This is the first recording of pianist Igor Levit, conductor Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic with Brahms' two Piano Concertos. The release is a triple-CD album with Levit's recording of Brahm's late solo piano works opp 116-119. As a special encore Levit and Thielemann also play the four-hand Brahms Waltz op. 39/15 together.

REVIEW:

Levit’s utterly compelling accounts of the late sets are the more impressive element in this collection. He does not put a foot wrong in any of them; each piece is perfectly shaped, its subtly varied emotional charge instantly identified. It’s hard to think of many better recordings of these 20 gems, and certainly not of all four opus numbers together.

— The Guardian

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO 3, KINDERT

MAHLER: SYMPHONIES NO 9 & 10 (

MAHLER: SYMPHONIES NO 6 & 7 M

1995 NEW YEAR'S CONCERT MEHTA

Classical Music

In every respect, this is superb. Here is not merely a wonderful souvenir of a special event but a thing of joy forever.

In every respect, this is superb: a 'must'. I recently listened to DG's historic issue of VPO Johann Strauss ((D 435 335-2GWP2), reviewed enthusiastically in February by RO. Here the present needs fear nothing from the past. Indeed Carlos Kleiber combines in one baton, miraculously, every attribute of his predecessors—his father Erich's discipline and élan, Krauss's Schwung, Karajan's elegance, Boskovsky's lift and Krips's insinuating charm. Anyone who saw and heard the concert on television (the video incidentally will be released on Philips) will know just how delightfully Kleiber, with his unorthodox, seemingly effortless methods, achieves his aims and how willingly his complaisant orchestra responds to his peculiar gifts.

If I had to decide between so many winners, I might choose Eine Tausend und eine Nachi for the translucency of its introduction and the champagne elation of its main section, and Spharenklange for ethereal wonder. But then there is the irresistible verve of the Pizzicato Polka where the rubato is perfectly judged, and the tremendous panache of Unter Donner und Blitz. Is there a touch of the mannered just once or twice, as in the opening bars of The Blue Danube? If so, it is usually justified as a means to an entirely convincing end—in this case a familiar piece given with a swooning spontaneity that invites the body to sway with the music.

To crown one's pleasure, the recording is faultless: it has presence, warmth, depth, and captures ideally a sense of the occasion. Here is not merely a wonderful souvenir of a special event but a thing of joy forever. And now if you'll excuse me, I shall go and listen to it again.

-- Gramophone [4/1992]

Paul Badura-Skoda Plays Mozart: Piano Concertos: No. 25 in C, K503, with Horst Stein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (performed live 15 June 1978) and No. 22 in Eb, K482, with George Szell conducting the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (performed live 19 & 20 Dec. 1959). K503: first release; K482: first time on CD. Extensive notes on the music and on these performances by Badura-Skoda. Booklet includes his CD discography. A co-production with the VPO and ORF1 (Austrian Radio). Sparkling performances of two Mozart gems by one of his foremost 20th century interpreters, in the best possible sound.

Heavy and deliberate as Maazel’s idiosyncratic point of view undoubtedly is, you can’t fault the execution, very much on the side of Mahler the modernist. Jagged textures stand revealed throughout, offset by richly resonant sound and characteristically warm VPO strings worked to the bone in an attempt to realise as many of the detailed dynamics as possible. I confess a personal nostalgia for the very Viennese waltzes and ländlers of this scherzo, fondly remembered from youthful impressions of the same work, players and conductor on a first-time visit to Vienna.

-- David Nice, BBC Music Magazine

Classical Music

A staggeringly powerful reading, it represents one of the high points in Furtwängler’s entire discography. Like his two BPO accounts from 1949, this one with the VPO uses modified Haas—the latter’s insertion of 10 bars from the 1887’s Adagio is omitted—and there are elements from the 1892 Schalk (a cymbal clash is heard in the 1949 finales, but not in this one). This 1944 has greater passion and is more listenable than are either of the BPO 1949s.

-- Jeffrey J. Lipscomb, FANFARE [reviewing the box set of Bruckner symphonies conducted by Furtwängler, Music & Arts 1209]

By far the finest reading of this little-heard masterpiece, which combines Bruckner-like counterpoint with a vivid sense of drama. Anton Dermota gives a deeply impressive performance.

