Includes work(s) by Johann Strauss Jr..

Puccini: Madama Butterfly

Verdi: Traviata (La)

Schmidt-Kowalski, T.: Symphony No. 4 / Violin Concerto No. 2

With the sensational Luba Orgonasova as Mimi! Will Humburg conducts the Czech/Slovak RSO.

GREGORIAN CHANT

HANDEL : Harpsichord Suites Nos. 1 - 8

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 13, 22 and 19-20, Op. 49

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

Mozart: Cassations, K. 63, K. 99 and K. 100

Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 16: Beethoven Song Transcri

What if there hadn't been a Mozart? Although this is an intriguing question for classical music lovers to debate and scholars to ponder, the fact is we'd be paying far more serious--and deserved--attention to Haydn, and beyond that we'd be stuck with the mediocre, very much of-its-time work of composers such as Antonio Salieri. Given all the discussion, much of it sheer nonsense, regarding the Mozart/Salieri rivalry, just a brief listen to any of these 12 overtures tells you what you already know: the monster talent/genius of Mozart had not a whit to fear from the competent Italian technician who was most widely respected for his pedagogical skills (Beethoven, Czerny, Schubert). Of course, the reality of the time and place dictated certain conditions of privilege and position, conferred by circumstances more political than artistically meritorious. Salieri undoubtedly was highly regarded and enjoyed a prominent position in Viennese musical circles, and he was talented, especially in the creation of a certain style of opera that audiences of the time literally ate up. Indeed, in the works on this program Salieri shows a certain dramatic flair, as in the opening of La Grotta di Trofonio--but with a few strokes of the pen, à la Don Giovanni, Mozart wiped out Salieri's best efforts in this genre. This takes nothing away from the very steady and polished musicians of the Slovak Radio Symphony, nor from Michael Dittrich's committed direction. Together they make the most of the music's considerable rhythmic energy, pleasant melodies, and frequent mood shifts typical of the style.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

RUSSIAN OPERA ARIAS, Vol. 1: Vladimir Grishko

If you’re new to the music of Anton Webern, this superb budget CD is just the introduction you need. Until now, there’s been nothing much to tempt those unwilling to pay top price for Herbert von Karajan’s seminal recordings, or the equally engrossing and sometimes more revelatory DG remakes with the Berlin Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. In contrast, Takuo Yuasa isn’t a household name, and his Ulster Orchestra isn’t in the big league, but don’t let those factors deter serious evaluation of this release alongside the best available alternatives.

Yuasa’s account of the Op. 1 Passacaglia affords striking evidence of the high quality of his ensemble. The playing is fine-grained and exact, and the cumulative effect of the performance is mightily impressive, with the vehement 16th variation especially telling. Webern’s Symphony Op. 21 may only last seven minutes or so, but Yuasa manages to pack a terrific wealth of detail and vast emotional range into its diminutive time-frame. There are some superb moments in the performance, none more shattering than the fearsome outburst from the first horn during the second section.

Equally shocking is the whip-crack violence Yuasa unleashes in the third of the Five Pieces Op. 10, played very fast and with impressive precision by this accomplished team. The awesome funeral march (No. 4 of the Six Pieces Op. 6) hasn’t quite the impact of Karajan’s, and Boulez’s is more monstrous yet; but Yuasa’s skill at building angst-ridden crescendos comes into its own in one of the finest of many outstanding moments on this recording. The muted trumpet solo in No. 5 (with celesta and glockenspiel) has the required eerie quality, and the uneasy stasis of the close is persuasively attained.

In sum, although the Ulster Orchestra’s solo and ensemble work is of high order, the principal benefit of the Karajan and Boulez recordings is that the Berliners produce playing of unrivalled tonal beauty side by side with those moments of near-seismic disturbance that are the true essence of Webern’s music. By choice, I’d opt for Boulez, whose more recent recordings are finer than DG’s earlier ones with Karajan; but Yuasa’s accounts have the spare, skeletal feel and expressive economy that makes them very rewarding indeed. An outstanding achievement.

— ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

Naxos has released a second collection of Russian tenor arias by Vladimir Grishko. Like the first volume, we have a beautiful tenor voice treating us to some rarely heard arias from operas not often performed outside of Russia. Probably the only familiar pieces to non-Russian listeners would be the brief orchestral excerpts from Glinka's A Life For Tsar and Polovtsian March from Borodin's Prince Igor so listening is a treat in and of itself.