What NEW discs/music are you adding to your collection?

[maestrob]

Sony has just released a tribute to Marian Anderson, and it arrived a few minutes ago.

Packaging is deluxe, consisting of a 11" x 11" hardbound book totaling 228 pages, beautifully printed with many photographs from throughout her life. The 15 CDs, which comprise her recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company and RCA Victor, are housed in easy-to-access holders bound to the front and back covers of the book. The CDs themselves are nicely spaced.

Ms. Anderson made her first recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company on December 10, 1923. She also made recordings for EMI, but those are not included in this collection. I expect Warner will issue those recordings either later this year or early next year on the 125th anniversary of her birth.

I congratulate Sony for their work in compiling this beautiful tribute to a great singer.

John

John, thanks very much for the alert on this. I'm sure it will disappear quickly, and will order it Friday when I get a chance. 3 copies are already gone since last night!

[CharmNewton]

John, thanks very much for the alert on this. I'm sure it will disappear quickly, and will order it Friday when I get a chance. 3 copies are already gone since last night!

Even visiting the sites of the major labels doesn't always tell you what may be coming in the near future. So I periodically do an Amazon search on Sony, Sony Classical, or other label and then sort by date with most recent at the top. This time the Marian Anderson tribute appeared.

Having listened to the first CD containing her earliest recordings, the transfers are excellent. Kudos to Nancy Conforti, Jennifer Nulsen, and Andreas K. Meyer for their excellent work. Her voice recorded very well. Only the sound of the orchestral accompaniment in the 1923-24 recordings give them away as acoustic recordings. The richness, sweetness, and unique coloring in her voice are very well reproduced.

There is a great deal of material issued for the first time, including many Christmas songs accompanied by Franz Rupp from 1961.

I hope this whets your appetite a bit.

John

[jserraglio]

Ernst Marzendorfer’s 1969 Vienna Complete Haydn Symphonies from 7Digital in FLAC for $8.99! https://us.7digital.com/artist/vienna-c ... 17%2C9%2C2

I don’t need another physical copy of these works (they were silvered in a pricey Scribendum box in 2919 https://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Complete-S ... B07KQB31H1) since I already bought Dorati on LP and Fischer on Brilliant.

A while back I listened to digital LP rips by transfer artist Lani Spahr of most of the original MHS LPs — the performances are excellent, and the sound ain’t not too shabby either for their time.

For under 10 dollars, this set is a no brainer.

[maestrob]

Ernst Marzendorfer’s 1969 Vienna Complete Haydn Symphonies from 7Digital in FLAC for $8.99! https://us.7digital.com/artist/vienna-c ... 17%2C9%2C2

I don’t need another physical copy of these works (they were silvered in a pricey Scribendum box in 2919 https://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Complete-S ... B07KQB31H1) since I already bought Dorati on LP and Fischer on Brilliant.

A while back I listened to digital LP rips by transfer artist Lani Spahr of most of the original MHS LPs — the performances are excellent, and the sound ain’t not too shabby either for their time.

For under 10 dollars, this set is a no brainer.

I'm a great fan of Haydn's music, and play through the Adam Fischer box of the complete symphonies each year.

I'm currently hanging on for an announcement of a complete set from a single conductor with original instruments.

Ronald Brautigam has recorded his complete piano sonatas, which is also part of my annual listening, as are the quartets, a recent version of which have recently arrived:

[jserraglio]

I'm currently hanging on for an announcement of a complete set from a single conductor with original instruments.

Cannot believe one doesn't yet exist. I started listening to and collecting EM LPs in the late 60s. You'd think there would be one by now.

[Holden Fourth]

I'm adding a selection of the John Field Nocturnes played by Noel Lee. These are only available on vinyl but a company in Brisbane is cleaning up and digitising these for me. They should be ready very soon. Yes, it cost a bit of money to purchase the pristine LP copy from the UK and get it digitised but as this is music I really like money is not really a consideration.

[maestrob]

Ruggero Leoncavallo's legacy has been assured by his magnificent one-act opera "I Pagliacci" for generations, but little else of his music is regularly performed. His version of La Boheme, which he wrote in competition with that of Puccini, obviously has remained only a curiosity, partly because the role of Rodolfo is sung by a baritone instead of a tenor who usually sings the love interest, I suppose. Vincent La Selva did present Leoncavallo's version here in New York, and there has been a recording on CD, but no other music by this great composer has found its way into my collection with one exception in 1996, a CD of his vastly entertaining short pieces for solo piano, ably executed by pianist Marco Sollini, issued on what appears to be a private label. Recently, Urania seems to have bought or leased the rights not only to that one CD, but to a second that completes the collection as well. As pictured above, these two discs represent a marvelous collection of substantially excellent short piano pieces to be played at a gathering, or for a relaxing hour or two over a glass or two of your favorite Malbec, perhaps. Surely, no one there will guess the composer! Recommended with five stars!

[maestrob]

Florent Schmitt was an incredibly prolific early twentieth century French composer whose music never really captured the public's imagination in spite of the fact that he studied with Massenet, Faure and Theodore Dubois, partly because of his willingness to work for the Vichy government I imagine, as did Cortot and Canteloube. Schmitt's early (1908) Piano Quintet remains a staple in my listening, but the bulk of his work has eluded my interest until now. Happily, the excellent Maestra of the Buffalo Philharmonic has begun to fill that gap with the recording pictured above, much of which was recorded just days before the lockdown here in New York state last year. This superb disc includes what is probably Schmitt's best-known composition, his suite from La Tragedie de Salome, along with world premiere recordings of his Musique sur l'eau for mezzo-soprano and orchestra and the Op. 66 Legende for violin and orchestra, along with other short pieces. JoAnn Falletta has totally mastered Schmitt's idiom and leads her orchestra in finely tuned and executed renditions throughout this fascinating journey into what, for me, was uncharted territory. Susan Platts is the lush mezzo-soprano in Musique sur l'eau, while violinist Nikki Chooi won me over with her subtle shifts in color in the Legende. Five stars.

[maestrob]

This reviewer (jsa?) from Amazon says it all very well:

Ernest Moeran is best known for his brilliant Sinfonietta, and Symphony in G minor; but as the four compositions on this disc demonstrate, he was a master in the genre of chamber music as well. His string quartets, performed by the Vanbrugh Quartet, are full of good melodies - in fact, it takes only one listen to get hooked. The Fantasy Quartet is an inventive piece for oboe & strings, which like the string quartets, is pastoral in nature reflecting the English countryside. The disc is rounded out by a fine Piano Trio performed by The Joachim Piano Trio. The whole program flows beautifully - I found it had a meditative quality that makes it especially conducive to late-night listening.In short, this is an outstanding disc performed by top-notch musicians, recorded in excellent sound and packed with highly listenable music (77 minutes) that lovers of chamber music, especially 20th century British genre, will want to have.

