Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 14, 23, 24 & 26

Nikolaj Znaider's star shines brightly in the constellation of up-and-coming violinists of the next generation. Since winning the Queen Elizabeth Competition 1997, Znaider's career has steadily mounted with international performances and critically-acclaimed recordings of violin concertos of Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Glazunov and others. His new release on RCA, entitled Bravo!, sets a smaller stage with a collection of showpieces for solo violin, accompanied on most tracks by Israeli pianist Daniel Gortler.

Znaider's playing throughout is limber and precise, his immaculate technique inherited from Juilliard violin maven Dorothy De Lay, the teacher of Itzakh Perlman and Cho-Liang Ling, among others. Znaider fairly burns through the imposing demands of Eugène Ysaÿe's "Ballade" Sonata, but it's the refreshing lyrical parsimony in the slow stuff that demands notice. The two transcriptions of Chopin Nocturnes echo the kind of dry romanticism of the earliest violinists of the recorded era. In the famous Rachmaninoff Vocalise the effect of that reserve is magical; Znaider spins an endless thread of emotive melody that refuses to wear its heart on its sleeve. As with any good encore, you're grateful for the bonbon but left wanting another. What a boon to be able to simply repeat the track; an action we found ourselves repeating again and again with Znaider's Bravo!.

David Simmons, WQXR

J.S. Bach: Keyboard Concertos, BWV 1052, 1055 & 1056

What started as a college project for young actor Hal Holbrook went on to become THE archetypal one-man show. Three Columbia LPs emerged from that Broadway hit, and though those albums were acclaimed bestsellers, they've never appeared on CD 'til now! Enjoy the wit of Twain and the brilliance of Holbrook as you hear 10 of the best tracks from those 1959-1967 LPs. a treasure!

This selection contains both DDD and ADD recordings.
Net proceeds from the sale of this album will go to the American Red Cross.

Includes serenade(s) by Joaquin Malats. Soloist: Julian Bream.

SYMPHONY NO.9

Track Listing
1. Christmas Song, The - (with Tony Bennett)
2. O Holy Night - (with Charlotte Church/Plácido Domingo)
3. Do You Hear What I Hear - (with Vanessa Williams)
4. Jesus De Nazareth - (with Plácido Domingo)
5. Winter Wonderland - (with Tony Bennett/Vanessa Williams)
6. Silent Night - (with Charlotte Church)
7. My Favorite Things - (with Vanessa Williams/Tony Bennett/Plácido Domingo)
8. White Christmas - (with Tony Bennett/Vanessa Williams)
9. Hacia Belen Va Un Burro - (with Plácido Domingo)
10. Through The Eyes Of A Child - (with Vanessa Williams)
11. First Noel, The - (with Tony Bennett/Plácido Domingo)
12. Somewhere In My Memory - (with Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen Chorus)
13. I Saw Three Ships - (with Plácido Domingo/Vanessa Williams)
14. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - (with Tony Bennett)
15. Hijo De Dios - (with Plácido Domingo)
16. I'll Be Home For Christmas - (with Tony Bennett/Plácido Domingo)
17. Joy To The World - (with Plácido Domingo/Vanessa Williams)
18. Angels We Have Heard On High - (with Tony Bennett/Vanessa Williams/Plácido Domingo)
19. Silent Night
20. One More Year - (with Plácido Domingo/Vanessa Williams)

Musicians include: Tony Bennett, Charlotte Church, Placido Domingo, Vanessa Williams (vocals); Steven Mecurio (conductor); Ralph Sharon Quartet; Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen Children's Choir; Vienna Symphony.

Recorded live at the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria in December 2000.

This stellar line-up, recorded live in Vienna, performs a program of quintessential Christmas songs in a rich variety of styles, from the light pop of "My Favorite Things" to traditional Spanish tunes such as "Hacia Belen Va Un Burro" and English equivalents like "Angels We Have Heard on High." Tony Bennett kicks the whole thing off with a typically warm rendition of "The Christmas Song." He's followed by a pretty straight reading of "O Holy Night" by the Welsh teen classical prodigy Charlotte Church and the inimitable Placido Domingo, and Vannessa Williams' gospel-tinged version of "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

It's an evening of familiar favorites, impeccably performed, with the added bonus of the Gumpoldskirchner Spatzen Children's Choir providing an appropriately child's-eye view of the holiday. OUR FAVORITE THINGS is a worthy addition to the bulging repertoire of Christmas collections, in a gimmick-free traditional setting.

This selection contains both ADD and DDD recordings.

