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Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg (Bayreuth, 1957)

Walhall Eternity Series

$13.99 Jul 10, 2015

Bayreuth in the 1950s was annual summer home to the greatest cast of Wagnerian singers in the opera world, as the numerous and thankfully recorded performances from that house in that decade reveal. This 1957 performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg has as its female lead Elisabeth Grümmer in the role of Eva, whom some argue was the character’s finest interpreter. Conducted by the fine French Wagnerian André Cluytens, other cast members include Gustav Neidlinger and Joseph Greindl. Complete on 4CDs; 24bit/96kHz re-mastered.

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Richard Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg (Bayreuth, 1957)
Walhall Eternity Series Jul 2015
CD
$13.99

Glenn Gould Edition - Wagner: Siegfried Idyll, Etc

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Apr 19, 1994

WAGNER (trans. Gould) Siegfried Idyll, (orig.) 1 Siegfried Idyll, (trans.) Die Meistersinger: Act I Prelude. Götterdämmerung: Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey • Glenn Gould (pn, cond); Toronto SO members 1 • SONY 52650 (70:59)

I can think of no worthier nomination to Fanfare’s Classical Hall of Fame than this conductorial debut of the late, exceedingly great Glenn Gould, and also his very last recording. Gould, of course, admitted in the late 1960s to being a closet Wagnerite who often “worshipped at the shrine,” and in 1973 he set down piano transcriptions of three favorite pieces. Meistersinger was a stunner the first time I heard it, and coming off a concert with Jorge Bolet playing the Liszt transcription of Tannhäuser —and he really pounded the thing out—I was left in shocked, disappointed silence after hearing Gould’s shimmering, nuanced, hyper-contrapuntal version of Wagner’s most Baroque work. Since then I have come to admire it to no end, a brilliant conception that brings out things you will not hear in any other recording, orchestral or not. Wagner’s orchestration actually gets in the way of everything there, and Gould admitted that when he prepared to play it, it was a question of “what do I leave out this time,” as there were not enough hands, even his own long fingers, to cover all the parts. “Dawn” is just as persuasive if not as extroverted in its intricacy, and the piano sounds just wonderful.

Siegfried is matched in its slow tempo only by Gould’s orchestra reading. Here he turns this transcription into a marvelous tone poem, drawing each and every strand of meaning out of every bar, always cognizant of the overarching structure and subtle phrasing, both Gould trademarks. You can almost come to accept this piece as meant for the piano, so convincing is his reading. Siegfried for chamber orchestra, in its original guise, is given to us in one of the slowest readings on record (Gould liked to temper the tempo in many works), and one can hear the Toronto players straining to bring every ounce of intensity to Gould’s concentrated leadership. Somehow he makes it work, and as a testimony to his extraordinary talent and career, this beautifully conceived album is mandatory in any collection worthy of the name.

FANFARE: Steven E. Ritter

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Glenn Gould Edition - Wagner: Siegfried Idyll, Etc
Sony Masterworks Apr 1994
CD
$11.98

Respighi: Transcriptions of Bach & Rachmaninoff / Neschling, Liège Royal Philharmonic

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Feb 05, 2021

The success of Ottorino Respighi’s ‘Roman Trilogy’ brought the composer international fame as an outstanding orchestrator. One side effect of this are the orchestral transcriptions gathered on this album: all made in 1929-30 and commissioned by eminent conductors such as Arturo Toscanini and Serge Koussevitzky for their American orchestras.

Respighi’s wide-ranging musical tastes included an interest in early music which probably contributed to him taking on the task of transcribing organ works by Bach – or creating ‘orchestral interpretations’, as he himself called the results. Among the Bach works are the celebrated Passacaglia in C minor – which Stokowski had orchestrated just a few years earlier – as well as the Prelude and Fugue in D major. Both are given the full treatment by Respighi, with orchestral forces including strings, triple woodwind, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani and piano four hands for the Prelude and Fugue. The score for the Passacaglia asks for even greater forces (including an organ); Respighi compared Bach’s original to ‘a cathedral built exclusively of sound’ – a description equally valid for his own arrangement. The Passacaglia was a success for Toscanini in New York, possibly influencing Koussevitsky in Boston to place a commission of his own. For him and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Respighi transcribed five of Rachmaninov’s etudes-Tableaux for solo piano. Although these are programmatic pieces, their subject matter had not been disclosed in the editions for piano, but the Russian composer revealed his inspiration to Respighi in order to help him ‘find the appropriate colors’.