[maestrob]

Cellist Rafael Wallfisch is a seasoned artist, and by now he can certainly pick and choose what music he wants to record and perform. This superb release from just before the pandemic has finally found its way to my ears, and I'm happy to report that it is a true gem. Featuring works by XXth century Jewish composers Ben-Haim, Korngold & Bloch, Wallfisch and conductor Lukasz Borowicz lead us and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on a moving journey, exploring works for cello & orchestra that were mostly quite new to my repertoire. The Ben-Haim concerto was particularly interesting, and the single-movement Korngold Concerto in D in One Movement were both first-hears for me, but the standout beauty of the arrangement of Pierrot's Tanzlied from Korngold's youthful opera Die tote Stadt was a highlight, as I've both sung and prepared singers in Carnegie Hall with that lovely gem. Playing by the BBC Welsh players was exceedingly fine throughout, and lovingly recorded. Five stars for this adventurous release which can be streamed on both Amazon & Spotify.

[maestrob]

Conductor Andriss Nelsons continues to be well-recorded, and your reviewer feels that his best recordings of late have consistently been with his European orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, founded, as everyone here knows, by Felix Mendelssohn. The above 2CD set of Bruckner's Second and Eighth Symphonies stands next to the best on disc, IMHO. The Second is particularly fine. Unjustly neglected, Nelsons brings Bruckner's second to life and makes a major work of it, fully justifying Bruckner's revisions that he made later in life. While all Bruckner lovers regret his decision not to finish his Ninth Symphony, none of us can regret the many revisions that he made to his earlier works which could have fallen into oblivion, especially the second, third and fourth symphonies. Published in editions by Novak, the third and fourth of these have entered the standard repertoire, especially since the 1960's with the advent of the stereo LP. Andriss Nelsons makes a compelling case here for the second as well. As for the eighth, Nelsons brings out the best from his orchestra, with telling and successful shaping of several crucial moments that can be awkward in the hands of a less-skilled conductor. Five stars for both, as well as a well-shaped and effective Meistersinger Prelude.

[maestrob]

Conductor Antoni Wit with his many well-crafted recordings from Warsaw has flown under the radar of most critics, in spite of his championing of many contemporary Polish composers (Lutoslawski, Szymanowski, Gorecki etc.) and fine complete sets of Mahler, Tchaikovsky and other symphonists. Recording mostly for Naxos with soloists that surely deserve wider recognition, Maestro Wit has amassed a legacy on CD that surpasses eight pages on Amazon, including labels such as Sony and EMI. The above CD of Dvorak's Requiem is one of his finest, in that it rivals in sensitivity and discipline those from more renowned maestros such as Neumann and Mackerras. Soprano Christiane Libor's glorious high notes will thrill your ears, while Daniel Kirch's passionate tenor throbs with feeling at the appropriate moments. Ewa Wolsk's alto and Janusz Monarcha's warm bass add to the power and glory of Dvorak's great Requiem, premiered in 1890, inspired by Verdi's effort that was first presented just 16 years prior. The Warsaw choir sings with great beauty and expressivity: just listen to their committed pianissimos as they swell to a full-throated fortissimo when called for. Five gold stars. Available on Spotify, this is a recording I will treasure for many years.

[jserraglio]

The Barenboim 1991 Bayreuth Ring free on Amazon Prime.

[maestrob]

The Barenboim 1991 Bayreuth Ring free on Amazon Prime.

Also available on Spotify, along with a highlights album, a Tristan w/Siegfried Jerusalem, and a Lohengrin.

[jserraglio]

Opera by one of my all-time fave composers. I already have the composer-conducted version on Unicorn.

Bernard Herrmann: Wuthering Heights.
Altinoglu / Montpelier 2010 live on the Accord label. issued 2011.
now apparently OOP. from France, but sung in English.
I found it used at a decent price.

[maestrob]

Michael Spyres is the possessor of a remarkable instrument, a voice that is properly trained and able to credibly sing in both the baritone and tenor range, with a magnificent high C and a variety of colors to suit an immensely wide repertoire, from Mozart to Korngold, with stops in Verdi, Orff, Offenbach and Wagner along the way. Heavily promoted up to its recent release, this very generous recital CD (84 minutes!) features the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg with a conductor previously unknown to me, Marko Letonja. While the orchestra plays wonderfully, whoever prepared Spyres for this wide-ranging repertoire could not correct his lack of experience in the verismo Italian arias, as there are slightly awkward moments in both. The trills in "Il balen" sound a bit rushed ("Le favel in mio favore"), and the rhythm of the Italian language in the Pagliacci Prologo, which Leoncavallo assumed a well-prepared singer would know, is simply not there (Le lagrime que noi versiam son false..." etc. sung in even eighth notes exactly as written, not dotted eighths and sixteenths). Perhaps Spyres should have sought out recordings by Leonard Warren, Tito Gobbi, or even Robert Merrill as examples. Be that as it may, this is a remarkably rewarding album that should advance Michael Spyres's career exponentially. This is a truly great artist with remarkable range. Four & 1/2 stars.

[maestrob]

COMMENT: Since this excellent and well-researched review appeared on Amazon, I thought it well worth reproducing here. I enjoyed this recording a great deal, so I'll award it four and 1/2 stars because of a couple of tempo disagreements. I also enjoy the recording by Roy Goodman mentioned therein. I should also recommend George Szell's Schumann cycle, which includes some discreet editing by the conductor to adapt the score to modern instruments.



by Celeste Stokely

For openers, let me call your attention to the above headnote. François-Xavier Roth here leads a performance of the original version of Schumann’s Fourth Symphony in the Jon Finson edition. As Fanfare readers are aware, Schumann completed his so-called “Spring” Symphony (No. 1) in January of 1841. Mere months later, in June of that same year, he began work on a new symphony, one in D Minor, that would eventually be published as No. 4. The earlier, 1841, version of the D-Minor Symphony was not some unfinished work product. It was a completed, fully orchestrated, signed and sealed score. It just wasn’t delivered—i.e., published, at least not by Schumann. Over the course of the next nine years, Schumann composed and published the Symphony No. 2 in C Major (1845–46), and the No. 3 in E♭ Major, nicknamed “Rhenish” (1850). Then, in 1851, 10 years after having set the D-Minor Symphony aside, he dusted it off and decided it needed revising. It was this revised version that was first published as No. 4 by Breitkopf und Härtel in 1853, and reissued in a corrected reprint in 1860. With some further corrections, Breitkopf published the critical edition of the score in 1882 as part of the composer’s collected works.

