Orchestral and Symphonic
7908 products
Moeran: Violin Concerto, Lonely Waters / Handley , Ulster Orchestra
[The Violin Concerto's] last five minutes [are] a most moving elegy which Lydia Mordkovitch plays very beautifully on this excellent new recording. . . . [If] you can surrender to its rhapsodic musings and gusts of passion and forget its obvious debt to Elgar and Delius, then this is as good a performance as you could wish, recorded with the clarity and fidelity that are the hallmark of Chandos recordings. The Ulster Orchestra plays superbly, so that Moeran's attractive and colourful scoring gets its full due; and, of course, Vernon Handley is a sympathetic interpreter. -- Gramophone
Encore! / Vladimir Spivakov, Moscow Virtuosi
These performances are also available on VHS: RCA Victor Red Seal Video 68199.
Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Hickox, Bournemouth Symphony
Johann Friedrich Fasch: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3
The third and concluding volume in our series of orchestral works by Bach contemporary Johann Friedrich Fasch includes more premiere recordings of orchestral works and his lute and recorder concertos. - Tempesta di Mare, Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra
Contemporaries Of Mozart - Vogler: Symphonies, Overtures, Ballets / Bamert, London Mozart Players
The celebrated Contemporaries of Mozart series continues apace with the compositions of German composer George Joseph Vogler. The London Mozart Players which celebrates their 60th anniversary in 2009 perform under the direction of Matthias Bamert. Also known as Abbé Vogler, Vogler was idealized in Robert Browning's poem 'Abt Vogler', with its subtitle 'After he has been extemporizing upon the musical instrument of his invention.' In his own day, Vogler was indeed famous for his improvisations. He was also a celebrated teacher, whose pupils included Weber and Meyerbeer; but he seems to have had little renown as a composer, that is, until now. Vogler was born near Würzburg in 1749, the son of a violinist and instrument maker. After studying at Würzburg University, he moved to Bamberg for three years of religious instruction: hence the references to Abbé. In the early 1770s he was appointed almoner, then chaplain, to the court at Mannheim. By 1775 he was appointed the vice-Kapellmeister. Mannheim was the home of a flourishing musical establishment, and the court orchestra had an international reputation: Vogler's colleagues included Christian Cannabich. He would later hold the position of court music director at Stockholm (1786-89) and at Darmstadt (1807-14). The scope of Vogler's musical accomplishment, encompassing sacred vocal works, operas, instrumental ensemble pieces and solo keyboard music, challenges generalization. The surviving symphonies and concertos by Vogler reveal polished craftsmanship and a flair for orchestral colour. He was fond of highlighting wind instruments, and the use of two pairs of horns in complementary keys is a trademark. All the works which here receive their first recording reflect this approach. Although relatively few of Vogler's works achieved wide public recognition, various works were performed in concerts well into the 19th century, and Robert Schumann praised Vogler's music as late as 1838. Recent Contemporaries of Mozart releases: CHAN 10379: Christian Cannabich CHAN 10496 Leopold Mozart CHAN 10458 John Marsh
Vivaldi: String Concertos Vol 2 / Simon Standage, Et Al
Recorded in: All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London 16-18 October 2000 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Jonathan Cooper Christopher Brooke (Assistant)
Haydn: Cello Concertos; Beethoven: Romances / Müller-Schott
Two of Beethoven's most beautiful melodies in a new guise: the Violin Romances are played here for the first time in the atmospheric version for cello - sung by a male voice, as it were.
Shostakovich: Symphony No 10 / Slatkin, St Louis Sym Orch
Mozart: Violin Concerto 3, Concertone / Kremer, Grindenko
Furtwangler Conducts Beethoven - The Complete Symphonies & Selected Overtures
This set is offered at a special price: 5 discs for the price of 4.
The Rca Victor Jazz Workshop - The Arrangers
A lot of unusual music appears on this Bluebird CD. Altoist Hal McKusick (with arrangmeents contributed by George Russell and Gil Evans) performs five numbers (including a version of "Blues for Pablo" that was cut a year before Miles Davis's recording) with a variety of musicians including trumpeter Art Farmer and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland. Arranger John Carisi (heard here on trumpet) interprets seven previously unreleased numbers with an octet and trombonist Rod Levitt performs five of his arrangements with his own advanced octet. Although these performances would have little influence on future developments in jazz (the free jazz movement of the 1960s overshadowed the trend toward using elements of modern classical music in charts), the music still sound quite fresh and unpredictable today.
