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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 / Manze, Helmchen, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Alpha

$20.99 Apr 24, 2020

Beethoven’s piano concertos are a precious source for understanding the history of the practice of this instrument, which, in the early nineteenth century, permanently replaced the harpsichord in the hearts of composers. Thus one can still hear the gallant influence of Mozart in the First Concerto (1795-1800), whereas the Fourth (1805-06) reveals the introspective personality, at once vigorous and generous, of a Beethoven at the height of his artistic maturity. In the second installment of his recording of the complete concertos, the German pianist Martin Helmchen performs these two contrasting works with Andrew Manze and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 / Manze, Helmchen, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Alpha Apr 2020
CD
$20.99

Rubbra : Symphonies 3 & 4 / Del Mar, Philharmonia

Lyrita

$20.99 Sep 01, 2006

Here is the ideal introduction to the music of Edmund Rubbra. The Third and Fourth symphonies (fine works, both) sandwich two shorter, but still impressive, orchestral works.

Robert Layton provides a sterling example of a programme note. As he quite rightly says, ‘Edmund Rubbra belongs to the same generation of English composers as William Walton and Michael Tippett … but has never enjoyed the same measure of exposure’. Perhaps bringing these Lyrita discs once more to the public’s attention will do something to rectify the situation.

The Third Symphony is quite a lean work in terms of orchestration. It also breathes a dignity that is most compelling. It is fairly unremittingly serious in both demeanour and in intensely controlled thematic workings. The intensity reaches its height in the ‘Molto adagio ma liberamente’ slow movement, a statement of real depth, and one that inspires Del Mar and his orchestra to great things. If the title of the finale sounds forbidding – ‘Tema con 7 variazioni e una Fuga’ – it is not all so (there is even a passage that trips along nicely until interrupted by darker shades). The closing pages are marked by a rugged determination. Of course, 1939 was the year that marked the beginning of the Second World War, and it is not difficult to read echoes of these events into the more intense passages of this symphony..

The Fourth Symphony opens with a feeling of peace (now, of course, quite removed from external events – it was written in 1942). The work is in three movements, although the extended Introduzione to the last movement is banded separately by Lyrita because of its length (4’50). Robert Layton talks of ‘serenity, a remarkable stillness and an inner repose’ and this just about sums it up. The music of the first movement seems to pulsate welcomingly. The Intermezzo second movement is pure delight (its marking is ‘Allegretto grazioso sempre delicato’), especially when played with as much affection as on this Lyrita recording. The clouds of the ‘Introduzione’ to the final movement are magnificently evocative here (the well-balanced recording helps, preserving the depth of the shadowy strings), while the movement proper (‘Allegro maestoso’) has a noble dignity (it is more immediately identifiable as ‘English’ than some music by this composer). It does, however, carry the inimitable stamp of Rubbra’s compelling harmonic language.

The Overture, Resurgam, was inspired by the bombing of Plymouth in March 1941. The Overture was written in 1975 on a commission from the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra to commemorate its centenary. The title comes from a word (Resurgam) inscribed on the tower of the church of St Andrew (the only part left standing after the bombing). Resurgam begins very quietly and delicately. Although only eight minutes long, it is very serious in its intense scoring and in its density of ideas (Rubbra also uses a more acidic language than in the Third Symphony, heard first on the disc). Finally, A Tribute, Op. 56 (originally entitled ‘Introduzione e danza alla fuga’) begins in the most tender of fashions. Del Mar’s balancing of orchestra textures is revelatory in the introduction, while the ‘danza alla fuga’ is fascinating. It begins rather stealthily, but never releases its dance origins. The tribute is actually to Ralph Vaughan Williams (in honour of that composer’s seventieth birthday), although there appears to be no direct musical allusion.

A fascinating disc, then. Rubbra’s music reveals more and more on repeated hearings – facile is the one thing it is not.

-- Colin Clarke, MusicWeb International

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Rubbra : Symphonies 3 & 4 / Del Mar, Philharmonia
Lyrita Sep 2006
CD
$20.99

4 Symphonies - Brahms, Dvorak, Sibelius, Nielsen / Dausgaard, Danish National Symphony Orchestra

C Major Entertainment

DVD

$16.49 ~~$32.99~~ Save 50% Jun 26, 2012

4 SYMPHONIES • Thomas Dausgaard, cond; Danish Natl SO • C MAJOR 710508 (DVD: 168:00) Live: Copenhagen 2009

BRAHMS Symphony No. 1. DVO?ÁK Symphony No. 9. SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5. NIELSEN Symphony No. 3

If, as I did, you were to begin your examination of this release with disc 1, track 1 (the Brahms symphony), you might well conclude that there was little need to continue. There is something rather too cool and casual about Dausgaard’s interpretation of this powerful music. It lacks inner tension. There is not enough contrast between ideas. Accents are in the wrong places. Short notes are cheated of their value. And that’s not all. The second movement just plods on, the third is charmless, the fourth frantic and lurches from one tempo change to the next. Listening to the complete symphony several times could not induce me to alter my initial unfavorable observations. Adding visual insult to aural injury, sight and sound are not synchronized, and the difference between the two is disturbing, to put it mildly.

But then came the Nielsen symphony. What a difference! Right from the opening moments it had all the vigor and élan and determination lacking in the Brahms. Rhythms were tight and crisp. The music bristled with enthusiasm and commitment. The finale positively beamed with Elgarian nobility and breadth, rising to an absolutely thrilling climax. What a joy! Nielsen’s Third had hitherto never been one of my favorite symphonies, but Dausgaard nearly made it so in this performance.

