This album, Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony, Op. 58 presents the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León under music director Thierry Fischer in one of the composer's most ambitious works. Recorded at the Jesús López Cobos Symphonic Hall, Valladolid, in July 2025, Fischer's approach treats the four-movement symphony as a single dramatic arc, shaped by the persistent return of the Manfred motif through scenes ranging from Alpine wandering to the subterranean palace of Arimanes. Neither a numbered symphony nor a symphonic poem but a hybrid of both, the Manfred Symphony is the largest symphonic work Tchaikovsky ever completed, in both duration and the scale of it's orchestral forces.

First release with Thomas Ades as Principal Guest Conductor of the 'pioneering' Halle Orchestra, featuring two of the composer's own works, coupled with landmark concerti by Tippett and Kurtag. This album marks the beginning of Ades' tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Halle Orchestra, a post he assumed in September 2026. It is Ades' first formal conducting title, having previously held positions as an artist and composer with orchestras and festivals in Europe and USA. Ades said of the appointment 'Composing is the most important part of my musical life, but conducting has always played an essential role. Working directly with orchestral musicians and soloists and shaping the interpretation of my music and that of other composers, has been an endless source of joy and inspiration. It feels like the right moment to have a deeper relationship with an orchestra over a number of years. My association with the Halle and The Bridgewater Hall goes back many years and make this pioneering orchestra the obvious choice'.

Brian Brockless (1926-95), London-born and -bred, was a conductor, organist, teacher and composer whose career embraced orchestral performance, sacred music, musical education and the revival of Renaissance polyphony. After studying with Herbert Howells, Matyas Seiber and Sergiu Celibidache, he taught harmony and orchestration at the Royal Academy of Music and served for many years as Director of Music at a City of London church. This album - the first recorded survey of his music - ranges from works for string orchestra and piano to songs, sacred vocal music and music for organ, most of them prepared from unpublished manuscripts. The music as a whole is marked by an essential Englishness, one which looks to earlier traditions and also reflects the modernity of the second half of the twentieth century.

Pasturelands Cello Concerto The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. (Psalms 65:12, ESV) Pasturelands Cello Concerto was written in an accessible Americana style to highlight the picturesque settings of western grasslands and pastures of the United States. Composed in four movements, 'Awakenings', 'Great Plains', 'Calves at Play', and 'Open Range', this work expresses the daily and seasonal changes of God's natural forces on the ranches and ranges of America. There is a beautiful simplicity of life lived on the prairies and plains of the American West. A rough, rugged, self-reliant spirit nurtures life, yet this spirit also relies on God's seasonal elements to sustain it. From 'Awakenings', which opens the concerto as sunrise might open the day, to the fun and up-tempo third movement 'Calves at Play', Pasturelands urges the listener to enter into the simple yet ancient daily life of grazing cattle and fields full of swaying grasses. Grand Teton Suite is a symphonic work inspired by the grandeur, beauty, and untamed spirit of the Grand Teton mountain range. Through sweeping melodies, vivid orchestral colors, and contrasting moods, the music evokes the dramatic landscapes of the American West-from majestic peaks rising above the valley floor to tranquil alpine meadows and the ever-changing skies above them. The suite captures both the power and serenity of this iconic wilderness, inviting listeners on a musical journey through scenes of natural wonder. Rich orchestral textures and expansive themes reflect the scale of the mountains, while moments of intimacy portray the quiet beauty found within the landscape. Grand Teton Suite celebrates the enduring connection between nature and the human spirit.? American Patriot Hymn Composed in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, American Patriot Hymn is both a reflection on the nation's origins and a tribute to the enduring spirit of it's people. Central to the piece is it's use of texts attributed to Samuel Adams (The Source of Liberty) and John Quincy Adams (Narrations), whose words capture the philosophical and moral foundations of the American experiment. These elements are not merely decorative-they serve as the backbone of the work's narrative, illuminating themes of liberty, sacrifice, and civic responsibility. By setting these texts, the audience is projected into the voice of the Revolutionary era, inviting reflection on the ideals that shaped the nation's birth. Musically, American Patriot Hymn is grounded in a language that feels both familiar and freshly imagined. It's melodies evoke the character of traditional patriotic song-broad, singable, and resonant-while avoiding direct quotation. The original thematic material captures the essence of American musical identity: open intervals, noble contours, and a sense of forward motion that mirrors the country's ongoing journey. The orchestration reinforces this spirit, balancing moments of grandeur with passages of introspection. In this anniversary year, American Patriot Hymn stands as a musical statement of remembrance and renewal. It honors the vision of the nation's founders while acknowledging the continued responsibility of each generation to carry those ideals forward.

Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic present two of Dmitri Shostakovich's most powerful symphonic statements: the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies. For Bychkov, no music is more essential or closer to the bone than that of Shostakovich. He and the composer share a home city (Leningrad/St Petersburg); Bychkov grew up surrounded by people who had known the composer; and he was obsessed with Shostakovich's music from an early age. Bychkov has been conducting Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 he was a student at the Leningrad Conservatory in the early 70's. He first conducted it with the Czech Philharmonic in 2022 and, subsequently took the work on tour with the Orchestra conducting concerts in London, Amsterdam, Vienna and Paris. Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 also has special resonance for Bychkov, whose mother lived through the 900 days of the siege of Leningrad, still ravaging the city at the time of the second performance in the city. Bychkov first conducted the work with the Czech Philharmonic to open the 2021-22 season. This release continues the acclaimed partnership between the Czech Philharmonic and PENTATONE. Previous recordings with Semyon Bychkov include Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1-5, released individually between 2022 and 2026 before being joined by the remaining symphonies in a complete Mahler box set; as well as the acclaimed recordings of Smetana's Ma vlast and Dvorak's Symphonies Nos. 7, 8 & 9 (2024).

Reference Recordings proudly presents American Triad, with works of Felix Borowski, Ernest Bloch and Beryl Rubinstein. Each composer in the 'triad' has a distinctive credo and style, and each wrote major works for piano and orchestra which are presented on this new album of rarely heard masterpieces - four of which receive their first commercial recordings. Piano soloist Daniel Glover has performed in 42 states and in 25 countries throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America and the Caribbean. He holds a master's degree from the Julliard School, and trained with luminaries including Thomas LaRatta, Nancy Bachus, Jerome Lowenthal, Abbey Simon and Eugene List. He has numerous competition awards including first prize in the prestigious Liederkranz Competition in 1990. Mr. Glover has served on the faculties of New York University, University of the Virgin Islands, University of San Francisco, Notre Dame de Namur University and the Summer Piano Workshop of Kent State University. He has recorded eleven previous albums. He resides in San Francisco and frequently performs locally. The San Francisco Classical Voice remarked, 'The elegance and civility of Glover's approach were musically unimpeachable.' 'Dazzling... a flawless sense of Lisztian style incorporating it's emotional depth.' American Triad was recorded March 31-April 4, 2025 with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, in beautiful and historic Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was conducted by the GRAMMY award-winning American orchestral conductor and multi-GRAMMY-nominated violinist, John McLaughlin Williams. This release was recorded and mastered by the superb engineering team of Baltic Mobile Recordings: Vilius Keras and Aleksandra Keriene. It was produced by the GRAMMY-winning producing team Encore Consultants LLC (Victor and Marina Ledin).

The final volume of this groundbreaking Thomas Jensen series encapsulates the series as a whole. New remasterings of rare studio recordings from the 1940s complement first-ever releases for live broadcasts from the 1950s and 60s. The repertoire demonstrates Jensen's excellence as a sympathetic concerto partner; an insightful interpreter of Sibelius; and a devoted advocate for the composers of his native Denmark. Note! ALL are first ever releases and all from unpublished radio broadcasts All the previous volumes are available and in stock.