Furtwängler Conducts Beethoven - Symphonies 7, 8, Leonore Ov
-- Henry Fogel, FANFARE
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos No 1-4, Rhapsody / Wild, Et Al

Two caveats for prospective customers: One is that Earl Wild makes the once-standard "traditional" cuts in the finale of the Third Concerto; second is that these classic 1965 performances also are available on the Chesky label in less brilliant but more naturally equalized transfers, albeit spread across three full-priced discs. Chandos, however, offers the better bargain. More importantly, Wild is in dazzling form throughout. You'll rarely hear the First and Fourth Concertos sparkle with equal panache and rhythmic acuity, while the pianist's fusion of poetry and flair add up to a Paganini Rhapsody that leaves just about all stereo versions behind. Jascha Horenstein's incisive, colorful support is a major asset, and the Royal Philharmonic plays beautifully for him. If you don't mind the Third Concerto cuts (or already have Martha Argerich's landmark third), these classic performances only get better with age, and the sonics are still terrific. Go for it, piano fans! --Jed Distler
COMPLETE WORKS FOR ORGAN V: 9
Halvorsen: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 / Jarvi, Bergen Philharmonic

Johan Halvorsen spent most of his career writing for the theater, which is probably why his music sounds so effortless, colorful, and well, efficient. This isn't meant to be disparaging. Rather, all of these pieces get right to the point, and none outstays its welcome, not even the Second Symphony, which clocks in at a bit under half an hour. It's conservative, harmonically and formally, but the music really works--it's a pleasure from beginning to end, and wholly convincing. This performance also is the first to correct the zillion errors in the printed score that have gone a long way to preventing the work from entering the repertoire, where it surely belongs.
The other pieces are all, in one way or another, ostensibly Norwegian in sound in a manner quite similar to Grieg. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. What sane person dislikes Grieg? The Suite ancienne, to the memory of Holberg, has every bit as much charm and freshness as Grieg's Holberg Suite, while the other three pieces all feature solo violin. Marianne Thorsen plays splendidly, while Neeme Järvi leads his Bergen forces in performances that are graceful, vibrant, and in the Suite and the Symphony, the last word in impetuosity and excitement. With terrific sound, if you don't know this music, you're missing something special.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
NORBERT HILGER SPIELT MAX REGE
M. Haydn: Serenade, Divertimento / Schmalfuss, Klocker, Prague Chamber Orchestra
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Fantasie Op. 17/ Sonate B-Dur
Fischer-Dieskau - Salzburger Liederabende 1956-1965
The two Wolf recitals have not appeared before: one is a delightful CD of songs from the Spanish Songbook, shared in 1960 with Seefried and Werba, a rewarding pairing. The other ‘new’ Wolf CD, also from 1960, can serve as a template of every recital here by virtue of its complete command of every aspect of the Lieder singer’s art. It is devoted entirely to Goethe settings, beginning with a deeply thought-through account of the ‘Harfenspieler’ songs from Wilhelm Meister in which, right at the start of a programme, Fischer-Dieskau is entirely at his ease, piercing to the soul of these mysterious and wonderful pieces. That’s followed by a suitably mellifluous and ecstatic account of the heaven-seeking Ganymed. A sharply characterised Der Rattenfänger, a ruminative Anakreons Grab and a challengingly powerful Prometheus – all masterly settings and all played by Moore with exemplary understanding – are at the very heart of this programme. Among the five encores, the suitably eager Begegnung and a properly cynical Abschied find the singer and pianist at their most relaxed and outgoing.
The first (1956) recital, which I don’t think I had heard before, is another winner. Devoted entirely to Heine settings by Schubert and Schumann to mark the centenary of the poet’s death, it contains some of the greatest Lieder ever written, ideally delivered – Schubert’s six settings included in Schwanengesang and Schumann’s Dichterliebe, in readings as immediate as any by the singer, followed by a treasure-store of encores: soft-grained, warm accounts of Du bist wie eine Blume and Mondnacht among them, followed by a light, wistful Erstes Grün. I shall leave the remainder of these superb offerings (discs devoted to Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and post-Romantic composers) for the reader to discover.
Alan Blyth, The Gramophone
Mozart: Orchestral Works (Live)
Contemporaries Of Mozart Collection - Symphonies / Bamert, London Mozart Players
Each CD offers a wealth of classically elegant melodies wrapped up in imaginative orchestration. There are three symphonies by the Mannheim master Carl Stamitz, replete with crescendos and the then newfangled clarinets in an orchestra that so impressed Mozart. There are shimmering and rhythmic symphonies by the composer, publisher and piano maker Ignace Pleyel and the graceful and introspective symphonies by Pavel Vranicky, including the unusually titled ‘Grand Characteristic Symphony for Peace with the French Republic’, plus delightful symphonies by Kozeluch and dramatic orchestral music by Krommer, who is better known for his woodwind music.
Vanhal: Symphonies
Jaffe: Concerto for Cello & Orchestra, Homage to the Breath,
