Search results: Search results

972 results

Products

BEETHOVEN: TRIPLE CONCERTO OP.56 VORISEK: GRANDO

RUBICON

$20.17 Mar 25, 2022

The Lobkowicz Trio are Jan Mracek violin and leader of the Czech Philharmonic, Lukas Klansky piano and Ivan Vokac associate principal cellist of the Czech Philharmonic. Beethoven's Triple Concerto is his take on the old 18th century Sinfonia Concertante. Dating from 1803-4, it was originally intended as a piece for his pupil Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven made the piano part simpler than the piano concertos, and the work is unique in the history of the Sinfonia Concertante in that it includes a piano. Beethoven's last published piano trio is the set of variations from 1813 on a popular theme from a singspiel by Wenzel Mu¨ller "Ich bin der Scheider Kakadu". Jan Vaclav Vorisek was a younger contemporary of Beethoven and was a practicing lawyer. He settled in Vienna, met Beethoven and studied with Hummel, but he failed to obtain employment as a musician. He produced a masterful symphony in D, and the delightful and elegant Rondo Concertante on this album. He was friends with Schubert and sadly like Schubert died tragically young.

View Full Page

BEETHOVEN: TRIPLE CONCERTO OP.56 VORISEK: GRANDO
RUBICON Mar 2022
CD
$20.17

Schuman: Symphony No 6 / Schwarz, Seattle Symphony

Naxos

$19.99 Nov 17, 2009

SCHUMAN Symphony No. 6. Prayer in Time of War. New England Triptych • Gerard Schwarz, cond; Seattle SO • NAXOS 8559625 (60:51)

I was working as office administrator for a church at the time of 9/11, and can still remember the shock and angst following the attack and its aftermath. The minister came to me one day and mentioned how horrible things were. I remarked that at times like this I thought of Olivier Messiaen and his three fellow musicians, held prisoner in a Nazi POW camp, thinking that not only their own ends were near but the end of the world, and how Messiaen responded, artistically, with his masterly Quartet for the End of Time. The minister looked at me as if I had just said I came from Mars and said, “Well, I don’t know how to rock and roll any more!”

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. I respond more to Messiaen and those other works written as a response to the angst of a war that shattered mankind to the very depths of its soul. William Schuman’s response was his 1943 Prayer in Time of War and, afterwards, his abstract but darkly soul-shattering Symphony No. 6. The Prayer met with good critical response when it first appeared, the symphony with antipathy bordering on outright hostility. Its premiere with the Dallas Symphony conducted by Antal Dorati on February 27, 1949, incensed the audience so much that, in Schuman’s words, “They questioned whether they should even complete payment of the commission.”

The symphony, following the dark music he wrote for ballets by Antony Tudor ( Undertow ) and Martha Graham ( Night Journey ), is similarly black and angst-ridden. Like Vaughan Williams’s own Sixth Symphony, it is a highly personal reaction to a postwar world in which so many thousands of lives were ended or disrupted, a world dominated by power struggles with the Soviets, the atomic bomb, and the intense effort it took to pick up shattered lives and move on. The fact that Vaughan Williams’s work was understood and appreciated in England while Schuman’s was vilified in America probably has something to do with the level of property destruction the former country suffered. America itself was largely protected, at least physically, and like the onset of the Depression, the postwar years created a market for soft, soothing music. Schuman’s existentialist bombshell was not what audiences wanted to hear.

Even today—perhaps especially today, in an uncertain world caught between Islamic jihads on one side and an economic freefall on the other—Schuman’s symphony and Prayer speak to us deeply unless, of course, you are one of those who just don’t know how to rock and roll. The Prayer is gentler in expression. Despite a dangerous-sounding Più animato section in which the storm of war is depicted, its overall mood is soothing in its multitonal, Ives-like expression. The second outburst, consisting of brass fanfares and animated strings, is more hopeful than nihilistic, and it ends with the same soft chord with which it began. Conversely, the symphony is consistently dark, a tunnel with no light at its end but only the quietude of resignation and emotional defeat. One of the more furious outbursts at about the 20-minute mark didn’t seem to me as well composed as the rest of the work, but even this somewhat spurious moment seemed to me to indicate our powerlessness against forces too strong to fight.

Gerard Schwarz has developed over the years into an outstanding conductor, with only a few of his recordings sounding emotionally shallow. This music is very much his métier as, apparently, was the Mahler Seventh he recorded a while back. These performances lack nothing in drama, feeling, or outstanding orchestral balance. Schwarz’s only rival in the symphony with which I’m familiar is the recording by American conductor Hugh Keelan with the New Zealand Symphony (Koch 7290), a fine performance as well if, to my ears, a little less seamlessly joined than Schwarz’s. The Prayer is combined with Schuman’s Fourth Symphony and Judith on First Edition 11, played by Jorge Mester and the Louisville Symphony, but the splendidly professional polish of the Seattle Symphony surpasses Louisville’s playing capacity of that time.

