This is verismo singing on the grandest, most authentic scale.

Milanov may sound a trifle mature for Santuzza, but who today, or in any day, fills Mascagni's grateful phrases with quite such full, lustrous tone and with such a wealth of feeling for the text? This is verismo singing on the grandest, most authentic scale and very welcome back to the catalogue as such. Björling may be a trifle too gentlemanly for Turiddu, as is Bergonzi on the Karajan version (DG), but better that than too much overt passion perhaps and—like his soprano—his singing is an exemplar of the spinto style at its best, with much fine shading of the tone and an inward feeling for the part. As Alfio, Merrill turns in one of his most considerable performances on disc. Indeed these three non-Italians prove the exception to the rule that Italians are essential in Italian repertory, but then all three were brought up in a stricter school than that pertaining today.

Cellini's conducting is no more than adequate. The recording is very restricted in range and unatmospheric in sound. For a fuller, more sonorous account of the score, in stereo, the Karajan is hard to equal, but his spacious version is twinned with Pag. If you want this opera alone I would suggest this version.

-- Gramophone [8/1988]

"Gilels made two recordings of this concerto. The later version was made for DG in the early 1970s with Eugen Jochum and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and has earned a high reputation over the years. This earlier version, made in January 1958, is no less remarkable and very different. Perhaps it was the temporary transatlantic influence of Reiner and his orchestra which persuaded Gilels to see the concerto as a vehicle for a display of brilliant virtuoso playing, with fast tempos and little relaxation except in the third movement. certainly the playing in the overture has the same characteristics. But when this approach was harnessed to Gilel's intellectual strength the result was a performance of great power." -- The Gramophone

Includes minuetto(s) by Giovanni Bolzoni. Ensemble: Boston Pops. Conductor: Arthur Fiedler.

DEBUSSY: LE MARTYR DE SAINT-SE

Guarneri Quartet. RCA Silver Seal 60909-2 [with Ravel: Quartet in F; Debussy: Suite bergamasque (Alexis Weissenberg, piano)].

The Guarneri Quartet’s 1973 recording, sounding a little wooly but nonetheless quite lovely on CD, conveys the music with endearing sweetness and warmth. No group has ever gotten closer to the spirit of Debussy’s slow movement, or more beautifully captured its fragrant atmosphere and attenuated, almost heartbreaking sentiment. First violinist Arnold Steinhardt is exquisite here, and the group’s playing overall is remarkably polished. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.

"The gem of this disc is the Wieniawski concerto, with which Heifetz not only created a sensation on his American debut at the age of 16 but which he was the first to record. A virtuoso work par excellence, it affords him infinite opportunities to display his phenomenal brilliance, impeccable intonation and (in the Romanze) beautiful phrasing and soulfully emotional tone—which, as all violinists observe with fascination, owes much to his individual fingerings. The tuttis in this work have been somewhat cut, but that is of little consequence in a purely solo vehicle like this. The perfection of his rapid spiccato bowing in the finale is enough to make mere mortal string players despair. The recording still sounds well after nearly 40 years."

-- Lionel Salter, Gramophone [11/1992]

"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

Reiner's claims as a Mahler interpreter are rarely appreciated as they should be. His account of the Fourth Symphony— strikingly different from the conventional view in some ways—has always struck me as among the most convincing, and here he directs a superbly clean-edged account of what is for the interpreter the most problematic of Mahler's works.

Like Walter and Klemperer, Reiner was a Mahler pupil and disciple. Thanks to the violent contrasts between Walter and Klemperer we have now readily accepted that there is no one true way with Mahler, and Reiner provides a third 'authentic' way, equally distinct. Those used to the more affectionate treatment of Walter, or for that matter Bernstein, will initially find Reiner's straighter style disconcerting. Deliberately the tone of voice is cooler, but that brings many benefits. One could argue that the Chinese poems of their nature demand a certain detachment. What is more Reiner's comparative coolness allows him to observe Mahler's markings much more meticulously than Walter. The obvious and most striking example comes at the climactic point of the final "Abschied", where Mahler, knowing the fondness of performers to reserve a fruity fortissimo for the big tune at the end, puts "ppp!" (the exclamation mark is Mahler's) over the great passage "Die liebe Erde". Walter and Ferrier ignore it completely and carry one, heart-throbbing, eyes-welling, to the end—a marvellous moment in recording history. But Reiner with exquisite tenderness, persuades Maureen Forrester to attack her high Fs and Gs with a genuine half-tone. The whispered murmurs of "Ewig" at the end have no premonition of death about them as they have with Ferrier: the end brings instead the feeling of sinking back on the eternal feather-bed of ecstasy, and that, I assume, is closer to what the Chinese poet and Mahler intended.