With the present album, l’Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and John Neschling bring us the fifth installment in a series that has been called ‘the finest-ever survey of the composer’s orchestral output undertaken by a single conductor’ (BBC Music Magazine).

REVIEW:

The alliance of John Neschling and BIS’s engineers has displayed Respighi’s genius for orchestration in all their previous albums together. This latest offering is no exception. I listened to the stereo layer of the SACD and was well impressed with the results. The sound has depth, body and presence and the engineers have conveyed an abundance of detail in a pleasingly natural way. The recorded sound shows the fine, alert playing of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royale de Liège to optimum advantage. The booklet essay by Jean-Pascal Vachon is very useful.

If anyone doubts Respighi’s flair and skill as an orchestrator, this SACD should still those doubts. It’s an entertaining disc in the best sense of the word and it’s a worthy addition to John Neschling’s Respighi series.

– MusicWeb International

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Respighi: Transcriptions of Bach & Rachmaninoff / Neschling, Liège Royal Philharmonic
BIS Feb 2021
SACD
$21.99

Richard Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Bayreuth 1958)

Walhall Eternity Series

$13.99 Jan 13, 2015

Following the Walhall release of Wagner's Die Walküre, the label closes it's legendary 1958 Bayreuth Festival Ring tetralogy publication with the 1st, 3rd and final operas, led by the mid-20th c. Bayreuth pit regular and esteemed Wagnerian conductor Hans Knappertsbusch. The sound, benefitting from 24bit/96kHz re-mastering technology is great, far better than any other label's previous issue, Walhall also reaping the sound reward from the use of the original broadcast mastertapes. Featured Wagnerian vocal luminaries include Hotter, Windgassen, Varnay, Konya, Grümmer, et al.

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Richard Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Bayreuth 1958)
Walhall Eternity Series Jan 2015
CD
$13.99

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, WWV 96 / Weigle, Beyreuth Festival

Opus Arte

$41.99 May 25, 2018

Ostensibly Richard Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg tells a humorous tale about artistically inclined craftsmen. Goldsmith Veit Pogner promises his daughter Eva's hand in marriage to the winner of a song contest, to which three men are potentially eligible. But upon closer inspection, what is at first glance a harmless farce in a middle-class setting emerges as a profound social analysis. Wagner uses his protagonists to show how a community deals with tradition and those who break with it and just how much innovation and deviation from the norm it can tolerate - as well as to examine what value society places, and should place, on art.

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Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, WWV 96 / Weigle, Beyreuth Festival
Opus Arte May 2018
CD
$41.99

Bach: Transcriptions

Brilliant Classics

$74.99 Sep 18, 2020

This fascinating set provides a refreshing window onto a much studied, much idolized, and oft performed master of composition, allowing many of his familiar works to appear in a new light, recognizable and yet transformed. Bach’s music is often described as indestructible, in the sense that no matter how it is performed, or in whichever arrangement, its essential spirit survives. Many of the transcriptions included here represent the work of contemporary, world-class performers bringing Bach’s masterpieces into the repertoire of their own instruments or ensembles, thereby giving new timbres to the genius of Bach’s contrapuntal lines. The much-loved Goldberg Variations, for example, are given not one, but two new arrangements, as the interwoven voices for keyboard are divided between the members of a string trio and a recorder quintet. Others are scholarly reconstructions of concertos for what might well have been Bach’s originally intended instruments – versions that were subsequently lost to future generations.

From 1729 Bach directed the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, an association consisting of students and musical citizens, and for his performances with them Bach needed to provide secular works. But his time was largely absorbed with writing sacred music for St Thomas’s Church in his role as Kantor. So Bach devised harpsichord concertos by adapting concertos he had originally written for other instruments. Musicologists believe that the seven works known today as Bach’s concertos for solo harpsichord were initially composed as violin or oboe concertos. A third category included here might be called Bach transcriptions by 20th-century “giants”. The great Dutch harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt arranged for the harpsichord various major works by Bach – five from solo violin works, three from solo cello suites and two movements from a partita for solo flute and a suite for solo lute respectively. These are classics of the arranger’s art, refined and thoroughly idiomatic.