Irish violinist Darragh Morgan, a tireless advocate for new music, here presents four concertos written for him over the past two decades by Frank Lyons, Brian Irvine, Bill Campbell and Ryan Molloy. Recorded with the Ulster Orchestra under David Brophy, this compelling programme reflects the richness of Northern Ireland's contemporary voice. Electronic transformation, folk-inflected rhythms and lyrical introspection coexist with passages of dazzling virtuosity, each work revealing a distinctive sound world. Together they form a vivid, cohesive portrait in which solo brilliance and symphonic imagination are fused with striking assurance and colour.

Between pastoral lyricism and modernist edge lies another, richly compelling story of twentieth-century British music. This programme brings together four distinctive voices - Ruth Gipps, Doreen Carwithen, William Alwyn and Elizabeth Maconchy - whose works chart an alternative path through an era often defined by aesthetic conflict. Featuring soloists Alex Mitchell, Alexandra Dariescu and Rachael Clegg, with Manchester Camerata under the inspired direction of John Andrews, these performances illuminate music of remarkable individuality and emotional range. From Gipps' Jane Grey and Carwithen's long-neglected Piano Concerto to Alwyn's Autumn Legend and the searching power of Maconchy's Life Story, this album reveals a British musical landscape far richer, more adventurous and more rewarding than received histories have long suggested.

Hans Werner Henze is one of the outstanding composers of the 20th century. To mark his 100th birthday, this edition will contain almost all the recordings released on the WERGO label, some of which were produced under his supervision - an extensive collection that does not claim to be complete, yet serves as an impressive testament to a versatility that echoes Henze's open-mindedness and cosmopolitan outlook: in terms of cultural history, politics and society, as well as form and composition. Regrouped and divided into groups of works in this edition, the recordings, some of which are no longer available, will be released in five CD box sets. Following the already published symphonies, the edition now continues with orchestral works and instrumental concertos, chamber music and piano music, vocal music, and concluding with stage works, including the previously unreleased recording of "Der Prinz von Homburg". In addition to the symphonies, Henze wrote a wide range of orchestral works and concertos, from the early 'Kammerkonzert' to the 'Ouverture für ein Theater', composed in the year of the composer's death. Forms and genres alternate in an impressive way; alongside playful compositions for ballet stands the strict formal design of works as it is in 'Antifone', composed for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In this way, the orchestral works and concertos form a varied and lively counterweight to Henze's cycle of symphonies.

Spain is my second musical homeland' - Ravel It is not without irony that prior to the 20th century some of the most famous 'Spanish' classical music was written by the French! Romantic-era intellectuals saw Spain as a seductive and magical attraction, with it's Moorish-style palaces and gardens, festivals, bullfights, costumes, castanets, and flamenco dancing and while Bizet's Carmen carries the greatest weight, pride of place actually goes to Camille Saint-Saëns whose 1863 Introduction and Rondo capriccioso for violin and orchestra already bore a Hispanic flavor (Carmen would not be written for another eight years). In Ravel's case, Spain was already in his blood, thanks to the influence of his Basque mother, but it was a marvel to many, including Manuel de Falla, that he should instinctively have achieved such an authentic sense of Spanish style. The idea for this project was the result of conductor Pierre Bleuse's desire to immerse himself with the musicians of the Odense Symphony Orchestra in the music of Ravel, especially the composer's Spanish-influenced music. The musicians have captured all the colors and details of articulation needed to bring this extraordinary music to life. French conductor Pierre Bleuse has established himself as one of the most dynamic and versatile musicians of his generation. Since 2021 he has served as Music Director of both the Ensemble intercontemporain in Paris, the Odense Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades. Bleuse is particularly admired for his interpretations of the French orchestral repertoire, especially Ravel. As you will hear on his OUR Recordings debut, his performances balance elegance with dramatic intensity, revealing both the brilliance of the orchestration and the expressive depth beneath it's shimmering surface.