Does Dausgaard work his magic on the two remaining works as well? The answer, I’m glad to say, is yes. Furthermore, the synchronization problem that affected the Brahms symphony is only minimal in the Nielsen and nonexistent in Dvo?ák and Sibelius. The “New World” Symphony receives one of the finest performances I have heard. Dausgaard’s approach is no romantic wallow but rather a clean, purposeful traversal filled with taut rhythms, precise attacks and releases, glowing sound, and architectural strength. Dausgaard likewise makes a strong case for the Sibelius Fifth, never allowing momentum to sag, carefully propelling the music forward with masterly control. I am particularly impressed with the ease in which he handles the tempo change for the second part of the first movement. By the time the grand climax of the finale arrives, one feels a great journey has been completed.

All four performances were recorded live in Copenhagen’s Koncerthuset in 2009. The personnel changes from symphony to symphony, but both principal horns, both principal trumpets, and both timpanists are star players. Generally the woodwinds are excellent, but violins seem a bit thin for an orchestra that is otherwise so assured and well balanced. However, the basses make up for this deficiency with their huge, rich sound, heard at its best at the quiet endings of three of the Brahms movements and in some of the more powerful moments of the Dvo?ák symphony. Aside from the basses, the orchestra plays with a bright sound, textures are clear and clean, balances are well controlled.

The camerawork is devoted about 20 percent of the time to Dausgaard and his facial contortions, 10 percent to views of the full orchestra from afar, and 70 percent to the business of jerking the viewer’s eyes from one instrumental close-up to another—two seconds of a horn player’s embouchure, a second of flute keys, two notes from the timpani, etc. Who determined that this is what we want to see? I find it annoying to the point where I simply can’t bear to watch.

On ArkivMusic the price for these four symphonies is $27 ($40 for the Blu-ray version)—just under $7 a symphony, a good buy even without the inferior Brahms symphony, especially for performances as fine as the other three.

FANFARE: Robert Markow

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4 Symphonies - Brahms, Dvorak, Sibelius, Nielsen / Dausgaard, Danish National Symphony Orchestra
C Major Entertainment Jun 2012
DVD
~~$32.99~~ $16.49

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 / Rajski, Polish Chamber Philharmonic [Vinyl]

TACET Musikproduktion

Vinyl

$64.99 Jul 07, 2017

Since Tacet re-entered the vinyl business back in 1999, barely 10 years after the supposed demise of the LP, they have ranked among the leading classical labels who continually delight their audiences with sparkling new recordings in this medium, claimed by many to be unsuitable for classical music. And now this! All 9 Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven performed by Wojciech Rajski and the Polish Chamber Orchestra in the flawless complete recordings on LP. Rhythmically crisp, secure in intonation, snappy, elegant, sensual, exciting, always transparent - all the advantages of a modern interpretation of Beethoven on modern instruments are united here. Some of the symphonies already existed as ''Tube Only'' versions on LP. They are replaced here with new mixes that no longer originate from tube microphone, analogue tape recordings. Instead they offer other important merits, such as clearer details as a result of using more microphones. Further added benefits in production include half-speed - and/or backwards mastering, which Tacet have been famous for since their Bolero recording. There are 40 years of vinyl know-how behind this release. More information can be found on the LP sleeves.

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 / Rajski, Polish Chamber Philharmonic [Vinyl]
TACET Musikproduktion Jul 2017
Vinyl
$64.99

Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 4 / McDermott, Lang-Lessing, Odense Symphony Orchestra

Bridge Records

$18.99 Jan 07, 2022

The first three volumes of Anne-Marie McDermott's Mozart piano concerto cycle with Denmark's Odense Symfoniorkester have received ecstatic notices from the international musical press. Volume 4, again conducted by German maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing, presents two of Mozart's very greatest concertos - the grand C major, K. 503, and the brooding D minor, K. 466.

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Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 4 / McDermott, Lang-Lessing, Odense Symphony Orchestra
Bridge Records Jan 2022
CD
$18.99

Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (Original Version)
BIS Dec 2006
SACD
$21.99

Sinfonía No. 4 / Fandangos / Carnaval

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Nov 19, 2013

Over the last decade the music of the Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra has become internationally admired, and this has led to prestigious commissions and performances around the world. Fandangos was heard at the BBC Proms in London and employs a harpsichord work attributed to Antonio Soler as a departure for a richly inventive orchestral fantasy. The dramatic Sinfonia No. 4 was described by ArtsNowNashville as 'a textbook example of how this composer breathes new life into old forms. The piece is basically a classic Germanic symphony imbued with Spanish sensibilities and reinvigorated with new harmonies and rhythms.' Robert Schumann is subtly evoked in Carnaval, five character pieces that explore mythical creatures, both menacing and serene.

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Sinfonía No. 4 / Fandangos / Carnaval
Naxos Nov 2013
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Bruno Walter Conducts Bruckner's 4th And 9th Symphonies

Music and Arts Programs of America

$32.99 Jul 31, 2012

BRUCKNER Symphonies: No. 4; 1 No. 9. 2 MOZART Symphony No. 35 in D “Haffner” 3 • Bruno Walter, cond; 1 NBC SO. 2 Philadelphia O. 3 New York PO • MUSIC & ARTS CD-1262 (2 CDs: 127:30) Live: 1 02/10/1940, 2 02/28/1948, 3 02/06/1944

Having recently obtained an extensive collection of acetates from the estate of a private music collector, the Music & Arts label is issuing some fruits of that here in the form of live performances by Bruno Walter. Two items—the Bruckner Ninth and the Mozart “Haffner” symphonies—are previously unissued items; the Bruckner Fourth was released on Pearl GEMM CD 9131 but here enjoys slightly but tangibly superior sound. While still constricted, it is tolerably listenable by the standards one would expect for a recording of that vintage. Here the weak bass register is noticeably stronger and clearer, background hiss is slightly reduced, occasional fluctuations in pitch have been evened out, and assorted clicks and pops and similar extraneous noises excised or reduced. However, the Pearl release is still not superfluous, as this issue does not include the filler pieces by Weber and Smetana (the overtures to Oberon and The Bartered Bride ).

