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SYMPHONIES 2 & 3

LPO

$15.99 Oct 05, 2018

For collectors of Tchaikovsky Symphonies these recordings of Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3, taken from the Complete Tchaikovsky Symphonies box set are available as a separate release for the first time on the LPO label and along with this re-release of the Manfred Symphony join previous releases of the numbered symphonies as a complete set. Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski is a renowned conductor of Tchaikovsky. The previous release of Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 was a Gramophone recording of the month, number 19 in the Sunday Times 100 best records of the year, a Classic FM album of the week, and one of the Arts Desk's Top Classical albums of 2012. Jurowski's Tchaikovsky has been praised for it's nuance, musical empathy and intelligent phrasing.

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SYMPHONIES 2 & 3
LPO Oct 2018
CD
$15.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 (1877); Adagio (1876)

Capriccio

$21.99 Jun 07, 2024

Anton Bruckner began the revision of his Third Symphony after completing the Fifth on 16 May 1876 and continued working on it sporadically until 28 April 1877. Then, after the Vienna Philharmonic rejected the Symphony for a third time, Bruckner's friend, Hofkapellmeister Johann Herbeck, took matters into his own hands. He arranged to conduct the work himself on the concert series of the Society for the Friends of Music [Gesellschaftskonzerte] on 16 December 1877. After Herbeck passed away unexpectedly, Bruckner was forced to conduct the symphony himself. The performance proved to be one of the worst debacles of his career. The players were rude and unreceptive, and the audience left the concert hall in droves. Despite the public fiasco, Theodor Rattig, one of the few people who stayed, offered to publish the symphony. Two other people who were there at the end, Gustav Mahler and Rudolf Krzyzanowski, prepared a piano four-hand reduction for Rattig's publication which appeared at the end of 1879. It was the first publication of a Bruckner Symphony.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 (1877); Adagio (1876)
Capriccio Jun 2024
CD
$21.99

Sale

SYMPHONY NO. 40: SYMPHONY NO.
PENTATONE Sep 2008
CD
~~$19.99~~ $14.99

Gunning: Symphony No. 5 - String Quartet No. 1 / Gunning, Juno String Quartet, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Signum Classics

$19.99 Jul 02, 2021

Christopher Gunning’s Symphony No. 5 was composed during 2009 and was the composer’s most ambitious to date, in four extended movements. There is no strict programme, but the music moves through several phases which could be said to correspond to one’s journey from birth to death. The symphony is dedicated to the memory of Christopher Gunning’s sister Rosemary, who grappled with illness throughout the composition of the work, and died as he was completing it. The String Quartet No. 1 was composed in 1999, and revised in 2006. Each of the four movements is based on on a three note motif, C-D-G, with its four possible transpositions. The first is an arch-shaped passacaglia, and the second is a fast semi-fugal scherzo. The third is quietly expressive and the last is a bright rondo with ostinati based on the 3 note idea. Four-time BAFTA winning composer Christopher Gunning, has composed twelve symphonies as well as concertos for the piano, violin, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and guitar.

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Gunning: Symphony No. 5 - String Quartet No. 1 / Gunning, Juno String Quartet, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Signum Classics Jul 2021
CD
$19.99

American Classics - Schuman: Symphonies No 7 & 10 / Schwarz

Naxos

$19.99 Oct 18, 2005

During his time William Schuman (1910?1992) was a notable part of American musical life, as a teacher, administrator, and composer. His legacy of musical compositions is significant and distinctive, and this release couples two striking examples of his art.

Symphony No. 7, premiered by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony in 1960, is in four movements played continuously, beginning with a pregnant, sinewy, and dark, slow movement that is succeeded by a brief Scherzo that is typically pugnacious and characteristically scored, not least in the percussion. The slow mood returns for a radiant Cantabile intensamente that grows in emotion, and the symphony concludes with a propulsive finale that begins skittishly (reminding us of Copland and developing an exuberance that suggests Leonard Bernstein) and ends in thrilling clamor. Whether this lively movement is quite the expected corollary to what has gone before is a moot point, although there is no doubting the sheer quality of the music, and the uplift of the final measures.