After two such melancholy works, Schwarz ends this CD with one of Schuman’s most popular pieces, the New England Triptych , three pieces for orchestra after William Billings. Here the language is also bitonal but the overall mood more positive. It’s a wonderful way for the disc to end and, again, Schwarz gives a performance comparable to the best available, including Howard Hanson’s classic account for Mercury Living Presence (432755) and Leonard Slatkin with the St. Louis Symphony (RCA 61282). Their versions have, perhaps, a trifle more swagger, but Schwarz is not eclipsed; and, when combined with these shattering performances of the symphony and Prayer, it makes for an indispensable disc for those who admire Schuman’s unique musical aesthetic.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

If we set to one side the disavowed first two symphonies Gerard Schwarz has now completed recording the Schuman symphonies. Only the Schwarz-Seattle-Naxos Eighth awaits issue. The series began with a handful of Schuman symphonies recorded by Delos in the 1990s. Naxos has picked up the baton dropped when the gloriously ambitious Delos project stumbled and fell. That they are doing this at bargain price is remarkable as with so much that Naxos does. Naxos have reissued all the Delos session symphonies and continued and completed the cycle in Seattle. This disc mixes the Delos-originated 1990 session for the Triptych with newer Naxos fixtures in 2005 and 2008. The transcript of an interview with Gerard Schwarz can be found on the Naxos website.

The Sixth Symphony was first recorded by Ormandy in the 1960s on CBS AML 4992 and reissued on Albany TROY256. It’s a work of nocturnal reclusion; not at all restful. Although Schuman has his lyric heart on display it is not close to his sleeve. The song is sweet but haunted and darkly clouded with Bergian strands – even a touch of Allan Pettersson about it. Barber in his most introspective brown study comes to mind and the tension never lets up. Kinetic fury has usually been part of the Schuman palette and so it is here (try. 20:00 onwards) although occluded lyricism dominates and acts as an indefatigable magnetic pull. The work is presented in a single half hour track. The Sixth was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League and the Dallas orchestra premièred it with Antal Doráti conducting on 27 February 1949. It’s an impressive piece if without the compulsive concentration that bowls over listeners to the Third Symphony and the Violin Concerto.

Prayer in a Time of War first saw light of day with Fritz Reiner and the Pittsburgh Orchestra on 26 February 1943. It’s a substantial movement of symphonic bearing and unyielding seriousness as befits the subject. The language is touched with some bleakness but it is less convoluted than that of the Sixth Symphony. This is the Schuman of the Third Symphony admitting and radiating facets that recall Roy Harris and Aaron Copland. The brass writing is gaunt, statuesque and excoriating; the drum-taps and cold fanfares referencing Lincoln and Whitman. It’s is a grand statement to put alongside his works of similar concision: Credendum, In Praise of Shahn and American Hymn. This is not its first recording; that honour goes to the Louisville and Jorge Mester – still to be had on Louisville First Edition.

New England Triptych is in three movements: I. Be Glad Then, America [5:05]; II. When Jesus Wept [7:53] III. Chester [3:08]. The outer movements are redolent of Tippett in zest, springiness and riotous exuberance. The Triptych was premièred in Miami on 28 October 1956, with Andre Kostelanetz conducting the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra. The next month Kostelanetz took it to the New York Phil. It is one of Schuman’s most accessible works despite its date. The three movements are based on hymns by the Revolutionary period figure, William Billings (1746– 1800). Schuman refers to “a fusion of styles and musical language”; acidic-epic Schuman meets devout Hanoverian. The middle movement recalls RVW’s Tallis and Bliss’s Blow Meditations.

Let’s not write off those first two symphonies (1935, 1937). I have heard the Second Symphony in a 1930s broadcast by Howard Barlow and the CBS orchestra and it’s by no means negligible. Then there are other works which will be worth revival – principally theConcerto on Old English Rounds and the spectacular symphonic cantata Casey at the Bat, superbly revived by Dorati in Washington as part of the American centennial event diary.

It’s a pleasure to report that this disc was generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts who seem to have moved away from a policy that appears at one time to favour only the work of the adherents of academic dissonance.

The notes are by Joseph W. Polisi, currently sixth president of The Juilliard School and author of “American Muse: The Life and Times of William Schuman” (Amadeus Press, 2008).

Keep watching for the Naxos Schuman Eighth secure in the knowledge that Schwarz and his Pacific Edge orchestra are fully equal to the challenges set by Schuman. Naxos will again, I am sure, provide a stunning recording as they have done here across a span of eighteen years – session to session.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

View Full Page

Schuman: Symphony No 6 / Schwarz, Seattle Symphony
Naxos Nov 2009
CD
$19.99

Three Sinfoniettas / Slobodeniouk, Lahti Symphony

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Sep 02, 2022

The term sinfonietta is generally used to describe a work that is smaller in scale or lighter in approach than a standard symphony. It only came into common usage during the first half of the 20th century, which is when the three works included on this disc were in fact composed. Worth noting is also that Sergei Prokofiev and Benjamin Britten wrote their respective sinfoniettas while they were still in their teens – early attempts at multi-movement works for ensemble. Prokofiev revised his Sinfonietta twice, with the 1929 version recorded here, and went on to become one of the great symphonists of his time. Britten chose a different path, with operas forming the most important part of his legacy. Perhaps symptomatically, his Sinfonietta – his Op. 1 – was initially composed for wind quintet and string quintet, a scoring which he later expanded into the version heard on the present recording. Like Britten, Francis Poulenc was not naturally inclined towards large-scale orchestral works, and his Sinfonietta is indeed his only symphonic piece. The most recent of the works on the disc, it is in a neo-classical vein with sparkling dance rhythms as well as lyrical moments. The three works are here performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk, a team which has released several highly acclaimed albums on BIS.