While none of these items is, strictly speaking, a novelty in the Walter discography, the performance of the Bruckner Fourth preserved here is of particular interest to both Brucknerians and Walterians. The Walter discography contains only two versions of this score: the live one presented here, and the conductor’s studio recording with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, recorded from February 13-25, 1960. (The discography of the CSO is complex, because Columbia used that moniker for several different studio orchestras in various locales. In Walter’s case, the monaural recordings are with a reduced contingent of the New York Philharmonic and other local musicians, while his stereo recordings are with a core ensemble drawn from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra, supplemented by members of various Hollywood film studio orchestras.) The Sony SMK 64 481 issue of the studio performance is presently available—as are most of the titles in Sony’s erstwhile “Bruno Walter Edition”—as an ArkivMusic reprint.

What is most remarkable is how radically Walter’s conception of this piece changed over 20 years, with the respective timings providing an initial indication: 16:32, 14:32, 8:27, and 18:32 versus 18:40, 15:37, 10:59, and 20:46. Walter does use different editions of the score—the 1888-89 Löwe/Guttmann version in 1940, and the 1936 Haas edition of the 1878/80 version in 1960. (For the 1960 recording I am taking the word of John F. Berky on his abruckner.com discography site over that of Sony, which states in its CD booklet that Walter used the 1953 Nowak edition.) However, this in no way accounts for the differences, as most of them are matters of instrumental detail (e.g., the radically reduced orchestration in the Scherzo at 8:13-8:16 in the 1940 performance as compared to the same passage at 8:20-8:23 in the 1960 recording) rather than cuts in the score. Instead, Walter’s earlier interpretation is far more volatile, not only in terms of significantly faster tempi but also in more generous use of accelerandi and other tempo modifications. For example, in 1940 there is an adrenaline rush on an ascending scale from 1:41 to 1:52 not employed in 1960, while in the fourth movement the 1940 performance takes only a mild ritardando at 8:13 to 8:16 but in 1960 a very emphatic one in the same passage at 8:20 to 8:23. In 1940 the Scherzo movement is taken at an exceptionally brisk pace, whereas in 1960 it is stately, with the trio section being positively languorous. Similarly, whereas in 1960 Walter squares off phrases in the more emphatic manner common to most Bruckner performances nowadays, demarcating discrete units as aural equivalents of the giant stone blocks used to construct Gothic cathedrals, in 1940 the phrasing is noticeably more fluid and linear, particularly in woodwind runs that ripple like rapidly flowing rivulets (cf. at 15:24 in the first movement). How much these changes owe to the oft-noted differences in Walter’s recordings made before and after his March 1957 heart attack, and how much they may owe to the conductor possibly seeking to elaborate greater distinctions between his approaches to Bruckner and Mahler, can only be a subject of speculation. In any case, in these respects the 1940 performance is akin to the relatively few complete Bruckner symphony performances that survive from before WW II, and suggest an earlier school of performance which is now well-nigh extinct. Both for that reason, and for the intriguing snapshot of how Walter’s interpretation of this piece shifted over the years, this recording is of particular interest for collectors of historical performances.

The companion performance in this set of the Bruckner Ninth lacks the same degree of intrinsic value, in that there are eight surviving recorded performances from Walter’s baton, variously given with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Columbia Symphony. The table below provides details for comparison. In this and the succeeding tables, if a particular performance has appeared more than once on CD, I have cited the best version currently in print; studio recordings are marked with an asterisk. For the timings in this instance, I have used those provided by Mark W. Kluge in his notes to the 2003 Music and Arts release of the 1946 performance, except for the 1948 and 1950 performances not listed by him.

FANFARE: Date Orchestra CD Issue (if any) Timings

03/17/46 NYP Music & Arts CD-1110 21:42 9:37 19: 42

02/28/48 PO Music & Arts CD-1262 21:19 9:43 19:28

02/02/50 NYP none (private collection) 20:12 9:55 19: 15

08/20/53 VPO Andromeda ANDRCD 9092 21:10 10:09 19:17

12/27/53 NYP Tahra TAH 571 20:32 10:09 19:46

02/10/57 NYP Music & Arts CD-1212 19:59 10:01 19: 14

11/13/59 LAP none (private collection) 22:30 10:53 21: 58

11/16-19/59 CSO Sony SMK 64 483* 23:51 11:29 23:16

As Kluge rightly states in the booklet notes to the 2003 disc of Walter’s 1946 performance, “Walter’s live performances of the Ninth Symphony preserved on tape show a certain consistency, varying in individual nuance rather than interpretive outline”. In the booklet notes to the present release he further observes, “All of his live performances of the score display certain common interpretive details,” of which he provides several examples, such as “the very precise (almost clipped) brass interjections in the opening bars.” Unremarked upon by Kluge, except for a passing observation that the studio account “lacks the fire of Walter’s live performances,” is the extraordinary speed and drive of Walter’s conception of the work, which in the pre-1959 performances clocks in at between 49:22 (the fastest recorded performance by any conductor) and 51:01. Among the almost 400 complete performances listed in the abruckner.com discography, only Volkmar Andreae, Jascha Horenstein, Georg-Ludwig Jochum, Roger Norrington, plus (amazingly) John Barbirolli and Hans Knappertsbusch, have timings within three minutes of Walter. This work alone gives the lie to the stereotype of Walter as a cushy, gentle interpreter given solely to Gemütlichkeit rather than Sturm und Drang.