Symphony No. 10, ?American Muse,? was first heard in Washington, DC, in 1976, Antal Dorati conducting the National Symphony Orchestra. Leonard Slatkin and the Chicago Symphony then took it up, and Slatkin recorded American Muse , dedicated ?to the country?s creative artists, past, present and future,? and other works of Schuman, for RCA with the Saint Louis Symphony in either 1991 or 1992 (RCA?s booklet doesn?t specify what was recorded when). It?s a great piece, the last of Schuman?s 10 symphonies (the first two were withdrawn by the composer), a vindication of writing real symphonic music, and begins with a sustained, brass dominated Con fuoco that is a virtuoso display of considerable import; a tidal wave of communication. The lengthy Larghissimo that follows is hauntingly beautiful, very personal, even private, but it steals to the listener?s heart, and the finale, having begun in exploratory fashion, is an optimistic summation.

Both Slatkin and Gerard Schwarz are deeply sympathetic conductors of Schuman?s music, but I imagine Slatkin?s version of ?American Muse? is now deleted. Schwarz?s leading of both symphonies is excellent; so, too, the sound quality; and the music is superb. With Schuman 4 and 9 already released from Seattle, one hopes the other four symphonies will follow. Very important.

FANFARE: Colin Anderson

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American Classics - Schuman: Symphonies No 7 & 10 / Schwarz
Naxos Oct 2005
CD
$19.99

SYMPHONY NO. 5
RCO LIVE HOLLAND Nov 2008
SACD
$21.99

Tabakov: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 4

Toccata

$20.99 Jul 05, 2019

The music of the Bulgarian composer-conductor Emil Tabakov (b. 1947) explores the darker side of the human spirit in epic scores as austere as they are powerful. His mighty Fifth Symphony, a work almost an hour in length, is obsessive and violent, with the two outer movements, wild kaleidoscopes of whirling colors and driving energy, framing a tragic slow movement and a sardonic march. The much earlier Double-Bass Concerto, which sits downstream from Shostakovich, shows the same grim sense of humor in the teeth of the dancing indifference of fate. A critic once wrote of Tabakov's music: "In his concert music as well as in his symphonies, Emil Tabakov insists on selection and dynamics, on the large-scale development of a small in volume, but focused, thematic material. Tabakov's music is the music of movement, it rarely carries us into spaces of contemplation or frozen calm; it's movement forward in time is determined by the composer's magnificent technique with which he works the material, turning it into music and theses and antitheses, of culminations and lows."

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Tabakov: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 4
Toccata Jul 2019
CD
$20.99

Elgar: Symphony No 2, Enigma Variations / Solti, LPO

ICA Classics

DVD

$26.99 Feb 22, 2011

This performance of Elgar's Enigma Variations forms an historic account of the first concert Sir Georg Solti conducted as Chief conductor of the LPO in 1975. It is also the first DVD release with Solti performing Elgar's Symphony No.2. Solti, who prepared new works by listening to Elgar's own recordings, identified closely with his music. The virtuoso playing of the orchestra combined with his fresh, energetic approach make for an exciting, uplifting experience. The ICA Classics Legacy series presents a collection of historic performances by some of the world's greatest artists. These performances are released on DVD for the first time, incorporating rare archive footage that has been expertly and lovingly restored.

Edward Elgar:
Symphony No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 63
Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, "Enigma"

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Georg Solti, conductor

Recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 13 February 1975
(Symphony No. 2), and 25 September 1979 (Enigma)

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: LPCM Mono
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Running time: 84 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

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Elgar: Symphony No 2, Enigma Variations / Solti, LPO
ICA Classics Feb 2011
DVD
$26.99

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 6 in A major, WAB 106 / BACH: Prelude
SWR Jun 2002
CD
$20.99

RACHMANINOFF: PIANO CONCERTOS 1-4; PAGANINI

HYPERION

Vinyl

$66.49 Jun 19, 2026

Stephen Hough's four Rachmaninov Piano Concertos have long been viewed as reference recordings of this iconic repertoire, the standard by which others must be judged. Bolstered by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton, Hough made a conscious return to the fast and lean performance tradition of the composer himself, avoiding the sentimental 'Hollywood' approach that had become so prevalent, for this triumphantly successful, awards-lavished Rachmaninov cycle. A 3LP set.

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RACHMANINOFF: PIANO CONCERTOS 1-4; PAGANINI
HYPERION Jun 2026
Vinyl
$66.49

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Apr 23, 2021

Sony Classical releases the second installment of Christian Thielemann’s complete cycle of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic – the orchestra’s first Bruckner cycle under a single conductor.

Christian Thielemann, Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival since 2013 and Music Director of the Bayreuth Festival, is his generation’s most esteemed interpreter of the Romantic Austro-German repertoire. In the midst of a mutually stimulating relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic, he conducted his first New Year’s Concert with the orchestra in 2019.