REVIEWS:

Poulenc's Sinfonietta would be the composer's only work in the symphony genre, borrowing, sometimes more obviously than not, from the neo-classical stylings of Stravinsky and nearly quoting Mozart. Poulenc mostly stayed away from larger forms, finding success with his songs, chamber music, and religious works, but this Sinfonietta displays the composer's charm and gift with melodic phrasing.

The Sinfonietta, Op. 5, by Prokofiev (heard here in its final revision from 1929, which the composer assigned as his Op. 48) is a youthful work, even in its revised form. A light and airy neo-classical work that, along with his Classical Symphony, can trace to the mature Prokofiev symphonic writing.

While the sinfoniettas of Poulenc and Prokofiev are light and airy works, the Sinfonietta, Op. 1, by Britten has a more mature sound, even though he was only 18 when it was written. The harmonic structure of the work is influenced by the Second Viennese School through his teacher and dedicatee of the work, Frank Bridge. Originally written for wind quintet and string quintet, Britten later revised it for chamber orchestra, which is what is presented here.

A thoroughly enjoyable hour of lighter music that will be nearly unknown to many listeners but should be accessible to a wide audience. BIS' engineers make good use of the Lahti Symphony's magnificent Sibelius Hall home.

-- AllMusic.com (Keith Finke)

All in all this is a splendid release, very enjoyable from beginning to end, offering 3 wonderful pieces not often encountered. It is expertly played, conducted and recorded. Very highly recommended.

-- Classical CD Review

View Full Page

Three Sinfoniettas / Slobodeniouk, Lahti Symphony
BIS Sep 2022
SACD
$21.99

Zador: Aria and Allegro - 5 Contrasts - Children's Symphony

Naxos

$19.99 May 29, 2012

Eugene Zádor was a remarkable colorist and orchestrator whose Hollywood film work was extensive. He described himself as a 'middle of the road extremist'. The Aria and Allegro is a beautifully crafted work brimming with rhythmic energy. Five Contrasts for Orchestra demonstrates his rich sound world at it's most vibrant; film noir jostling with a big-booted country dance. The lighter a Children's Symphony is one of his most popular pieces - communicative, witty, accessible. We also hear two small and captivating evocations of his native Hungary. Mariusz Smolij is a founding member of the Penderecki String Quartet, former artistic director of the Lutosawski Wrocaw Philharmonic and International Festival Wratislavia Cantans, Poland, and currently serves as Music Director of the Acadiana Symphony in Louisiana and Riverside Symphonia in New Jersey.

View Full Page

Zador: Aria and Allegro - 5 Contrasts - Children's Symphony
Naxos May 2012
CD
$19.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Analekta May 2007
CD
$20.99

Shostakovich: Symphony No 7 / Järvi, Scottish National Orch
Chandos May 1988
CD
$21.99

Loshkin: Symphonies 5, 9 & 11 / Lokshin, Swierczewski, Grosses Orchester Graz

BIS

$21.99 May 01, 2006

Almost twenty years after his death it is still difficult to properly evaluate the work of Russian composer Alexander Lokshin (1920-1987). His uncompromising stance led to numerous conflicts with the Soviet regime, resulting in him being banned from the Moscow Conservatory twice - first as a student and later as a teacher. Many of his works were suppressed either before or immediately after their first performances, and most of his eleven symphonies, symphonic poems and chamber music remained confined to his desk drawer, and are only now gradually coming to light. One reason for the almost systematic persecution was the fact that Lokshin often included vocal parts in his orchestral works. In several cases it was the text rather than the music which caused the work to be banned. One such instance is Symphony No. 9, where the poems by Leonid Martynov, in turns harrowing and sarcastic, form a veiled indictment of the Soviet system. At the première in 1976 baritone Yuri Grigoriev was choked by emotion. 'I didn't know if I was going to be arrested the following day', he later admitted. He wasn't - but the symphony was blacklisted. (Reportedly, Dmitri Shostakovich, who was present at the première, acquired the score and avidly studied the work, which he greatly admired.) This is the second disc of Lokshin's music on BIS, the first being BIS-CD-1156, with the composer's only purely instrumental symphony (No. 4, 'Sinfonia Stretta') and his Three Scenes from Goethe's Faust. Two of the present performers, conductor Michel Swierczewski and soprano Vanda Tabery, also participated on that disc, which received praise both for the performances ('outstandingly vibrant') and for the music, which one reviewer described as 'challenging late romantic modernism'. These two are joined by baritone Jeffrey Black and 'recreation - GROSSES ORCHESTER GRAZ', both of whom are appearing on BIS for the first time.