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Bach: Transcriptions
Brilliant Classics Sep 2020
CD
$74.99

Wagner: Siegfried, Act III (abridged)

SWR

$20.99 Aug 09, 2019

This is the first album of Pietari Inkinen as chief conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie. Inkinen, as well as Lise Lindstrom and Stefan Vinke who are already known as highly experienced Wagner performers. Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen took up his position as Principal Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie in September 2017. He is also the principal conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele. As guest conductor he has been on the podium with many well-known orchestras, including the Berlin Staatskapelle, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and others. Inkinen is not only a successful conductor, but also a successful violinist. He studied under Zakhar Bron at Cologne Music College before continuing his education as a conductor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

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Wagner: Siegfried, Act III (abridged)
SWR Aug 2019
CD
$20.99

Transcriptions for 2 Guitars

Naxos

$19.99 Sep 04, 2026

The prizewinning guitar duo Bluvenduo present a versatile selection of transcriptions for two guitars, several of which have never previously been arranged for this format. The freshness and sense of discovery in Schubert's Sonata in A major is a product of the music's inherent songful lyricism, perfect material for a guitar duo. So, too, is Franck's Prelude, fugue et variation, a work of variety, elegance and light textures. The three Rachmaninov Preludes provide subtly contrasting moods, while Schumann's Kinderszenen offers a wealth of intimacy, excitement and expressive refinement.

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Transcriptions for 2 Guitars
Naxos Sep 2026
CD
$19.99

Wagner: Highlights
Berlin Classics Apr 2013
CD
$37.99

Clytus Gottwald: Alma & Gustav Mahler Transcriptionen Fur Chor A Cappella

Carus

$20.99 Jan 29, 2013

MAHLER (transcr. Gottwald) Erinnerung. Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen. Um Mitternacht. Die zwei blauen Augen. Urlicht. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. Scheiden und Meiden. Es sungen drei Engel. Im Abendrot. A. MAHLER (transcr. Gottwald) Drei frühe Lieder • Marcus Creed, cond; SWR Vocal Ens Stuttgart • CARUS 83.370 (63:41 Text and Translation)

Once upon a time (1960, to be exact), choral conductor Clytus Gottwald created the Schola Cantorum Stuttgart, a chamber choir whose specialty was music by that era’s most avant-garde composers . . . Ligeti, Ferneyhough, Penderecki, and so on. This ensemble attracted the attention of Pierre Boulez, and it was Boulez who inspired Gottwald to transcribe Ravel’s song Soupir for the ensemble. The results were so effective that Gottwald continued transcribing other works for his ensemble, including music—some of it not even vocal—by Gustav Mahler and his wife Alma. Those transcriptions have outlasted Schola Cantorum Stuttgart. The ensemble disbanded in 1990, but within the past few years, several of Gottwald’s transcriptions have been recorded by the French ensemble Accentus (for the Naïve label), and English conductor Marcus Creed has taken them up for Carus with one of his ensembles, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart. (It doesn’t hurt that the printing arm of Carus publishes three of these selections.) Almost none of them have been recorded before, the exceptions being Die zwei blauen Augen, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen , and Scheiden und Meiden. Im Abendrot is a transcription of the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Accentus has recorded a different transcription, believe it or not, of that same music, prepared by Gérard Pesson. Gottwald’s transcription uses the same Eichendorff text that Strauss used in his Four Last Songs.

This disc reveals the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart to be spiritual descendents of Gottwald’s ensemble. In the 1970s, there was no practical reason why Mahler’s music needed to be treated this way. It is my impression that Gottwald did it because it presented him with an interesting intellectual puzzle, and as a challenge for Schola Cantorum Stuttgart. These “auxiliary” transcriptions (to use Gottwald’s word, from the interview printed in Carus’s booklet) present the music in a striking and different light, and help to make Mahler’s music a little strange again, which is not a bad thing in a world in which we risk being overexposed to Mahler. (Imagine saying that 60 years ago!) These transcriptions are not likely to appear on the next program of your local amateur choir. They are, in fact, intimidatingly complex and difficult. For example, the transcriptions of Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen and Im Abendrot require a 16-part ensemble. Overall, these transcriptions are punishing exercises in breath and pitch control, in the modulation and matching of vocal colors, and in the precise blending of sound. What is needed, really, is a team of vocal gymnasts who can approach the music as if with one mind.

