↧
Bach: Englische Suiten Nr. 1-3 (Christiane Jaccottet)
↧
Bach: Englische Suiten Nr. 4-6 (Christiane Jaccottet)
↧
↧
Mozart: Piano Quartets - Paul Lewis & The Leopold String Trio
01. - 03. Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K.478 [29'36]
04. - 06. Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, K.493 [33'19]
Paul Lewis- piano and Leopold String Trio
(Marianne Thorsen- violin; Scott Dickinson- viola; Kate Gould- cello)
Hyperion CDA67373 (recorded December 2002; CD issued 2003)
(CD-rip; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk
Recording engineer: Simon Eadon; Producer: Andrew Keener
If you are looking for outstanding performances on modern instruments of these wonderful works, this fits the bill admirably.
Mozart's two piano quartets are strongly contrasted - both expansive but the first being the grander and more dramatic with the second sunnier and more lighthearted. The Leopold Trio and Paul Lewis offer eloquence, flair and panache without individuals seeking to draw attention to their instrument. Paul Lewis balances admirably with the string players and their perfect intonation.
There is also the usual excellent recorded sound from Potton Hall.
Download from MEGA.
↧
Steven Staryk – 400 Years Of The Violin: An Anthology Of The Art Of Violin Playing
Vol. 1: Staryk In Recital
Works by Fiocco - Schumann - Mozart etc
Every Violinist's Guide: 18 Traditional Etudes by Kreutzer, Dancla, Rode, Fiorillo, Kayser, Dont and Wieniawski (First Recording)
Vol. 2: All Wieniawski Program: Complete Etude-Caprices for 2 Violins (World Premiere recording) plus Polonaise, Mazurka, Legende and Scherzo - Tarantella
Italian Baroque Sonatas: Works by Nardini, Veracini, Locatelli and Corelli
Vol, 3: JS and CPE Bach: Four Sonatas BWV 1018, 1021, 1023and 542/5
Solo Sonatas by Pisendel, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Papineau-Couture, Stamitz, Geminiani
Adela Kotowska piano
Eloise Niwa piano
Kenneth Gilbert harpsichord
Baroque/ Everest 1968
digital download, cover and tags
If you have heard the Mahler's Fourth Symphony recorded by Solti in Amsterdam, you have heard Steven Staryk. Born in Canada in 1932 and one of McCarthy "Symphony Six", he was concertmaster of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Toronto Symphony. Here is his masterful compilation, published by the Baroque Records label in 1968 and distributed by Everest, of classics of the violin literature spanning four centuries.
↧
American Viola Concertos - Piston - Druckman - Harberg - Harbison - Adler- - Wolpert
Walter Piston
John Harbison
Samuel Adler
Viola Concertos
Randolph Kelly viola
Randolph Kelly viola
Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
Aleksandrs Vilumanis
Aleksandrs Vilumanis
Albany 2003
The central figure on Albany’s disc of viola concertos is Walter Piston, who taught both Samuel Adler and John Harbison. Of course, there is often a wide stylistic divide between teacher and student (Horatio Parker and Charles Ives come immediately to mind), but these concertos seem to share a spiritual affinity. Indeed, one finds a similar combination of elegiac lyricism and rhythmic energy in all three works.
Piston’s Concerto (1957) opens pensively, quickly builds to an aching climax (beginning around 4'00") with the first movement ending almost abruptly on a note of resignation. The central Adagio con fantasia is the work’s emotional core, beginning in abject loneliness (sparely scored with wistful harmonies) but finds, in the final pages, a sweeter lyricism that prepares the listener perfectly for the playful syncopations of the exuberant finale.
Harbison’s Concerto (1989) is if anything even darker in mood, though it’s more luminously scored. The first movement has an improvisatory air (note, for example, the spontaneous-sounding chirping of woodwinds that accompany the viola’s opening solo) that stands in stark contrast with the obsessive character of the brief scherzo-like movement that follows. The composer writes that the concerto ‘moves from inwardness to ebullience and from an ambiguous and shifting harmonic language to tonality’ – a dramatic structure similar to Piston’s.
