|
|
|
Mozart: Violin Concertos
: essential recording:At the ripe old age of 19 Mozart wrote five violin concertos, and they represent his coming of age as a composer of orchestral music. From here on, it's basically one masterpiece after another. Though not difficult works, technically speaking, they partake in full measure of Mozart's uniquely sensual brand of melody. That means that successful performances must know how to spin out a singing musical line, while at the same time making the most of the rare opportunities for soloistic display. Taste ...
|
|
|
Puccini - La Rondine / Gheorghiu · Alagna · Matteuzzi · Mula · Rinaldi · Ciofi · Bacelli · LSO · Pappano
from: EMI Classics
: :This is one of the problem operas of Puccini's maturity, something he began writing while under the spell of Lehar's The Merry Widow that never quite came together as a piece of theater. But the score contains some of Puccini's most congenial music and attractive scoring. An alert, resourceful new presence on the opera scene, conductor Antonio Pappano is just the one to make the best possible attempt at holding it together. Stars Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna show you why the opera world was ...
|
|
|
Brahms: Concertos for Piano No. 1 & 2, Fantasia Op. 116
: :These performances mount the only serious competition as a complete set to the Leon Fleisher/George Szell versions on Sony Classical. Emil Gilels was an extraordinary virtuoso who decided to place his technical wizardry in the service of the most disciplined and demanding classical masterpieces. No piano concertos live up to this description more than the two by Brahms. Himself a pianist, Brahms placed every purely musical stumbling block that he could in front of the soloist--only audiences never notice because there's no gratuitous display at ...
|
|
|
Bach: Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
from: Philips
: essential recording:Arthur Grumiaux was among the most elegant and refined violinists who ever recorded. This doesn't preclude his playing the famous Chaconne with lots of power, which he does. But it means hearing Bach with all technical difficulties minimized to give you a clear view of the music. Sometimes, as in Joseph Szigeti's late recordings (Vanguard Classics OVC 8021/2), there is a sense of struggle between the violin and the music that for more dramatic Bach. Grumiaux allows you to hear everything Bach put ...
|
|
|
Verdi - La Traviata / Cotrubas · Domingo · Milnes · Bayerisches Staatsorchester · Carlos Kleiber
: essential recording:The best Traviata on disc? If not, it's within hailing distance. No true Verdian would want to be without Callas's 1955 live recording, and it's hard not to love those starring Moffo, Caballe, Scotto, Sutherland, and de los Angeles among others. But this set offers the best all-round combination of excellent sound, fine singing, and dynamic conducting. Ileana Cotrubas is a wonderfully spontaneous Violetta, conveying the passion and vulnerability of the character. Only Callas among her starry rivals on disc can match Cotrubas's ...
|
|
|
The Glenn Gould Edition - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
: essential recording:It's rather amazing today, when recordings of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier practically fall of the shelves, to recall just how unusual it was back in the 1960s for a pianist to undertake to record this amazing work. It's probably fair to say that until Glenn Gould got his fingers around it, Bach's music was used for teaching purposes more than anything else. What Gould proves in this essential set is that Bach is decidedly not just a threat to hold over the head of ...
|
|
|
Michael Daugherty: Philadelphia Stories; UFO
from: Naxos American
:Album Description:Naxos' American Classics series stages something of a coup: world famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie performs on an exciting disc of music by one of America's leading living composers. Gramophone Artist of the Year Marin Alsop directs the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in stunning performances and to crown the release, Daugherty himself writes the fascinating sleeve notes. The London Times has described Michael Daugherty as 'a master icon-maker' and hailed his 'maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear.' His music has the uncanny knack of ...
|
|
|
James Galway ~ Meditations
:Album Description:Naxos' American Classics series stages something of a coup: world famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie performs on an exciting disc of music by one of America's leading living composers. Gramophone Artist of the Year Marin Alsop directs the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in stunning performances and to crown the release, Daugherty himself writes the fascinating sleeve notes. The London Times has described Michael Daugherty as 'a master icon-maker' and hailed his 'maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear.' His music has the uncanny knack of ...
|
|
|
James Galway - Dances for Flute
from: RCA
:Album Description:Naxos' American Classics series stages something of a coup: world famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie performs on an exciting disc of music by one of America's leading living composers. Gramophone Artist of the Year Marin Alsop directs the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in stunning performances and to crown the release, Daugherty himself writes the fascinating sleeve notes. The London Times has described Michael Daugherty as 'a master icon-maker' and hailed his 'maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear.' His music has the uncanny knack of ...
|
|
|
Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (The Historic 1955 Debut Recording)
from: Sony
: :In the main, sonic differences between Sony Classical's 20-bit remastering of this landmark 1955 recording and its previous incarnation in the CBS Great Performances series (CBS MYK 38479) are subtle rather than striking. Tape hiss is reduced, while ambient studio noise is heightened, bringing Glenn Gould's trademark humming and squeaky chair more into the foreground. One can also perceive slight changes in microphone setups between certain variations. Gould completists, however, will want this Glenn Gould Edition transfer for two fugues recorded in 1957, drastically different ...
|
|