Weekend Spotlight: Dazzling Orchestral
This Weekend Spotlight features three dazzling new orchestral releases showcasing the power, color, and brilliance of the orchestra, alongside 200 stellar orchestral recordings at 50% OFF in a specially curated collection!
Discover outstanding new performances from Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra bringing fresh interpretations of works by Barber, Respighi, and Haydn. Then explore an expanded selection of iconic orchestral recordings—all at half price for a limited time!
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Shop these great deals before they end on Monday, July 20th at 9:00am ET.
202 products
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SaleTchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1; Capriccio Italien / Poppen, German Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern
Oehms Classics · Jul 2010CD$14.99$7.49 -
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SaleBruckner: Symphony No.1 in C Minor, WAB 101 (Linz Version)
Oehms Classics · Oct 2014CD$14.99$7.49 -
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SaleBerlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Concert Overtures / Norrington, Cambreling
SWR · Oct 2012CD$13.99$6.99 -
SaleSchubert: Famous Symphonies / Zender, SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden & Freiburg
SWR · Sep 2012CD$13.99$6.99 -
SaleSzymanowski, K.: Variations in B-Flat Minor / Symphony No. 4
Brana Records · May 2004CD$10.99$5.49 -
SaleTchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Suite No. 4 / Philharmonia Orchestra
Chandos · Sep 2004CD$6.99$3.49
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1; Capriccio Italien / Poppen, German Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1 in g, “Winter Dreams.” Capriccio Italien • Christoph Poppen, cond; Southwest German RO • OEHMS 760 (57:57) Live: Saarbrücken 12/2007; Mainz 1/2010
This appears to be a sequel to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth with Poppen, reviewed in Fanfare 33:3. Is it part of an emerging cycle? I don’t know. I was not overly enthused with the earlier release, only because I felt Poppen’s reading of the Fourth, one of the composer’s more nervous-tic-ridden scores, needed a bit more in the way of the frenzied and the frenetic than the performance delivered. I concluded that if Poppen had brought as much urgency to the symphony as he did to the 1812 Overture that complemented it on the disc, the venture would have been more successful.
Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Dreams” Symphony is another animal altogether. Aside from the flash of drama here and there, the work is one of the composer’s loveliest lyrical creations. For Tchaikovsky, this first-born among his symphonies was perhaps his greatest labor of love. He worked on it tirelessly for at least eight years, from 1866 to 1874, making constant and sometime drastic revisions. I’d even go so far as to say that if he had left only four symphonies instead of six, the Second and Third would not be missed, for neither surpasses the First in formal construction, handling of materials, or sheer melodic inspiration.
My last encounter with a “new” Tchaikovsky First was a 1995 Arte Nova recording with Samuel Friedmann leading the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic, reviewed in 32:1. I thought it was very good, not quite equal perhaps to my longtime favorite with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on a 1970 Deutsche Grammophon recording, but still quite successful in capturing Tchaikovsky’s musical portraiture.
Much the same may be said of this recent recording by Poppen and his Southwest German Radio Orchestra forces. The recording has excellent perspective and presence, and Poppen’s reading of the score is well balanced and nicely characterized. I especially liked his fantasy-spun Adagio (“Land of Desolation, Land of Mists”), which morphs perfectly from a feeling of finding oneself alone and forlorn into that most human of reactions to such circumstances, escape into a state of semi-conscious reverie.
With so many recordings of the symphony and the Capriccio Italien (nearly 100 of the latter!) competing for your attention and dollars, it would be a tough case to make that Poppen’s, at full price, can lay claim to being better than any number of others. Just saying it’s at least as good as any number of others, and perhaps better than a few, seems to me recommendation enough, should you happen to be in the market for a new recording of these works.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
Bruckner: Symphony No.1 in C Minor, WAB 101 (Linz Version)
Holst: Suite De Ballet - A Song of the Night - the Wandering
Another re-release from Hickox’s classic recordings finds us knee-deep in lesser-known and widely varied works of Gustav Holst. The Suite de Ballet is one of Holst’s lighter orchestral pieces, worked colorfully with a slightly French flair. Song of the Night for solo violin shows the composer in a confident and imaginative Romantic frame of mind. Finally, the comic chamber opera The Wandering Scholar was one of Holst’s latest works, stripped down to only the barest necessities. Hickox’s lively performance was hailed as inspiring “full-blooded music-making” throughout.
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Concert Overtures / Norrington, Cambreling
Hector Berlioz remains to this day the arch Romantic composer. His imagination knew no bounds and through his often-extreme visions, he revolutionized the way composers would approach the orchestra in the future. Spooky, wild, tender and utterly without inhibition perfectly describes the "Symphonie fantastique". But even some of his overtures are not for the faint-of-heart, especially when two masterful conductors at the helms of two of Europe's finest orchestras give these colorful scores full rein. Unquestionably, Berlioz at his best! - Hänssler Classic