Of the three concertos, Adler’s will likely be the most immediately appealing, its contrapuntal intricacies offset by some strikingly tuneful melodies. It’s also a vividly coloured piece, with a fine balance of light and shade. The Concerto was composed for Randolph Kelly, principal violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, who premièred the work in 2000. I only wish that it would have been possible to have the PSO for this recording. The Latvian National Orchestra plays well under Alexandrs Vilumanis – particularly in the Harbison, which is given a suitably intense performance – but there are a few small but distracting lapses in ensemble in the Adler, and the recording quality is a bit hazy. Nevertheless, these are all significant and richly rewarding works, and the disc is strongly recommended.(Grammophone Review)
Jennifer HigdonViola Concerto
Oboe Concerto
All Things Majestic
Raúl Díaz viola
James Button oboe
Nashville Symphony
Giancarlo Guerrero
Naxos 2016
The orchestra is an enormous canvas to which Jennifer Higdon applies subtle and bold colours. Her ability to use instruments in a spectrum of sonic and expressive capacities is vividly apparent in the three works on this new disc featuring the Nashville Symphony under music director Giancarlo Guerrero.
The most recent piece is the Viola Concerto (2014), three movements of deftly gauged, cheeky and often haunting material that gives the soloist numerous opportunities to soar and engage in vibrant conversation with other instruments and sections. Keeping an orchestra in balance with the viola is no mean trick but there’s never a moment when Higdon allows the large forces to conceal the protagonist. The work was written for Roberto Díaz, former principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra and current director of the Curtis Institute of Music, who is as mellifluous and charismatic a soloist as could be imagined.
Higdon’s Oboe Concerto (2005) is in one extended movement that emphasises the oboe’s knack for spinning long, lyrical phrases and scampering with ease. It is a piece of shimmering beauty, which James Button, the Nashville Symphony’s principal oboe, plays with elegant mastery.
The Grand Tetons are the inspiration behind All Things Majestic (2011), whose four movements paint portraits of thrilling landscapes. Higdon uses the full resources of the orchestra to convey the splendour of mountains, motion of bodies of water and wonders of other natural phenomena. Guerrero guides his ensemble through a performance in which both details and arching statements are set forth to resplendent effect.(Grammophone Review)
Miklos Rozsa
Viola Concerto
Sinfonia Concertante
Igor Gruppman violin
Richard Bock cello
Paul Silversthorne viola
New Zealand SO
Igor Gruppman violin
Richard Bock cello
Paul Silversthorne viola
New Zealand SO
James Sedares
Koch 1996
Morton Gould Viola Concerto
Walter Piston Viola Concerto
Paul Hindemith Concert Music for Viola and large Orchestra
Raphael Hillyer - Robert Glazer - Paul Doktor viola
The Louisville Orchestra
Jorge Mester - Robert Whitney - Lawrence Leighton Smith
Soundmark 2011
Jacob Druckmann
Viola Concerto
Brangle
Counterpoise
Brangle
Counterpoise
Raúl Díaz viola
Dawn Upshaw soprano
Philadelphia Orchestra
David Zinman
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Dawn Upshaw soprano
Philadelphia Orchestra
David Zinman
Wolfgang Sawallisch
New World 2001
You can read a review here
Amanda Harberg Viola Concerto
Elegy
Max Wolpert Viola Concerto
Brett Deubner viola
Southern Arizona SO