Despite their overall similarity, the pre-1959 performances do not suffer from lack of variety or interest. With the exception of the live 1959 performance, which stems from a relatively poor source, the sound quality improves incrementally with the more recent performance date, though the sonic differences between the three performances from 1953-57 are rather minimal. For me, the key factor in evaluating the first six performances is Walter’s approach to and follow-through from the fortissimo recapitulation of the first theme of the opening movement, beginning at about halfway through the movement. For the approach to the recapitulation, the recap itself, and the section immediately thereafter, Walter demarcates each of the three sections with a marked caesura and tempo adjustment. There are noticeable differences to how he does this in several of the performances; although these may simply be differences of the moment, they suggest instead that he was not entirely satisfied with his handling of these sections and was constantly searching for new and better solutions. I find the 1946 performance to be the least satisfactory; as the timing of the first movement indicates, Walter there inserts greater pauses and slows down each section more than usual, causing the whole to lose coherency and momentum and to bog down. Walter also takes two major ritardandi early on, at 1:55 and 3:00, that he drops after the 1948 Philadelphia performance, which has a similarly hobbling effect. (For a more positive response, see Robert McColley’s review back in 26:6.) By contrast, the unreleased 1950 performance is the most successful, having a fierce energy and the least pronounced breaks and tempo deceleration.

The three performances from 1948 and 1953 occupy a middle ground between these extremes; here the differences are to be found more in the distinctive timbres of the respective orchestras. In his booklet notes to the 1946 performance, Kluge states that “the warmer style of the Vienna Philharmonic added a sense of plasticity and nuance not as evident in the later [1953] New York performance,” given the latter orchestra’s “virile, even aggressive playing style.” I would agree, but I find a certain slackness present in the Vienna performance as well, and its recorded sound is slightly more recessed. Comparing the New York and Philadelphia ensembles in the present booklet notes, Kluge correctly finds “a contrast in style between the two ensembles. The Philharmonic sonority is bold and brassy, making the most of Bruckner’s dramatic climaxes. However the Philadelphia ensemble, even in its first encounter with the score, adds a patina of refinement”—due no doubt to the orchestra’s fabled string section. Finally, in 1957 Walter attempts a hybrid solution that combines pronounced Luftpausen with his briskest tempi, a solution I prefer to all but the 1950 performance (see also the positive review by Jeffrey J. Lipscomb in 32: 3).

The two 1959 performances are, as their timings indicate, of a very different character—ultimately no less dramatic, but more monumental and in line with the mainstream of Bruckner interpretations, while also evincing the more rounded edges of Walter’s trademark lyricism in other repertoire. Given both the relatively poor sound of the preceding live performance, and some ill-fitting junctures in it that suggest Walter’s new interpretation not to be fully settled, the studio recording is easily preferable between those two. Along with the 1957 performance—and that of 1950, for those few who can find it from private sources—the studio recording is also one of the top choices for Brucknerians who want Walter represented in their collections.

Despite Walter’s intense devotion to Bruckner following his recovery from a near-fatal bout of double pneumonia in 1927 (Walter credited his convalescence with giving him the spiritual repose needed to comprehend Bruckner rightly), many commentators have regarded his studio Bruckner recordings, especially that of the Ninth, as relative weak points in his discography. Devoted Walterian that I am, I nevertheless agree with that assessment; Walter never mastered the timing of the numerous pauses in Bruckner’s symphonic movements, and choosing the manifold subtle shifts in tempi needed to make the sprawling movements cohere, to the same degree as did Wilhelm Furtwängler and Eugen Jochum, my own Bruckner reference standards. Part of the fault here, however, lies not with Walter but with Columbia’s miscalculated decision to use an orchestra of only 65 players for the recording sessions—possibly due to a degree of parsimony, but also because the extremely lively acoustics of Legion Hall would have caused a full-sized orchestra to be swamped with reverberation. The fact that Walter almost fully succeeds in disguising the paucity of string players and producing a genuine Brucknerian orchestral sound testifies to near-miraculous conductorial skills.

The 1948 performance of the Bruckner Ninth in Philadelphia was paired in concert with a performance of Mozart’s “Haffner” Symphony. Since only the Bruckner was broadcast for a one-hour time slot, the performance of the Mozart was not preserved. In its stead, Music and Arts has thoughtfully provided a previously unreleased 1944 New York Philharmonic broadcast of the work. Mozart occupies a large and special place in Walter’s discography. In terms of frequency of surviving performances, the “Haffner” has seven recordings—five live and two studio, with the NBC Symphony, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Columbia Symphony. It thus ranks behind No. 40 (eleven performances, eight live and three studio) and No. 39 (eight recordings, five live and three studio), and is tied with the “Prague” (seven recordings, four live and three studio). The following table again provides details for comparison; note that Tahra misdates the 1953 performance to January 5 instead of January 4.