View Full Page

Loshkin: Symphonies 5, 9 & 11 / Lokshin, Swierczewski, Grosses Orchester Graz
BIS May 2006
CD
$21.99

Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 & 9 / Norrington, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln

SWR

$37.99 Aug 13, 2021

Sir Roger Norrington has been chief conductor of the former Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra RSO (today SWR Symphonieorchester) for thirteen years. During this time he caused internationally quite a stir with what got to be called "The Stuttgart Sound", a synthesis between historically informed performance and technical capabilities of a modern orchestra. Whether Mozart or Haydn, Bruckner or Brahms, Norrington's main focus laid on quick tempi, a "pure ton" (that is, vibratoless), articulation, seating plan and orchestra size as experienced by the composers themselves back in their time. With the present re-issue of his Bruckner SWR-recordings, Norrington sought to render the "human face" of Bruckner, not just the quasi-religious abstraction the public is sometimes given instead. His symphonies are secular works written with the Musikverein Vienna in mind. They contain descriptive music (journeys, nature, birds), dance music and humor, unexpected dramatic passages, and pauses. In his entirely individual style (culled from Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Wagner, but rarely sounding like any of them), Bruckner echoes memories of his own violin playing as a youth at village weddings, quite as much as those of the St. Florian organ loft.

View Full Page

Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 & 9 / Norrington, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
SWR Aug 2021
CD
$37.99

MIHHAIL GERTS

ORCHID CLASSICS

$16.49 Jun 05, 2026

Eduard Tubin stands among the most significant symphonic voices of the twentieth century, a composer whose music draws deeply on Nordic landscape, folklore and myth while speaking with a powerful modern voice. This recording with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mihhail Gerts explores the formative years of Tubin's creative life. At it's centre is the Symphony No. 2, "Legendary" (1937), a work that established Tubin's distinctive voice, moving from a mysterious opening through sombre reflection to a fiercely driven finale. Alongside it appears the Suite on Estonian Motifs, his first major orchestral composition, presented here in it's first recording. Completing the program are two early Piano Preludes from 1926, performed by Mihhail Gerts, offering a glimpse of Tubin at the very beginning of his compositional journey. Together these works trace the emergence of a composer who would go on to become one of Estonia's most important musical figures.

View Full Page

MIHHAIL GERTS
ORCHID CLASSICS Jun 2026
CD
$16.49

Mix & Match

Lundquist: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8 / Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Kroumata Percussion Ensemble, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra

Sterling Records

$20.99 Sep 04, 2020

In 1976, Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist composed a piece, Sisu, for the six musicians in the Stockholm percussion ensemble. A few years later, the ensemble was transformed and took the name Kroumata. Sisu became one of the regular works in the ensemble’s repertoire. They also recorded it. Lundquist then got the idea to compose a larger work for orchestra where he would include the Kroumata ensemble. The result was the eighth symphony, which he began in 1989 and completed in 1992. He called the new symphony, Kroumata Symphony. Lundquist, however, keenly stressed that the eighth symphony, although Kroumata has an important part, is not a percussion concerto but a true symphony. The symphony was premiered in Malmö, with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Kroumata in 2002. It became a posthumous performance. Two years earlier, Torbjörn Iwan Lundquist had passed away. The first performance was led by B. Tommy Andersson and is the one on this release. The fifth symphony was completed in 1980. It is for a smaller orchestra with just double woodwinds, two trumpets, two trombones, percussion and strings. It is dedicated to Halmstad Chamber Orchestra, which premiered it in February 1980. The fifth symphony is much more classical in its structure than Lundquist's previous symphonies. The symphony has three movements. Lundquist aptly called it Die Wienerische, probably not so much referring to the city of Vienna, as to the formally structured Viennese classical music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. There are no Viennese waltzes to find here, but an elaborated structure of a classic sonata. (Curt Carlsson, 2020)

View Full Page

Lundquist: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8 / Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Kroumata Percussion Ensemble, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra
Sterling Records Sep 2020
CD
$20.99

Beethoven: Complete Symphonies / Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra

Andromeda

$21.99 Sep 11, 2015

This truly fantastic live set of the complete Beethoven symphonies plus select overtures as played by the Philharmonia Orchestra in Vienna in 1960 under the direction of the legendary conductor Otto Klemperer has now returned to the Andromeda catalog in completely re-mastered, superb 24bit/96kHz sound, taken directly from the original master tapes. It always a fascinating pastime to compare Klemperer’s live performances with his studio recordings of the identical works from the same period, as these come from around the time of his famous EMI late-‘50s recordings with the same orchestra.