Though precision is his keynote, and phrasing is never mannered, Reiner does secure very beautiful pointing from his Chicago players, whether in the yearning phrases of the slow songs or the chattering opening of "Von der Jugend" which is more beautifully 'sprung' than I ever remember before. In the fifth song, "Der Trunkene im Frithling", too, the sharp brightness of the opening gives way to the drowsiness of "Ein Vogel singt im Baum" with superb control of mood—matched by very understanding singing from Richard Lewis; a lovely moment achieved here more effectively even than in the Walter.

My direct comparisons tended to a surprising degree to favour the new Reiner against the Walter, but returning to a complete performance of the Reiner I saw more clearly what reservations will almost certainly strike Mahlerians. However free Walter is with some of the markings, his performance gets inside the music, wrings one's emotions, makes one feel the performance, recorded or not, as a great occasion. I shall not say that Reiner's is not a great performance, but in the last resort one remains detached to a degree that I do not experience with any of the other three versions in their different ways—Klemperer and Bernstein as well as Walter. As I say, there is a clear argument for suggesting that that is apt for the work. At one point I felt tempted to place this version, with its remarkably good stereo and bargain price, ahead of all three of its rivals, but the chances of disappointment are too high. The sound is a little harder than in the very latest recordings from Chicago, but unless the last degree of high fidelity is essential, it will be very acceptable—better than some recent issues. The clarity of texture and vividness of atmosphere are most impressive, and both the voices are very well caught. Maureen Forrester has rarely if ever sung more expressively on record, and though Richard Lewis's tone is not always as sweet as one would like, his musical precision and imagination are always most satisfying. Neither singer is immaculate in German, but one has rather less to put up with on that score than with, say, Ferrier, who for all her glorious projection of feeling was not always comfortable with the words. Another marvellous addition to the Reiner discography: I hope the RCA Victrola label will be providing still more.

-- Gramophone [10/1969]

REVIEWS:
Fanfare (7-8/98, p.100) - "...The performances all seem good, as does the sound quality. There are other CDs that are more vital Berio, although this one certainly makes you think, which can't be bad these days."

Selections Include:
1. Baby Driver
2. Cecilia
3. One Man's Ceiling Is Another man's Floor
4. so Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
5. Loves Me Like A Rock
6. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
7. St. Judy's Comet
8. Punky's Dilemma
9. Overs
10. Mother And Child Reunion
11. Do It For Your Love
12. Still Crazy After All These Years
13. Why Don't You Write Me?
14. Old Friends/Bookends

Additional personnel includes: Gil Goldstein (keyboards); Russell Malone (guitar); Christian McBride (bass).

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

As Paul Simon was perparing his first Broadway musical, The Capeman, the New York Voices assembled New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon, a song-and-dance production of Simon's biggest hits. As a musical experience, the New York Voices turned out a better, richer album than Simon, whose Songs from the Capeman was curiously stillborn. The Songs of Paul Simon, however, is full of life, teeming with energy and bursting with melody. Produced by Joel Moss and featuring cameos by Christian McBride, Gil Goldstein and Russell Malone, the project features familiar numbers like "Cecilia," "Loves Me Like a Rock," "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" and "Still Crazy After All These Years," but it also showcases wonderful album tracks like "One Man's Ceiling (Is Another Man's Floor)" and "Baby Driver." The arrangements are brighter and brassier than Simon's originals, but there's a real charm to the performances that makes it a thoroughly entertaining experience, one that's much more fun and engaging than The Capeman. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

PIERRE MONTEUX EDITION VOL 5 -

It is difficult to think of a more agreeable sound than that of flute and guitar; or so it seems immediately after listening to this record. Of course, the basic sound also needs quality in its execution: that it most certainly has, in high degree, on this occasion, the Galway vibrato seeming altogether less obtrusive when accompanied by guitar only.

