not addressed in Munich’s Prinzregententheater. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAll of the singing itself is very fine. One curiosity is a baritone Anthony; Gregg Baker’s voice is darker than Mark Stone’s. Anthony is supposed to be an inexperienced sailor, newly arrived in London, and the early scenes between him and Todd feel strange, because the voice relationships have been inverted from the original production. I really missed hearing a tenor’s voice soar into “Johanna,” one of Sondheim’s most rapturous love songs. Also, the multinational cast presents a variety of accents. In 1979, Cariou had almost no accent at all, while Lansbury made the most of hers. Here, we have the reverse: a cockney Todd in Baker, and a Mrs. Lovett of no particular nationality or region in Henschel. Someday, there will be a production of this work in which everyone gets on the same page with dialects. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eSo, if you want an operatic \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eSweeney Todd\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, or a fresh look at it, this new recording will satisfy. It has many enjoyable moments, but a few unfortunate ones as well. If you do not know this show at all, however, the Broadway cast recording—still in print, thank goodness!—is the only place to begin. This show is one of the masterpieces of American musical theater, and absolutely needs to be heard. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Raymond Tuttle \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46024137507050,"sku":"4035719003161","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2109104.jpg?v=1778326157"},{"product_id":"beruhmte-opernchore","title":"Berühmte Opernchöre","description":"Fuoco di gioia -at the beginning of Verdi's \"Otello\", the compatriots of the victorious protagonist cheer his triumphant return to his home port with a vocal \"fire of joy\". The opera quote is also the title of this new album recently recorded by the Bavarian Radio Chorus, together with the M�nchner Rundfunkorchester under it's chief conductor Ivan Repu�ic. The opera chorus from \"Otello\" begins this selection of famous choruses and instrumental pieces from stage works of Italian belcanto (Verdi), Italian verismo (Leoncavallo, Puccini, Mascagni), Russian opera (Borodin, Glinka, Tchaikovsky), and the romantic operas of Richard Wagner. These very recent recordings from January, February and July 2019 contain well-known and enjoyable melodies that are perfect for singing along to (secretly or otherwise)!","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46024137900266,"sku":"4035719003291","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3738135-2519784.jpg?v=1778271944"},{"product_id":"say-kerschek-trumpet-double-concertos","title":"Say \u0026 Kerschek: Trumpet Double Concertos","description":"The renowned trumpeter Matthias Hofs performed and then recorded the concertos by Fazil Say and Wolf Kerschek during his artist residency with the Munchner Rundfunkorchester.? Both concertos were originally written for Matthias Hofs?. Fazil Say is one of the most important and successful contemporary pianist and composers whose works continue to reach a wide audience?. Wolf Kerschek is a Hamburg composer, arranger, conductor and jazz musician as well as a professor of jazz theory, composition and film music. His new concerto \"The four elements\" is a world premiere recording on this album.","brand":"Berlin Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025289335018,"sku":"885470041353","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4498114-3540855.jpg?v=1778215823"},{"product_id":"peter-von-winter-symphonies-entractes-moesus-munich-139284","title":"Peter Von Winter: Symphonies, Entr'actes \/ Moesus, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"Peter von Winter was a major opera composer in his day (1754-1825). One of a seemingly endless series of Mannheim-based students of Georg (Abbé) Vogler, whose last pupils included Weber and Meyerbeer, his music has real theatrical flair. The turbulent Ouverture is marvelously moody and emphatic, while the finale of the Sinfonie is a perfectly delightful confection of lively tunes. In the three Entr'Actes, Winter reveals his expertise with the sort of solo wind writing that was such a Mannheim specialty (and an influence on the young Mozart). \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e What Winter was not, however, was a symphonist. He tends to repeat themes rather than develop them, and his ability to use tonality to create a sense of forward momentum was, let's face it, pretty much nonexistent. Still, none of these pieces is so long that this becomes a serious liability, and the actual themes are so enjoyable that few listeners will complain. These performances are also excellent: exciting, gutsy, with plenty of trumpets and drums where called for, and a rich sonority that still never precludes the necessary clarity. The Bavarian Radio engineers usually can be counted on to deliver fine results, and they don't disappoint. Good stuff.