If that’s where the matter finally rested, there wouldn’t be any confusion or controversy surrounding Schumann’s D-Minor Symphony. Music history is replete with examples of works published out of chronological order and of being assigned numbers that don’t line up with their composition dates. But in the case of Schumann’s No. 4, both Brahms and Clara Schumann clouded the issue. In a rare disagreement between the two of them, Brahms voiced a strong preference for the original 1841 version of the D-Minor Symphony, making his own edition of it and having it published in 1891. Meanwhile, Clara was strongly opposed to Brahms’s effort and said so in no uncertain terms, maintaining that “the symphony had merely been sketched in 1841 but was only fully orchestrated in 1851.” She was either suffering a major memory lapse or she was outright lying, for her claim was patently false.

What could have motivated her to fabricate such an untruth? I don’t think it’s a hard question to answer: money. A competing version of the symphony in an edition by Brahms could have siphoned off royalties she was receiving from sales of the critical B& H publication of 1882.

What exactly are the differences between the 1841 and 1851 versions of Schumann’s D-Minor Symphony? Well, for starters, he changed the movement headings and tempo indications from the Italian to the German. But that change was superficial and insignificant compared to the profound changes he made, not just to the orchestration, but even more radically to the musical material itself.

According to conductor Kenneth Woods, “Most importantly, Schumann attended to the transitions and connections between the different movements and sections of the work, making them more compelling and seamless. He refined the work’s orchestration for performance by the 45 or so musicians of his Düsseldorf orchestra or the Leipzig Gewandhaus, (not a modern symphony orchestra of over 80 players), and made other significant alterations, such as changing the meter of the first movement’s Allegro from the relatively heavy and insistent ‘in one’ to a more varied ‘in two’.

“In its final form, the first movement represents one of the most original re-imaginings of sonata form of the post-Beethoven era. The transition into the movement’s main Lebhaft section is another significant improvement over Schumann’s original. Schumann replaces the original version’s somewhat formulaic fanfare chords, which don’t seem motivically well-connected to the preceding or subsequent material, with something far more fluid and organic.

“The exposition is extremely terse, and essentially monothematic, setting the tone for the symphony as a whole. The development lurches from a jovial arrival in F Major to a fortissimo unison E♭, dominated by the stentorian power of the trombones, and even introduces new and contrasting material previously withheld.

“The transition to the finale shows Schumann completely at home in the dramatic world of high German Romanticism, with stormy tremoli and dramatic brass fanfares that might evoke memories of Weber’s Der Freischütz, especially the dark and brooding Wolf’s Glen. In the main body of the finale which follows, Schumann changes the meter from 2/4 to 4/4, and (in the revision) integrates the theme of the first movement with the triumphal new theme of the finale (an incredibly powerful link, which Schumann had not developed in the original).”

Here, in contrast, is what Brahms had to say about the revised version and what caused Clara to bristle. Brahms was in possession of the autograph of the original score and vastly preferred it over the revision: “It is a real pleasure,” he’s quoted as saying,” to see anything so bright and spontaneous expressed with corresponding ease and grace.… Everything is so absolutely natural that you cannot imagine it in any other way; there are no harsh colors, no forced effects.… The score has not gained by being revised.… It has undoubtedly lost much of its charm, lightness of touch and clarity of expression.” Brahms further suggested that Schumann resorted to the thick orchestration of the revision in order to cover up the ineptness of the Düsseldorf orchestra. A Schumann student, Brian Schlotel, perhaps not wanting to demean his teacher’s talent, further claimed that Schumann was not an effective conductor, and so he wanted the work to “play itself.”

So, there you have it: two opinions, one by noted American-born, UK-resident conductor Kenneth Woods, who believes Schumann’s revised D-Minor Symphony is the greatest thing since sliced bread; and the other by one of music’s “B” triumvirate, Brahms, who believed that the revised version meddled with a winning recipe and spoiled the stew. Aren’t we lucky that we can have both the unsullied version and the farkakte one (so sayeth Brahms), and thus make up our own minds?

François-Xavier Roth, who leads this performance, is by no means the first conductor to record the original 1841 version of the Fourth. Roy Goodman did it with the Hannover Band, as did Eliot Gardiner with his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Roger Norrington with SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, and Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic. I note too that Gardiner has done it again, this time in a new recording with the London Symphony Orchestra, reviewed as recently as 43:4 by James Miller. This makes for a balanced mix of period and modern instrument ensembles to choose from, if you have a preference for one over the other.

All this talk, however, about the two versions of Schumann’s Fourth comes with a bit of a caveat emptor, for until relatively recent times, performances of Schumann’s symphonies, even by the most famous conductors, were not played as Schumann wrote them. The “thick orchestration” Brahms complained of, and the less than ideal orchestral balances led conductors to make their own “improvements,” some of them quite draconian. And there’s no guarantee that even today’s performances by the most enlightened of conductors are necessarily free of some tinkering and tidying up. The album credits Jon Finson, but only to acknowledge him as the editor of this Schumann Fourth. There’s not a single word as to what tinkering and tidying up he may have done to the score. Wikipedia identifies him as an American musicologist (b. 1950) who “became known through the publication of the first version of Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 in 2003.” That can’t be right, as we already learned that Brahms made his own edition of the first version, and that B& H published it 1891. So, with Finson’s edition, we’re already twice removed from Schumann’s autograph manuscript.

If you’re used to the much more often played revised 1851 version, and you like it, I’d advise you to stick with it. Ruefully, in this instance, I have to disagree with Brahms. The 1841 Fourth is different enough from the later, familiar version that there are moments when it doesn’t even sound like the Schumann D-Minor Symphony we all know and love. To what degree and in what details Finson’s edition departs from Schumann’s original and then from Brahms’s edition, I can’t say. But everything is different, so different that it’s really another work entirely that just happens to share some of the same thematic material. There are chords and cadences where none exist in the later version, harmonic sequences and modulations in 1841 that are completely gone from 1851, phrases that go in different directions and end up in different places, and continuations and connections that are totally alien to what we’re used to hearing. If this is even close to Schumann’s 1841 version as he wrote it, then the 1851 version isn’t a “revision,” it’s an entirely recomposed work, much in the manner of Brahms’s reworking of his Piano Trio in B Major, op. 8, 35 years after he originally wrote it. Except for the general contour of a melody here and there, it’s not recognizable as the same piece. Brahms may have thought poorly of Schumann’s orchestration and other details of the 1851 rewrite, but comparing 1841 to 1851 side by side, there’s no question in my mind but that 1851 is a masterpiece of musical integration and structural unity, while 1841 is an inchoate mess.