I have been seeking out broadcasts and recordings of this oratorio ever since, 20 or so years ago, I first began to suspect that it was a masterpiece. Many of those performances were so dreadful that I began to wonder whether I'd been quite wrong about the work but this, by a long way the finest reading of Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln ("The Book with seven seals") that I have ever heard, triumphantly vindicates it.

Franz Schmidt's oratorio combines learned, Bruckner-like contrapuntal artifice (which in a bad performance can sound crabbed and boring) with a vivid sense of drama that at times recalls the naive peasant baroque of some Austrian and South German carved altarpieces (and can in a bad performance sound merely naive), at others the horrific realism of Matthias Grünewald. As a composer himself and a man of deep religious conviction Mitropoulos responded to both these aspects, and such haunting passages as the duet for two survivors of the pestilence and death spread by the horsemen of the Apocalypse, or the tremendous earthquake chorus that follows the breaking of the seventh seal have a powerful sense of drama which is emphasized by Mitropoulos's precise care for contrapuntal and instrumental detail. Yes, in this live performance there are a few untidinesses (the rushing violin passages in the gipsy "Hallelujah", not altogether unexpectedly - they are hideously difficult) but the impact and the devout urgency of the reading are not in the least diminished by them.

In the hugely taxing central role of St John, Dermota is deeply impressive. Although the part is often given to a dramatic tenor it responds to a lyric voice that is capable at times of ringing fullness. Dermota matches Mitropoulos's urgency, and clearly means every word of the role. At one point, where a descending vocal line illustrates the text's reference to the four beasts and the elders falling down before the Lamb, it is obvious that the bottom note of the phrase is not within his range. Instead, quietly and reverently, he speaks it, and the expressive effect of this is characteristic of his whole performance. The other soloists, Gueden and Berry especially, are distinguished, and both chorus and orchestra audibly respond to Mitropoulos's conviction.

The mono recording is a little constricted at times, with patches of acid string tone, but it improves and gains impact as it proceeds. Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln still has the reputation of a piece that the Austrians regard as a classic but which doesn't travel. This recording refutes that view with inspiriting eloquence.

-- Gramophone [3/1996]

Classical Music

OPERATIC EXCERPTS & LIEDER

Classical Music

In one of the most unusual opening concerts of recent decades, Nikolaus Harnoncourt launched the 2009 Salzburg Festival with an exploration of the dance element in Austrian music. Dances by Schubert and Josef Strauss provided an introduction to the magnificent "Dance of Death" that emerged from the octogenarian maestro´s hands in Schubert´s C major Symphony ("Great"). The perfect orchestra for these authentically Viennese and yet universally valid works was, of course, the Vienna Philharmonic. "An interpretation of incomparable richness" (Münchner Merkusr).

Recorded live at the Salzburg Festival, 2009.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 95 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

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SALZBURG FESTIVAL 2009 OPENING CONCERT • Nikolaus Harnoncourt, cond; Vienna PO • MAJOR 702708 (DVD: 95:00) Live: Salzburg 7/26/2009


SCHUBERT/WEBERN 6 German Dances. JOS. STRAUSS Frauenherz Polka . Delirien Waltz . Pêle Mêle Polka. SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9


I need to begin with a confession. I frequently find myself out of sympathy with the music-making of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. I recognize that he is very highly regarded not only by critics and music lovers throughout the world, but by many of the great musicians of our time. It is probably fair to say that the problem is me, not Harnoncourt, and I would imagine that those who respond to his approach will find this a compelling DVD. Certainly the Vienna Philharmonic, an orchestra that can impose its will on lesser conductors, gives Harnoncourt what he wants—and the performances are, for the most part, deeply committed and well played, exciting on their own terms. It is those terms with which I have a problem.


I would guess that even some of Harnoncourt’s admirers might have trouble with the grey, charmless reading of the Schubert German Dances. Even in Webern’s arrangements these works need to sing, and certainly need to dance, and they do little of that here. The string tone is hard-edged, and the lack of grace is alarming. For some reason, perhaps it was its reaction to the performance, the audience doesn’t applaud after these (whereas it does clap between the Josef Strauss pieces).