Thielemann’s interpretations of Bruckner’s music are rooted on deep expertise and sympathy. Few conductors can match the solemnity and patience he finds in composer’s symphonies, or his ability to draw on the unparalleled beauty of the orchestra’s sound and the special acoustic of its home in Vienna, the Musikverein.

Bruckner conceived the Symphony No 3 as a tribute to his musical guiding light, Richard Wagner. The result is a monolithic memorial that manages to convey deep intimacy – the first symphony in which Bruckner properly revealed his own musical voice. The work heralded a sense of breadth and awe new to symphonic music.

REVIEW:

The Viennese players give Thielemann everything he commands, elegantly shaping and sculpting the bigger structural pillars and bringing crafted nuance and color to the shorter phrases. The sound of the Vienna Philharmonic is nothing less than beautiful, most noticeable in the more complex textures.

– The Classic Review

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
Sony Masterworks Apr 2021
CD
$11.98

Schubert: Symphonies, Vol. 4

Chandos

SACD

$16.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 20% Mar 14, 2025

Edward Gardner's Schubert cycle concludes with the 'Great' Symphony No. 9 in C major. Having (remarkably) composed a symphony a year between 1813 and 1818, the onset of syphilis and it's intrusive treatment seemed to shake the composer's confidence as a symphonist - the Ninth is the only symphony after those first six that he actually completed. This is attributed by many to a wonderful holiday with friends in the high Austrian Alps that seems to have re-ignited his enthusiasm. The nickname 'Great' may originally have arisen to distinguish it from the 'little' C major Symphony (No. 6), but is apt, as the Ninth is on so much greater a scale than any symphony before it, which can run to almost an hour in some performances. The soprano Mary Bevan joins Edward Gardner and the CBSO in a selection of orchestral songs that complete the album. One was orchestrated by Schubert himself, the others are settings by Britten, Berlioz, Brahms, and Reger.

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Schubert: Symphonies, Vol. 4
Chandos Mar 2025
SACD
~~$21.99~~ $16.99

Handel: Messiah / Davis, Toronto Symphony

Chandos

SACD

$21.98 ~~$43.99~~ Save 50% Nov 18, 2016

Experience the transcendent glory of Messiah in Sir Andrew Davis’s majestic, must-hear edition of Handel’s beloved classic. Recorded live on SACD, this unique version makes use of all the colours available from the modern symphony orchestra to underline the mood and meaning of the individual movements. Without detracting from the innate power of the original, the conductor’s score calls for moments of drama, pathos, and even, sometimes, whimsicality. It is supported by substantial brass and woodwind forces, and several percussion instruments (including marimba!).

REVIEW:

The performance is lightly cut, mainly toward the ends of Parts II and III, and both da capo arias (‘He was despised’ and ‘The trumpet shall sound’) have only the A section. Most of the ornamentation, including simple appoggiaturas, is omitted, as well as most occasions for what I call justified rhythms, where, say, upbeat eighth notes are taken as sixteenths to match other parts. Where choices are available, the common ones prevail, as in the 4/4 ‘Rejoice’ and the duet version of ‘He shall feed his flock’.

Tempos are crisp and modern, and the performers are all very good. The four soloists (with mezzo, not countertenor) are first rate; and the choir, which must number around 150, sings with the agility of much smaller groups. This is a “big” Messiah with none of the problems we normally associate with such endeavors. I guess we could call it “historically informed” because tempos are brisk and the spirit is not at all romantic. It also struck me as a gentle repudiation of Musicological Correctness—and that is no doubt a good thing. I dare say that if you had a contest lining up all the approaches to Messiah and had a review panel consisting of people with no musicological prejudices, this would be the winner.

-- American Record Guide

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Handel: Messiah / Davis, Toronto Symphony
Chandos Nov 2016
SACD
~~$43.99~~ $21.98

SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

$17.49 Aug 07, 2026

SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO Internationally acclaimed Japanese composer and conductor Joe Hisaishi leads the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with celebrated harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, in a major world premiere recording that pairs his Symphony No. 3 'Metaphysica' with his new harp concerto - a virtuosic, genre-defying work.