View Full Page

Beethoven: Complete Symphonies / Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra
Andromeda Sep 2015
CD
$21.99

Mahler, G.: Symphony No. 4
Delos Jan 2003
CD
$18.99

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5, 6, 7, 9 & Triple Concerto / Blomstedt, Gewandhausorchester [Blu-ray]

Accentus Music

Blu-Ray

$85.99 Sep 20, 2019

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

Also available on standard DVD

More than 200 years after its premiere at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Martin Helmchen have congenially mastered the artistic challenge of Beethoven’s gemstone. Under Herbert Blomstedt's sensitive direction, the soloists unite chamber musical intimacy together with virtuoso sophistication – and prove once again that the Triple Concerto is an unduly underestimated, much too rarely programmed masterpiece. With the composer's 5th Symphony, Blomstedt succeeds in achieving an entirely new perspective of this work. In his Sixth Symphony, the “Pastoral”, Ludwig van Beethoven conveys his musical message in such a way that lets the listener literally “see” images of beautiful nature, tempestuous storms, and shepherds singing in the fields, whereas in his Seventh Symphony, Beethoven lets the music speak for itself. The performances of these works by the Gewandhausorchester give the uplifting feeling that the intentions of both composer and performers are united in serving the musical message. The humanist and musician Herbert Blomstedt embodies this truth in a unique way, creating an atmosphere where the wonders of music all become true. Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony and the musical city of Leipzig are closely intertwined with each other: Felix Mendelssohn, Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester, made the work an indispensable part of the concert hall repertoire and Arthur Nikisch, one of his successors, established in 1918 the worldwide tradition of performing this groundbreaking and pioneering work at the end of the year. Herbert Blomstedt once again conducted Beethoven's Ninth in Leipzig for the 2016 New Year celebrations. With his former orchestra, of which he has been Conductor Laureate since 2005 and with whom he enjoys a close friendship, he achieves a gripping interpretation of this monumental work.

View Full Page

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5, 6, 7, 9 & Triple Concerto / Blomstedt, Gewandhausorchester [Blu-ray]
Accentus Music Sep 2019
Blu-Ray
$85.99

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 / Albrecht, Netherlands Philharmonic

PENTATONE

SACD

$21.99 May 12, 2015

The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra lives up to its reputation for its brilliant Mahler performances and surpasses all expectations under the baton of conductor Marc Albrecht. And Elizabeth Watts’ performance in the final movement is surely one not to be missed. The chemistry between Watts and the orchestra is utterly pervasive. With a voice described by International Record Review as “one of the most beautiful Britain has produced in a generation”, Watts sweeps the listener off their feet with this sunny, accessible symphony from Mahler.

Review:

This is a lovely performance–sensitive, very well played, shapely and effortless. Conductor Marc Albrecht makes his points without exaggeration, revealing personal touches in his care for proper observance of Mahler’s dynamics and his concern for textural clarity. Yet the big climaxes in the first movement and Adagio have plenty of impact, and in soprano Elizabeth Watts we have one of the best singers set loose on the tricky finale in many a moon.

This being Mahler, of course, there will always be a criticism here and there. The trio sections of the scherzo might just be a touch too relaxed, and Albrecht’s fondness for portamento could well strike some listeners as excessive, particularly in the Adagio, but these are quibbles. I am less happy with the sonics, which are quite impressive when the music is loud, but lack body at lower dynamic levels, even with the substantial boost in the volume. Still, this small reservation could very easily be a non-issue on your own sound system.

Holland being “Mahler central” some of the idiomatic response to the music was to be expected, but that doesn’t do anything to diminish Albrecht’s sympathetic handling of the score overall. A winner.

- ClassicsToday

View Full Page

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 / Albrecht, Netherlands Philharmonic
PENTATONE May 2015
SACD
$21.99

Raff: Symphony No 2, Four Shakespeare Preludes / Jarvi, Suisse Romande

Chandos

SACD

$21.99 Feb 26, 2013

Joachim Raff’s symphonies have a reputation as being diffuse, bloated, and just not terribly interesting. On the basis of some of his programmatic works in the form, perhaps this is true, at least some of the time, but his Second is a lively, compact, formally shapely and melodically rich work that does not deserve its neglect. Maybe the first movement, which is based on a triadic theme not terribly susceptible to development, lacks drama, but it certainly moves well, as does the entire symphony for that matter. The finale in particular maintains its momentum from start to finish, unlike so many other romantic symphonies. At only 33 minutes (in this performance), you can’t say that the piece outstays its welcome. Järvi typically does not see profundity where none exists, but leads the orchestra in a joyful romp through the piece that proves consistently entertaining.

The four Shakespeare preludes also prove to be lots of fun. All are relatively short but well-orchestrated and atmospheric. Perhaps Romeo and Juliet is the tamest–it’s only nine minutes long and it’s not Tchaikovsky, but Othello is punchy and tense (and even shorter); The Tempest opens with an effective storm and features music that challenges you to figure out who the characters are that Raff illustrates; and Macbeth, possibly the best of all, spends a lot of time focused on the witches and, seemingly, the final battle. It’s great to have this music recorded, and terrifying to realize that the symphony is Raff’s Op. 140 and the preludes his WoO 49-52. My but that man could churn it out, couldn’t he? Fine playing and excellent sonics round out a release that deserves your attention.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

View Full Page

Raff: Symphony No 2, Four Shakespeare Preludes / Jarvi, Suisse Romande
Chandos Feb 2013
SACD
$21.99

Bruckner: The Mature Symphonies - Symphonies Nos. 4,5,6,7,8,9 / Barenboim

Accentus Music

DVD

$112.99 Oct 30, 2015

Also available on Blu-ray

-----

Anton Bruckner expanded the concept of the symphonic form in ways that have never been witnessed before or since. Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin follow the harmonic development of Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 4-9, revealing the breathtaking musical panorama of these exceptional masterpieces. According to Der Tagesspiegel, this unforgettable Bruckner cycle sets new standards and guarantees the Staatskapelle Berlin and their principal conductor “a place in the Bruckner pantheon.”