Fortunately, it is unlikely that any performers will stumble blindly into this repertoire, and the recorded performances I’ve heard are uniformly excellent, but not identical. One can hear Gottwald’s Schola Cantorum Stuttgart perform Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen in a giant doorstop of a CD set (no longer in print) from Cadenza/Bayer. Gottwald is significantly faster than Creed, to good effect, and solo voices come out of the texture more prominently than they do for Creed. Gottwald’s ensemble is more closely microphoned, and the effect is almost claustrophobic. Creed’s ensemble, while a bit more impersonal, may come a hair closer to technical perfection. Accentus (directed by Laurence Equilbey) adopts almost exactly the same tempo as Gottwald, but the ensemble’s sound is less warm than either Gottwald’s or Creed’s. Given the song’s text, I find Accentus too edgy, but still mightily impressive.

The only caveat I have about the present disc—also about the other two I’ve mentioned—is that these transcriptions are so intense that emotional and intellectual fatigue is a risk for listeners. Several tracks into Creed’s disc I asked myself, “Why are they singing so loudly?,” but then I realized it wasn’t the volume as much it was the laser-like concentration of the transcriptions and the performances. Beautiful stuff, this, but it is far from relaxing!

FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

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Clytus Gottwald: Alma & Gustav Mahler Transcriptionen Fur Chor A Cappella
Carus Jan 2013
CD
$20.99

Wagner: Siegfried (London, 1959)

Walhall Eternity Series

$13.99 Jun 09, 2015

The Walhall Eternity label is for the first time releasing in it's entirety the legendary 1959 Covent Garden Ring cycle of Richard Wagner conducted by Franz Konwitschny, performances that feature the finest Wagnerian voices of the 1950's, including Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay, Amy Shuard (student of Eva Turner and Covent Garden regular), Gottlob Frick and more. Franz Konwitschny's gripping interpretations lie comfortably between those of Fürtwängler's commanding heights supremacy and Solti's fire and spontaneity. Re-mastered 24bit/96kHz.

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Wagner: Siegfried (London, 1959)
Walhall Eternity Series Jun 2015
CD
$13.99

Bach: Transcriptions – Opus Magnum II

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 Feb 16, 2018

This album of Bach transcriptions for piano is the fifth recording of its kind featuring the pianist Angelika Nebel. This recording of twelve transcriptions is the second of two releases that will collectively run through each and every key in the same pattern as The Well Tempered Clavier and thus form a kind of opus magnum. The artist once again presents transcriptions by arrangers from Germany and elsewhere. This is Nebel’s way of paying a global tribute to the great Thomaskantor. The German pianist, Angelika Nebel, studied at the colleges of music in Stuttgart and Hannover, where she was educated by the famous teachers Jürgen Uhde and Hans Leygraf and finished her studies with the concert examination. Angelika Nebel's repertoire includes pieces of solo-, chamber music and Orchestra music from the 18th to the 21st century, which she presented as a guest at several festivals: Alte Oper Frankfurt, Schumann-Festival Düsseldorf, Semperoper Dresden, Darmstädter Tage for contemporary music and monastery San Domenic, Pistoia, Italy. She has given concerts in different European countries as well as in South-Korea. She also performs regularly with her chamber music partner delian::quartet.

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Bach: Transcriptions – Opus Magnum II
Haenssler Classic Feb 2018
CD
$20.99

The Royal Edition - Wagner: Orchestral Excerpts / Bernstein
Sony Masterworks Nov 2009
CD
$17.99

BACH, J.S.: Organ Transcriptions
Naxos Apr 1994
CD
$19.99

Furtwangler Conducts Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" 1950
Music and Arts Programs of America Mar 2010
CD
$74.99

Wagner: Das Rheingold / Adam, Janowski, Staatskapelle Dresden

Sony Masterworks

$9.98 Aug 26, 2016

In 2015, Sony Classical reissued Die Walküre and Siegfried from the first digital recording of the Ring. “It has stood the test of time remarkably well”, observed ClassicsToday.com when the complete set, originally released in 1983, was last reissued. “The Staatskapelle Dresden plays spotlessly for Marek Janowski … An excellent ‘Ring’ experience.” Now the remaining two music dramas from this acclaimed cycle are again available separately. Das Rheingold is dominated by Siegfried Nimsgern’s vibrant, articulate Alberich, Peter Schreier’s wonderfully vital, strikingly intelligent and articulate Loge and Theo Adam’s experienced Wotan. But Fricka, the Giants and Rhinemaidens are all well cast, and the whole performance grips one’s attention from start to finish.”