SOMM Recordings celebrates the rich cultures of Cyprus with music inspired by this Mediterranean island and the legend of Othello, as conductor-composer Nimrod Borenstein and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra perform works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Antonin Dvorak, Franz Schubert, and Borenstein himself. Previous Borenstein collaborations with SOMM include his label debut featuring three of his piano compositions [SOMMCD 281], and the release of his Shakespeare Songs, Mandolin Concerto, and Oboe Concerto [SOMMCD 719]. The CySO, is both a strong presence in the musical life of the island and a national symbol that represents the Republic of Cyprus internationally. The album's title work, Legends of Cyprus, composed by Borenstein for the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in 2025, evokes an entire world of feelings, atmospheres, and magical stories. The composer describes the piece as a continuation of his exploration of richly contrasted orchestral colours and emotional worlds, but within a more concentrated single-movement form-a form akin to 'what the short story is to the novel.' Shakespeare set four of the five acts of Othello on the island of Cyprus, where the tragedy of Iago's manipulation of the Moorish general into believing the infidelity of the innocent Desdemona plays out. The gifted and tragically short-lived Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was commissioned by the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to write incidental music for a 1909 production of Othello at His Majesty's Theatre in London. Three years later, Coleridge-Taylor drew from his theatre music a vibrant five-movement orchestral suite.  When Antonin Dvorak arrived in New York 1892 to take up the post of Director of the National Conservatory of Music, he brought with him Nature, Life, and Love, a cycle of three concert overtures. He had composed the third, Othello, earlier that year and conducted the premiere of the trilogy as part of a farewell concert in Prague. Although named a concert overture, Othello is close to being a symphonic poem in it's dramatic musical interpretation of Shakespeare's play and it's frenetic climax of the tragic events. Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus by the German playwright Helmina von Chezy concerns the attempts of the heroine to reclaim her throne despite the efforts of the governor to thwart her. The play closed after two performances in 1823 and is all but lost, though the music written by her friend Franz Schubert-which we know as his Incidental Music to Rosamunde-remains an absolute triumph of the Romantic era. It consists of nine numbers, and included on this disc are the famous Entr'acte No.3 and Ballet No.2.

SOMM Recordings is delighted to present Vol. 1 in a new series that offers remastered performances of George Szell in New York. This first volume features live performances of Franck's Symphony in D minor and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 from CBS Radio air checks made at Carnegie Hall with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York-an earlier moniker of the present-day New York Philharmonic Orchestra. These recordings come from the extensive music collection of producer and master sound restoration and remastering engineer, Lani Spahr, who also provides highly conversant liner notes for this album. When George Szell (1897 - 1970) was appointed the Cleveland Orchestra's fourth music director in 1946, and spent the next 24 years of his legendary tenure honing it into one of the finest music ensembles in the world, his name became synonymous with the orchestra. To this symbiotic relationship, he brought his formidable experience with a variety of orchestras in both his native Europe and the United States. Szell's first conducting experience in America was in 1930, when he made his debut with the St. Louis Symphony. In October 1939, he and his wife, Helene, arrived in New York, having decided to wait out the war in the United States. Though initially finding himself in the unusual position of having no work, Szell started to receive guest-conducting offers from orchestras around the country, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His star began it's rapid rise in New York with his engagement at the Metropolitan Opera in 1942, and he made his debut with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York on the Fourth of July 1943. His relationship with the Philharmonic would span 27 years. Szell conducted the Symphony in D minor by Cesar Franck over 20 times in the United States. His first performance with the Philharmonic in New York was on 28 February 1948, and the last was 6 April 1970. This present live recording comes from 6 December 1953. From the early 1950s, the Symphony No. 2 in D major by Jean Sibelius was a staple of Szell's programming, and he performed it more than 60 times. He conducted it with the Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall on 15 and 16 January 1953, and again on 18, whence this broadcast originates. In the minds of many, the orchestra that George Szell honed in Cleveland would never be equalled for it's disciplined execution, unparalleled clarity, and unanimity of phrasing. Lani Spahr makes the interesting observation that '[w]hen listening to these recordings it becomes obvious that the Philharmonic was, at this time, a superior orchestra, top to bottom, to what Szell was in the process of building in Cleveland.' It is SOMM's privilege to make these recordings available, newly restored.