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SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Aug 2026
CD
$17.49

Mix & Match

Aho: Symphony No 1; Hiljaisus: Violin Concerto / Gräsbeck, Vänskä, Lahti Symphony

BIS

$21.99 Mar 01, 1989

Given Sibelius’s reputation as one of the great symphonists of the last century, contemporary Finnish composers may be forgiven for feeling a little overshadowed. Fortunately for the young Aho, Rautavaara’s advice and support proved decisive in shaping this symphony, which began life as a string quartet. The work is in four movements, the mysterious opening and ascending brass figures of the Andante strongly reminiscent of Shostakovich. Indeed, this is confirmed by the noted music publisher Fennica Gehrman, in a short article on the Finnish Musical Information Centre website.

There is no obvious programme here, but in his refreshingly unpretentious liner-notes – a welcome feature of this entire cycle – Aho does speak of ‘nightmares’ and ‘psychological crises’. Even without these pointers the Andante has a certain bleakness – desolation, even – although there’s none of the trenchancy one associates with Shostakovich in similar mood. That said the grim little waltz in the Allegretto could so easily be attributed to DSCH, not to mention the quiet but insistent tread in the lower strings.

By contrast the Presto kicks off with an arresting moto perpetuo that drives this fugue like a musical dynamo. This movement has some of the most individual writing so far. That said the shade of Shostakovich hovers nearby, the laconic waltz tune and a splintered remnant of the opening theme bringing the symphony to an enigmatic close.

The other works on this disc – Hiljaisuus (Silence) and the Violin Concerto – date from the early 1980s. According to Aho, Hiljaisuus, a Finnish Radio commission that was to last no more than five minutes, was intended as an introduction to the recently completed Violin Concerto. It’s a strange swirl of a piece, a mix of unsettling glissandos and unearthly sonorities. Sample the short passage at 4:02 and you may be forgiven for thinking you’re listening to Ligeti.

The Violin Concerto has more momentum and contrast than Hiljaisuus, although it shares the latter’s concentrated, more dissonant idiom. It isn’t the most grateful start to a violin concerto, the solo part – sensitively played by Manfred Gräsbeck – rather less prominent than one might expect. That said it would be difficult to hear it above the orchestral eruptions that punctuate the first movement. At 8:30 the soloist is given some insistent phrases that rise above muted timps, culminating in an equally restrained close.

The repeated phrases at the start of the second movement – marked Leggiero – lead into music that fluctuates between light and shade. The soloist has some rhapsodic passages all to himself before we plunge into the spectral waltz of the finale. La Valse this isn’t, but the wild, somewhat demonic element is certainly present. Gräsbeck phrases these tunes like a Mahlerian Ländler – listen to the passage beginning at 3:37 – before he is crushed by a massive orchestral climax worthy of Bartók in Miraculous Mandarin mode.

Whatever hints there may be of other sound worlds Aho has fashioned something altogether individual here, combining a range of ear-pricking sonorities with music of considerable punch and power. Nothing quite prepares one for the gentle, introspective close to this concerto which, as I have discovered, is something of an Aho trademark.

Despite its obvious influences the symphony is remarkably assured for a student work. It’s economically scored, light on its feet and direct in its appeal, the chamber-like qualities much enhanced by the airy recording. The concerto is more roughly hewn; it’s a protracted tussle between soloist and orchestra, yet it has real presence and power. All credit to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra – just 40 years old when this recording was made – who play these scores with commitment and care. An excellent entrée to Aho’s distinctive sound world.

-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

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Aho: Symphony No 1; Hiljaisus: Violin Concerto / Gräsbeck, Vänskä, Lahti Symphony
BIS Mar 1989
CD
$21.99

SYMPHONY NO 3
NONESUCH Jan 2016
Vinyl
$30.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

Halle

$27.99 May 02, 2025

Taken from a rapturously received and critically acclaimed performance at The Bridgewater Hall (with The Times' 5* review describing a 'splendid night' and hailing the magnificent sound of the 'blazing Halle) this recording will prove essential for those wishing to hear the work in the intended four movement form. The recording is accompanied by a booklet containing a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong and a note from Dr. John A. Phillips, surveying the material Bruckner left for the Finale and detailing the work done on reconstructing it for performance.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 9
Halle May 2025
CD
$27.99

Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 1 / Gibbons, Liepaja Symphony

Toccata

$20.99 Jun 01, 2018

The music of London-born William Wordsworth (1908–88) – a great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher – lies downstream from that of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius; like that of his contemporary Edmund Rubbra, Wordsworth’s music unfolds spontaneously, as a natural process, with a sense of grandeur perhaps enhanced by his move to the Scottish Highlands in 1961. Three of the four works recorded here display the sober dignity of the instinctive symphonist; the Variations on a Scottish Theme reveal a sly sense of humor behind the serious countenance. John Gibbons has conducted most of the major British orchestras. He has been Principal Conductor of Worthing Symphony Orchestra- the professional orchestra of West Sussex- with which he has given many world premieres of neglected works. He studied music at Queens’ College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, winning numerous awards as conductor, pianist and accompanist. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, vice chairman of the British Music Society, and choral director at Clifton Cathedral. His own music has been performed in various abbeys and cathedrals as well as on the South Bank, London.