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Wagner: Das Rheingold / Adam, Janowski, Staatskapelle Dresden
Sony Masterworks Aug 2016
CD
$9.98

Virtuoso Transcriptions

Piano Classics

$21.99 Jan 27, 2015

Russian pianist and composer Valery Kuleshov’s limitless technique, palette of colors, sense of structure and range of sonorities beggar belief. His “Boris Godunov Suite” – transcribed after Mussorgsky’s opera – captures in pianism of nearly unparalleled invention and difficulty the work’s rich orchestral textures. The thrill and excitement of Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” is superbly maintained in Kuleshov’s awe-inspiring tour-de-force transcription. Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”, transcribed by Florian Noack, remains as fresh and colorful as the original.

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Virtuoso Transcriptions
Piano Classics Jan 2015
CD
$21.99

Thomas Jensen Legacy, Vol. 23

Danacord

$18.99 Jan 17, 2025

Thomas Jensen is hardly known as a Wagnerian, and yet this complete First Act of Die Walkure - with an all-star Danish cast - is paced and shaped with a keen ear for drama. CD2 continues to expand the Jensen discography with works by two composers intimately associated with Wagner, his father-in-law Liszt and his Belgian disciple Franck. The concert overture Piazza del Popolo is a forgotten showpiece which the Danish composer Walther Schroder drew from his score to a silent movie directed by A.W. Sandberg. All the previous volumes are available and in stock.

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Thomas Jensen Legacy, Vol. 23
Danacord Jan 2025
CD
$18.99

Wagner: Gotterdammerung / Cristofoli, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra

Sterling Records

$37.99 Jan 05, 2018

Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. It is often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagner's Ring, or simply The Ring. Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four parts that constitute the Ring cycle are, in sequence, Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried and finally, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). This production, featuring the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and the Den Jyske Operas Kor conducted by Francesco Cristofoli was recorded live on September 6, 1987.

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Wagner: Gotterdammerung / Cristofoli, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Sterling Records Jan 2018
CD
$37.99

George London Sings Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Verdi & Wagner

Orfeo

$16.99 Aug 05, 2022

The present album is a re-release of Bavarian broadcast recordings of 1953-56 featuring legendary bass-baritone George London at the height of his career. Upon its initial release, the album received glowing reviews from critics and fans, and this now can be enjoyed by a new generation of listeners. “(The) collection is vintage London all the way“ (American Record Guide) “The extracts from Aida and Die Walküre with Astrid Varnay are electrifying“ (BBC Music Magazine) “This is a worthy representation of a singer whose career was ended too soon.“ (International Record Review)

REVIEWS:

The excerpts on the present disc are uniformly excellent, and the recorded sound is surprisingly good. … London is a sensitive and expressive Dr. Miracle, and with excellent assistance from Teresa Stich-Randall and Maria von Ilosvay. With Russian speaking parentage, London had a special leaning towards Russian operas…

That London was a great Wotan is very obvious, even more so in the concluding farewell, where his sensitiveness and beauty of tone is striking. One rarely hears such legato singing in Wagner.

London sings Prince Igor’s aria with great dignity and feeling but it is the three final items with Varnay that form the high point of this album, in that they contain both the greatest music and the finest partner.

The playing of the BRSO is fine throughout and all three conductors ensure idiomatic execution.

-- MusicWeb International

London’s voice was massive, focused and dark, with an exciting and secure top. In these recordings he never blusters, and he sings with verbal acuity, noble tone and dramatic verve…The remastered sound is excellent.

-- Opera Now

It’s good to see a dedicated London CD appear on Orfeo, which concludes with the closing sections of Die Walküre, where the great American bass-baritone is heard in duet with Varnay under the direction of Varnay’s husband, Hermann Weigert, who is especially sensitive with accompanying lower string lines near the start of Wotan’s Farewell. London’s deep rolling voice…makes a strong impression.