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025302606058,"sku":"761203753024","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1769826.jpg?v=1778332586"},{"product_id":"braunfels-string-quintet-sinfonia-concertante-schirmer-munich-88043","title":"Braunfels: String Quintet \u0026 Sinfonia Concertante \/ Schirmer, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eWalter Braunfels studied law and economics at the university of Munich until, after seeing a performance of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, he decided to shift his focus to music. He went on to study with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna before returning to Munich to study composition with Felix Mottl and Ludwig Thuille. His earliest success came with the opera Die Vogel. With the rise of the Nazis to power, however, he was dismissed from his positions and listed as being half-Jewish. Luckily, the war passed peacefully for his family, he returned to the public eye after the war was over. On this release, the Munchner Rundfunkorchester with violinist Henry Raudales, violist Norbert Merkl, and hornists Karl Reitmayer and Marc Ostertag present Braunfel’s String Quintet in F sharp minor in its version for String Orchestra, and his Sinfonia Concertante op. 68 for violin, viola, 2 horns, and string orchestra. These are world premiere recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025380921578,"sku":"761203757923","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3821133.jpg?v=1778276578"},{"product_id":"reger-piano-concerto-op-114-bachbusoni-piano-88040","title":"Reger: Piano Concerto Op 114;  Bach\/Busoni: Piano Concerto Bwv 1052 \/ Korstick, Schirmer, Et Al","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eREGER \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003ePiano Concerto. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eBACH-BUSONI\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003e Keyboard Concerto in d, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eBWV 1052 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Michael Korstick (pn); Ulf Schirmer, cond; Munich RO \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12b\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e cpo 777 373 (63:12) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eSo many factors go into the making of a successful recording! One would think that great artists, committed to the music, would be primary. The classic recording of Reger’s Piano Concerto is by Rudolf Serkin, a committed Regerite if ever there was one, accompanied by no less than the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, on a Columbia stereo LP, later a CBS Masterworks Portrait CD. When that recording proved underwhelming, one’s natural reaction was to give up on the music, and later performances supported that decision. Korstick, Schirmer, and Munich do not suggest comparable levels of quality—or at least of fame; yet right from the opening bars the music grabs our attention, holds it, and satisfies on every count. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eSo, what happened? First off, spectacular recorded sound brings Reger’s Concerto to life as never before. One’s auditory senses, and that means more than just hearing, immediately leap to attention. I envision ears standing up, hairs on the back of the neck rising, like our dog when a deer appears in the yard. Of course, sheer sound is not enough, and the artists whom I so unthinkingly dissed perform at a high level. The orchestral introduction sings with a white-hot passion not previously realized, and the piano’s entrance bursts upon us like a thunderclap. In \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e 32:3, Peter Burwasser admired Korstick’s “muscular virtuosity” in Beethoven sonatas, but decried his “lack of grace.” That sounds like a prescription for Reger’s mighty finger buster, and Korstick delivers big time, maintaining golden tone with no apparent strain, which Serkin—one of my favorite artists—was not able to do. But this Concerto is not all bluff and bluster; it has its tender moments, even in the pugnacious opening Allegro moderato (the moderato is an indication of tempo, not of character). Korstick is reasonably convincing in the brief, calm second theme and its reoccurrences. Although Reger’s notorious harmonic progressions keep this music from sounding like Brahms, that master’s impetuous First Concerto is an obvious influence on this movement. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eKorstick is less at home with the second movement, Largo con gran espressione; a few passages become just a series of separate notes, rather than one continuous line. But that happens with Serkin, too, suggesting that we should blame the composer. When the inevitable climaxes arrive, Korstick is back in his element, pouring out cascades of tone. Serkin finds an elfin humor in the Allegretto con spirito finale, which Korstick and Schirmer—at a much slower tempo—miss. They seem to be revisiting the spirit of the opening movement, whereas Serkin is exploring another of Reger’s many facets. If the quality of recorded sound were anywhere near equal, one might prefer Serkin\/Ormandy in this movement; but it is not, so it may be best to fall into step with the cpo team and wallow in Korstick’s potent pianism. All of this is not enough to bring Reger’s Concerto up to the level of Brahms, or even Rachmaninoff, but it does turn it into a fascinating, absorbing work. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis Bach-Busoni Concerto is the score that the otherwise incomparable Dinu Lipatti (and many other pianist of his era) played, heard in a 1947 live-performance recording with the Concertgebouw under van Beinum (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e 24:5, p. 277). Busoni’s concept was the exact opposite of today’s period practice: he added color, fistfuls of extra notes, and much ornamentation to the keyboard part (think Horowitz playing Mussorgsky), and he cut freely, particularly in the finale. Korstick’s interest in the Busoni version comes from his studies at Juilliard, where he met Edward Weiss, a Busoni pupil who played the Concerto under Busoni’s baton. The structure and the familiar themes may be Bach, but this is Busoni we are hearing; given Korstick’s qualities (the good and the bad) that may be just as well. Comparison with Lipatti is difficult: that recording was an amateur one, so distorted that one barely notices that he and van Beinum somehow restored Busoni’s cuts. Lipatti plays with more consistent tempos and a semblance of taste—his Adagio is deeply moving—but he is still far from Bach. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis disc is urgently recommended to Reger fanciers. Others will not care, and probably will not be convinced if they do try it. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: James H. North \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025382297834,"sku":"761203737321","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1499715.jpg?v=1778329651"},{"product_id":"graener-orchestral-works-vol-4-schirmer-munchner-rundfunkorchester","title":"Graener: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4 \/ Sinkevich, Raudales, Dohn, Schirmer, Munchner Rundfunkorchester","description":"\u003cp\u003ePaul Graener was a “latest romanticist” with a strong inclination for French impressionism – which as a composer in the Germany of the first half of the twentieth century makes him a unique case. This month cpo is presenting three of his concertos on our fourth Graener album. Once again it is shown that this music more than deserves to be rediscovered. Hardly any other companion of Paul Graener’s so intensely supported his oeuvre as did the cellist Paul Grümmer, the dedicatee of this composer’s Cello Concerto and the soloist at its premiere in 1927. The critic Adolf Diesterweg wrote in a review: “Graener’s new Cello Concerto contains naturally invented, succinctly formed music enabling the cellist, thanks to the transparent orchestral part, to sound his instrument effectively. In my view the most beautiful movement is the highly cantabile and atmospheric Adagio. The Violin Concerto has harmonically original, fascinating sound elements showing us Graener at an absolute creative summit. The time of composition of Graener’s last finished composition, his Flute Concerto, coincides with the increasing bombardment and destruction of Berlin. Here it is above all the last movement that stands out and attracts our attention – and does so not so much because of its neoclassical guise, something already to be encountered in Graener’s works of the 1930s, but rather on account of his choice of the life-affirming folk song, which displays a cheerful mood that can be harmonized neither with the difficult circumstances of Graener’s life nor with the wartime events taking place at that time.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46025386524906,"sku":"761203796526","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3900498.jpg?v=1778279139"},{"product_id":"offenbach-colorature-devos-campellone-munich-radio-orchestra-50049","title":"Offenbach Colorature \/ Devos, Campellone, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cimg src=\"\/graphics\/features\/gramophone_choice.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Soprano Jodie Devos, who has signed with Alpha for several recordings, here pays homage to Offenbach, whose bicentenary of his birth is celebrated in 2019. This programme shows Offenbach’s fascination with the vocal fireworks of coloratura divas. This kind of ‘lyric coloratura’ or ‘soprano leggero’ voice runs like a thread through most of the composer’s oeuvre, from his first pieces for two or three soloists to those grand frescoes of his maturity, La Vie parisienne, Robinson Crusoe, and Orphee aux Enfers. The coloratura soprano also adorns Offenbach’s less frivolous operettas (such as Fantasio), as well as his only serious opera, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, in which the role of the doll (with only one aria, but what an aria!) is among the most famous in the entire French repertoire. Concocted collaboratively with Alexandre Dratwicki and the Palazzetto Bru Zane, this recorded programme- tailor-made for Jodie Devos- presents innumerable rarities from Mesdames de la Halle, Boule-de-Neige, Un mari a la porte, Le Roi Carotte, Le Voyage dans la lune, and Vert-Vert. In the famous duet, Oiseaux dans la charmille, she is joined by up and coming mezzo-soprano Adele Charvet.