It is clear from Harnoncourt’s conducting, from his severe facial expression, and from Harald Reiter’s notes that accompany this DVD, that the conductor had something completely different in mind than the usual charm and smiles that we associate with the music of any of the Strauss family. “To Josef Strauss’s works Harnoncourt brought a military precision and a sobriety that at times seemed almost disturbing.” That is what the program notes tell us, and indeed that is what we hear. The notes talk about attentive playing, and for the most part that is true, though there are one or two moments of insecurity at tempo changes in the Delirien Waltz. But for the most part, the VPO is right there with Harnoncourt, digging in and giving us sober, fierce Josef Strauss. If you believe that will appeal to you, you will never hear it done better.


It becomes clear with the detached notes of the opening horn solo that the Schubert Ninth will be in a similar vein. Once again, let me quote the accompanying notes: “It was a dance of death that Harnoncourt, using the simplest of means and on the basis of a detailed study of the score, conjured up from behind the musical glories of Schubert’s Ninth. In passages where we have been used to hearing a plaintive horn, he suggested the trumpet fanfares of war.” (By the way, I listened and reacted before I read the notes, so they did not influence, but rather they confirmed.) If you believe that you would like this kind of take on the Schubert Ninth, the chances are that you will find much to like here. The performance is dynamic, played with an edge-of-the-seat intensity that cannot be denied, and is certainly all of a piece. There are a few moments when the string tone seems a bit wiry to me, as if Harnoncourt was minimizing vibrato, but there are some other moments of uncommon grace, particularly in the second movement. Harnoncourt does take all the repeats, as one would expect from him. And I must note that the strong diminuendo he takes at the end seems starkly at odds with his view of the piece.


The direction for the cameras, by Michael Beyer, is standard orchestra concert direction—but less fussy and jerky than most. Beyer doesn’t feel the need to jump from shot to shot every two seconds, and his camerawork seems musically sensitive. The sound quality, heard in the PCM 2.0 format, is extremely clear and full, and very well balanced. The high-definition filming is crystal clear.


It is difficult to criticize a conductor for achieving at a high level precisely what he set out to achieve. Far better a performance with a real force of personality like this than a score-bound read-through. This is energized, spontaneous, communicative music-making. I probably will not return to it, because it is simply not the way I hear this symphony in my mind’s ear (and I enjoy a wide range of performances of it, from Furtwängler to Szell). I hear in this work a beauty and songfulness that Harnoncourt seems to deny. But there is no doubt that it left a strong impression, and I suspect it will have many admirers.


FANFARE: Henry Fogel

Pierre Boulez conducts the Vienna Philharmonic with pianist Daniel Barenboim in works by Ravel, Bartok, and Stravinsky.

Also available on Blu-ray

Richard Strauss
DER ROSENKAVALIER

Feldmarschallin - Krassimira Stoyanova Baron Ochs - Günther Groissböck
Octavian - Sophie Koch
Faninal - Adrian Eröd
Sophie - Mojca Erdmann
Leitmetzerin - Silvana Dussmann
Valzacchi - Rudolf Schasching
Annina - Wiebke Lehmkuhl
Sänger - Stefan Pop

Salzburg Festival Children’s Chorus
(chorus master: Wolfgang Götz)
Vienna State Opera Chorus
(chorus master: Ernst Raffelsberger)
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

Harry Kupfer, stage director
Hans Schavernoch, set designer
Yan Tax, costume designer
Jürgen Hoffmann, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 08–14 August 2014

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese Running time: 146 mins
No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 9)

Burkhard Fritz, Laurent Naouri, Brindley Sherratt, Mikhail Petrenko, Maija Kovalevska, Philippp Stoezl, and Kate Aldrich star in this Vienna State Opera/Vienna Philharmonic production of the Berlioz opera conducted by Valery Gergiev.

Oberto was Verdi's first staged operas and was heard for the first time at La Scala, Milan in November 1839. As a young and unknown composer, Verdi was subject to the rules governing the opera industry in Italy. Even so, there are many scenes in this early work that reveal unmistakable signs of the composer's individual style.

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STRINGS, PERCUSSION & CELESTA

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