With a collection of titles, if the programme is well played and recorded one can only come up with the usual line of "go ahead if this is the selection you want". Three out of the four overtures here are early ones and for myself, I must say that the mellow blend of the orchestration of the Prelude to Die Meistersinger was a considerable relief after the brashness of Rienzi. But that the playing is fine cannot be denied. The Philharmonia violins sing the "Prize Song" with a softly expressive silkiness of tone that is most beautiful. The quiet blend of the wind at the start of Tannhduser is equally good to hear, while when the "Pilgrims' Hymn" returns towards the end all bombast is avoided by the soft and deft violin figuration being so delicate that the woodwinds can also play softly, as well as quite swiftly. Maazel does allow the greatest expansiveness later on, as the music demands. Nor is there any lack of brilliance or zest in such a piece as the Dutchman Overture or in the final polacca of Rienzi; though there is a top B just before the final molts put stretto (bar 344) where violins and woodwind do take a split second to become unanimous (not such a niggling criticism as it may seem, since the note is quite long and is an important one at the top of a climax).

-- Gramophone [3/1980]

Simeon ten Holt’s unmistakable minimalist style is the driving force behind Canto Ostinato, one of the composer’s most famous works. Canto Ostinato is the best-loved Dutch piano composition of the 20th century, with its mesmerising melodies never failing to soothe the mind.

The instruments and number of performers for the piece are unspecified; written ‘for keyboard instruments’, the work has been recorded many times with piano, but this unique set brings together 12 arrangements of the work – for piano, as well as for organ, marimba and synthesizer. With a variety of recording venues ranging from throughout The Netherlands to Canada, this compilation is a must-have addition to any classical music collection.

Jeroen van Veen is a leading light in modern piano performance, as well as a successful composer. Chairman of the Simeon ten Holt Foundation, he has won critical acclaim with ensembles such as The International Piano Quartet, DJ Piano and Jeroen van Veen & Friends.

Other information:
- Recorded in 1999 - 2013.
- Anyone having experienced the power of Canto Ostinato by Simeon ten Holt will come under the spell of the hallucinatory effect of this iconic work, the most famous Dutch work for piano of the 20th century, one of the “classics” of minimal music.
- Jeroen van Veen and friends present the work in a variety of arrangements, ranging from piano solo through multiple pianos, organ, marimbas and synthesizers, each revealing other aspects of this deceptively simple work in which the harmonies shift imperceptibly in slowly changing waves.
- Liner notes on the composer by the artist, who worked in close collaboration till the composer’s death last year.

Comparable to the likes of Prokofiev, Shoenberg, Bartok and Shostakovich, the piano concertos of Ernst Krenek (1900-1991) are important contributions to twentieth century piano repertoire. The first three piano concertos, featured here, were written between 1923 and 1946. Krenek displays an impressive use of twelve-tone technique. Pianist Mikhail Korzhev is active as an orchestral soloist, solo recitalist, and chamber musician. He has been a faculty member at Beverly Hills International Music Festival since 2008.

Echoes of Spain

Strauss: Don Quixote

"• Wilhelm Furtwängler is considered as one of the most important Bruckner conductors of all times. • With this box you can approve this easy. • All important live recordings of the Maestro collected in one Box set. • Includes his legendary war performances plus the unique No. 7 (appraised from all reviewers as one of the best recordings of the score) recording from Rom. • 6 CD Box"

Spanish Guitar Favourites

Berg: Lulu Suite, Der Wein & Lyrischen Suite

This disc was shaped by the encounter between one of the great composers of our time, Mauricio Kagel, a unique and engaging pianist, Alexandre Tharaud, and some of his close chamber music partners. It reaches out to its audience with a great sense of humour and tenderness.

VIVALDI: 6 DOUBLE CONCERTOS S

AVE MARIS STELLA RUHLAND, NIE

GREATEST HITS OF 1720 RICHARD

ON THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE

Classical Music

FLUTE CONCERTOS E MINOR

Rudolf Serkin's gaunt tone and impassioned phrasing, along with Eugene Ormandy's robust, alert support, have long distinguished this 1964 recording of Schumann's A minor concerto as one of the catalog's finest.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com [reviewing Sony 93908]

Schubert: Works for Violin & Piano

"• Played by Sviatoslav Richter 1952-55 • Richter shows all the needed skills and understanding of the composers mystical compositions. • Reference recordings!"

Classical Music

The Great Guitar Concertos

HAYDN: SYMPHONIES 22, 78 & 82

Prokofiev’s great ballet scores for Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella have become firm favourites in both the concert hall and the repertory of ballet companies worldwide – ‘The Montagues and Capulets’ from Romeo and Juliet, for example, features regularly at major sporting events, something Prokofiev probably never envisaged!

The earliest of the ballets featured here is Romeo and Juliet, commissioned in the mid-1930s, soon after Prokofiev returned to the USSR from self-imposed exile. Drawn from the main events of the ballet, the music of Suite No.2 ranges from the grand, formal music of the ball and sounds of a popular holiday to the tragedy and despair of the story’s end, illuminating Prokofiev’s commitment to communicating the depths and intricacies of Shakespeare’s play.

Cinderella followed Romeo and Juliet in the 1940s, with a score of rich and sophisticated music that rewards audiences of adults and children alike.The Suite No.1 features some of the ballet’s best-loved music, including ‘Cinderella’s Waltz’ and the brilliant Mazurka.The Stone Flower was the last of Prokofiev’s Soviet ballets, dating from 1948, and is based on a folk tale from the Urals. Although it will perhaps be the least familiar of the works on this disc, its score contains music of great beauty, with soaring tunes that are as memorable as anything in the two ballet scores that preceded it.

OTHER INFORMATION:
• Recording made in 1997.
• Includes booklet notes.

Already during his lifetime Handel's "Messiah" became his most frequently performed work, achieving virtually cult status. The many outstanding choruses in this oratorio are among the most beloved, well known pieces in the history of choral music. This new release contains all of the choruses from the internationally acclaimed recording conducted by Frieder Bernius. The special sound and musical refinement displayed by his ensembles - the Stuttgarter Kammerchor and the Barockorchester Stuttgart - which, according to the MDR Figaro (April 2009) breathe "liveliness and new energy" into the work, make it a most musically exciting listening experience.

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 30 & Rhapsody on a T