Anton Bruckner
THE MATURE SYMPHONIES
(6-DVD Box Set)

Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major, WAB 104, “Romantic” (1881 version, ed. R. Haas)
Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, WAB 105 (1878 version, ed. L. Nowak)
Symphony No. 6 in A Major, WAB 106 (ed. L. Nowak)
Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107 (1885 version, ed. L. Nowak)
Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, WAB 108 (ed. R. Haas from 1887 and 1890 versions)
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109

Berlin Staatskapelle
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Recorded live at the Berlin Philharmonie, 20–27 June 2010

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 7 hrs 8 mins
No. of DVDs: 6 (DVD 9)

View Full Page

Bruckner: The Mature Symphonies - Symphonies Nos. 4,5,6,7,8,9 / Barenboim
Accentus Music Oct 2015
DVD
$112.99

DIE SINFONIEN
Coviello Sep 2012
SACD
$106.99

Dvorak: Symphony No. 7; Scherzo capriccioso

BR Klassik

$19.99 Feb 07, 2025

The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra enjoyed a long and intensive artistic collaboration, which came to an abrupt end with Haitink's death in October 2021. BRKLASSIK now presents outstanding and previously unreleased live recordings of their concerts from past years. This recording of Dvorak's Seventh Symphony documents a concert given in March 1981 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. The "Scherzo capriccioso" is a studio recording, also from March 1981. Following the success of Antonin Dvorak's first visit to London in 1884, the London Philharmonic Society asked him to return the following year and to compose a new symphony for the occasion. It was an honourable request - after all, the London Philharmonic Society had commissioned Beethoven's Ninth Symphony six decades earlier! When Dvorak began sketching out the symphony on December 13, 1884, he was well aware of the high expectations involved - both his own and those of others. Most music critics and Dvorak biographers, however, have struggled with the interpretation of this exceptional piece. For example, it has been interpreted "politically" against the background of the growing German-Czech tensions of those years. But the existential power of the D minor Symphony - it's anger, it's expansive pessimism, i.e. it's confessional character - may also derive from the biography and personality of it's composer, which were probably far more complex, painful and problematic than any "Bohemian idyll" we might assume. Even in Dvorak's Eighth Symphony, which is considered to be more cheerful, and in his last symphony, "From the New World", one can still detect a more or less latent tendency towards tragic longing. The world premiere of the Seventh Symphony took place on April 22, 1885 in London, with the composer conducting. It became one of Dvorak's greatest successes. Dvorak's Scherzo capriccioso of 1883 is certainly more than just a filler on this CD. The fact that it is more dramatic and passionate than it's playful title suggests is probably due to the fact that it was written at a time of crisis in the composer's life. The work is an elaborate composition of convincing craftsmanship

View Full Page

Dvorak: Symphony No. 7; Scherzo capriccioso
BR Klassik Feb 2025
CD
$19.99

GREATEST CLASSICAL MASTERPIECES!

ESSENTIAL MEDIA MOD

$15.49 Oct 24, 2011

The Greatest Classical Masterpieces! Features a carefully picked selection of the world's most popular classical compositions including works by Pachelbel, Bizet, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Berlioz, Debussy, Vivaldi, Dorati, Rossini, Borodin, Khachaturian, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Dinicu, Albinoni and Rimsky-Korsakov. Featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, the Symphony Orchestra of Turino de la Radio Televisione Italiana, and I Solisti di Zagreb. All selections newly remastered.

View Full Page

GREATEST CLASSICAL MASTERPIECES!
ESSENTIAL MEDIA MOD Oct 2011
CD
$15.49

SIBELIUS: PIANO QUINTET & MINIATURES

DECURION

$17.77 May 08, 2026

Annika Treutler & Aris Quartett - Sibelius: Piano Quintet & Miniatures / A true discovery: Annika Treutler and the Aris Quartett turn to Jean Sibelius's early Piano Quintet in G minor - a rarely performed gem seldom heard in the concert hall. Powerful, bold, and rich in expressive intensity, the work reveals a surprising side of the Finnish composer beyond his celebrated symphonies. Complemented by selected piano miniatures, the album unfolds a multifaceted portrait ranging from Nordic clarity to lyrical intimacy. This recording invites listeners to rediscover Sibelius - beyond the familiar repertoire and with a fresh perspective on his early chamber music.