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Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Vol. 1 / Gibbons, Liepaja Symphony
Toccata Jun 2018
CD
$20.99

SYMPHONY NO. 6
MDG Sep 2007
CD
$24.99

SYMPHONY NO. 9
MDG Sep 2011
CD
$32.99

SYMPHONY IN G MINOR

ZARATHUSTRA MUSIC

Vinyl

$31.99 Sep 01, 2017

Zarathustra Music is proud to present the world premiere recording of Elliot Goldenthal's 'Symphony in G# Minor' performed by Pacific Symphony under conductor Carl St. Clair. Composer, conductor, and orchestra previously collaborated 20 years before when Pacific Symphony commissioned and recorded Goldenthal's highly acclaimed 'Fire, Water, Paper - A Vietnam Oratorio. ' For the occasion of the orchestra's American Composers Festival 2014, Goldenthal composed his 25 minute symphony, in the obscure yet autobiographical key of G# Minor, especially for the occasion. The work premiered immediately after the composer's 60th birthday in May 2014 and represents Goldenthal's first large-scale concert work since Fire, Water, Paper. In the past 20 years, Goldenthal has garnered three Academy Award nominations (Interview with a Vampire, Michael Collins) and won and Oscar and Golden Globe for his score to Frida. In 2007, Goldenthal was finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his opera Grendel which premiered at Los Angeles Opera and Lincoln Center Festival. In 2013 composed his String Quartet No. 1 'The Stone Cutters' as well as music for Julie Taymor's stage production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' that opened a new theater in Goldenthal's hometown of Brooklyn, NY. In 2013 the Joffrey ballet produced his large-scale three-act ballet Othello at the 4, 000 seat Auditorium Theater in Chicago, and in 2015 the American Ballet Theater revives Othello for it's fourth time at the Metropolitan Opera House. Meanwhile, downtown the composer is providing 'Music & Soundscapes' for the new one-woman show Grounded starring Anne Hathaway at the Public Theater. Goldenthal remains one of the most highly acclaimed and dynamic composers working today.

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SYMPHONY IN G MINOR
ZARATHUSTRA MUSIC Sep 2017
Vinyl
$31.99

Mahler: Des knaben Wunderhorn, Adagio from Symphony no 10 / Boulez, Cleveland [Blu-ray]

Accentus Music

Blu-Ray

$37.99 May 31, 2011

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

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Also available on standard DVD

Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra
Soloists: Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher

Gustav Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 10
Twelve Songs from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn"

“Boulez’s Mahler has surely gained a degree of intensity over the years. Rather than sacrificing his legendary intellectual rigor, he has wedded it to a profound visceral understanding of this music.” -- WCLV classical FM

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and just one month short of his own 85th birthday, composer-conductor Pierre Boulez marked his forty-five-year collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra by directing this very special Mahler-only concert at Ohio’s splendid Severance Hall. Following the Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony, he presented Twelve Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with soloists Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher, both much-sought-after opera and concert singers on the world’s leading stages.

Bonus:
- Interview with Pierre Boulez

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 88 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

R E V I E W:

The performances heard on this video are identical to the program released on CD by DG and reviewed by me in Fanfare 34:4. It therefore behooves me to suggest that the only reason to acquire the video is the dramatic difference in the respective sound productions.

The beautiful interior of Severance Hall, with its Art Deco accents, makes a very pleasant backdrop indeed. In contrast to the CD, the program starts with the Adagio from the 10th Symphony. The performance, a very good one, is greatly improved in its surround-sound version, especially on Blu-ray. It must be said, though, that watching Boulez with his minimal gestures and dour expression is not terribly exciting.

