This is a splendid set of Ives classics with two novelties. It says something forhis stature these days that this is the fifth recording of Three Places in New England in the current British catalogue. The opening march is slightly disappointing in Slatkin's over measured treatment, but there are plenty of fireworks (literally, since it depicts a Fourth of July outing) in ''Putnam's Camp'' and real intensity in the sound of hymn-singing across the river which is built into ''The Housatonic at Stockbridge''.

It is good to have The Unanswered Question and Central Park in the Dark where they belong—together. The separate layers of activity in both pieces, with the strings static and the other instrumental textures dynamically changing, create the quintessential Ives experience in the simplest form. The spacing is carefully engineered in this recording and the detail at all levels is clear.

I have compared the Tilson Thomas recording of the Third Symphony unfavourably with that by Sir Neville Marriner. Slatkin, in this third recording in the British catalogue, now has the edge on both of them, with an affectionate treatment of this hymn-saturated score. Tilson Thomas used a new edition. I think Slatkin does too, and there are extras in the strings at the end of the second movement which I have never heard before.

The two novelties are both early, from the 1890s. The March is all infectious razzle-dazzle and the Fugue in four keys is experimental for its period but smoothly contrived and haunting in its ending. They complete a well planned and competitive Ives release.

-- Peter Dickinson, Gramophone [4/1993]

Günter Wand recorded Schubert’s Ninth (officially) three times: in Cologne, with the orchestra of NDR, and finally with the Berlin Philharmonic. All three are excellent: naturally paced, beautifully proportioned between movements in what remains one of the trickiest pieces in the repertoire, and (particularly the latter two performances) splendidly played. The Cologne performance is available as part of Wand’s complete Schubert symphony cycle with that orchestra. The Berlin performance has gotten most of the attention, largely because at the end of his life Wand was given the “privilege” of working with that great orchestra. It also comes in tandem with an equally fine “Unfinished” Symphony at two discs for the price of one. This has left the NDR recording out in the cold, relatively speaking, which is a pity because it’s the best of the three.

You can hear the difference pretty clearly in the two sound clips comparing the end of the first movement in both performances. The Berlin outing is distinctly heavier, more “Brucknerian,” the strings playing with an excess of legato, the brass sonorities blended rather than distinct. The NDR version, by contrast, is a touch livelier, more sharp rhythmically, with trumpets and trombones adding individual tone colors to the general tutti. Ultimately it comes down to questions of taste. In my opinion, the Berlin sonority gives too much prominence to the strings, and despite exquisite solo playing by individual wind players (the oboe in the second movement, for instance), the general impression is more soft-edged and less true to Schubert’s idiosyncratic scoring. The NDR musicians are hardly inferior, and on this occasion they simply turn in a more colorful performance of this particular work. The sonics are excellent in all three of Wand’s performances, but if you can find it the NDR version is the one you should add to your collection.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO 3 IN E

MAHLER/BERIO, STRAUSS: ORCHEST

SCHUMANN: CARNAVAL OP 9, WALDS

PROKOFIEV: PIANO SONATAS NOS 2

Deeply sensitive and translucent, pointing up the richness of the colour, harmony and melody.

Slatkin’s impressive RVW series continues with splendid performances of these symphonies. Vaughan Williams’s experiences of the Great War influenced the Pastoral Symphony (1921), for it is commemorative of the fallen, and deeply mystical as well as being quietly contemplative of the landscape and evening skies. Slatkin’s reading is deeply sensitive and translucent, pointing up the richness of the colour, harmony and melody. In contrast, the anger, violence and discord of the Fourth Symphony (1934), with its rhythmical elasticity and brilliant orchestration, were thought by many to be a warning against fascism. This is a strong and biting account emphasising the sardonic humour of the work, aided by a warm, clear, spacious recording.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Ian Lace, BBC Music Magazine

LEGENDARY STRAUSS RECORDINGS

STRAUSS: DON QUIXOTE, TILL EUL

MOZART: THE PIANO QUARTETS AN

Selections recorded February and August, 1990.

This disc includes both stereo and monaural recordings.

"The emotional fabric of this music draws a warm response from Ormandy and the Philadelphia to produce fine accounts of both the Sixth Symphony and Romeo and Juliet. The introduction to the Sixth is suitably full of expectation, and the third movement full of vitality. Both the playing and sound quallty are superb." Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5) -- Nicholas Rast, BBC Music Magazine

RACHMANINOV, BRAHMS: CELLO SON

Those who have been following RCA's Fritz Reiner Collection will know what to expect from these outstanding digital remasters. It is astonishing to reflect that this earlier of Reiner's two Chicago recordings of Also sprach Zarathustra was made on March 8th, 1954 in stereo when Toscanini was still (just) recording in low-fl in New York's Carnegie Hall. The sound may be tonally fierce by current standards (less so than many oftpraised Mercury reissues) but the balance is fully acceptable, with the first and second violins set close to the listener (and the microphones) on either side of the podium, and the basses hard left. By the time of taping the Bourgeois gentilhomme suite and Rosenkavalier waltzes, Reiner had adopted a more conventional layout, and the engineering seems a degree or two more 'modern', capturing the distinctive ambience of the hall.

Reiner's 1954 Also sprach is arguably more characteristic than his 1962 RCA remake (7/88). That is to say, it is even more intense and extrovert. In his second year with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the conductor was already getting a thrilling response from the strings, although woodwind intonation could be a problem. Confident and well played as it is, the spectacular opening sunrise inevitably lacks the impact of, say, Preyin's Telarc recording (the organ is particularly disappointing). Nor is there the dark solemnity of and detail in the bass familiar from Karajan's DO versions. What we have instead is a measure of raw passion and forward thrust unequalled on disc. In reflective passages, conductor and/or engineers display some reluctance to achieve a real pianissimo, but as the tempo builds Reiner invariably creates great excitement and the orchestral playing is marvellous.

The Bourgeois geniilhomme suite (slightly abridged here) is not a great favourite of mine and I felt that the Chicagoans' undoubted virtuosity was not in the end preferable to the RPO's more delicate approach under Sir Thomas Beecham (EMI) despite the superior sonics. However, you feel about the disconnected Rosenkavalier waltzes, Reiner's self-consciously 'brilliant' manner provides a suitable showcase for a great orchestra at its peak.

-- David Gutman, Gramophone [12/1992]