Linus Lerner
Naxos 2017
You can ead a review here
Flac, cue, logs and scans, digital download, covers and booklet
↧
↧
Bruckner: Symphonies no. 1-9 Eugen Jochum Staatskapelle Dresden 1990
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphonies no. 1-9
Eugen Jochum
Staatskapelle Dresden
9 CDs
EMI CZS 7 62935 2 (1990)
Digital Remastering 1987
↧
Historic Three - Richter - Toscanini - Rostropovich - Koussevitzky - Fox at Carnegie Hall
Serge Koussevitzky
Roy Harris: Symphony No. 1
4 minutes 20 seconds
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Recorded 1934
Jennie Tourel mezzosoprano
Leonard Bernstein piano
Songs bySongs by Schumann, Strauss, Tchaikovsky,
Rachmaninov. Duparc, Debussy, Satie,
Liszt, Poulenc, Offenbach
Arturo Toscanini
Beethoven
Symphony No. 5
New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
Recorded 1931 and 1933
Virgil Fox organ
Bach
Fantasia and Fugue BWV 537
Fantasia and Fugue BWV 542
Toccata BWV 540
Fugue BWV 578
plus Choral-Preludes
Recorded 1972
Ronald Turini piano
Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 2
Chopin: Etudes - Ballade No. 1
Hindemith: Piano Sonata No. 2
plus works by Liszt - Scriabin
Mendelssohn - Ravel - Scarlatti
Recorded 1961
Recorded 1961
Sviatoslav Richter
Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 3
Piano Sonata No. 9
Piano Sonata No. 10
Piano Sonata No. 17
Piano Sonata No. 23
Recorded 1960
Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 3
Piano Sonata No. 9
Piano Sonata No. 12
Piano Sonata No. 22
Piano Sonata No. 23
Recorded 1960
Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 3
Piano Sonata No. 8
Sonatina Pastorale
Paysage
Recorded 1960
Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 50
Chopin: Ballade No. 3 - Scherzo No. 4
Rachmaninov: Preludes
Ravel: Jeux d´Eau
Le Vallée des Cloches
Prokofiev
Sonata No. 6
Visions Fugitives
Recorded 1960
Mstislav Rostropovich
Works by Elgar - Brahms - TchaikovskyProkofiev - Shostakovich - Piston
Vivaldi - Strauss - Respighi
Foss - Tchaikovsky B. - Tartini
Hindemith - Lalo - Bloch
Khrennikov - Levitin - Honegger - Britten
Itzhak Perlman violin
London Symphony Orchestra
Lukas Foss
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Recorded 1967
Digital download, covers
↧
Abel: Symphonies Op. 1 & Op. 4 (Kölner Akademie - Willens)
↧
Abel - Symphonies, Op. 7 (La Stagione Frankfurt - Schneider)
↧
↧
Brahms: Symphony No.3 & Elgar: Symphony No.1 - Adrian Boult
05. - 08. Edward Elgar - Symphony No.1 in A-flat major, op.55 [45'06]
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult
ICA Classics ICAC 5063 (recorded August 1977 and July 1976*; CD issued 2012)
(digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: Royal Albert Hall, London - BBC broadcasts from Promenade Concerts.
This generous and apt coupling of two of Sir Adrian's favourite symphonies contains two of his finest recorded performances. The Elgar had been released before on a BBC Music Magazine cover disc but this transfer seems more vivid somehow - emphasising what a superb and thrilling performance it is. The BBC orchestra play their hearts out for their beloved leader. For once, the roar of approval from the prommers is rightly bestowed.
The performance of the Brahms third symphony is also very fine - closer in feel to his earlier mono commercial recording for Pye Nixa rather than the slightly staid later recording for EMI. As usual with Sir Adrian, this is an unsentimental reading and here the tempi seem just right to me.
The stereo recordings are excellent in both symphonies.
Download from MEGA.