View Full Page

SIBELIUS: PIANO QUINTET & MINIATURES
DECURION May 2026
CD
$17.77

Mix & Match

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 2 / Järvi, Gothenburg

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Jun 01, 2006

The fourth volume of the BIS Tchaikovsky cycle focuses on Symphony No. 2, nicknamed for its use of themes from the folk music of Ukraine ('Little Russia'). The first presentation of the work, at a private gathering, was a welcome success for the young Tchaikovsky in 1872: 'The entire assembled company almost tore me apart with delight, and Mme Korsakov, with tears in her eyes, asked if she might arrange it for piano four hands.' Even so, seven years later, during a stay in Rome, Tchaikovsky reworked the symphony radically. As on previous discs, the symphony is combined with shorter, and often less well-known, works. The Overture to Ostrovsky's play The Storm - later used by Janacek for his Kata Kabanova - was written as a holiday assignment during Tchaikovsky's studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and earned him his teacher's disapproval for the extravagant, Berlioz-inspired scoring. The Overture in F was also a student work, which Tchaikovsky adapted for large orchestra when offered a welcome opportunity to have his work performed in Moscow. Just a couple of years later, he received a prestigious commission for a work to mark the wedding of the Tsarevich Alexander with the Danish Princess Dagmar. In the resulting Festive Overture he used motifs from the Danish and Russian national anthems, finally letting the Danish anthem resound in all its glory, in a splendid Maestoso. Even in later life Tchaikovsky regarded this piece highly, preferring it to the much more popular '1812' Overture. The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under its principal conductor emeritus Neeme Järvi gives all in this interesting programme.

View Full Page

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 2 / Järvi, Gothenburg
BIS Jun 2006
SACD
$21.99

Bruckner: Symphonie 8 / Ballot, Upper Austrian Youth Orchestra

Gramola Records

SACD

$31.99 Jan 13, 2015

"This may not be the best performance of Bruckner's Eighth, but it has become the one I most cherish, because it is the one that most cherishes the music. More than any other, it takes me where I want to go when I listen to Bruckner. If music so rich needs to be listened to as slowly as possible, well, with this recording, it can be."

-- Richard Lehnert, Stereophile

It is perhaps no coincidence that the duration of this performance runs to what will seem to many an extreme and etiolated 104 minutes. That would be unprecedented, were it not for the fact that the timings overall and for individual movements match almost exactly those of the recording made by Sergiu Celibidache with the Munich Philharmonic for EMI in 1993. I do not know if Celibidache was in any sense Rémy Ballot’s mentor, but Ballot certainly studied briefly under him in Paris in the 1990s and this recording suggests that he imbibed the precepts of that eccentric maestro.

Comparisons with other recordings are to some degree otiose, insofar as no other recording apart from Celibidache’s begins to approach the leisureliness of this one but the other recordings this most resembles include the two by Karajan, especially the earlier one from 1957, Giulini’s two recordings from 1984 with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic respectively, and Gunter Wand, also with the BPO in 2001. These are all massive, vertical interpretations aspiring to transcendence, as opposed to the fleeter, nimbler versions by such as Tennstedt, R?gner and even Furtwängler, using his own adaptation of the 1892 Haas edition.

Obviously the edition chosen has an impact on timings, too. Both Ballot and Celibidache employ the 1890 Nowak version yet even the slowest of the other recordings that use this same score is still over a quarter of an hour faster then theirs, while many are as much as half an hour shorter. Even those recordings which use either the most complete Nowak edition of the original 1887 score, or the somewhat longer edition of the 1890 score produced by Robert Haas, or even the elaborated version as recorded by Schaller, do not begin to approach Ballot for expansiveness. Nor is comparison with many excellent historical recordings, such as those by Knappertsbusch, very valid, as they invariably used the revised and heavily cut first performance version of 1892.

If this preamble sounds like a critical caveat to the consumer against trying this recording, I hasten to add that I am merely trying to establish its uniqueness and am in no sense implying that excuses have to be found for Ballot’s tempi - although a predisposition on the part of the listener to tolerate them would be an advantage. Ballot carries off his vision of this symphony triumphantly; the weight and dignity of this monumental account enhance my conviction that it is the greatest Romantic symphony in the canon.

Of the twenty or so different recordings with which I am familiar, five of the best are with the BPO and three with the VPO, suggesting that the presence of a first tier orchestra steeped in Brucknerian tradition is of paramount importance – yet the virtuosity of the Upper Austria Youth Orchestra rides a coach and horses through that notion. Their talent and technical prowess are phenomenal, and there are certainly no more blips or minor flubs than one would expect to hear in any live performance by a first rate professional band. The notes tell us that 130 musicians with an average age of seventeen took part in this performance, although only 96 are named; presumably there were more guest instrumentalists than are credited and they make a magnificent sound. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that despite their prowess, they cannot quite emulate the security of attack or the silky sheen that Karajan’s orchestras achieve, and despite the emphasis conductor Ballot’s places in the notes upon the importance of varying dynamics, nor is their ability to shade them quite so subtly responsive.

This performance took place in the same location almost a year to the day after the Third Symphony was recorded live and subsequently released on Gramola label; I reviewed it here very favourably. The Ninth will follow later this year and the Sixth in 2016. The resonant acoustic of the Stiftsbasilika favours and even demands slower speeds if the articulation of faster passages is not be obscured by the reverberation. By all accounts, the recording engineers are better able to sift and clarify the sound than human ears listening live can process it; certainly there is no “sonic mush” here to trouble the listener. Inevitably, given the live location, this recording cannot match the transparency Karajan achieves in the studio but the sound remains rich and round, if slightly veiled. Coughing is minimal and there is no recurrence of the hum from the lighting which mildly marred the recording of the Third last year.