Date Orchestra CD Issue (if any) Timings

02/17/40 NBC SO Andromeda ANDRCD 9012 5:02 4:31 3:10 3: 33

02/06/44 NYP Music and Arts CD-1262 5:15 4:44 3:16 3: 33

01/21/47 BSO Wing WCD 58 (Japan) 5:11 4:29 3:17 3:37

02/05/50 NYP none (private collection) 5:33 5:05 3: 25 3:43

01/04/53 NYP Tahra TAH 571-572 5:29 4:54 3:33 3:55

01/16/53 NYP Sony SMK 64 473* 5:27 4:44 3:21 3:46

01/13-21/59 CSO Sony SM3K 46 511* 5:58 5:13 3:49 4:04

Here one notes that until the final, post-heart attack, stereo recording, Walter’s interpretive approach remains remarkably consistent, broadening very slightly in tempi with the passing years. As before, sound quality generally improves in successive performances, save for the decidedly poor-sounding Boston Symphony issue and the somewhat tubby sound of the unedited source for the 1950 performance. Yet here, too, there are subtle differences, with the 1944 performance under review being the most distinctive. At 1:15 in the first movement, Walter slows the tempo for the lyrical counter-subject to a far greater degree than elsewhere, and likewise beginning at 4:40 accelerates the tempo to a far greater degree to provide a whirlwind close. Not unexpectedly from an ensemble drilled under Toscanini, the NBC performance features particularly strong, crisp accents on chords and fluid runs on strings and winds. The live 1953 performance has a higher voltage than the studio recording that followed it, though it suffers from a rather glassy, shrill treble register (for a different opinion on the last point, see Mortimer H. Frank’s review in 14:4). The stereo recording has of course by far the best sound, but its slower tempi drain it of the vitality characteristic of Walter’s earlier performances. The 1944 performance is in surprisingly good sound for its time, and I would rate it alongside the two 1953 versions as the best of his performances of this work.

The remasterings of the original sources have obviously been done with the meticulous care that marks all Music and Arts issues. Mark Kluge’s booklet notes are exemplary; they include a brief discussion of recent Bruckner scholarship that defends the Löwe/Guttmann edition of the Fourth as one genuinely authorized by Bruckner rather than riding roughshod over his true intentions, and also discuss Walter’s various retouchings of the timpani and brass parts in different performances of the Ninth. (Kluge does not discuss the 1950 performance, but the excision of the trombone parts from certain passages of the Scherzo that occurs in the 1957 and 1959 performances also occurs there, though curiously not in the intervening ones from 1953.) The booklet and tray card have a typographical error that gives the total time of the second disc as 50:30, which is the timing of the Bruckner Ninth alone; the correct total time is 68:20. For Walterians, this release is self-recommending; for Brucknerians and collectors of historic performances, it will be of interest primarily for the Bruckner Fourth, and secondarily for the “Haffner” and the Ninth. To each of these interested parties, this release is warmly recommended.

James A. Altena

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Bruno Walter Conducts Bruckner's 4th And 9th Symphonies
Music and Arts Programs of America Jul 2012
CD
$32.99

Schubert: The Symphonies / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

BIS

SACD

$44.99 Aug 05, 2022

It was only after his death that Franz Schubert’s symphonic works made an impact in music history. In fact, the first public performance of any of Schubert’s symphonies took place at a memorial concert held a few weeks after the composer had passed away, on 19th November 1828. The work that was heard at that occasion was Symphony No.6, D589, the ‘Little C major’, while the two undisputed master works of the series – the ‘Great C major’ and the ‘Unfinished’ – had to wait until 1838 and 1865, respectively, before being performed. The six symphonies that precede them in the list of completed works were all composed between 1813 and 1818, while Schubert was still only 21 years of age. In a style above all oriented on Haydn and Mozart, they are youthful in the best sense of the word and display a disarming freshness which the present performances convey to perfection.

The four discs gathered here were released singly between 2010 and 2014, receiving critical acclaim in the international music press: the reviewer in The Daily Telegraph (UK) described the experience as ‘having a layer of varnish removed from a much-loved painting’ while his colleague in Fanfare wrote that the approach by Thomas Dausgaard and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra ‘changes the landscape’, proposing that the cycle ‘could become a first choice among any available.’ The set also include some shorter orchestral works, among them the much-loved Rosamunde Overture.

Excerpts from reviews of previously released volumes included in this set:

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Dausgaard somehow manages to approach the surviving two movements of Schubert's B minor Symphony as though we didn't all know that it remained 'unfinished. For once it was hard not to regret the absence of an energetic scherzo or finale.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Schubert: Symphony No. 6 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Dausgaard dexterously manages the internal balance within the orchestra. His pacing of the opening Adagio instills confidence, the line shaped by phrases stretched and contracted, dynamics thoughtfully graded, the interpretation of the whole work thoughtfully considered.

-- Gramophone

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4 & 5 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Even if not in his mature style, and showing the influence of Rossini, as well as of Haydn and Mozart, they are pure Schubert, not least in harmony and scoring, and they stand up well to the high-powered approach of Dausgaard and the splendid Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

-- The Sunday Times (UK)

Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra

The definition and dynamism that these forces have been bringing to their Schubert symphony cycle are qualities that are radiantly replicated in the performances here.

-- Gramophone

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Schubert: The Symphonies / Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
BIS Aug 2022
SACD
$44.99

Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 3 & 4 / Mustonen, Lintu, Finnish Radio Symphony

Ondine

$18.99 Sep 09, 2016

This awaited release is the first disc in a series of Olli Mustonen and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu performing the Piano Concertos by Sergei Prokofiev. Without a doubt some of the most substantial twentieth century masterworks, Prokofiev’s piano concertos prove the composer’s brilliant piano skills. The composer premiered his First Piano Concerto in 1914. The Third Piano Concerto is the most popular of Prokofiev’s concertos. The piece took several years to complete, and premiered in Chicago in 1921. Prokofiev’s Fourth Piano Concerto (for the left hand) is the most rarely heard of the three concertos featured on this recording. He wrote the piece in 1931 for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, but the work wasn’t performed until 1956. Olli Mustonen is sought after by orchestras all over the world, and he has performed and recorded with such groups as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, and The Royal Concertgebouw. His recent collaborations with the Finnish Radio Symphony have garnered excellent reviews.

REVIEW:

How many times have I regretted a shortage of fantasy, flair, and fairy-tale imagination in recordings of the Prokofiev piano concertos? Well, here is a disc that takes all those qualities to the top, gleefully goes over it, and ends up halfway down the other side. The super-light, transparent textures Hannu Lintu conjures from the orchestra are an excellent foil for the soloist. If there is room in your collection for several sets of the Prokofiev concertos, this one at least comes with a provocative distinctiveness.