1795 was a good year for music on all accounts: old grandmaster Haydn saw the performance of his 104th and final symphony, while young Beethoven was sketching out the final movement of his first. Acclaimed Texan period ensemble Philharmonie Austin juxtaposes the two on BEETHOVEN-HAYDN, rounding off the program with Haydn's much-loved early Cello Concerto No. 1. As close as the two symphonies may be chronologically, they differ markedly in spirit. The motor in Haydn's works is mercurial wit; the driver in Beethoven's symphonies, a rather primordial force that would later push chamber ensembles to expand to the gigantic dimensions of the modern orchestra. But Mark Dupere and Philharmonie Austin have a trick up their sleeves: they underline the revolutionary aspects of Haydn, and then trace them again in Beethoven. Original and clever — the old master would have been pleased.

Deutsche Grammophon presents The Poem of Life, a new album by composer, pianist, and producer Yu-Peng Chen. With this release, Chen turns to a more personal project: a symphonic suite for piano and orchestra in 12 movements, exploring different stages of life with a focus on reflection, expression and storytelling. This marks a new direction in his work, bringing together his experience in game music with a more intimate, concert-focused approach. Conceived as a reflective exploration of universal human experience, The Poem of Life traces an emotional and spiritual arc from birth to farewell. Through lyrical melodies and symphonic arrangements, Chen evokes the wonder of childhood, the trials of adulthood, and the serenity of later years - culminating in the final moments of life.

For more than 50 years, Sir Simon Rattle, Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, has devoted himself intensely to the deeply personal, emotional, and autobiographical music of Gustav Mahler. Mahler conceived his symphonies as all-encompassing universes that reflect the full spectrum of human life. He famously said: “To me, a symphony means using every available technical resource to build a world.” To guide both orchestra and audience through these profoundly moving musical worlds, no conductor is better equipped than Sir Simon Rattle. Mahler's “Resurrection Symphony” explores one of humanity's most profound existential questions: the meaning of life. From the opening movement, originally titled “Totenfeier” (“Funeral Rite”), to the finale, in which the soloists and chorus proclaim “Aufersteh’n wirst du!“ (“You shall rise again!”), Mahler grapples with joy and suffering. The Second Symphony’s dramatic contrasts, emotional intensity, richly coloured orchestration, and crowning choral finale have made it one of his most beloved works. Now released on CD by BR-Klassik, the Munich performance of the symphony from March 2026 brings together a stellar cast in a superb interpretation of one of the defining masterpieces of the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire. Gustav Mahler wanted his Second Symphony to exceed any known format - and he also wanted it to tackle the key questions of existence: "Why have you lived? Why have you suffered? Is everything just one enormous, terrible joke? We have to solve these questions in some way if we want to carry on living," said the composer. Similar questions preoccupied him throughout his life, and with a special intensity during his time as an opera conductor in Hamburg. The Second Symphony, also referred to as the "Resurrection Symphony", is a complete expression of Mahler’s existential struggle; both its form and its overpowering sound make this utterly clear. The symphony took several years to compose – it was written between 1888 and 1894. In September 1888, the first movement – which at this point still bore the title "Totenfeier” (“Funeral Rite”) – was already complete. The second and third movements were not written until 1893 and Mahler only completed the entire work in 1894. Like most of Mahler’s symphonies, the work follows a "Per aspera ad astra" pattern (“through difficulties to the stars”). Starting with a funeral march in the main theme of the opening movement - the passing of a life full of vigour, pain, blows of fate, and only a few brief and beautiful moments - the symphony concludes with a triumphant resurrection movement. The premiere of the complete symphony took place on December 13, 1895 in Berlin under Mahler's direction; previously (on March 4 of that year) he had already performed the first three movements. The premiere of the Second Symphony thus took place after that of the Third. The reactions were initially subdued, but today the work ranks as one of the most popular of Mahler’s symphonies. - The Munich concert event of May 2011 is now being released on BR-KLASSIK as a CD – it is a star-studded, outstanding interpretation of one of the most important compositions in the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire.