On at least three occasions in these pages, I’ve found myself highly impressed by François-Xavier Roth’s engaging and illuminating conducting. For the SWR label, he recorded a mostly well-received cycle of Richard Strauss’s tone poems with the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra. I, personally, reviewed two of those releases—the volume containing Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote, and Macbeth in 37:4, and the volume containing the Symphonia domestica and Metamorphosen in 40:6. I found both of them to be competitive with some of the best. But even more interesting was an elegantly appointed, three-disc, Ediciones Singulaires set featuring a compilation of works by Théodore Dubois, in which Roth led Les Siècles, the orchestra he founded, in a performance of the composer’s Symphonie française. I reviewed that release in 38:6, giving it an urgent recommendation.

Since then, Roth has appeared as a guest conductor on the podia of a number of leading orchestras, including the London and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Then, in 2015, he was appointed Principal Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra—the orchestra he’s heard leading on the present release—and General Music Director of the City of Cologne. The recording at hand—an SACD in physical form—was recorded before a “live” audience in concerts on December 16–18, 2018 (No. 4) and June 16–18, 2019 (No. 1).

Roth, of course, bears no responsibility for the inferior first version of Schumann’s D-Minor Symphony, but he does bear responsibility for choosing to lead and record it. My feeling towards this disfigured torso is the same as it is towards the original version of Brahms’s op. 8. It should be banned and burned. That said, I cannot fault the Gürzenich Orchestra’s technical execution or the beauty of its tone. This is the same orchestra, albeit under a different conductor, Dmitri Kitajenko, whose cycle of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies I followed and rated very highly.

Roth’s “Spring” Symphony is equally well played technically, but the conductor’s conception of the work strikes me as rather demure and lacking in the exuberant joyousness I experience when listening to Leonard Bernstein’s 1960 New York Philharmonic recording. I’ve heard a lot of Schumann since then, but somehow in those earlier recordings with the NYP, Bernstein seemed to get the stride, tone, and spirit of Schumann just right. Counterintuitive as it might seem, he accomplished the same thing with the NYP in Haydn’s late symphonies.

Anyway, since the score to Schumann’s 1841 Fourth hasn’t been banned or burned yet, you still have an opportunity to hear it for yourself and make up your own mind as to whether my sentencing it to death is too harsh a judgment.

[maestrob]

Mozart's elegant and beautifully developed String Quintets have been sitting on my shelves unplayed for many years, and it was a true joy to finally hear them for the first time. Recorded originally in 1974 by the great violinist Arthur Grumiaux who joins Max Lesueur, Georges Janzer, Eva Czako & Arpad Gerecz of Beaux Arts fame in this 3CD box of exquisite and carefully shaped and articulated interpretations of Mozart's rarely heard works for five strings, these are definitely a pinnacle of artistic achievement. Each phrase, even each note is lovingly caressed with honesty and care, without a single fault or intonation problem from these world-class instrumentalists. There is simply no distance between the performers and the music. I can't recommend them more highly. Five gold stars.

[maestrob]

Composer Charles Ives shared his life with the world of insurance, which is how he earned his living while writing his experimental music that was only really given wider recognition during my early lifetime, first by Leonard Bernstein, who recorded both for Columbia & digitally for DGG, & Leopold Stokowski, the latter recording Ives's massive Fourth Symphony during the middle 1960's. Nowadays these works are still not at the top of the classical hit list, but I'd wager that the second is the most recognized and thus most frequently played. Gustavo Dudamel's recent set of the symphonies with the brilliant Los Angeles Philharmonic brings Ives into the 21st century with the ease and virtuosity of our modern players tossing off some of the most difficult passages with much aplomb. Maestro Dudamel surely has the measure of these works and while these will not replace those pioneering recordings mentioned above in my library, this 2CD set is surely worthy to stand next to them. DGG's engineers have done even the more difficult to record Fourth Symphony proud. Five stars.

[maestrob]

Some like their Brahms a bit understated. This beautifully recorded CD with the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Ivan Fischer will satisfy those with that taste. It features a compelling rendition of the Brahms Third Symphony along with an elegantly sculpted Second Serenade, both played with much beauty but not a great deal of passion. Brahms needs more commitment to really work well, and these carefully constructed performances do well for background listening but simply do not command one's attention. Ivan Fischer's recording of Brahms's Second Symphony had much more of a sense of involvement, so that's the one I recommend to our listeners. Four stars here.

[maestrob]

Maestro Anthony Pappano's 2009 take on Puccini's masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, is one that I have neglected until recently, sadly. Starring Angela Gheorghiu as Butterfly, with the great Jonas Kaufmann as her Pinkerton, with the Orchestra & Chorus of the St. Cecelia National Academy, this fine 2CD set may indeed be the definitive Butterfly of the 21st century. Happily for this listener's ears, Kaufmann avoids his annoying tendency to croon on high notes that has so marred his interpretations of French and Verdi repertoire recently, all while he delivers a thoroughly convincing portrayal of the opportunistic and shallow Pinkerton. Angela Gheorghiu is equally if not more convincing as the innocent and traumatized Butterfly thrust into a hasty marriage, all while she so tragically hangs on to the vain hope of happily fulfilling her dreams of eternal bliss as her lover/husband disappears over the horizon out to sea. Each of the minor characters is perfectly cast with Fabio Capitanucci as Sharpless and Enkelejda Shkosa as the faithful Suzuki, while Gregory Bonfatti as Goro and Raymond Aceto as the Bonzo add their own telling moments to the drama. Anthony Pappano's conducting may be the most effective among current maestros, and certainly stands comparison in his command of effective details in the score to the best of past recordings. Five gold stars!

[Lance]

Lots of new things coming my way - only more time needed to enjoy it all. Lately, Henri Bertini's (1798-1876) Nonetto in D, Op. 107 and his Grand Trio in A, Op. 43, all with Linos Ensemble - CPO 555 353, 70:17.

[maestrob]

Lots of new things coming my way - only more time needed to enjoy it all. Lately, Henri Bertini's (1798-1876) Nonetto in D, Op. 107 and his Grand Trio in A, Op. 43, all with Linos Ensemble - CPO 555 353, 70:17.

I'll give that a try later today, Lance, thanks!

[jserraglio]

[maestrob]

Joby Talbot and Howard Shore are two contemporary composers that I had not heard of before this excellent CD of guitar concertos with Milos Karadaglic appeared earlier this year on Decca. I have now played it through several times, each time discovering new moments of wonder. Accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Ben Gernon in Ink Dark Moon, the concerto by Joby Talbot, then by Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra led by Alexander Shelley, in The Forest. Milos (he calls himself by a single name) makes the guitar sing and dance, weaving in and out of the finely-spun textures of the orchestra laced with light percussion and atmospheric strings in this beautifully recorded CD. Hopefully, this is where contemporary music is headed, away from the scrappy atonality that wore on my ears in the last century. This standout album is a surefire winner that should reach a wide audience and receive many plays on streaming services. Milos has already gained a firm and fine reputation for earlier releases, and he should win a Grammy for this one as Best Contemporary CD for 2021. The album is filled out with two lovely solos, one by Ludovico Einaudi (Full Moon) and Robert Schumann (Traumerei). Five gold stars!