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  -----\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  REVIEW:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  The main thing to say about Devos – and her thoroughly idiomatic partner-in-frolic, Laurent Campellone – is that she (and this is a huge compliment) delivers all that is required of her, and more, with the apparent ease of one who knows how important it is to conceal the difficulty. The real kicker with this album is the way in which number after number springs its surprises. The vocal pyrotechnics are artfully designed to make one’s jaw hit the floor.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  – Gramophone","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46026538221802,"sku":"3760014194375","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3855387.jpg?v=1778253691"},{"product_id":"visions-gens-niquet-munich-radio-orchestra-62889","title":"Visions \/ Gens, Niquet, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cimg src=\"\/graphics\/features\/gramophone_choice.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  This tremendous, heady disc is provocative stuff; its emotional - at times emotive - impact immeasurably heightened by very careful programming. Gens and Niquet throw themselves into all this with an engrossing mix of abandon and restraint. Her trademark of purity of utterance and smoky tone speaks volumes.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  At 56 minutes, the disc is on the short side, but any more would, I suspect, feel like overkill.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  It's a spectacular achievement; whatever you do, don't hold back.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – Gramophone","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46026644455658,"sku":"3760014192791","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3211575-2560772.jpg?v=1778274965"},{"product_id":"part-live-bavarian-radio-choir-munich-radio-241369","title":"Part: Live \/ Bavarian Radio Choir, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"Arvo Pärt (b. 1935, Estonia) has succeeded in bringing sacred music back to a broader audience, and away from the confines of the church service, more than almost any other contemporary composer. The meditative character of his works, and his return to the simplest and most basic musical forms, convey moments of intense spirituality. Even before his emigration from the Soviet Union to Austria and then to Germany, Pärt had already invented what he termed the tintinnabuli style of composition (from the Latin word for a bell). He produced an early and important example of this style in 1977 with the \"Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten\", scored for string orchestra and bell, and it is also a key feature of the three great choral works that form the greater part of this new BR-KLASSIK CD \"Arvo Pärt: Live\", namely the \"Seven Magnificat Antiphons\" for mixed choir a capella, the large-scale oratorio \"Cecilia, vergine romana\" for mixed choir and orchestra, and the vocal work „Litany – Prayers of St John Chrysostom for Each Hour of the Day and Night” for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra. Also included on this CD is the \"Collage on B-A-C-H\" for strings, oboe, harpsichord and piano. Composed in 1964, before Pärt's aesthetic reorientation, it is one of his most famous works.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  -----\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  REVIEW:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Despite the 11-year span of these live recordings and four different churches used as locations, the album’s aural impression is uniform, the sound very good, and the singing crisp and up to the high standards of this phenomenal professional chorus.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  – ClassicsToday","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027479417066,"sku":"4035719003192","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3629449.jpg?v=1778292792"},{"product_id":"durufle-requiem-respighi-concerto-gregoriano-repusic-munich-84265","title":"Durufle: Requiem - Respighi: Concerto gregoriano \/ Repusic, Munich Radio Symphony","description":"\u003cp\u003eIvan Repusic, the new chief conductor of the Munich Rundfunkorchester, devotes his first album on BR-Klassik to works by the composers Maurice Durufle and Ottorino Respighi, both of whom took a major interest in the melodies and harmonies of Gregorian chant. The French composer Durufle’s “Requiem” is based on the Gregorian “Missa pro defunctis,” the Latin Mass for the Dead, and the Italian Respighi, in his “Concerto Gregoriano,” used Gregorian chant as a source of inspiration for the harmonious sound of the concerto and for the song-like treatment he gives to the solo violin. Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem” became especially well-known. Its first performance in 1947 was one of the high points of his career; the work not only helped to establish Durufle as a successful composer but also brought him fame far beyond the borders of France. This self-contained, homogeneous and contemplative composition is based on themes from the Gregorian Mass for the Dead. In his work, Durufle succeeded in fusing Gregorian chant, Baroque polyphony and colorful orchestration into a unified whole, and the spiritual, inward-looking character of the chants harmonizes most effectively with the composer’s personal style.