– Gramophone

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Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 3 & 4 / Mustonen, Lintu, Finnish Radio Symphony
Ondine Sep 2016
CD
$18.99

Sibelius: Symphonies No 4 & 7 / Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra

RCA

$17.99 Jan 31, 2008

*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***

Great news! Arkivmusic.com has gotten its "on demand" hands on the Japanese RCA Ormandy Edition, making these recordings available in North America at far saner prices. Some of these performances are outstanding, nowhere more so than here--one of the greatest Sibelius recordings ever made. Ormandy's Fourth Symphony is magnificent: gaunt, direct, and unflinching, with stunning string playing and the most intelligent approach on disc to the percussion conundrum in the finale (chimes at the "sonore" climax, glockenspiel everywhere else). Some listeners might prefer a swifter tempo in the scherzo, but this interpretation is all of a piece, taking in the work as if in one sweeping gesture, and Sibelians will understand just what that means.

The Seventh also is a perfectly paced, immaculately played performance, with none of the mannerisms in the pastoral interlude that disturb Ormandy's first recording for Sony. As for the tone poems, there is no finer performance of Oceanides available anywhere, and Pohjola's Daughter is just about as good. Ormandy could come across as a somewhat stiff and unsmiling interpreter, but not here, and particularly not in music that requires an absolutely logical, indeed mathematical approach to tempo relationships between sections. Both in terms of performance quality and programming (Sibelius at his very greatest throughout), it just doesn't get any better.

The Japanese edition apparently used original unaltered sources, meaning the tapes were not remastered in any way, and so vary widely in sound quality--from very good, as here, to virtually unlistenable (Mahler Second). So until someone goes back and redoes them from scratch--and we may have a very long wait--you will have to buy selectively. These recordings, from the late 1970s, stand among the best-sounding of the lot. A magnificent release that you won't want to miss!

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Sibelius: Symphonies No 4 & 7 / Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra
RCA Jan 2008
CD
$17.99

Johannes Brahms: Symphonies 1-4

Accentus Music

$39.99 Sep 04, 2026

Gianandrea Noseda is clearly one of those conductors who 'are equally at home in both genres', as the 'Neue Zurcher Zeitung' put it in 2021 on the occasion of his debut as General Music Director at Zurich Opera House. 'In hindsight, one cannot even judge whether he is the better opera or symphony conductor.' In his concert performances in Zurich, Noseda focused on the works of Johannes Brahms. Following a highly acclaimed performance of the 'German Requiem', he also conducted the Zurich Opera Orchestra in performances of Brahms's symphonies. The four symphonies by Johannes Brahms were completed between 1876 and 1885 and are regarded as milestones in the Romantic orchestral repertoire. Under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda, they were recorded live at the Zurich Opera House during various concerts and can now be heard together on this album.

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Johannes Brahms: Symphonies 1-4
Accentus Music Sep 2026
CD
$39.99

BEETHOVEN/5 VOL. 4

ORCHID CLASSICS

$16.99 Oct 03, 2025

Each of Beethoven's piano concertos is a world unto itself, gripping and moving in it's own way and for it's own set of reasons. But even in this company, the Concerto no. 4 stands apart. It's opening phrase, inward-facing and played by the piano alone, immediately establishes that it is a work without precedent or parallel. It is full of contradiction - poetic and grand in equal measure - and makes an indelible impression on the listener. Many pianists will say it is the Beethoven concerto they love most; I am among them. It is fitting that this work inspired the strangest, most surreal companion piece of the Beethoven/5 project: Salvatore Sciarrino's Il Sogno di Stradella. Described by the composer as a concerto "not only of sounds but of resonances, near and distant," the work toggles back and forth between the composer's own spectral language, and one which evokes the 19th century. It is impossible to describe and utterly compelling. Recording these works live but without audience with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic was an intensely intimate experience. It is extremely gratifying to finally share these performances with music-lovers not just in Stockholm, but throughout the world. (Jonathan Biss)

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BEETHOVEN/5 VOL. 4
ORCHID CLASSICS Oct 2025
CD
$16.99

Mix & Match

The Launy Grøndahl Legacy, Vol. 4 / Danish Radio Symphony

Danacord

$18.99 Jan 01, 2021

The first (almost) complete recording of Nielsen's comic masterpiece, plus a previously unreleased fairy-tale rarity, under the inspirational baton of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra's founder-conductor. Launy Grøndahl knew both Carl Nielsen and Knud Jeppesen personally: he conducted their music with unrivalled sympathy and passion. His 1954 recording of Maskarade is full of native wit and simple joys, while Aesop's fable of The Eagle and the Beetle is dramatized as a typically Danish morality-tale of revenge on the high and mighty. Volume 5 is in preparation for a 2021 release and will have Grøndahl conducting 4 Danish symphonies and two orchestral suites.

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The Launy Grøndahl Legacy, Vol. 4 / Danish Radio Symphony
Danacord Jan 2021
CD
$18.99

Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos 4 & 5 / Descharmes, Soustrot, Malmo Symphony

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Apr 13, 2018

Romain Descharmes concludes his generally impressive cycle of Saint-Saëns piano concertos with this coupling of the formerly popular Fourth, and the increasingly popular Fifth. His performance of the Fourth, the composer’s most original work in the medium, is impressive. It’s a difficult work to pace; there’s a lot of slow music, and the thematic material is expressively pretty neutral. If the work is “about” anything, it’s a study in thematic metamorphosis and chromatic counterpoint versus diatonic harmony.

Descharmes and conductor Marc Soustrot understand the music well. The opening variations are nicely contrasted, the ensuing Andante attractive in its flow. The long finale effectively integrates the ongoing return of the main themes, with Descharmes weaving into and out of the instrumental textures smartly and sensitively. It’s an interpretation that consistently holds your attention, and rewards your patience.

