Here we have another part of John Eliot Gardinerís remarkable Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, undertaken to performóand record liveóall of Bachís surviving church cantatas at many different churches in a single year.
Category: Reviews
SZYMANOWSKI: Piano Music
Piotr Anderszewski is a talented young pianist, who makes Szymanowskiís music come alive in his recent recording of three of the composerís major pieces.
King Arthur – the first musical?
Reviewing this DVD recording of Purcellís music-drama ìKing Arthurî from the 2004 Salzburg Festival was both a pleasure and a pain. The pleasure came from the intense, contagious sense of sheer fun that illuminates this production by Jurgen Flimm and Nikolaus Harnoncourt from start to finish.
The Karajan CollectionóWagner Orchestral Music
ìDas Wunder Karajanî ñ ìthe miracle of Karajanî ñ is a phrase associated with the conductor since he was thirty years old, and that phrase holds true in his recorded legacy. In addition to recent DVD releases, EMI has issued a series of CDs in its ìThe Karajan Collection,î which preserves many fine studio recordings.
The Karajan CollectionóPhilharmonia Promenade Concert
The rich legacy of Herbert von Karajan includes a number of recordings with various orchestras around the world, and among them is the Philharmonia Orchestra, which is documented in the CD entitled Philharmonia Promenade Concert. As Richard Osborne recounts in the notes that accompany this release, Herbert von Karajan made a number of recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra between 1948 and 1960.
DVO?¡K: Tone Poems
In a richly Bohemian folk-style, the Czech poet Karel JaromÌr Erben produced a collection of enchanted poetry that inspired AntonÌn Dvo?·k to compose his expressive array of hauntingly dark tone poems. Ultimately, the main character of each poem suffers a tragic consequence for their transgressions, ranging from the thoughtless utterances of a frustrated mother, to disobeying a parent, to murder.
PUCCINI: Tutti Libretti d’Opera
This is a collection of the original libretti to Puccini’s Le Villi, Edgar, Manon Lescaut, La BohËme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Fanciulla del West, La Rondine, Il Trittico (Gianni Schicchi, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica), and Turandot in nine booklets within a cardboard slipcase.
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 8
In recent years orchestras like the London Symphony have begun to release their own CDs, in lieu of pursing contracts recording firms. While the implications of this are best left to another discussion, it is significant to see that Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra now has its own label, and among its recordings is a fine live performance of Anton Brucknerís Symphony no. 8 in C minor, led by its conductor laureate, Bernard Haitink. This recording is actually made from performances given on 18 and 20 February 2005, and preserves an outstanding recent interpretation of this enduring work by Bruckner.
Walisische Lieder sind eine Entdeckung wert
Das walisische Label SAIN (das walisische Wort f¸r “Sound”), gegr¸ndet 1969 von Dafydd Iwan, Huw Jones und Brian Morgan Edwards, hat einen starken sozialen und politischen Anspruch und ist darauf spezialisiert, CD’s mit jungen S‰ngern und Liedern aus Wales und in walisischer Sprache herauszubringen.
Welsh songs worth discovering
SAIN (the Welsh word for ‘sound’, and pronounced like the English word ‘sign’) is Wales’ leading recording company, founded in 1969 in Cardiff by Dafydd Iwan, Huw Jones and Brian Morgan Edwards. The label has a strong social and political message, and for the first few years, SAIN specialised in songs by young singers, many of them concerning the national and linguistic resurgence of Wales, which had begun in the 60’s.