The programme is splendidly chosen; although looking mostly like major works calling for serious listening, those major works, when considered by movements, separate into the lightest of summer-evening-on-the-river trifles. One major work is more familiar than I thought from its title it was, and perhaps than you think it is: in the Cimarosa Serenade the editing and arranging team of Galway and Yamashita have by coincidence chosen exactly the same movements, in the same order, as Arthur Benjamin chose in arranging from the same source (Cimarosa's keyboard sonatas) for the Cimarosa/Benjamin Oboe Concerto. The lay-out is of course different; and the element of familiarity involved may lend an extra pleasure on a first hearing. Pleasure, here, is also helped along by a first-class quality of recording, whether in the LP or CD version.'

-- Gramophone [4/1987]

RCA's classical film score series with Chuck Gerhardt never should have gone out of print, so it's particularly good to see Arkivmusic.com bringing the whole series back "on demand". These days the rage is to record the complete scores, and even though Korngold's music is more continuous than most, I can very readily imagine many listeners preferring these shorter selections of suites and individual scenes. You get nothing but the best tunes--indeed, Another Dawn and The Prince and the Pauper became the first movement and finale, respectively, of the Violin Concerto--and an even greater range of mood and contrast than any one work can possibly display.

More to the point, the performances in this series are all splendid, the engineering wonderfully sumptuous, and the selections unfailingly intelligent. For example, we get to hear Korngold's entire Cello Concerto (all 12 minutes of it, reworked from the music originally in Deception) rather than the single film cue that's only about half as long. Furthermore, as programs designed for continuous listening, this series was unbeatable. Playing times on these pre-digital-era LP releases aren't as long as we have come to expect today, but when the quality of the product is this high it would be churlish to complain. Great stuff!

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH ROY HARG

MOZART: COMPLETE STRING QUINTE

HOLST: THE PLANETS ORMANDY

MOZART: COMPLETE VIOLA QUINTET

KAZUHITO YAMASHITA - MUSIC OF

FANFARE FOR THE MILLENIUM

Few things are as much fun as big orchestral favorites performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of the legendary Arthur Fiedler. This program, part of the RCA Living Stereo series, features splashy orchestral showpieces by Prokofiev, Liszt and Chopin.
Prokofiev's suite from his opera 'Love for Three Oranges' gets things off to a rousing start. Fiedler and his orchestra revel in the color and grotesque wit of Prokofiev's colorful score. Special note should be paid to the orchestra's sensitive playing in "Le prince et la princesse." Chopin's 'Les sylphides' is one of the most popular scores in the classical dance repertoire. On this recording, the delicate orchestrations of Leroy Anderson and Peter Bodge give the orchestra an opportunity to shine. Each dance is skillfully rendered and Fiedler gives the music ample room to breath. Two grand tone poems by Franz Liszt, 'Les préludes' and 'Mazeppa' round out the program. Fiedler and company are brilliant in 'Les préludes,' grasping the work's heroic soul without resorting to bombast. The RCA engineers provide startlingly vivid sound that is still of audiophile quality nearly forty years later.

CHRISTMAS WITH MOZART

"The Enigma Variations, Froissart, Cockaigne, and In the South (a thrilling performance) all benefit from Slatkin's keen musical insight and impeccable execution. The London Philharmonic, long experienced in this music, provides its usual enthusiastic and authoritative performances."

--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com [6/15/2004] Reviewing RCA 60389

LISZT: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS 1 &

"Leonard Slatkin's series of Haydn London Symphonies brings fresh, refined readings at speeds that never sound breathless. There is wit from the Philharmonia woodwind and the string phrasing always gives pleasure."

-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition] Reviewing RCA 68003

MARTINU: CELLO SONATAS JÁNOS