Are you tired of your classically minded friends laughing at you when you mispronounce the names of renowned, long-expired European composers? Do you think the Three Tenors are the latest teenage boy band? Well, those well-educated friends of yours still won't cut you much slack for purchasing CLASSICAL HITS, but at least you'll feel like you've dipped your toe into the deep waters of classical music. CLASSICAL HITS is very clearly a compilation designed for the newcomer, as it's made up almost exclusively of compositions that have somehow managed to sneak into the popular consciousness over the years through a variety of means, such as "Pie Jesu," "O Solo Mio," and "Nessun Dorma." There are a bunch of ringers here as well, mostly ersatz-classical soundtrack themes in an orchestral mode, such as John Williams's theme from STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE. For the uninitiated, it's a start.

Includes liner notes by Bill Rosenfeld.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
GREAT MUSICALS is part of RCA's 100 Years Of Music series.

This selection is also available in Super Audio format.
This selection was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Crossover Album."
Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell turns his attention to the music of Leonard Bernstein with a program that features music from the composer's Broadway musicals, most notably 'West Side Story.' The album opens with a suite constructed by William David Brohn of themes from that fabled score, a finely wrought musical tapestry that serves as a showcase for Bell's prodigious artistry. The violinist works his way through the familiar melodies and two cadenzas with his usual combination of dazzling technique and lustrous tone.
Bell further demonstrates the range of his talent in songs from other Bernstein musicals: Brohn's arrangements of "Lonely Town" and "New York, New York" from 'On The Town,' and John Corigliano's adaptation of "Make Our Garden Grow" from 'Candide.' The album also includes one of Bernstein's finest concert works, "Serenade after Plato's 'Symposium,'" here given a powerfully vivid reading by Bell. David Zinman and the Philharmonia Orchestra provide fine support throughout this well-conceived tribute to a musical giant.

"Rubinstein's readings of the two finest Sonatas are unsurpassed, with a poetic impulse that springs directly from the music and a control of rubato to bring many moments of magic... [T]he addition of the Barcarolle and Berceuse make this reissue all the more desirable." -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs [2003/4 edition]

Arthur Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 30

This album was nominated for the 2001 Latin Grammy award for Best Pop Instrumental Albmum.
THE LATIN ALBUM finds the venerable Boston Pops Orchestra entering the 21st century with high spirits and a bit of a retro feel, as they revisit material that was popular in their heyday with Arthur Fiedler, going back to the 1940s for a dreamy arrangement of 'Perfidia' and the infectious 'Mambo Jambo' of mambo king Perez Prado, while adding some more contemporary twists, such as the bittersweet 'Oblivion' of Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla. A few light classics such as Alberto Ginastera's 'Malambo' and Aaron Copland's 'El Salon Mexico' are given rousing performances under the baton of Keith Lockhart, along with traditional favorites from Brazil, Chile, Peru and Mexico, several of them given additional spice with contributions from the Mariachi Cobre and Inca Son ensembles.

Air & Ground

William Kapell Edition, Vol. 5: Beethoven: Concerto No. 2 -

This is Terence's 1st album of pure jazz for a small ensemble in nearly 5 years, in which he's joined by guest artists Branford Marsalis and Dave Holland.

This re-release of William Kapell's 1951 recording of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with Fritz Reiner and the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra will hopefully serve as a corrective to the many pianists who take this work at dreadfully slow tempos. The fleet and bright Kapell-Reiner reading makes this work's theme and 24 variations cohere in a way that eludes so many other interpretations--as an extended, precise, and often frenetic dance and thus not, in this way, unlike Ravel's 'Bolero.' Such a reading not only teases out a most appropriate Paganinian mania in the faster variations but also rescues the slower ones, like the eighth (here given a cool, easy swing), from sounding like dirges.
Whether under the direction of Reiner or, as with the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, under William Steinberg, the woodwind soloists of the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra are exemplary, while the strings (especially under Reiner) shimmer. The concerto possesses many moments that require careful advanced staging; otherwise, the work runs the risk of sounding tunefully episodic. With Steinberg keeping the ensemble super-tight throughout all three movements, he and Kapell stage these moments brilliantly.

This beautiful disc juxtaposes the work of two composers whose names are frequently placed together for their combination of minimalist and early music elements as well as their Orthodox spirituality. Estonian Arvo Pärt has the sparer style, elements pared down to the most basic chords, notes alternated like bells against a quiet, static background, while Englishman Tavener is the more outwardly ecstatic, using winding, chant-influenced melodies to achieve a kind of rapture.
Andrew Parrott's Taverner Choir, famed for their performances of early music, gives oustanding performances of these modern works with ancient roots, providing the perfect, clear, non-vibrato sound for the Pärt, while also delivering the more tremulous expression needed for the Tavener. A highlight of the program is the seldom-heard 'Canticle of the Mother of God' by Tavener, an early piece that actually employs serial methods yet clearly points in the direction of his later music.