↧
Bruckner - Symphony No. 5 - Thielemann - Munchner Philharmoniker
↧
M Haydn: Divertimenti, Quintetto (Concilium Musicum, Paul Angerer)
Divertimento in D, for Two Violins, Viola & Continuo, P. 93, MH 319 & 320
Divertimento in G for Two Violins & Bass, P. 103, MH 6
Divertimento in Eb, for Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Horn & Bassoon, P. 111, MH516
(Period Instruments)Divertimento in G for Two Violins & Bass, P. 103, MH 6
Divertimento in Eb, for Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Horn & Bassoon, P. 111, MH516
Paul Angerer, Concilium Musicum Wien
(Period Instruments)
Cavalli CCD 252 (2002)
[Flac & Scans]
↧
Faure - Complete Chamber Music For Strings And Piano - Ebene SQ - Angelich - Capuçon - Causee - Erato
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Complete Chamber Music for Strings and PianoThe Two Violin Sonatas
The Two Cello Sonatas
Piano Trio
String Quartet
The Two Piano Quartets
The Two Piano Quintets
Renaud Capuçon violin
Gautier Capuçon cello
Gérard Caussé viola
Michel Dalberto piano
Nicholas Angelich piano
Quatuor Ébène
Erato 2011
digital download, booklet and cover
Two pianists are involved: Nicholas Angelich and Michel Dalberto share duties, and there's little to chose between them, though Dalberto is perhaps the marginally more expressively expansive. There's also sometimes a slight discrepancy in the recorded sound, even between works apparently recorded in the same set of sessions – with the piano sometimes more recessed than at others. But the ear adjusts quickly and the performances have such musicality these things hardly matter; it's a real treat to hear chamber-music playing of such assurance and enquiring intelligence.(The Guardian)
↧
↧
M Haydn, Eybler, Pleyel: Cassation, Clarinet Concerto, Symphony (Angerer, Concilium Musicim)
Cassation for Orchestra in D major, MH 171 (P 89)
Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765-1846)
Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra in B-flat major
Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831)
Symphony in F major (Symphonie Périodique), Op. 27, B. 140
Paul Angerer, Concilium Musicum, Wien
(Period Instruments)
Cavalli CCD 414 (2001)
[Flac & Scans]
↧
Hoffmeister, J & M Haydn: Symphony, Arias, Serenata (Angerer, Concillium Musicucm)
Symphony in D major
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
l meglio mio carattere, Hob.XXIVb-17
Quando la rosa ... Finché l'agnello, Hob.XXIVb-3
D'una sposa meschinella, Hob.XXIVb-2
Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806)
Serenata for Orchestra in D major, MH 86 (P 87)
Paul Angerer, Concilium Musicum, Wien
(Period Instruments)
Cavalli CCD 449 (2006)
[Flac & Scans]
↧
Haydn, Pleyel, Süßmayr, Mozart: Symphonies (Angerer, Concillium Musicum)
Symphony No. 85 in B-flat major (La Reine) Hob.I-85
Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831)
Sinfonie Concertante for Violin & Viola, Op. 35
Franz Xavier Süßmayr (1766-1803)
Symphony in C major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
German Dances for Orchestra, K. 571 Nos 1 & 6
Paul Angerer, Concilium Musicum
(Period Instruments)
Cavalli CCD 422 (2002)
[Flac & Scans]
↧
Gerald Finzi: Dies natalis - by Ian Bostridge, Wilfred Brown and four more
01. - 03. Concerto for Clarinet and Strings, op.31# [27'48]
04. Romance in E-flat major, op.11 [7'13]
05. Nocturne 'New Year Music', op.7 [10'00]
06. - 10. Dies natalis, op.8* [23'40]
Ian Bostridge- tenor*; Andrew Marriner- clarinet#; Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Neville Marriner
Philips 454438-2 (recorded June 1996; CD issued 1997)
(CD-rip; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
06. Ralph Vaughan Williams: O Clap Your Hands# [3'18]
07. Gustav Holst: A Choral Fantasia, op.51 H.177^ [17'15]
08. Gustav Holst: Two Psalms, H.117 - No. 1, Psalm 86 'To my humble supplication'^ [7'59]
09. - 13. Gerald Finzi: Dies natalis, op.8* [23'44]
John Shirley-Quirk- baritone*, Choir of King's College Cambridge, English Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Willcocks#; Janet Baker- mezzo, Ian Partridge- tenor, Purcell Singers, English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Imogen Holst^; Wilfred Brown- tenor, English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Finzi*
