Posts tagged as "felix-mendelssohn"

Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

May 25, 2016

Among Abbado’s first recordings, these performances of two of Mendelssohn’s favourite symphonies are some of the most sparkling and vivid to have been recorded. They date from 1968 when Abbado was under contract to Decca and have remained benchmark recommendations for these works ever since

Brahms: Double Concerto; Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings

May 25, 2016

The first-ever pairing of these two marvellous ‘Double’ Concertos on CD. The Brahms is a classic performance, gutsy as well as autumnal and the work comes from towards the end of the composer’s rich harvest. The Mendelssohn, by far the lesser-known of the two pieces, conversely comes from the beginning of his life – in […]

Aromatherapy – Vol. 1

May 25, 2016

Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the first volume, Music for Relaxation, offers a miscellany of classical pieces from piano (the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata) to orchestral music by Grieg, Elgar and Borodin.

Grieg: Piano Sonata. Liszt: Piano Sonata

May 24, 2016

Alicia de Larrocha’s magisterial, sonorous, even coruscating performance of Liszt’s B minor Sonata is here preceded by altogether more genteel repertoire from the 19th century – pairs of pieces by Grieg and Mendelssohn. A rarity – making its first appearance on CD internationally – is Grieg’s only solo piano sonata which was written in eleven days […]

Songs of Inspiration

April 29, 2016

For their 1989 festival, the committee of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir invited Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to join the Choir and the Utah Symphony Orchestra under maestro Julius Rudel. The choice of repertoire remained open and Dame Kiri selected a highly appropriate program of inspirational works that she could share with the choir and its […]

Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

April 29, 2016

Two recordings make their international CD premieres here. Solti recorded both these popular Mendelssohn symphonies twice for Decca and these are the earlier versions. The ‘Scottish’ dates from November 1952 and is in mono. The ‘Italian’ in stereo, recorded 1958, also with producer John Culshaw, is an absolute legend and has had many requests over […]

Mendelssohn: String Symphonies Nos. 9, 10, 12; Piano Concerto in A minor

April 29, 2016

Bringing together four of Mendelssohn’s earliest works, this collection also showcases Marriner and the Academy in one of their earliest recordings – that of three of the composer’s String Symphonies. Warmly recorded and virtuosically despatched, they are coupled with a scintillating (unnumbered) Piano Concerto by Mendelssohn, with John Ogdon as a fleet-fingered soloist.

Standing Ovation – Popular Overtures

April 29, 2016

A thrilling collection of Overtures and Preludes (with some popular orchestral pieces thrown in for good measure) from Zubin Mehta. As a showman of the best variety, his recordings remain one of the Decca catalogue’s richest legacies with more than half of this collection released on CD for the first time.

Romantic Violin Concertos – Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Dvorak

April 22, 2016

A double-CD of Romantic Violin Concertos celebrating the art of Ruggiero Ricci, this set includes the first international release on CD of the Ricci/Boult 1952 recording of the Beethoven. Boult characterised it as ‘perhaps the most thoughtful concerto, the one which needs for the violinist to be a great man as well as a great […]

The Flagstad Recitals – Vol. 4: Songs For Sunday

April 22, 2016

The fourth volume in ‘The Flagstad Recitals’, comprises two LPs Kirsten Flagstad made with the London Philharmonic and Sir Adrian Boult in December 1956 (Bach and Handel: CD2) and April 1957 (Sacred Songs: CD1) at London’s Kingsway Hall. The Penguin Guide to bargain Compact Discs praised the ‘sacred pops’ CD for the ‘vivid projection’ of […]