In many ways, the sum of this performance is greater than its parts: it clearly greatly impressed those present and remains mightily impressive as a recording per se and as a memento of what was evidently a great event, even if at individual points other interpreters are more effective – or simply different. Thus in the mighty, brooding opening, Karajan, Giulini and Furtwängler generate more tension, while Tennstedt or Maazel are more urgent and imploring, whereas Ballot tends to slow down marginally before the big moments such as the climaxes to the brass crescendos in order to emphasise and underline their impact. The Totenuhr, too, is especially chilling, dwindling spectrally into nothingness, its graduated dynamic beautifully judged.

Despite its length, there is absolutely no sense of dragging in the Scherzo and indeed some of the additional time is accounted for by Ballot sharing Thielemann’s attachment to making the pauses count, allowing the reverberation to fade and an expectant silence to prevail. The ostinato of falling fifths is superbly articulated. The distension of the Adagio represents the most daring of the risks Ballot takes with this music and but the results are heavenly. It is true that sometimes the young string-players do not “bow through” their phrases sufficiently to emulate the richness of tone their senior counterparts generate and the sustained phrases begin to fade and sag very slightly in comparison with the shaping of Wand or Karajan, but Ballot succeeds magnificently in creating a breathless hush, the descending octaves from the flutes hanging in the dusk like floating flares.

The finale is in many ways the most impressive movement of all. Ballot’s grip on phrasing, his exploitation of pauses and his meticulous care over dynamics results in a wholly satisfying melding of its four, disparate main themes into a coherent cosmic narrative. The din of the clashing cymbals in the final orchestral climax is overwhelming. Whatever your reservations regarding the arguable excesses of Ballot’s concept of this masterwork, this is a recording that every committed Brucknerian should hear.

A couple of pedantic niggles regarding the notes and their translation: Bruckner’s “Faszination für Zahlen” is rendered literally as his “fascination for numbers” when of course the correct preposition should be “with” if the sense intended is not to be reversed to mean that it is the numbers who are fascinated by Bruckner. Secondly, a critic is quoted as presumably favourably describing the Youth Orchestra as “[n]icht irgenwelche ästhetisch kaum erreichbaren Wiener, Berliner oder Münchner Philharmoniker”, which is translated into English as “not some aesthetically unapproachable Vienna, Berlin or Munich Philharmonic”. Apart from the fact that I cannot understand what is meant by the phrase in either language, “aesthetically unapproachable” sounds like a back-handed compliment, as does “scarcely accessible” – unless the sense is “irreproachable”.

-- Ralph Moore, MusicWeb International

View Full Page

Bruckner: Symphonie 8 / Ballot, Upper Austrian Youth Orchestra
Gramola Records Jan 2015
SACD
$31.99

SYMPHONY NO. 8 C MAJOR D 944

MDG

SACD

$18.99 ~~$24.99~~ Save 25% Jan 19, 2018

Franz Schubert’s Symphony in C major very much deserves its popular designation: it is indeed “The Great.” After all, its playing length of an hour means that it transcends the dimensions of everything that came before it. Moreover, with this mighty feat Schubert was very much inviting direct comparison with the works of a certain composer who was almost thirty years his senior: Beethoven. Peter Gülke and his Brandenburg Symphony discover hidden and more obvious allusions while situating this gigantic work, complete and unabridged, in a previously hardly noticed, surprising comparative context and present the results in vibrant SACD sound. On this recording Peter Gulke once again shows why he has been showered with the highest honors in the field of music and the study of literature. Just in time for the two hundredth anniversary of the Brandenburg Theatre, he and his orchestra are in top form. In keeping with the festive occasion- and the outstanding importance of the work- Schubert’s symphony is heard in luxurious three-dimensional sound. Genuinely great music conveyed in magnificent audio form!

View Full Page

Sale

SYMPHONY NO. 8 C MAJOR D 944
MDG Jan 2018
SACD
~~$24.99~~ $18.99

Wordsworth: Symphonies Nos 2 & 3 / Braithwaithe, London Po
Lyrita Sep 2006
CD
$20.99

Mozart: Symphonies IV – Nos. 4, 5, 6, 10, & 12

Genuin

$20.99 Mar 07, 2025

A child prodigy on tour: Instead of bringing home holiday snapshots, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart returned with brilliant compositions, transforming the music and experiences he encountered on his travels into something uniquely his own. The Folkwang Chamber Orchestra Essen, under the vibrant direction of Johannes Klumpp, now brings Mozart's symphonic travel memories to life for us. This thrilling new GENUIN release is the fifth instalment in a series of highly praised Mozart recordings. Critics consistently highlight the ensemble's "outstanding technical skill" and praise "the conductor and orchestra as ideal interpreters of Mozart"!

View Full Page

Mozart: Symphonies IV – Nos. 4, 5, 6, 10, & 12
Genuin Mar 2025
CD
$20.99