EMI CDM 565588-2 (recorded 1968# and 1963*^; this CD issued 1996)
(CD-rip; flacs, cover and inlay scans, no booklet)
01. - 05. Dies natalis, op.8* [26'10]
06. Earth and Air and Rain - IV. When I set out for Lyonnesse^ [2'19]
07. Interlude for oboe and strings, op.21 [13'02]
08. - 09. Farewell to Arms, op.9^ [8'36]
10. - 11. Two Sonnets, op.12* [9'15]
12. - 16, Let Us Garlands Bring# [15'15]
Rebecca Evans- soprano*; Toby Spence- tenor^; Michael George- baritone#; Nicholas Daniel- oboe; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley
Conifer Classics 75605 51285-2 (recorded June 1996; CD issued 1997)
(Digital download; flacs, poor booklet, cover & inlay scans)
01. - 05. For St Cecilia, op.30" [17'38]
06. - 10. Dies natalis, op. 8*" [24'55]
11. - 12. In terra pax^# [17'02]
13. Magnificat, op36 'My soul doth magnify the Lord' # [10'12]
Philip Langridge- tenor*; John Shirley-Quirk- baritone & Norma Burrowes- soprano^; Richard Hickos Singers and City of London Sinfonia#; London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus"; conducted by Richard Hickox
Decca 425660-2 (recorded February 1978"& January 1979#; CD issued 1990)
(CD-rip; flacs, poor booklet, cover & inlay scans)
02. - 06. Gerald Finzi: Dies natalis, op.8* [27'03]
07. - 10. William Walton: Sonata for String Orchestra [28'38]
Toby Spence- tenor*; Scottish Chamber Orchestra lead by Jonathan Morton
Wigmore Hall WHLIVE 0021 (recorded October 2007; CD issued 2008)
(Digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
09. - 13. Gerald Finzi; Dies natalis, op.8* [25'11]
Andrew Kennedy- tenor, BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by James Judd*; Steven Isserlis- cello, BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky^
BBCMM 364 (recorded January 1994^ & February 2006*; CD issued with BBC Music Magazine December 2013)
(CD-rip; flacs, cover & inlay scans, no booklet)
Gerald Finzi's setting of verses by the 17th century metaphysical poet Thomas Traherne is his masterpiece and one of my favourites. Originally intended for soprano voice, it is much more frequently performed by tenors. The first verse setting, Rhapsody, is relatively easy on the voice but subsequent verses are extremely difficult and often high lying resulting in great strain for many artists who have recorded the work.
Of course, tolerance of a voice is a very personal thing and everybody has their likes and dislikes. I have little tolerance of the current fashion for forced vibrato-laden delivery - for instance. For me, the only completely satisfactory vocal performances that I have heard are this Ian Bostridge recording from 1996 (before he became impossibly mannered), closely followed by Wilfred Brown's classic, and now elusive, performance from 1969. Brown has a less 'pure' voice than Bostridge but delivers with more passion.
Unfortunately, Bostridge is a bit let down by some fairly routine conducting from Neville Marriner. This issue of Wilfred Brown's recording is also distinguished by including the original World Record Club LP coupling of the Holst Works with Janet Baker outstanding in the Choral Fantasia and all three works conducted by their composers' progeny - Holst's daughter Imogen and Finzi's son Christopher. So, for me, overall Wilfred Brown's remains a top recommendation.
Rebecca Evans starts well in one of only three recordings by sopranos that I know of, but later becomes increasingly shrill and with a tendency to shout. I find it impossible to derive much pleasure from her performance and it is only the superior conducting by Vernon Handley, the all Finzi collection and some excellent accompanying performances that make this issue worthwhile.
The other recordings in this collection - by Langridge, Spence and Kennedy - I would generally characterise as 'quite good'. Toby Spence's recording is distinguished by excellent diction and interesting instrumental detail from the small body of strings but Andrew Kennedy's recording has an incongruous coupling with Tavener's, to me, interminably tedious Protecting Veil.