The “Egyptian” Concerto isn’t quite as good. The outer movements are fine, especially the rollicking finale, but the long central movement could be more effectively shaped, its “orientalisms” indulged just that more characterfully. Still, as in the Fourth, the performance reveals a lot of meaningful detail, especially in the finale, and Descharmes isn’t afraid to take a step back and let other instrumental colors take center stage once in a while. Ultimately this complete set of the five piano concertos stands among the best out there, even if everyone will have favorite individual performances. This is an achievement of which everyone can be proud.

– ClassicsToday (David Hurwitz)

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Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos 4 & 5 / Descharmes, Soustrot, Malmo Symphony
Naxos Apr 2018
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Mahler: Symphony No. 10 / Storgards, Lapland Chamber Orchestra

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Apr 05, 2019

Left unfinished at the death of the composer, Gustav Mahler's Tenth Symphony has exerted an enormous fascination on musicologists as well as musicians. Whether fully orchestrated in specific passages, or a sole melody in others, there is one continuous line throughout the surviving manuscript pages and over the years a number of different completions or performing versions have seen the light of day. One of the latest is this 'recreation' of the work for chamber orchestra by composer and conductor Michelle Castelletti. In her liner notes to the recording, Castelletti describes the symphony as 'possibly one of Mahler’s most passionate emotional outbursts and autobiographical creations'. The decision to make an orchestration for chamber forces was inspired by the example of the Viennese Society for Private Musical Performance, established by Arnold Schönberg in 1918 with the goal of performing newly composed music. Among the works performed by the Society were chamber orchestra versions of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Das Lied von der Erde – the latter made by Schoenberg himself – and in her version of Symphony No. 10, Castelletti uses a similar instrumentation. This new completion appears on album for the first time, in a performance by the acclaimed Lapland Chamber Orchestra under John Storgårds, the ensemble’s artistic director since 1996.

-----

REVIEW:

Having taken Deryck Cooke’s completion as the basis for her edition, Michelle Castelletti slims down the orchestra, not the argument. Meanwhile John Storgårds always cultivates legato, connects notes and episodes, privileges coherence over discontinuity and reminds us that the composer’s sketches preserved at least a single thread of melody running through almost the entire symphony. However you hear the Tenth, you’ll hear it differently after experiencing this one.

– Gramophone

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Mahler: Symphony No. 10 / Storgards, Lapland Chamber Orchestra
BIS Apr 2019
SACD
$21.99

Andris Nelsons conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker

C Major Entertainment

DVD

$32.99 Oct 10, 2025

In this concert, the Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Andris Nelsons, present a "heavenly" pairing: Alban Berg's "Violin Concerto, To the Memory of an Angel", alongside Mahler's Fourth Symphony, whose final movement sets "Das himmlische Leben" (Heavenly Life) to music. With this performance, young German-American violinist August Hadelich gave his debut at the Salzburg Festival and thrilled the press: "The fabulous Augustin Hadelich filled the difficult solo part with emotion and fragility, his performance was sensitive and yet glowing." (Die Presse). With Mahler's Fourth, Andris Nelsons creates "a Mahler miracle of quiet tones" (Volksblatt), joined by German soprano Christiane Karg as the soloist of the finale. The concert is part of the Wiener Philharmoniker's Mahler cycle with Nelsons. Program: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Alban Berg: Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel"

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Andris Nelsons conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker
C Major Entertainment Oct 2025
DVD
$32.99

Shostakovich: Symphony No 5, Etc / Bernstein, Et Al

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Aug 30, 2005

This is Leonard Bernstein's later version of Shostakovich's Fifth, captured live while the New York Philharmonic was on tour in Tokyo. It's an excellent performance, similar to Bernstein's first reading, but a bit broader on the whole, and better (or at least more closely) recorded. The finale still goes very quickly, a decision that Shostakovich himself supported, and Bernstein treats it more as an unabashed triumph than a hollow victory, which is also perfectly in keeping with the musical possibilities. Elsewhere he remains a powerful and passionate exponent of the work, turning in an exceptionally intense Largo and a take-no-prisoners first-movement development section. Of course, he's also on firm ground in the Mahlerian scherzo, and the response of the Philharmonic is all that we might reasonably ask.

The coupling is no mere make-weight. Rudolf Barshai prepared all four of Shostakovich's chamber symphonies from their various string quartets, and no one conducts them better. This one, the most popular and frequently played, comes from the tragic Eighth Quartet, and while DG also has an excellent Barshai recording of the piece, this one has nothing to fear from the competition. It's an extremely solid performance that doesn't stint on the music's dark drama. The scorching second movement, with its frantic Jewish dance music alternating with the composer's DSCH monogram, is heavier than you might be used to from the quartet original, but it's entirely logical given the larger forces used. Barshai, a string player himself, really knows how the music ought to go, and the sonics are excellent. This is a fine, very welcome reissue.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Shostakovich: Symphony No 5, Etc / Bernstein, Et Al
Sony Masterworks Aug 2005
CD
$11.98

Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

Challenge Classics

$16.99 Sep 27, 2024

Second and last instalment in Jan de Vriend and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra complete survey of Robert Schumann's symphonies. Such accomplished, high-class music-making makes the imminent follow-up with the Rhenish and Fourth Symphony en enticing prospect. Gramophone - UK (on CC 72958 - Symphonies nos. 1 & 2). de Vriend strives for a balance between a magnificent orchestral sound and a transparent polyphony that also seeks to illuminate the complex inner life of Schumann's orchestral sound with brisk tempi. Rondo - DE (on CC 72958 - Symphonies nos. 1 & 2). Swagger and elegance. BBC Record Review (on CC 72958 - Symphonies nos. 1 & 2)

