Includes work(s) by George Crumb. Ensemble: Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Thomas Conlin.

Works for voice with ensemble after poems by e.e. cummings and Arthur Rimbaud as well as chamber music works show the numerous facets of Matthias Pintscher's compositional technique. Presented by well-known interpreters, who are specialists in New Music, and under the direction of the composer himself, the CD offers a comprehensive insight into Pintscher's "penetrating the instant of time".

...Mahler's Symphony No. 3 is another deeply spiritual score. Again, Salonen does not seem as interested in that element; he finds instead the earthier roots in an interpretation that flows mightily in one great line. Contralto Anna Larsson is superb; so are the choristers. Above all, the L.A. players shine warmly, especially in the rapt finale.

-- Tim Smith, The Sun-Sentinel

German contemporary composer Gerhard St�bler studied with Nicolaus Huber (composition) and Gerd Zacher (organ) at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold and the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen. Winning the 1982 Cornelius Cardew Memorial Prize was the first in a series of accolades he has received as a composer. St�bler's music often transcends the conventional framework. His catalogue of works contains only five pieces for organ, all of which are recorded here by Dominik Susteck.

ZINKA MILANOV - BELLINI, VERDI

In 2011 Thomas Fey was nominated for a Grammy for his world premiere recordings of the music of Antonio Salieri. Every new release of Haydn symphonies from Thomas Fey and his ensemble is greeted with enthusiasm; truly this is how Haydn should sound today. To bring this about, Fey's musicians bridge past and present, performing both on modern string instruments and replicas of authentic period woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.

There is nothing immature about the earliest Haydn symphonies, which in style straddle the older Italian overture and Baroque musical world while simultaneously looking forward to exciting new melodic and rhythmic developments of the Classical era.

Includes song(s) by Stephen Foster (Composer). Ensemble: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Gerhardt. Soloist: Robert White (tenor).

Handel's Saul is an operatic oratorio with ever intensifying action and increasingly drastic scenes. Handel seems to have been especially moved by this particular text. He gives each of the five main soloists a distinctive profile. Even the vocal supporting roles are unique and intentionally individual. In none of his other oratorios does Handel call for a more differentiated orchestra. Alongside the strings, he uses oboes, recorders, bassoons, trumpets, timpani and trombones. For me, Saul is one of the great high points of Handel's works. All of the performers on this recording thoroughly enjoyed taking on the challenges brought forth by this music. - Helmuth Rilling

At the end of its 40th anniversary season the Academy of Ancient Music — described as “the finest period-instrument orchestra in the world” by Classic FM — releases a significant new recording of JS Bach's Orchestral Suites BWV1066-69, directed from the harpsichord by Richard Egarr. Performed with single strings and at a low, "French" pitch, this recording offers a unique, chamber-like interpretation of Bach's virtuosic ouvertures.

SEA SYMPHONY

TOSCANINI COLLECTION VOL 71 -

Classical Music

Track Listing
1. I'll Forgive You 'Cause I Love You, But the Wrongs You've Done I Can't Forget
2. I'm Gonna Lose Myself Way Down in Louisville
3. My Old Daddy's Got a Brand New Way to Love
4. Sugar - Fats Waller
5. Beale Street Blues
6. Fort Worth and Denver Blues
7. Penitentiary
8. Better Boot That Thing
9. Bogey Man Blues
10. Whistling Woman Blues
11. Blood Hound Blues
12. Dirty Tee Bee Blues
13. Moaning the Blues
14. Telephoning the Blues
15. Showered With Blues
16. Wrong Doin' Daddy
17. Elm Street Blues
18. When You Lose Your Daddy
19. Mr. Forty Nine Blues
20. Good-Bye Rider

Recorded from 1927 to 1930. Includes liner notes by Billy Altman.

Digitally remastered by Jay Newland (June 1992, BMG Studios, New York City).

Making their Resonus Classics and recording debut is the UK period wind ensemble Boxwood & Brass. The ensemble’s first recording is based around German composer and clarinettist Franz Tausch, and the two suites of his Op. 22 XIII Piéces en Quatuor Op. 22 for two clarinets, horn and bassoon. Also included is repertoire from two of Tausch's pupils (Heinrich Baermann & Bernhard Henrik Crussell) as well as an important influence on Tausch’s career, Johann Stamitz.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Krueger.

Marvellously inventive music, beautifully played by a superb cellist. It is difficult to restrain one’s foot from tapping, a sure sign that good things are happening in the music.

"Vivaldi is greatly over-rated - a dull fellow who would compose the same form over many times." Such is the opinion of one of the great composers on the music of another great composer. Given the evidence of the present newly re-released complete Vivaldi cello concertos incredulity can be the only response to this assessment. But then Stravinsky was a man who voiced strong, often acerbic and sometimes outrageous opinions on virtually anything suggested to him. He had probably heard few, if any, of these cello concertos and irrespective would it have made any difference?

...This is wonderfully inventive music, which reflects the creative genius of its composer. Contrary to Stravinsky’s comments, the structure is highly varied. It is interesting to compare the infectious good-humoured opening of the B flat concerto RV 423 with the C minor RV 401 and its feeling of lamentation and contrapuntal texture. The solo cello part of the C major concerto RV 399 is so very different to the solo parts of all the other concertos.