Given the number of recordings and the popularity of Dies natalis available nowadays, it seems incredible that in the early 1990s there was a period of two or three years when there was no recording available at all (at least in the UK) between the deletion of Philip Langridge's recording and the brief appearance of this CD issue of Wilfred Brown's recording.
Some additional personal notes:
1. Two other 'quite good' performances, by Susan Gritton and the BBC Symphony under Edward Gardner for Chandos in 2009 and by Mark Padmore with the Britten Sinfonia for Harmonia Mundi in 2011, are available as torrent downloads from RuTracker. James Gilchrist with the Bournemouth Symphony under David Hill for Naxos is also available from RuTracker and the Magical Journey blog but I can't tolerate his performance. All three have plentiful seeders.
2. My apologies for the accompanying poor documentation for the Wilfred Brown, Philip Langridge and Andrew Kennedy rips. The former was sent to me by a friend without any documentation and I ripped the Langridge (but had no scanner at the time) and then disposed of the CD when I obtained a later British Music Collection twofer issued in 2001 with much more music of Finzi. It wasn't until after that disposal that I discovered that the performance of one of the works on the disc, In terra pax, had been substituted by an inferior recording with David Hill and the Winchester Cathedral Choir. I have therefore had to cobble together what I could find on the interweb. I have, however, included the booklet from the twofer (Decca 468 807-2) which contains information about three of the works and can provide a rip of that set if anyone wants it. The Andrew Kennedy came from a magazine obtained when I visited the UK - the disc being ripped at that time but no scan of the booklet being possible. In addition, the Rebecca Evans download came without any documentation other than a cover scan. If anybody should have these missing booklets, I would appreciate a copy.
3. Apart from the three downloads mentioned above, the only other recordings that I know of is one from 1996 by John Mark Ainsley and the Corydon Orchestra for Hyperion and one from 2010 by the soprano Valdine Anderson and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra for CBC - but I have never heard either of them. If anybody should have either, I would very much appreciate an upload.
4. Where known, discographic details are included in the music files'"comments" tag.
Download from MEGA.
↧
↧
Ligeti - Le Grand Macabre - Howarth
György Ligeti
Le Grand Macabre
Dieter Weller Nekrotzar
Penelope Walmsley-Clark Amanda
Olive Fredericks Amando
Peter Haage Piet
Christa Puhlmann-Richter Mescalina
Kevin Smith Prince Go-Go
Ude Krekow Astradamors
Eirian Davies Secret Police Chief
Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Austrian Radio Chorus
Gumpoldskirch Boys Choir
Elgar Howarth
Wergo 1991
You can read the libretto here
flac, cue,logs, scans and covers
↧
Capuzzi: String Quintets Op. 3 Vol. 1 (Goldsmith, La Motte, Carrettin, Ewer, Estes)
String Quintets Op. 3 Nos. 2, 5 & 6 (1783)
Kenneth Goldsmith, Adam La Motte, Violins
Zachary Carrettin, Gregory Ewer, Violas
Steve Estes, Cello
(Period Instruments)
Cinnabar Records CNB105 (2005)
(Unfortunately, this label went out of business and never released Vol. 2)
[Flac & Scans]
↧
Historic Four - Martinon - The Philips Legacy
The Philips Legacy
Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Falla: El Amor Brujo
Falla: Noches en los jardines de España
Fauré: Pavane, Op. 50
Honegger: Pastorale d'été
Mozart: Symphony No. 31 in D, K297 'Paris'
Mozart: Symphony No. 32 in G major, K318
Mozart: Symphony No. 33 in B flat major, K319
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 'Classical'
Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges: Suite Op. 33a
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43 - Suite No. 1
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43 - Suite No. 2
Roussel: Le Festin de l'Araignée, Op. 17 - fragments symphoniques
Eduardo Del Pueyo piano
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux
Jean Martinon
Philips - Recorded 1953-56
Decca Eloquence Edition 2014
digital download, cover
digital download, cover
↧