The occasional clever use of split screen provides a discrete frame each for the singer’s and conductor’s faces, though in this case the contrast between the animated vocalists and the stone face of the conductor is somewhat unnerving. As I wrote in my review of the CD, this is not my ideal version of this program, though Magdalena Kožená can hold her own with the best of the competition. Christian Gerhaher is a fine baritone but is not as dramatically convincing and lacks the heft of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau or Thomas Hampson, two of my preferences for the male voice. Of the two singers, Kožená is more fun to watch, too, as her facial expressions bring character to her songs.

The bonus interview program provides Boulez’s thoughts on Mahler’s music and the specific program performed in Cleveland, his observations on the orchestra and its hall, the future of classical music, and some personal observations. The questions appear written on the screen (typos and all), and then Boulez is shown answering. The interview can be heard in English, German, and French. Also included (from the Severance Hall stage) is a short tribute to the conductor on his 85 birthday with Franz Welser-Möst and the management of the Cleveland Orchesta, which includes an audience-particapatory sing-along.

FANFARE: Christopher Abbot

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Mahler: Des knaben Wunderhorn, Adagio from Symphony no 10 / Boulez, Cleveland [Blu-ray]
Accentus Music May 2011
Blu-Ray
$37.99

Ives: Symphony No 3, Etc / Slatkin, St Louis So

RCA

$17.99 May 30, 2008

This is a splendid set of Ives classics with two novelties. It says something forhis stature these days that this is the fifth recording of Three Places in New England in the current British catalogue. The opening march is slightly disappointing in Slatkin's over measured treatment, but there are plenty of fireworks (literally, since it depicts a Fourth of July outing) in ''Putnam's Camp'' and real intensity in the sound of hymn-singing across the river which is built into ''The Housatonic at Stockbridge''.

It is good to have The Unanswered Question and Central Park in the Dark where they belong—together. The separate layers of activity in both pieces, with the strings static and the other instrumental textures dynamically changing, create the quintessential Ives experience in the simplest form. The spacing is carefully engineered in this recording and the detail at all levels is clear.

I have compared the Tilson Thomas recording of the Third Symphony unfavourably with that by Sir Neville Marriner. Slatkin, in this third recording in the British catalogue, now has the edge on both of them, with an affectionate treatment of this hymn-saturated score. Tilson Thomas used a new edition. I think Slatkin does too, and there are extras in the strings at the end of the second movement which I have never heard before.

The two novelties are both early, from the 1890s. The March is all infectious razzle-dazzle and the Fugue in four keys is experimental for its period but smoothly contrived and haunting in its ending. They complete a well planned and competitive Ives release.

-- Peter Dickinson, Gramophone [4/1993]

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Ives: Symphony No 3, Etc / Slatkin, St Louis So
RCA May 2008
CD
$17.99

PROKOFIEV: SYMPHONY NO. 5
RCO LIVE HOLLAND Apr 2016
SACD
$21.99

Mahler: Symphony No 6, Piano Quartet / Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra

Ondine

SACD

$13.49 ~~$26.99~~ Save 50% Oct 03, 2002

REVIEW:

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s first two releases for Ondine under Christoph Eschenbach (Bartók and Tchaikovsky) were extremely good, no doubt about it, but this Mahler Sixth is really extraordinary. Part of its success must stem from the fact that the best German conductors usually do misery especially well, finding the dark side of just about everything. If you don’t believe me, check out Kurt Sanderling’s startlingly deep and edgy rendition of Poulenc’s Concert Champêtre on Supraphon. So you can just imagine what can happen with a piece like Mahler’s Sixth. Anyone fortunate enough to have heard Eschenbach’s performances of this work with the NDR Orchestra in Hamburg will know that he has a special feeling for its harrowing intensity and expressionistic instrumental palette. Toss in the collective virtuosity of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the result is, to put it mildly, pretty special.

As a coupling, the early piano quartet movement is more appropriate than you might at first think. First of all, it shares the same key as the symphony, and second, it’s useful to have it along as part of an all-Mahler program, allowing collectors to round out their collections without having to search for an acceptable all-chamber-music program. The engineering also represents the best in this series so far, with virtually no audience noise, tremendous presence in both stereo and multichannel formats, and extremely natural balances between orchestral sections. I know that Mahler Sixes seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but this one, a first for Philadelphia, belongs among the elite few (Bernstein I and II, Chailly, Levi, T. Sanderling, and Gielen). It’s just bloody thrilling.

— ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

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Mahler: Symphony No 6, Piano Quartet / Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra
Ondine Oct 2002
SACD
~~$26.99~~ $13.49