Vivaldi must have had in mind a particularly virtuosic student when he wrote the demanding passages in the final movement of the D minor concerto RV 405. In the concerto for cello and bassoon, RV 409, the first movement alternates soft sustained passages for the soloist with fast outbursts for the orchestra. Then in the second movement Vivaldi reverses the roles; only in the final movement do the soloist and orchestra play in the same mood.

...The playing by Ofra Harnoy is very musical and evinces beautiful intonation. It is difficult to restrain one’s foot from tapping, a sure sign that good things are happening in the music... This set is enthusiastically recommended for what it is - a record of marvellously inventive music, beautifully played by a superb cellist.

-- Zane Turner, MusicWEb International [reviewing these performances reissued as part of the box set, RCA 67886]

This is, hands down, the best version of these remarkable pieces yet recorded. Wolfram Christ, famous as a solo violist and principal in the Berlin Philharmonic, whips the strings of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra into a frenzy in the quick movements, and wrings every drop of expressive angst from the more brooding slow movements. Consider, for example, the Adagio of Symphony No. 3, ostensibly in C major, with its tritonal shrieks and desolate, almost expressionist harmonies (sound clip). It’s an amazing work, and this recording does it full justice.

The performance style is what you might call “modified period practice.” Vibrato is used minimally–a mistake, of course, but not too serious a one in this context because all other aspects of the playing are so good. More importantly, the continuo part is finally played on C.P.E. Bach’s preferred instrument in lieu of the clavichord: the fortepiano. Truth be told, we have no evidence historically that these symphonies were ever performed with a fortepiano, but then, we have no evidence of how they were performed at all.

What these interpretations reveal, though, is what Tovey said nearly a century ago: that a fortepiano is even better than a harpsichord as an accompanying instrument for the same reason it’s better than a harpsichord at everything else. The variety of touch, articulation, and above all, dynamics makes it possible to accompany the strings without suddenly turning the music into a harpsichord concerto or, on the other hand, forcing the strings to restrict their own dynamics in order to accommodate the limitations of the continuo instrument.

These considerations are particularly valid today when, first, continuo players simply can’t resist embellishing their parts in a way which is wholly inauthentic and, as often as not, unstylish, and second, recording engineers invariably mike the continuo too loudly on the theory that everything the instrument does ought to be heard on the same plane as the folks who have the tune. At least with a fortepiano, sensitively played as here, the embellishments and balance issues never get in the way of the string ensemble. It blends harmoniously and mellifluously at all times. The result is simply wonderful, and surely closer to Bach’s intentions than more avowedly “authentic” versions if only because it’s so much more musical.

The opening of the B minor Symphony (No. 5 in the set) offers an excellent example of how attractive, how modern, the music sounds when performed in this fashion (sound clip). These symphonies were commissioned by Gottfried van Swieten (librettist of Haydn’s late oratorios) in 1773. He told Bach to write whatever he wanted, without regard for conventional stylistic or technical limitations. The result is an astounding series of passionate, spontaneous, and timeless pieces that finally sound that way. Surely you will want to own this gripping, even thrilling disc.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

The acclaimed Fidelio Trio make their Resonus debut with an exquisite recording of French piano trios- Camille Saint-Saens’ large-scale Op. 92 second trio, and Maurice Ravel’s sole foray into the genre dating from 1914. Coming off the back of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award nomination in 2016, this recording sees the trio expand on their unparalleled reputation for new music demonstrating the vast range of this brilliant chamber group’s abilities and talent. “Ravel’s Piano Trio was a lyric upwelling… the Fidelio players brought it off superbly, and it was a joy.” (The Sunday Times) “This is a bold and powerful recording, thoughtfully recorded, showing the young Fidelio Trio to be a force to be reckoned with.” (International Record Review.)

PIERRE MONTEUX EDITION VOL 13

Following on from their critically acclaimed Resonus debut of duets by Johann Joachim Quantz, the Elysium Ensemble have recorded an album of the Six Sonates, Op. 51, by French composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755). The second in a series of releases based on research into historical performance practice sees Elysium principles Greg Dikmans (flute) and Lucinda Moon (violin) continue their exploration of neglected and lesser-known works continuing the theme of ‘The Art of Elegant Conversation’. Prolific in his lifetime, publishing over 100 collections of Suites, Sonatas and other instrumental music, Boismortier’s great depth and imagination comes through in these duos for flute and violin brought to life with great panache by the Elysium Ensemble.

The timeless romance and lilting melodies of Strauss waltzes and polkas are legendary; here, in classic performances by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, the charming music of Old Vienna comes joyously to life. This Living Stereo jewel will transport you to the innocence and grace of a bygone era.

Recordings made May 1956, May 1957, November 1958, August 1959, Septemeber 1959 in Symphony Hall, Boston.

GOULD: FALL RIVER LEGEND, INTE

V5: FOUR SEASONS

Classical Music

Complete Tracklist:
1. All Through The Night
2. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
3. Barceuse De Dolly
4. Suo-Gan
5. Shoheen-Sholyoh
6. Rock-A-Bye Baby
7. Gartan Mother's Lullaby
8. Riddle Song
9. Evening
10. When You Wish Upon A Star
11. Barceuse Russe
12. Sandmannchen
13. Wiegenlied
14. Baby Mine
15. Flying Dreams
16. Barceuse Des Elephants
17. Such A Li'l Darlin'
18. Mighty Lak' A Rose
19. La La Lu
20. Nocturne For Harp