The Forest: Mvt. I & II here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGqwgEbdzEk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZVKYzlgNDc

[slofstra]

Maestro Anthony Pappano's 2009 take on Puccini's masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, is one that I have neglected until recently, sadly. Starring Angela Gheorghiu as Butterfly, with the great Jonas Kaufmann as her Pinkerton, with the Orchestra & Chorus of the St. Cecelia National Academy, this fine 2CD set may indeed be the definitive Butterfly of the 21st century. Happily for this listener's ears, Kaufmann avoids his annoying tendency to croon on high notes that has so marred his interpretations of French and Verdi repertoire recently, all while he delivers a thoroughly convincing portrayal of the opportunistic and shallow Pinkerton. Angela Gheorghiu is equally if not more convincing as the innocent and traumatized Butterfly thrust into a hasty marriage, all while she so tragically hangs on to the vain hope of happily fulfilling her dreams of eternal bliss as her lover/husband disappears over the horizon out to sea. Each of the minor characters is perfectly cast with Fabio Capitanucci as Sharpless and Enkelejda Shkosa as the faithful Suzuki, while Gregory Bonfatti as Goro and Raymond Aceto as the Bonzo add their own telling moments to the drama. Anthony Pappano's conducting may be the most effective among current maestros, and certainly stands comparison in his command of effective details in the score to the best of past recordings. Five gold stars!

I can really see Georghiu succeeding in this role. Nothing to do with the vocal range required, my hunch is based on the emotional temperament required to convey Butterfly's distress, in which Georghiu is especially gifted. But I suspect that on the former question she would also succeed.
This is also an opera far ahead of its time in conveying cultural and ideological myopia and the "Quiet American" ethos, some say, "ugly American".

[jserraglio]

Les génies du classique

https://archive.org/details/genies-du-c ... collection

A collection of about 80 mostly European CD classical music recordings, from a large variety of composers and many sources. Issued by the French Encyclopedia. https://www.discogs.com/label/700427-Le ... -Classique All recordings are in public domain and are free to download or stream.

Conductors include Monteux, Paray, Swarowsky, Schuricht, Fistoulari and Munch. Lots of Czech Philharmonic recordings.

NOTE: These are all CD rips, not vinyl.

[maestrob]

Fascinating treasure-trove, thanks!

I do wish our copyright laws were more sensible here in the U. S. Here, A recording or movie with a single, known creator that was created on or after January 1, 1978 would have copyright protection beginning at its creation and lasting for the life of the creator plus an additional 70 years after the creator's death.

[jserraglio]

3-disc box set from Amazon at $7. could not resist at that price.

[maestrob]

Agree! Blomstedt has made some very fine recordings and, at 93, he's in the middle of a first-rate Brahms cycle with the oldest orchestra in the world, the Leipzig Gewandhaus. He completed I & II before the pandemic and they are outstanding. I also have a magnificent Bach B minor Mass on DVD by him that comes immediately to mind, as does his cycle of Nielsen symphonies. Blomstedt should be far more famous than he is. He's had an outstanding career of consistently fine releases.

[maestrob]

Throughout her meteoric rise to stardom and the following decades of vocal evolution, Anna Netrebko has managed her vocal growth with deep humility and just plain good common sense. In fact, many great singers (and she is definitely in that class) often allow their egos to take charge, taking on heavier and heavier roles before they are ready to sing them. In actuality, many, many singers lack the sheer common sense and level of self-awareness demanded by their voices, ending up in publicly humiliating situations more often than not caused by technical problems, i. e. wobbles (Beverly Sills, Cornell MacNeil), the "hole-in-the middle effect (Leontyne Price) and harshness on top (Renata Scotto, Maria Callas). Can't blame them, because there remains a vast emptiness in the operatic world when it comes to knowledge of how to maintain a secure technique, perhaps for as long as the past 100 years or so. Singers find one good teacher, but when that teacher dies, it becomes quite impossible to know who to trust with vocal guidance. Sad but true. Luckily for us, Netrebko seems to have both good sense about her technique AND good guidance so far. Happily, the art of true Italian Bel Canto technique is still taught in Russia, it would seem.

This, her latest album pictured above (appropriately entitled Amata dalle tenebre), focuses on the recent growth in her instrument, with added depth and size now at her disposal, along with an array of darker colors that were showing up here and there in past performances but have now blossomed (Remember when she found her trill finally in Donizetti's Anna Bolena?). Working extensively with the great conductor Riccardo Chailly on new repertoire on this CD, Netrebko clearly demonstrates that she has the chops to tackle lighter Wagner now in excerpts from Tannhauser, Lohengrin & even the famed Liebestod with great success. This generous recital also features wondrous singing in arias by Verdi and Puccini, with expertly spun out soft tones and ravishing crescendos throughout her range. It was really a joy to hear this entire album, a marvelously-recorded generous 83 minutes of magnificent vocal versatility featuring the great La Scala orchestra, with not a note of inappropriate or weak singing anywhere. A total pleasure to which I hope to return frequently. Five gold stars.

[maestrob]

Veronique Gens has long been a brilliant advocate for Baroque opera, particularly from France. Here, she plums the depths of every text in major highlights from works by Lully and Rameau, seasoned with tempting morsels from Desmarets and Collasse. Ably accompanied by L'Ensemble des Surprises led by Louis-Noel Bestion de Camboulas, Gens conveys the very depths of passion inherent in these various masterpieces with convincing commitment that only a great French singer of her caliber could muster. Inspired by her artistry, the chorus and orchestra respond with equal fervor in this five-star release. Not just for fans of the Baroque, this level of greatness will probably inspire you to explore further if you are a new convert to this repertoire. Urgently recommended.

[maestrob]

Kirill Petrenko's commercial recordings are few and far between, so when I became aware of this excellent CD of Mahler's Seventh Symphony with the Bavarian State Orchestra, my curiosity was aroused instantly and I had to hear it on Spotify. Not being impressed beyond four stars, I acquired the CD, hoping that CDs better sonics would reveal new depth and colors. Such was indeed the case, as details emerged during my first hearing with headphones this morning that had been glossed over in my online audition. Petrenko just may be the most consistently excellent conductor on the world stage today, as this CD easily holds its own against Bernstein/NY on Columbia or Abbado/Lucerne on DVD. Here there is enthusiastic energy to spare, clear detail and a wide array of orchestral colors to lift up the spirit. Not only that, but Kirill Petrenko's tempos are in every case exactly right in every bar. Mahler VII can be a tough nut to crack, as many almost-ran recordings can attest. Here, all goes well. With this crystal-clear engineering, your ears will be in for a treat as well. Five stars!