-- Gramophone

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George London Sings Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Verdi & Wagner
Orfeo Aug 2022
CD
$16.99

Bach: Transcriptions / Fortin, Martin

Alpha

$15.99 ~~$20.99~~ Save 25% Nov 03, 2023

"Johann Sebastian Bach used the recorder in two Brandenburg concertos and some twenty cantatas and oratorios, but alas, he left us no sonata with harpsichord," say Julien Martin and Olivier Fortin. Arranging chamber music for a variety of instrumental ensembles was a widespread practice in the eighteenth century. Bach himself seems to have created a number of works that did not necessarily require the use of a specific instrument. Here Julien Martin and Olivier Fortin, musical partners for many years, present the Sonata in F major, originally written for transverse flute and continuo, transcriptions of the Trio Sonata for organ No. 3 in E minor, the Partita for violin No. 2 in G minor, and the Chorale 'Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland', whose extensive ornamental flourishes elongate and transform the chorale melody to the point of rendering it unrecognisable.

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Bach: Transcriptions / Fortin, Martin
Alpha Nov 2023
CD
~~$20.99~~ $15.99

Liszt: Historical Transcriptions for Harp

Brilliant Classics

$12.99 Jan 16, 2026

Franz Liszt (1811-1886), though primarily known for his groundbreaking work as a pianist and composer, had an indirect but meaningful relationship with the harp. While he did not compose extensively for the instrument, he recognized it's expressive capabilities and occasionally incorporated it into his orchestral and vocal works. His appreciation for the harp's unique timbre is especially evident in pieces like the Dante Symphony and Les Preludes, where the harp adds a celestial or ethereal texture that complements his dramatic musical narratives. Liszt's circle of influence also brought him into contact with harpists of his time, and he occasionally arranged pieces that could be adapted for the harp. His transcription of Schubert's Ave Maria, for instance, has become a popular work among harpists. Though he never wrote solo harp compositions, the lyrical and arpeggiated nature of his piano writing shares similarities with harp technique, suggesting an understanding of the instrument's expressive qualities. This beautiful program presents arrangements of works by Liszt which are especially suitable for performance on the harp: Ave Maria, Schubert's Standchen, 6 Consolations, 3 Liebestraume, Angelus. The harp arrangements are by several famous harp players and composers from the end of the 19th century. Beautifully played by Anna Pasetti, one of the leading harp players of today. As a musicologist, she is the author of about 300 publications on the history of the harp and it's repertoire (including 5 monographs), but she also has numerous recordings to her credit, mostly dedicated to the unknown harp repertoire that she herself rediscovered.

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Liszt: Historical Transcriptions for Harp
Brilliant Classics Jan 2026
CD
$12.99

Mix & Match

Chapters - A Double Bass Story / Wagner, Skride

Berlin Classics

$20.99 Mar 17, 2023

Introducing a revolutionary new CD that challenges the stereotypes and prejudices against the double bass. This tribute album showcases the full potential and versatility of the instrument, featuring compositions by renowned composers such as Myroslav Skoryks, John Rutter, Peteris Vasks, and Sergei Rachmaninov. Experience the warm, soft, and welcoming tone of the double bass as it takes center stage in this diverse collection of music. From the spiritual anthem of Ukraine, Melodie by Myroslav Skoryks, to the familiar choral sounds of John Rutter's The Lord Bless You and Keep You, this album is a love letter to the double bass and an invitation to embrace its songful and tuneful credentials.

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Chapters - A Double Bass Story / Wagner, Skride
Berlin Classics Mar 2023
CD
$20.99

Wagner: Das Rheingold / Deyoung, Goerne, Begley, Reid [blu-ray Audio]

Naxos AudioVisual

Blu-Ray

$16.99 Nov 13, 2015

This is an audio-only (i.e., with no video content) Blu-ray disc playable only on Blu-ray players.

It is also available on standard CD.

Taken from two concert performances in January, 2015, this is the first installment of an entire Ring Cycle from the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden to be recorded by Naxos. It makes you hungry for the rest.

The recording is clean and clear, with no artificial anything. Van Zweden’s approach is closest in memory to Herbert von Karajan’s–intimate and chamber-like, a family drama that happens to be played out in magical, mythological terms. Also like Karajan, van Zweden takes his time (at 2 hours and 33 minutes, this is on the longish side) and offers seamless segues between scenes. When a solo instrument is featured in Wagner’s dense orchestration, it is given a spotlight, and beautiful moments are to be bathed in–the motif after the Rainbow Bridge is created and the singing that follows rarely have sounded so tuneful and lovely. The Hong Kong Philharmonic is not Berlin or Vienna or the Met, but it has nothing to fear–the playing throughout is smooth and handsome. The opening Rhine passage is dark but clear, the piling up of the gold in Scene IV is beautifully built, and the opera’s final moments are indeed the grandest, as they should be–one of the few instances when van Zweden pulls out all the stops.