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BR Klassik","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027479679210,"sku":"4035719003208","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3729478.jpg?v=1778302342"},{"product_id":"mozart-arias-breslik-lange-munich-radio-orchestra-192562","title":"Mozart: Arias \/ Breslik, Lange, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in Slovakia in 1979, Pavol Breslik made his professional singing debut at the age of twenty-one. Since his debut, he has progressively added more and more to his repertoire however he continually finds himself returning to Mozart. Warmly praised by critics, he has no qualms with his decision to return to Mozart: \"When I go back to Mozart after excursions into other repertoire - like Lensky or bel canto - and feel at home with Tamino, I know I have done the right thing.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Orfeo","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027692409066,"sku":"4011790889122","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3451478.jpg?v=1778286114"},{"product_id":"mozart-arien-fritsch-de-marchi-munich-radio-191546","title":"Mozart Arien \/ Fritsch, De Marchi, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"\u003cimg src=\"\/graphics\/features\/gramophone_choice.jpg\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  It is not often that a young vocal artist releases a debut album that is so \"complete\" or so convincingly conceived and finished to such a high polish as is the ase with Anett Fritsch. What makes it all the more astounding is that she achieves this by singing arias from the Mozart\/Da Ponte trilogy of Figaro \/ Don Giovanni \/ Cosi, masterworks by a composer regarded and feared in equal measure for the complexity of his writing. Yet the repertoire focus she has chosen is entirely in keeping with the soprano's career to date. She began in her teens and has progressed in recent years through a series of acclaimed performances on international opera stages.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  -----\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  REVIEW:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Anne Fritsch's Mozart is a sheer delight. This is no bland essay of the usual suspects painted in anonymous colors but a vivid portrait gallery of characters that Fritsch has portrayed on stage. From the very first bars of the Overture to Marriage of Figaro the playing of the Munich Radio Orchestra instantly makes yous it up and listen. A jewel of a disc.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  – Gramophone","brand":"Orfeo","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027735793898,"sku":"4011790903125","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3525257.jpg?v=1778298384"},{"product_id":"verismo-stoyanova-baleef-munich-radio-orchestra-74786","title":"Verismo \/ Stoyanova, Baleef, Munich Radio Orchestra","description":"The whims of opera fans are legendary, and if justice were to be served, soprano Krassimira Stoyanova would be as famous as Anna Netrebko (perhaps) and Angela Gheorghiu (definitely). Hers is a grand sound, with metal behind it, formidable pitch-accuracy, and fine insights into the characters she’s portraying. She eschews exaggeration–possibly to her detriment: she easily could milk many of the arias here (Adriana’s opening monolog, Manon Lescaut’s final-act spiel) for that extra, Olivero\/Scotto emotion, but she sticks very closely to written note values and dynamics. Her use of portamento is echt Italian, and her voice is made for this big-boned music when need be, and she can sing sweetly as well: her Liu is lovely, as is the start of “Un bel di”.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  There’s great warmth in her singing of Adriana’s two arias; her “La mamma morta” is filled with tragedy, and she sings the heck out of Fidelia’s hand-wringing aria from Puccini’s Edgar. The lengthy scene from Mascagni’s Lodoletta is a welcome rarity, and she’s thoroughly involving. Wally’s aria may lack Callas’ unspeakable sadness, but it reaches great heights; ditto for her “Vissi d’arte”.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  I get the feeling that if her conductor had been more of a dramatist than the accompanist Pavel Baleff is here, this fine CD would have worked its way into “magnificent”. I’d like to add that a bit more hysteria\/overt emotionalism would not hurt–I saw her Aida live at the Met last season and admired it greatly, but even then I wished she had been a touch more earthy. As it is, this CD gives great pleasure and is well recorded. Stoyanova’s is a voice to hear.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  – ClassicsToday (Robert Levine)","brand":"Orfeo","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46027851628778,"sku":"4011790899121","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/3549196.jpg?v=1778261762"}],"url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/munchner-rundfunkorchester.oembed","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}