[maestrob]

When Anton Bruckner chose to revise his three early symphonies (II, III, & IV), he deprived us of a finale to his Ninth Symphony, but resurrected three of his earlier works from obscurity. Over the years since, while his Fourth is perhaps the most popular of those three in the Nowak editions, the Third was first recorded in stereo in the mid-1960's by George Szell and his Cleveland Orchestra in the 1960's most successfully, a recording that established the Third as an almost-staple in the repertory. Christian Thielemann's new entry in his ongoing cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic makes a good case for Bruckner's mature revisions of the Third (most visibly in the Finale of the first movement and throughout the Fourth movement), proving to listeners that the symphony can be most effective. Had Thielemann injected the energy level into his efforts that Thomas Dausgaard puts forth in his fine rendition of the 1873 original version, Thielemann's would have been a five-star effort in the opinion of your reviewer. As it is, Dausgaard's passion for Bruckner's music has inspired his Bergen forces to tremendous heights of expressivity that have moved me to rate his recording as the best I've heard of the original version, awarding it five stars, while bestowing on Thielemann's Vienna version only four.

[slofstra]

Kirill Petrenko's commercial recordings are few and far between,

Have you checked this source?

https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com/

[maestrob]

Kirill Petrenko's commercial recordings are few and far between,

Have you checked this source?

https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com/

Oh sure, and I bought that box when it first appeared. My point is that 5CDs hardly represents the full flowering of this great conductor's talents, now does it?

OTOH, our own Jaap Van Zweden has recorded roughly 20-25CDs with various orchestras, plus a complete Ring cycle in Hong Kong.

[slofstra]

No, there aren't 5. There are 6.
Perhaps you missed this one.
A recording that is much needed right now ...


Seriously though, Petrenko is doing some great work with the BPO in the modern period (early 20th C). Hopefully, we will see some releases in this area.

[maestrob]

No, there aren't 5. There are 6.
Perhaps you missed this one.
A recording that is much needed right now ...


Seriously though, Petrenko is doing some great work with the BPO in the modern period (early 20th C). Hopefully, we will see some releases in this area.

Actually, Henry, I just had a senior moment. Of COURSE I love that Tchaikovsky VI: in fact, I would rate Petrenko's as my go-to version since I first heard it online. I do own that set in the grey plastic deluxe box with 2 blu-rays. Petrenko has such an incisive way with telling details that highlight the music without ever sounding egotistical that I have praised that performance to friends over and over.

Am really looking forward to more as it appears.

Like Leonard Bernstein in New York, I will buy whatever becomes available of Petrenko in Berlin. His musical integrity is matched only by Anthony Pappano's in the world today, IMHO, at least so far.

[maestrob]

Maestro Anthony Pappano has done it again. In this brand-new release, Pappano pairs with Bertrand Chamayou in a scintillating rendition of Richard Strauss's demanding but rarely-recorded Burleske, coupled with one of the finest renditions of Ein Heldenleben that have come to my attention. Pappano's Orchestra dell'Accademia Nationale di Santa Cecelia rivals many better-known German bands that have tackled these works, most remarkably those led by Clemens Kraus (Vienna) and Rudolf Kempe (Dresden), hitherto my preferred versions, with Eugene Ormandy/Serkin standing shoulder to shoulder with them in the Burleske. Pappano's engineers have caught the exact right blend of presence and atmosphere in this superb recording, with the balance between piano & orchestra sounding just right to my ears in the Burleske. Very fine indeed. Five stars.

[slofstra]

No, there aren't 5. There are 6.
Perhaps you missed this one.
A recording that is much needed right now ...


Seriously though, Petrenko is doing some great work with the BPO in the modern period (early 20th C). Hopefully, we will see some releases in this area.

Actually, Henry, I just had a senior moment. Of COURSE I love that Tchaikovsky VI: in fact, I would rate Petrenko's as my go-to version since I first heard it online. I do own that set in the grey plastic deluxe box with 2 blu-rays. Petrenko has such an incisive way with telling details that highlight the music without ever sounding egotistical that I have praised that performance to friends over and over.

Am really looking forward to more as it appears.

Like Leonard Bernstein in New York, I will buy whatever becomes available of Petrenko in Berlin. His musical integrity is matched only by Anthony Pappano's in the world today, IMHO, at least so far.

Oh, I was just pulling your leg on the six versus five, since that is a matter of no substance.

But now I find your commentary very interesting. So this is one for the ages, then? Up there with Ormandy, Dutoit and Mravinsky? (I won't include von Karajan's Tchaikovsky because I am not fond of it.)

[maestrob]

No, there aren't 5. There are 6.
Perhaps you missed this one.
A recording that is much needed right now ...


Seriously though, Petrenko is doing some great work with the BPO in the modern period (early 20th C). Hopefully, we will see some releases in this area.

Actually, Henry, I just had a senior moment. Of COURSE I love that Tchaikovsky VI: in fact, I would rate Petrenko's as my go-to version since I first heard it online. I do own that set in the grey plastic deluxe box with 2 blu-rays. Petrenko has such an incisive way with telling details that highlight the music without ever sounding egotistical that I have praised that performance to friends over and over.

Am really looking forward to more as it appears.

Like Leonard Bernstein in New York, I will buy whatever becomes available of Petrenko in Berlin. His musical integrity is matched only by Anthony Pappano's in the world today, IMHO, at least so far.

Oh, I was just pulling your leg on the six versus five, since that is a matter of no substance.

But now I find your commentary very interesting. So this is one for the ages, then? Up there with Ormandy, Dutoit and Mravinsky? (I won't include von Karajan's Tchaikovsky because I am not fond of it.)

I knew that.

Seriously though, I do believe that Petrenko's conducting overall has immense integrity and solid thinking in service to the music, and his Tchaikovsky VI is definitely "one for the ages."

In point of fact, I'm not a fan of Mravinsky's tempo distortions in VI, but his IV & V are indeed great music-making with his Leningrad forces on DGG. I would add Guido Cantelli's Tchaikovsky VI on EMI to the list of great recorded performances, btw.

I recently gave Petrenko's Mahler VII five stars, even though he gets a bit excited in the last movement and a couple of places are just a bit too fast.

I predict that he will be remembered as a Great Conductor. Berlin is lucky to have him, IMHO, as are we to hear him.

[slofstra]

No, there aren't 5. There are 6.
Perhaps you missed this one.
A recording that is much needed right now ...


Seriously though, Petrenko is doing some great work with the BPO in the modern period (early 20th C). Hopefully, we will see some releases in this area.

Actually, Henry, I just had a senior moment. Of COURSE I love that Tchaikovsky VI: in fact, I would rate Petrenko's as my go-to version since I first heard it online. I do own that set in the grey plastic deluxe box with 2 blu-rays. Petrenko has such an incisive way with telling details that highlight the music without ever sounding egotistical that I have praised that performance to friends over and over.

