Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

SOMM Recordings is delighted to release Volume 4 in it's "major commemorative series" (ConcertoNet. Com) Bruckner from the Archives. Many of the expertly restored and remastered recordings, like this performance of the Fifth Symphony, are appearing for the first time in any form. Conceived and designed by SOMM Executive Producer and acclaimed Audio Restoration Engineer Lani Spahr with support from the Bruckner Society of America, Bruckner from the Archives celebrates the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1824 with rare archival recordings of the 11 symphonies and selected other important works. These have been sourced by Lani Spahr from the more than 12, 000 Bruckner performances in the Archive of John F. Berky, Executive Secretary of the Bruckner Society of America, who also acts as Consultant for this important series. This fourth instalment offers the first ever release of a live radio broadcast of Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi (1963) and a debut CD release of the String Quintet and it's alternate movement, the Intermezzo, by the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet joined by violist Ferdinand Stangler (1956). These rare interpretations of Bruckner masterworks offer a new perspective on the music and it's genesis in the context of Bruckner's life and compositional development, accompanied by the very latest in scholarship from Professor Benjamin Korstvedt, President of the Bruckner Society of America and member of the Editorial Board of the New Anton Bruckner Complete Edition. Prof. Korstvedt cites this recording of the Fifth, led by a young Christoph von Dohnanyi then in the early stages of his legendary career, as a fine example of the new, more objective approach to Bruckner performance favoured among the postwar generation. The early days of the LP bring us this recording of the Quintet by the string quartet in residence at the Vienna Konzerthaus, who along with their guest violist were members of the Vienna Philharmonic. The playing - vividly remastered - is a window onto a lost era, with it's portamentos, lyrical intensity, romantic tempos and phrasing epitomising a distinctly Viennese tradition that invests the music with a sincerity of sentiment and a depth of mood that is both rare and striking. Lani Spahr's previous SOMM releases include the lauded four-volume sets Vaughan Williams Live (ARIADNE 5016, 5018-20) and Elgar Remastered (SOMMCD 261-4), as well as two Gramophone Editor's Choice picks: Elgar from America Vol. 3 (ARIADNE 5015-2) for "superb audio restorations [bringing] performances fully to life" and Bruckner from the Archives Vol. 1 (ARIADNE 5025-2) for the "high standards achieved here, where expert audio restoration and remastering is by Lani Spahr". Praise for Volume One and critical interest in the Series: Gramophone Editor's Choice (June 2024) "We look forward to the next editions in the series; to further uplifting recordings and to new light, shed on a composer we thought we knew. "? The Quarterly Review: Endnotes, May 2024 "This is an auspicious launch of what promises to be a Bruckner series of uncommon interest. "? John Quinn, Music Web International

SOMM Recordings is thrilled to announce Pierre Monteux Live, a two-CD set comprised entirely of first releases including never-before-issued performances led by the renowned conductor. Among these is a legendary 50th Anniversary performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring with the composer in attendance, given a half-century to the day after Monteux himself conducted the storied Paris world premiere! This recording captures an extraordinary moment of historical continuity: between 1913 and 1963 five decades elapsed in the evolution of 20th-century music, in the taste and understanding of the public and in the lives of both creator and pioneering interpreter. The concert was broadcast live on the BBC from the Royal Albert Hall and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra who referred to Monteux affectionately as their "Ma�tre". Both the devoted playing and the emotional audience acclaim are preserved in vividly present sound. This set also commemorates the revered conductor - on the 60th anniversary of his death and ahead of the 150th anniversary of his birth - with moving testimony from LSO musicians involved in the landmark Stravinsky concert. These interviews were recorded between 1992 and 1995 by this set's producer, Jon Tolansky, co-founder of Music Preserved and the author of documentary features on�composers and performers. Monteux is also heard speaking on tape here, in a�1955 interview and a 1959 rehearsal of the LSO in Dvorak's Seventh Symphony, providing a window onto the man's intellect, work ethic and rapport with fellow musicians. Rounding out this set are still more never-before-issued recordings of Monteux conducting the BBC Northern Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in music by Haydn, Weber and Beethoven, as well as works by Ravel, who, like Stravinsky, was a composer Monteux knew personally. To the highly discriminating players of the RPO of 1960, Monteux was a favourite guest conductor. As�with The�Rite of Spring, he represented a direct link to the origins of Daphnis and Chloe, another Ballets Russes production that Monteux led in it's world premiere. The�RPO's Principal Clarinet, Jack Brymer, remembered "this wonderfully energetic and meticulous little man" who "even in his eighties... had the touch of elegance, the humour, the exquisite good taste" and "could produce a sudden sforzato second to none by a tiny stab of his baton." The recordings of the performances in this album, all made privately off-air from various sources, have been fastidiously polished by Restoration Engineer Paul�Baily. His restoration of the recent Sir Adrian Boult Conducts (ARIADNE 5024-2) was honoured with the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Records Critics' Award) in the Historical Recordings�category.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music