Category: Recordings

A yellow banner in the lower right hand corner of the slip case cover (identical to that of the jewel box and booklet) proclaims this CD as the “first world recording” of Gaetano Donizetti’s Alahor in Granata.

Virtuosic, expressive, subtle evocative ñ these words can be used to describe various aspects of the Lieder of Richard Strauss.

From the 2004 Aix en Provence Festival comes this Luc Bondy staging of Handel’s oratorio Hercules, an achingly serious and sober portrayal of Olympian rage and jealousy.

In the 1890s, the term ìdivaî was first used in print to refer to an opera singer or stage star.

Among the exciting new releases in Naxosís series of 21st Century Classics is a compilation of four works by Wojciech Kilar (b. 1932), which include two symphonic compositions and two vocal pieces.

This is a recital disc notable for the compelling presence and intimacy of the vocal performance.

Among the outstanding interpreters of Mahlerís music, Pierre Boulez stands out for his recent recordings of the composerís symphonies. Having worked with various international orchestras, Boulez has been preserving on CD some finely shaped performances, and if he intends to create a cycle akin to those of other conductors, he is wisely recording the works one by one and not necessarily in the order in which they were composed.

The daily Anglican liturgies of Morning and Evening Prayer feature the recitation of the complete Psalter (apportioned in a monthly cycle), and in cathedrals and collegiate chapels, the chanting of the psalms has been cultivated to a degree of great refinement and beauty.

Of late opera stagings often seem to be slotted into one of two categories: the “traditional,” with sets as the original libretto detailed and singers in period costumes; and “non-traditional,” “regie theater,” or “Eurotrash,” what you will.

Having spent the better part of its life at full-price, the Solti/Nilsson Salome now appears as a mid-priced re-issue.