A wonderful sampling of Neopolitan songs and operatic arias by one of America's greatest tenors. Includes Pieta, Signore Rossini; Caro Mio Ben Giordani; Gia il Sole dal Gange A. Scarlatti; Occhi Turchini! Denza; Tu lo Sai Torelli, O del Mio Dolce Ardor Gluck, and more. Two classic stereo Columbia LPs, first time on CD!

UN-BREAK MY HEART

Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas possessed one of the most original and vital musical voices of the 20th century. He also led a wild life. Brilliant and quarrelsome, he was active in revolutionary politics, feuded with fellow artists such as Carlos Chavez and managed to write a substantial body of work in only ten years before his death from acute alcoholism at the age of forty.
The music is dynamic, fierce and colorful, influenced by Stravinsky and Bartók, modernist and imbued with folkloric flavor, though without actual quotation. Like the muralist Diego Rivera, Revueltas created a kind of mock-primitive, epic Mexico in his music, passionate and boldly etched (his best known work, the tone poem 'Sensemaya' is often referred to as a Mexican 'Rite of Spring.) This is an amazingly generous collection, including chamber works and film scores, the quasi-symphonic 'La Noche de los mayas' and not one but two versions of 'Sensemaya,' the bonus being the spirited (if rhythmically errant) debut recording made by Leopold Stokowski in 1947.

"Very grand... Price is a highly dramatic Carmen, Mirella Freni contributes a most sensitively sung Micaëla, and Corelli sounds glorious..." -- BBC Music Magazine [reviewing the complete version, RCA 39495

"Karajan's RCA version, made in Vienna in 1964, owes much to Leontyne Price's seductive, smoky-toned Carmen... Robert Merrill sings with gloriously firm tone, while Mirella Freni is enchanting as Micaëla." -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs [2003/4 edition, reviewing RCA 39495]

Remastered 1997.

This disc contains both ADD and DDD recordings.

Nigel & His 'Kennedy Collective' Play An Extended Instrumental Work In 6 Movements Based On 6 Hendrix Classics.

Tracks:
1. KENNEDY, NIGEL - THIRD STONE FROM THE SUN
2. KENNEDY, NIGEL - LITTLE WING
3. KENNEDY, NIGEL - 1983... (A MERIMAN I SHOULD TURN TO BE)
4. KENNEDY, NIGEL - DRIFTING
5. KENNEDY, NIGEL - FIRE
6. KENNEDY, NIGEL - PURPLE HAZE

This was the finest performance of Mahler's Third when it was first issued back in 1962, and in some ways it has never been surpassed. Bernstein catches the riotous vulgarity of the first movement march music like no other conductor--not even his own digital remake reaches the level of sheer abandon he whips up here, and he also has the best of all fifth movements (bright and cheery, with dazzlingly prominent percussion). Other, more recent performances may match or even supercede this one in this or that detail, but on the whole the status of this performance as the reference by which all others are judged remains unchallenged. This performance also was the symphony's stereo debut, and Sony's latest remastering is a complete success. Jennie Tourel's performances of the songs are not without controversy. Her voice never was conventionally "beautiful," but her musical perceptions always were dead on the mark, and so it proves here. At mid-price, this is great listening.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

CLASSICS AT MOVIES

HANSEL & GRETEL

Critics have unfairly accused George Szell of not embracing 20th century music during his tenure with the Cleveland Orchestra. This is nonsense; Szell frequently commissioned works by young composers and championed music by Janacek, Hindemith, Bartók and Prokofiev. This recording, an entry in the Masterworks Heritage series, features Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra in Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Prokofiev's Symphony no. 5.
Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation and premiered in 1944. Szell leads a dazzling performance of this colorful work. The orchestra's soloists shine in the tricky second movement, while the mysterious elegy that comprises the third movement is brilliantly realized. Szell also brings true Hungarian spirit to the fiery finale, with the Cleveland Orchestra's brass playing grandiosely.
Prokofiev's Symphony was written towards the end of World War II and is considered by many to be one of his finest works. The work is filled with soaring melodies, a touch of melancholy, and an epic finale. Szell and the orchestra deliver a virtuoso performance, brilliantly communicating the piece's shifting moods and grand nature.