Am really looking forward to more as it appears.

Like Leonard Bernstein in New York, I will buy whatever becomes available of Petrenko in Berlin. His musical integrity is matched only by Anthony Pappano's in the world today, IMHO, at least so far.

Oh, I was just pulling your leg on the six versus five, since that is a matter of no substance.

But now I find your commentary very interesting. So this is one for the ages, then? Up there with Ormandy, Dutoit and Mravinsky? (I won't include von Karajan's Tchaikovsky because I am not fond of it.)

I knew that.

Seriously though, I do believe that Petrenko's conducting overall has immense integrity and solid thinking in service to the music, and his Tchaikovsky VI is definitely "one for the ages."

In point of fact, I'm not a fan of Mravinsky's tempo distortions in VI, but his IV & V are indeed great music-making with his Leningrad forces on DGG. I would add Guido Cantelli's Tchaikovsky VI on EMI to the list of great recorded performances, btw.

I recently gave Petrenko's Mahler VII five stars, even though he gets a bit excited in the last movement and a couple of places are just a bit too fast.

I predict that he will be remembered as a Great Conductor. Berlin is lucky to have him, IMHO, as are we to hear him.

Night before last, I watched him conduct a program leading off with Weber's "Oberon" Overture, then Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis of themes by Carl Maria von Weber" and then Schubert's 8th. The Hindemith is a personal favourite and there's a certain corkscrew quality to the sound that I like that wasn't quite there. The Schubert was off the charts. And so was the adulation at the end of it. This is an audience that doesn't get up for an ovation because, oh, so much effort required, I think I'd rather sit. But they applauded for a full 7 minutes, even after the orchestra had left the stage. Petrenko came out for one last bow with the hall emptying and the orchestra all gone. That gesture had no trace of vanity, but seemed to tell his most devoted fans that he appreciated the support.

[maestrob]

This latest installment in what I hope will be Susanna Malkki's complete survey of Bartok's major works is a surefire nominee for various awards. Her Helsinki Philharmonic plays with fire and electricity in both the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and the even more popular Concerto for Orchestra. Malkki inspires her players to heights of committed involvement with every note. Not a single detail passes her by without clear and appropriate thought. Accents are crisp while tone quality is never neglected, even as the energy level remains high throughout every bar. My acid test for Bartok is the finale of the Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, which has eluded many better-known conductors, even on disc. Malkki has a clear idea of how to shape that difficult passage, and the results speak for themselves. Very fine indeed, as is the stunningly crystal-clear sound. This one goes on my shelves next to Ormandy (RCA), Boulez, Reiner, & Ivan Fischer. Five stars.

[maestrob]

Vasily Petrenko has established himself now at the head of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as one of the top conductors in the world today, with his stunning complete cycles of Shostakovich and other Russian composers, so it's time for him to bring his talents to the two relatively obscure composers represented here: Alexander von Zemlinsky (brother-in-law to Arnold Schoenberg), and Franz Schreker. Zemlinsky's Die Seejungfrau did not do well at its premiere in 1905, being too modern for the conservatives and too conservative for the progressive crowd of critics. It is that original score that is presented here, happily without all the attendant controversy. By contrast, Schreker's Der Geburtstag der Infantin won high praise at its premiere in 1908 and was his first major success. Hounded by the Nazis when they came to power, Schreker's career faded abruptly: he died of a heart attack at the young age of 55. Thankfully, this music lives on so we can now enjoy it in Vasily Petrenko's excellent new recording. Five stars.

[maestrob]

Why it has taken so long for a recording of Beethoven's masterful Triple Concerto done in HIP style to come to my attention will always remain a mystery to yours truly. Pablo Heras-Casado has assembled a starry cast with Isabelle Faust (violin), Jean Guihen Queyras (cello) and Alexander Melnikov on piano, along with the famed Freiburger Barockorchester for this recent release (the latest in his complete survey of Beethoven), and the resulting sonorities are immensely satisfying. Tempos are brisk, but never too much so, while the recording intimately captures every nuance and shading with just the right amount of atmosphere for this intimate ensemble effort. The Piano Trio Op. 36, an arrangement of the Second Symphony, makes a worthy partnership to the Concerto, showcasing the astounding versatility of the three soloists, now able to play effectively in period style while having mastered the more delicate sonorities of their period instruments. A deeply rewarding disc, then. Five gold stars!

[neilnw]

I've gotten a real plethora of stuff recently, but few are those items that measure up to a complete collection I assembled from four different shops, through some sort of serendipity,with an added bonus. It's the four Camden LPs of Toscanini's NYP sides,which include Mozart's 'Haffner,'Haydn's 'Clock,' Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, Dukas' Sorcerer, Rossini's Semiramide, the all-time classic Beethoven Seventh, and others.

I got all four of these 50s reissues from merchants who grade conservatively, so that when purchasing a disc marked VG+, you're assured of getting tiny, negligible flaws, but the real bonus was two of the discs being unopened. A kid like me only born at the end of the 50s got the rare treat of seeing those loose-fitting plastic bags.....as well as the original price tags of $1.98. I got each of them to close to tht sum.

Worth remembering, too,that RCA's remastering of their 78 rpm masters in those days was as top-notch as you could get.

[maestrob]

As a lover of great choral works, the above Grammy-nominated recording of Kastalsky's long-neglected Requiem for Fallen Brothers which commemorates the terrible carnage of WWI piqued my curiosity and, I'll admit, the 45 five-star reviews on amazon's website urged me to listen as well. This World Premiere Recording of Katalsky's grandest version was recorded in Washington D. C.'s National Cathedral with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the four choirs listed above recruited from around the U. S. is led by Leonard Slatkin. While I don't always agree with the reviewer who writes for Fanfare quoted below from amazon's webpage, I found his command of detail and the history of this remarkable work quite illuminating:

It was a great idea, but the wrong circumstances and the wrong composer.In 1915, Alexander Kastalsky (1856–1926), a former pupil of Tchaikovsky, had the idea of composing an international Requiem for organ and chorus to honor the fallen soldiers of Russia and her allies—a Requiem that would combine a number of musical heritages, including Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic. From the outset, it was the kind of work that would be difficult to get performed, given the limitations imposed by censorship from the Russian Orthodox Church. And when Kastalsky expanded the musical landscape by adding an orchestra and incorporating music to honor non-Christian casualties, its distance from the Russian tradition only increased.

As the work developed, Kastalsky produced a number of alternate versions—for unaccompanied chorus, for chorus and organ, for chorus and orchestra—with a varying number of movements (from 11 to 17), with some different music, in different orders, and with different texts in different languages.Bits and pieces were performed, and the 14-movement chorus-and-orchestra version was presented in 1917. But the world changed around Kastalsky, too, and after the Revolution, a different kind of resistance arose. Once problematic because it was insufficiently religious, the Requiem now seemed too religious, and even though Kastalsky himself went on to hold prestigious positions in the Soviet musical hierarchy, the Requiem fell beneath the radar.