Beethoven's Seventh Symphony emerged at a biographical crossroads, between his definitive establishment as a leading composer and the onset of increasing isolation caused by his advancing deafness. At the time of it's premiere, it was the second-longest symphony ever written, surpassed in scale only by Beethoven's own Third, the 'Eroica.' Since it's first performance in 1813, there has never been a period in which it was not counted to the composer's most popular works. Since 2025, Francois-Xavier Roth-who had already served as Chief Conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg from 2011 to 2016-has been Chief Conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra. A musical visionary and remarkably versatile conductor, Roth has recorded and released all of Richard Strauss's tone poems, the ballets of Igor Stravinsky, the orchestral works of Ravel and Berlioz, as well as the complete symphonies of Bruckner, Mahler, and Schumann. With the present recording, Roth and the SWR Symphony Orchestra set a highly musical opening marker for a collaboration that promises to continue with great momentum in the years ahead.

Hans Winterberg grew up in Prague where he was one of a whole cadre of composers in the new Czech musical tradition. He claimed to have been inspired by Schoenberg, but in reality, he cultivated a Central European Impressionism which he skillfully blended with complex rhythms. The two works presented on this CD mark high points in Winterberg's oeuvre. The circumstances in which they were composed could not have been more different. While the Second Symphony was written during the darkest moments of his existence, he composed the Second Piano Concerto less than ten years later, in what was probably the brightest moment of his life, the early 1950s, when his breakthrough as a composer, which he had been unable to achieve in Czechoslovakia, now seemed certain in the young Federal Republic of Germany.

Henry Purcell Reimagined: Baroque Songs of Fate and Freedom In this recording, the Vox Orchestra, conductor Lorenzo Ghirlanda and soprano Marie-Sophie Pollak explore some of Henry Purcell's most captivating songs from King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and Dido and Aeneas. At the heart of the programme lies a theme that remains strikingly relevant today: the confrontation with the inevitable-war, love, duty, and loss. Rather than presenting these works solely as excerpts from Baroque stage music, the performers highlight their original character as songs. Purcell's memorable melodies emerge with remarkable directness and emotional immediacy, while instrumental interludes function like modern introductions and codas. Bold string playing, expressive continuo, and vivid contrasts of tempo create a sound world that feels both historically informed and surprisingly contemporary. Marie-Sophie Pollak brings the diverse characters to life with exceptional expressive clarity, favouring direct communication over excessive ornamentation. The result is a fresh and compelling interpretation that reveals Purcell's theatre music as a timeless collection of songs, bridging the distance between the seventeenth century and today's listener.

Caspar Diethelm (1926-97) was one of the leading Swiss composers of the twentieth century. His free-tonal style - angular yet accessible - drew on the inheritance of several of his predecessors, above all Hindemith, Honegger (both of whom were his teachers), Martin and Schoeck, with Bartok adding rhythmic spice. These influences he combined with an awareness of modernism to form an individual and expressive musical language of his own. The three concertos recorded here are remarkable for the striking clarity of their orchestral textures; they also exhibit Diethelm's fondness for enlivening his narratives with surges of energy and touches of gleeful humour.

For the middle decades of the twentieth century Cedric Thorpe Davie (1913-83) was a mainstay of musical life in Britain - and in Scotland in particular - as an administrator, academic, choral director and, especially, composer. His many film scores brought him a wide audience, but the orchestral works he wrote for the concert hall are as good as unknown. The five works heard here, all in their first recordings, reveal craftsmanship of a high order and a natural melodic gift, in a style anchored in the soundworlds of Sibelius and Vaughan Williams - both of whom he knew personally - combined with a Scottish accent that gives this music a unique personal voice.