The storytelling is at the fore; impeccable diction is the order of the day. As revolting as Alberich always is, we can actually hear the flirtatious playfulness in the opera’s opening moments until he realizes that he doesn’t have a chance. And from then on, he’s simply vile–Peter Sidhom sings with an audible sneer and a ringing top to the voice that we rarely get in this role. He’s a baritone with remarkable “face”.

The back and forth between the fine, unexaggerated Fricka of Michelle De Young and the remarkable, surprising Wotan of Matthias Goerne is natural and familiar, and Goerne is the surprise of the performance. His experience and expertise as a Lieder singer comes in very handy in this opera: his interacting with Loge and his cajoling of Mime and Alberich all are textually and dynamically right-on. The bottom of the voice sounds remarkably rich, and while the top notes are brighter than we normally hear, he has authority. One wonders, however, about his Walküre Wotan….

David Cangelosi’s slimy Mime is vivid and actually sung–note for note, and Kim Begley’s Loge is performed with wonderful detachment: he knows he’s smarter than anyone else. Deborah Humble’s Erda could have been darker-hued, but her attention to the text turns her scene into the “event” it should be. Anna Samuil’s Freia is much like every other soprano’s who sings the part: good at complaining and being afraid. Kwangchul Youn’s Fasolt is on a grand scale; Stephen Milling’s Fafner not so much. Froh, small part though it is, deserves a better profile than Charles Reid gives it, and the Donner of Oleksandr Pushniak begins his “Heda…” on an unsteady note but recovers quickly. The Rhinemaidens–Eri Nakamura, Aurhelia Varak, and Hermine Haselböck–are a terrific, articulate, tuneful trio...

First choice among Rheingolds is still the Decca, but Testament’s release of a 1955 Bayreuth performance with Hans Hotter is certainly in the running, and as a non-gimmicky performance, may even be better. But this new set gives a wonderful overall view of this opera, and at a remarkable price.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

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Wagner: Das Rheingold / Deyoung, Goerne, Begley, Reid [blu-ray Audio]
Naxos AudioVisual Nov 2015
Blu-Ray
$16.99

Bach: Orchestral Suites 2 & 3; Chaconne - Transcribed for Organ / Wolfgang Rübsam

Brilliant Classics

$6.99 ~~$13.99~~ Save 50% Nov 17, 2023

Over the course of more than half a century, Wolfgang Rübsam has consistently brought new insights to bear on the keyboard music of Bach, firstly in sets of the canonic organ music for Philips, then the same for Naxos. In the last few years, his musicianship and understanding of Bach enriched by those decades of experience, he has turned to the harpsichord/piano repertoire for Brilliant Classics. A series of critically acclaimed albums has shed new light on The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas and Toccatas with Rübsam’s performance of them on a lautenwerk – a ‘lute-harpsichord’ with a distinctive chime and colour which Bach himself would have been familiar with. Rübsam now returns to the organ, with new transcriptions and recordings of two Orchestral Suites and Chaconne from the D minor Partita for solo violin. While the Chaconne has attracted transcribers and arrangers ever since the 19th century, drawn magnetically to its evolving variations on a ground bass which accumulate an emotional power unusual even for Bach, the Orchestral Suites are much less often encountered outside their original garb. Yet we can be sure that Bach himself would have embraced Rübsam’s idea with enthusiasm. The Suites themselves are compilations of dances, probably not all originally designed for their eventual destination as high-class entertainment music for the concert series at Café Zimmermann in Leipzig, and Bach repurposed some of their movements as sinfonias and even choruses for his church cantatas. As in his fairly free transcription of the Chaconne, Rübsam has made full use of the instrument at his disposal, a magnificent Casavant instrument (1998) at the Church of St. Louis, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The booklet includes a full disposition for the organ as well as an essay introducing both the works and Rübsam’s uniquely imaginative approach to them. ‘If the sound of the lute-harpsichord highlights Bach’s debt to French lute music, especially in the First Prelude, the instrument clarifies that homage while Rübsam’s interpretation transcends it.’ (Fanfare, November 2018, The Well-Tempered Clavier, 96750)

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Bach: Orchestral Suites 2 & 3; Chaconne - Transcribed for Organ / Wolfgang Rübsam
Brilliant Classics Nov 2023
CD
~~$13.99~~ $6.99