Back in 1977, Svetlanov offered a live performance of a 14-movement chorus-and-orchestra version with a new, more secular Russian text (see James H. North’s review, Fanfare 20:1); more recently, Stephen Fox recorded an 11-movement offshoot for unaccompanied chorus (titled “Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes” and reviewed by James Altena in 42:3); now we get what is apparently the first recording of the final 17-movement chorus-and-orchestra version, which includes texts in Russian, Italian, French, English, Latin, and Greek, and musical references to numerous other traditions.

As I said, it was a great idea—“a rich and varied mosaic,” as the jacket copy puts it. But while the internationalism and the textual mixture may seem to look ahead to the Britten War Requiem, and while the combination of musical idioms (especially in the 14th movement, which superimposes “Rock of Ages” on the Funeral March from Chopin’s Second Sonata) may seem to suggest a kinship with Ives, Kastalsky did not have the imagination necessary to ignite his ideas. The result is a fairly inert work, heavily weighed down by pre-existing thematic material (especially Russian Orthodox and Gregorian material) and very familiar gestures (Boris Godunov’s coronation bells) that aren’t developed with any particular ingenuity. Apparently, he himself was worried (rightly so) that the work was too uniform in tempo; but even the introduction of interludes honoring the Japanese and “Hindu” soldiers did little except to add a few sprinkles of generic spice. The Requiem is certainly worth hearing for its moments of rapt beauty and its occasional blasts of grandeur (most notably, the closing pages).But it’s not the “peerless stylistic collage” that Vladimir Morosan, in his notes, promises.

Would it make more of an impact in a less heavy-handed performance? Perhaps. Would it make more of an impact had it been recorded in a less resonant acoustic than the Washington National Cathedral, which blurs orchestral detail to the point where it’s hard to hear what instruments are playing? Definitely. But reviewing the far more focused and dramatic Svetlanov account, North said “The composer’s high intentions are not matched by corresponding inspiration”—and nothing on this disc makes me want to disagree.

Still, ours may be minority opinions—this disc has gotten exuberant reviews elsewhere, so you might want to sample the music before accepting our judgments.As I said, the sound is surprisingly inadequate. The notes are disappointing as well. They begin with an astonishing statement: “Alexander Kastalsky’s Requiem for Fallen Brothers stands as the only large-scale choral-orchestra work written specifically in response to the unprecedented loss of life and devastation brought about by the First World War,” as if Elgar’s Spirit of England, Foulds’s World Requiem, and Bliss’s Morning Heroes had never been written. Then, too, his account of the multiple variants of this project is sometimes confusing. If you’re looking for a good account of the involuted process of composition, Svetlana Zvereva’s “Alexander Kastal’sky: A Russian Requiem,” in The Choral Journal, 42:5, will give you better guidance.

My own opinion is that Kastalsky's Requiem is a fascinating work, and I'm gratified that I finally have been offered the opportunity to hear it. This is a remarkable recording, and it should never go out of print.

For even more about this recording, do go to amazon where there is much more information about both him and the performers involved. The disc is available for streaming there, naturally.

Here also is Wikipedia's page on the composer, mentor to Rachmaninoff and others:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Kastalsky

There is also a 3 hour+ video of this performance on youtube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCXAhD7-G7Y

All that said, I still believe that Kabalevsky's great Requiem, written to honor the estimated 26 million Russians (both citizens and soldiers) that were killed as a result of the German invasion during WWII and the Siege of Leningrad (America had roughly 407,000 military casualties in both the European and Pacific theaters by comparison), is a far stronger and more moving composition. Kabalevsky conducted and recorded his masterpiece for Melodiya in 1962, which was released here on an Angel/Melodiya LP set of 2 discs in excellent stereo sound for the period, several years later: it is his greatest recording. Long out of print although it did appear briefly on the Olympia CD label, it should be remastered with modern technology and reissued by Melodiya immediately. Kabelevsky also conducted the U. S. Premiere himself in Washington D. C. in 1975 to great acclaim.

[neilnw]

Most recent batch of LPs:

Tchaikovsky 1812, Romeo………….Rodzinski, Cleve. (Harmony HL-7056)
Handel Water Music, Conc. Grosso in F………Boulez, NYP (Columbia M-35833)

The Chopin I Love………Entremont (Columbia M-30063)
Albert Coates conducts ……Stravinsky Petruochka, Ravel La Valse (Encore ?-?)
Haydn Trumpet & Horn Conc’s.,,,,,,,Heiler, Wobitsch, Koch (Haydn Soc. HSLP-1038)
Bach Viloin Conc. In a, 2-Violin Conc’s……………D&I Oistrakh, VSO (DGG SLPM-138820)
Bartok Cantata Profana, MSPC……………….Hollreiser, Unger (Turnabout TV-S 34382)
RR Bennett Stephen Foster Sym.,Jerome Kern Sym.Story….Steinberg,PSO(Everest SDBR-3063)
Shostakovich Sym.#5……………..Mitchell, NSO (Victrola VICS-1380)
Roussel Sym.#3,Dukas La Peri……..Boulez,NYP (Columbia M-34201)
Entremont plays Milhaud PianoConc. #1, Jolivet Piano Conc………..composers cond. PCO (Columbia MS-7432)
Haydn Sym’s #94 &#95…….Casals, Marlboro Fest. Orch.(Columbia M-31130)
Tchaikovsky Sym’s #1,2&3………Bernstein (D3M-32996)
Semkow, Hye-Knudsen & Markevitch cond. Royal Danish Orch…….(Turnabout TVS-34085) Schubert Mass #5…..D.R.Davies, St.Paul Chamber Orch.,Sabo,Sperry,Guinn(Nonesuch H-71335)
Morton Gould Plays & Conducts Morton Gould…..Robin Hood Dell Orch.(Columbia ML-4218)
William Kapell, In Memorium (Bach, Schubert, Liszt)…….(RCA LM-1791)
Berlioz Overtures…………..Beecham, RPO (Columbia ML-5064

[Rach3]

Thanks. I have Entremont's lp recordings of both Ravel concertos and the Rach Nos.1 and 4. I enjoy his playing of all those works,despite the apparent critical disdain he seems to receive in many circles.

[neilnw]

Thanks. I have Entremont's lp recordings of both Ravel concertos and the Rach Nos.1 and 4. I enjoy his playing of all those works,despite the apparent critical disdain he seems to receive in many circles.

Here's some more recent Entremont, Schubert's valedictory Sonata in B-flat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHurrdR ... gXEYJb_V_2