A journey through time to castles, chambers and amorous settings around 1800. The irresistible soprano Shira Patchornik is a rising star on opera and concert stages. Many people are still familiar with Mozart's "Figaro". 'Al Desio di chi t'adora'. It is a song full of erotic tension addressed to her lover. And perhaps some are still familiar with Haydn's 'La vera Constanza'. The rest of this stimulating programme consists of discoveries and treasures from Italian opera of the same period, but largely forgotten. But what is it about? No opera can do without them: the maid, the lover, the chambermaid, the jealous wife, the daughter. Operas around 1800 are mostly intricate tales of intrigue and love. Sometimes dramatic, sometimes humorous, these stories inspired composers to the highest form of their art. Bella Ragazze, they become witnesses to amorous adventures, they are the projection screen for powerful men, or they themselves become energetic and vengeful protagonists. Shira Patchornik is a shooting star on the big stages and brings us key moments from opera treasures with a stupendous stage presence. She embodies characters in her own unique way and does justice to even the most breakneck coloratura. As if made for it, Mozart's rarely heard Divertimento joins the entertaining opera action: written as music for entertaining festive gatherings, it displays Mozart's characteristic humour in almost every moment.

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5. ROSSINI William Tell: Overture. PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, “Classical” • Valery Gergiev, cond; World O for Peace • C MAJOR 707008 (DVD: 104:00) Live: Abu Dhabi 1/4/2011


& SOLTI’S VISION—THE WORLD ORCHESTRA FOR PEACE: THE FIRST 15 YEARS 1995–2010


The World Orchestra for Peace was founded by Sir Georg Solti in 1995, incorporating players from around the globe. Solti’s successor as its conductor is Valery Gergiev, who leads the present concert at the Abu Dhabi Festival, the orchestra’s first appearance in the Arab world. The DVD contains a pleasant bonus feature about the history of the orchestra and its workings. One thing that this documentary makes clear is the affection between Gergiev and his players. With what essentially is a pick-up orchestra, Gergiev hones an ensemble of beauty and refinement, with a powerful sonority. I concur with the audience in Abu Dhabi; this concert is a resounding success.


The William Tell Overture receives beautiful playing from the solo cello, flute, and English horn, plus an incisive response by the trombone choir. The interpretation is unhackneyed—one hears Gergiev’s skill as an opera conductor in setting an atmosphere. His hands flutter to create tension. The Lone Ranger music possesses a fine edge and is very exciting; I couldn’t help but conduct along with it. Gergiev takes the first three movements of the “Classical” Symphony at a leisurely pace. He begins the first movement by making circles with his right hand, suggesting the long line of the music. Gergiev’s gestures remind me of a remark Leonard Bernstein made to Glenn Dicterow: “I’m not a time beater. I’m an inspirer.” The solo bassoon in this movement is suitably puckish. The second movement here reveals the strongest influence of Haydn, with exquisite playing. The Gavotte in Gergiev’s hands is like a slow, heavy-footed Russian dance. Gergiev’s tempo for the finale is quick but not breathless. In the witty exchanges between orchestral choirs, the 20th century greets the 18th.


In Tchaikovsky’s Fifth, Gergiev molds the rich sound of the orchestra with the curve of his arms. I heard Gergiev say in an interview with Gilbert Kaplan that Furtwängler is one of his idols, which helps explain the never-capricious freedom of tempo in this performance. The opening clarinet solo is dark and mellifluous. Inexorable fate dominates Gergiev’s conception of the first movement. Nothing is sugary here. Its coda has an unusually slow, slightly menacing tempo. The horn solo that opens the second movement is dusky and dreamlike. In the darkness and heaviness of this movement, the conductor provides a foretaste of Shostakovich’s slow movements. Gergiev here gets the maximum expressiveness out of his body, perhaps wishing he could do even more. He doesn’t signal an end to the slow movement, just letting it fade away. The waltz offers a nervous respite from the previous movement. The finale is not march-like or triumphal. Gergiev paints it on a huge canvas, even down to beautiful tuba playing. The final peroration seems Byronic in its suggestion of despairing heroism. In sum, this is an individual and striking Tchaikovsky Fifth, gorgeously played.