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Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Challenge Classics Sep 2024
CD
$16.99

BEETHOVEN: 9 SYMPHONIES

WARNER CLASSICS

$30.49 Apr 10, 2026

This boxset includes the Beethoven recordings made with the Philharmonia Orchestra between 1951 and 1958: the complete symphonies (with the Nos. 8 and 9 in stereo) - Karajan's most highly regarded cycle - as well as three overtures, some arias with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 with Swiss pianist Walter Gieseking, and finally the Missa solemnis. "Karajan's 1953 recording of the Seventh Symphony truly is one of the finest performances of the Symphony ever put on disc... his 1954 Pastoral is indeed miraculous." Gramophone

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BEETHOVEN: 9 SYMPHONIES
WARNER CLASSICS Apr 2026
CD
$30.49

Widor: Organ Symphonies, Vol. 4 / Christian Von Blohn

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Nov 27, 2020

Widor’s cycle of organ symphonies sits at the heart of his compositional achievement. They are vivid and innovative – none more so than Symphony No. 8 in B major, which takes performer and listener alike to the limits of the genre: its glittering sonorities, lyric intensity and technical power offer a tour-de-force of organ writing. The artfully woven Symphonie romane, the last of the ten, utilizes a Gregorian chorale in music of increasing splendor, melancholy and, finally, sublime peace. Christian von Blohn graduated from the Musikakademie Saarbrücken in 1987 with a first-class degree in Church Music and also with a degree in Music Education, majoring in the organ. Since 1993, von Blohn has been deanery music director for the diocese of Speyer and currently provides musical supervision for the two St Ingbert parishes of St Hildegard and St Josef. He recorded Vol. 3 in this series (8.574206), featuring Symphony No. 7, Op. 42, No. 3 and Symphonie gothique, Op. 70, released in September 2020.

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Widor: Organ Symphonies, Vol. 4 / Christian Von Blohn
Naxos Nov 2020
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

American Classics - Hovhaness Symphonies 4, 20, 53 / Brion, Et Al

Naxos

$19.99 Nov 15, 2005

Three of Alan Hovhaness' six symphonies for wind ensemble are included on this Naxos release. After hearing these, I'm eagerly waiting for the label to get to the other three. All of the ensemble playing is flawless, the many solos are ravishingly beautiful, and conductor Keith Brion's grasp of the music results in performances I can't imagine being bettered, surpassing even the classic Mercury Living Presence recording by the late Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble.

The symphonies are separated by two of the composer's works for trumpet and band, the solo part played by Scotland's great trumpeter John Wallace. He soars ecstatically above his colleagues in the Prayer of Saint Gregory, and his more varied part in Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places (the most aggressive music on the disc) achieves a threatening quality without ever losing beauty of tone.

Hovhaness' style is so distinctive, and his oeuvre so vast, that it's easy to tag him as having written the same piece over and over. And it is true that these works share many of the same elements: long, arching modal melodies, rich triadic harmonies laced with non-harmonic chiming notes, "spirit murmurs", and fluent, noble fugues. But there is enough difference in the inspiration of these works, and enough stylistic development, that you don't really get an impression of sameness. And there are many passages that haunt the memory: the flowing oboe and harp duet at the heart of the Fourth Symphony; the crossing trombone portamentos in the same work; the gorgeous fugue for all of the bell-like instruments in "Star Dawn"; the emergence from the frightening eruption that represents the "Desolate Places".

The recording was made in a church in Paisley, Scotland, and the venue contributes just the right mixture of spaciousness and intimacy to suit the music. If you are the sort of record collector who keeps alert for good new releases of unusual repertoire, this is a disc with the musical values and production quality that you always are hoping for. [1/4/2006]
--Joseph Stevenson, ClassicsToday.com

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American Classics - Hovhaness Symphonies 4, 20, 53 / Brion, Et Al
Naxos Nov 2005
CD
$19.99

Mendelssohn, Felix: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4
Nimbus Oct 1996
CD
$16.99

WOLF, E.W.: 4 Symphonies
Naxos Sep 2005
CD
$19.99

Gary Bertini conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 5

SWR

$20.99 Apr 11, 2025

'The Fifth is a cursed piece. Nobody understands it,' said Gustav Mahler in March 1905 after a performance of his Fifth Symphony in Hamburg. He had been working on his new symphony for almost three years before it premiered on 18 October 1904: in Cologne, with the Gurzenich Orchestra and Gustav Mahler at the podium. To many of his contemporaries, the work seemed too bold, too radical - perhaps also insufficiently explained, given that programmatic explanations had been added to the so-called 'Wunderhorn' Symphonies Nos. 2 to 4. Not only the number and the order of the movements seemed new, but stylistically Mahler also broke new ground with his Fifth. But now, all at once, his musical language changed, a transformation that evidently gave him some unease later. Shortly before his death, he made corrections to the instrumentation. Today the work is considered the beginning of his new creative phase, which culminated in his Ninth Symphony and it's one of his most popular symphonies. Gary Bertini was born in Bessarabia (now Moldova) in 1927. After the Second World War, he studied at the Milan Conservatory, then at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music (where he graduated in 1951), and finally at the Paris Conservatory and the ecole Normale de Musique. He founded and directed first the Rinat Choir - later named the Israel Chamber Choir - and then the Israel Chamber Ensemble with which Bertini made numerous appearances in Europe and the USA. Over the years, he has been principal conductor of the Frankfurt Opera and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the New Israel Opera, and music director of the Rome Opera and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Bertini's breadth of repertoire was very impressive, reaching from the 16th century to contemporary composers.

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Gary Bertini conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 5
SWR Apr 2025
CD
$20.99