A newly compiled, generous, 4CD collection of high-octane Russian orchestral masterpieces, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the firebrand musicianship of Dutch maestro Edo de Waart. ‘In my profession,’ remarked Edo de Waart in a 1990 interview, ‘you need the affrontery to believe you have an alternative with something to say […]
Made early in Edo de Waart’s recording career with the superb Netherlands Wind Ensemble – probably the leading wind ensemble in the world – these are gloriously rich and autumnally-hued performances of two of Mozart’s greatest Serenades, coupled with a little-known Adagio.
Two of Grieg’s most popular works on a single CD. The ‘Peer Gynt’ excerpts are more extended than those normally encountered on the suites, incorporating both choruses (in ‘In The Hall of the Mountain King’, for example) and songs (those of Solveig). To finish, Marriner directs one of the freshest performances of the zestful ‘Holberg […]
Two magnificent French symphonies coupled on one disc. The Bizet is a light-hearted early work and this delectable recording by Haitink and the Concertgebouw has too long been out of the catalogue. Its sentiments aren’t that far removed from ‘Jeux d’enfants‘ (Children’s Games) – an orchestration of selected pieces from the piano-duet suite of the […]
This generously compiled CD brings together two great sopranos – Hildegard Behrens and Elly Ameling – in ravishing French music for the voice and orchestra. The entire Ameling/de Waart recording (Ravel, Duparc, Debussy) is coupled with the Berlioz cycle, the former making a welcome return to the catalogue after a long absence and showcasing the […]
It is customary – although also somewhat arbitrary – to divide Beethoven’s career into early, middle and late periods. Be that as it may, his only completed violin concerto comes from the middle period. (Beethoven had attempted a violin concerto in 1790 but only 259 bars of it survive.) He began writing it in late […]
Saint-Saëns’s complete piano concertos on a 2CD Eloquence set presents some truly rare recordings – Campanella’s of the Fourth and Tagliaferro’s of the Fifth. And while the second is oft-played, this set gives the listener an opportunity to discover the lesser known First and Third. Also included is the first release on CD of ‘Wedding […]
A stunning Wagner collection featuring all the major overtures and preludes (including the very rare and very beautiful ‘Die Feen’ – The Fairies), this collection is also noteworthy for other reasons. For a start, it brings together in a single collection the complete Decca Wagner recordings of Zubin Mehta and the complete Philips Wagner recordings […]
A simply gorgeous recording of the most popular Violin romances. The recording had long been deleted from the catalogue and is now reissued with the added ‘bonus’ of the Schubert Rondo.
Overshadowed by his father, Michael Haydn penned some delectable music and here are father and son on a single disc of Violin Concertos, completed with two Mozart ‘movements’.