In the encore, Johann Strauss Jr.’s Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, the orchestra creates a completely different atmosphere, echt Viennese. The violin playing is especially lithe and sparkling. The sound engineering in stereo is very good, with just a hint of congestion in climaxes. I was unable to try out the surround-sound option. The director does a fine job, alternating not overbearing views of Gergiev with sensitively judged close-ups of the orchestra’s players. I enjoyed just listening to the DVD’s sound while lying down as much as I did viewing its picture. If you are looking for CDs of the primary works, I would recommend Sir Colin Davis for the Rossini, Masur and the London Philharmonic or Rostropovich in the Prokofiev, and in the Tchaikovsky Antal Doráti and the London Symphony or Leonard Bernstein on Deutsche Grammophon. Gergiev really presents a seminar on the conductor’s art on this DVD. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see how a major artist achieves his results.


FANFARE: Dave Saemann


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Gioacchino Rossini: Guillaume Tell: Overture
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, “Classical”
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
Johann Strauss II: Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Op. 214

World Orchestra for Peace
Valery Gergiev, conductor

Recorded live from the Abu Dhabi Festival, 2011.

Bonus:
- Solti’s Vision: The World Orchestra for Peace – The First 15 Years 1995–2010.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German
Running time: 83 mins (concert) + 21 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

The Places
• The journey is concerned largely with places of importance in the life of Anton Bruckner, his birth-place, the monastery of St Florian where he was trained and worked, and Vienna, where he spent his final years.

The Music
• A man of modest origins, the composer Anton Bruckner continued and developed the symphonic tradition of Vienna in a series of imposing works that also drew inspiration from Wagner.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 68 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

This is an audio-only (i.e., with no video content) Blu-ray disc playable only on Blu-ray players.

It is also available on standard CD.

The flourishing genre of the comic opera had its roots in eighteenth-century Italian opera buffa, whose irrepressible brio was soon taken up outside the country’s borders. In France it produced opéra comique and operetta, and in German-speaking countries Spieloper and Viennese operetta. Some of the world’s most popular comic opera overtures, filled with gorgeous tunes, brilliant orchestration and race-to-the-finish endings, are presented here. They include staples of the concert repertoire such as Hérold’s dramatic Zampa, the textual delicacy of Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna and the vivid colour of Lortzing’s Zar und Zimmermann.

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

The Places
Our tour of Russia starts in St. Petersburg, including churches and palaces, and, above all, the River Neva, on the banks of which Peter the Great's city stands. We visit Tchaikovsky's house at Klin, near Moscow, and travel south to Ukraine to see Sebastopol in the Crimea and Odessa. Finally we return to St. Petersburg, seeing the surrounding countryside, the city by night, the bridges and the people.

The Music
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky succeeded in uniting strands of Russian musical nationalism with music in the cosmopolitan forms of his training. He spent his childhood and adolescence in St. Petersburg, later moving to Moscow and finally finding some refuge in the country at Klin, where his house is preserved. The music accompanying our tour is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and his Serenade for Strings.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Dolby Digital / DTS Surround
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 70 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro / Barenboim, Tomlinson, Rodgers, Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Performer: John Tomlinson, Phyllis Pancella, Joan Rodgers, Richard Brünner, Conductor: Daniel Barenboim, Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus, "Barenboim continues to favors a forceful, big-scale reading with often deliberate speeds for the slower numbers, a musically accomplished, thought-through account of the crucial finales to Acts 2 and 4, lively treatment of the recitative, finely-honed playing of the wind, alert rhythms and an avoidance for the most part of appoggiaturas... John Tomlinson is much better suited by Figaro than he was by Alfonso, but still wants in tonal focus... but he does at all times create a lively personality, a force to be reckoned with... Sir Geraint Evans is even more individual in his characterization - listen to the recitative before his Act 4 aria - and has the more agile voice, helped by the fact that it tends more towards the baritonal." - Gramophone