Sibelius recordings on the whole have been good to excellent. Over the years many conductors have traversed the Symphonies and Tone Poems with much success. A few performances stand out for me, and Ashkenazy with the Philharmonia Orchestra’s recording of Symphony 4 is a favorite. One of the early London digital recordings from 1981, I still play the LP. It has since been incorporated into several collections and the latest is of all 7 symphonies plus other works at a…
Bach’s ‘French Suites’ comprise 6 sets of suites for piano. The name ‘French’ was added on later, either to describe the style or to possibly differentiate them from the ‘English’ Suites. The do not really reflect a French style as such, but regardless this is a must-listen for lovers of piano music. There are numerous performances available, and most are more than acceptable. I have a preference for Andras Schiff and Glenn Gould. Schiff has a more set…
James Levine had a good run of Mahler recordings in the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s, and even won a Grammy for the recording of the 7th. I also had the 5th, 9th and 4th for years, and have enjoyed these interpretations with the Chicago, London and Philadelphia Symphonies. Sony has issued a barebones box set of all of Levine’s Mahler recordings for RCA. Levine did not record the 2nd or 8th at the time for RCA, and since they…
Some of Saint-Saens most familiar concertos on one album: Cello Concerto No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 2 and Violin Concerto No. 3. This is a compilation from the 1980’s on the CBS Masterworks label, not recompiled by Sony, but still available. The artwork leaves something to be desired, but the performances are first-rate. Yo-Yo Ma and Maazel on the Cello Concerto, Licad and Previn on Piano Concerto 2, and Cho-Liang Lin with Tilson Thomas on Violin Concerto 3. More than a…
Saint-Saen composed 5 symphonies, but 2 were published posthumously, so the Symphony No. 3 is actually the last symphony he composed. Known as the ‘Organ’ symphony, it is the only one of the 5 symphonies that is really in the basic repertoire. However, there is quite a bit to like about the other 4, and worth a listen. The best classic performance is by Charles Munch and the Boston SO on an RCA Living Stereo issue, with a wonderful performance…
Hermann Scherchen conducting Gustav Mahler. What’s not to like? The Vienna State Opera Orchestra play on this great Westminster recording. I have always thought that my first Mahler 2nd was the Bruno Walter version, but I recall purchasing a single LP version of the second before that. Now, that is a lot of music to pack onto one LP, and the sound was atrocious to say the least. It was a great performance from what I could tell, but the…
Yes, I have been working on the site, just in the background for the past month or so 🙂 Well, finally completed the reorganization of the CBS Great Performances listings. Cleaned up the layouts, fixed a few errors, found better covers, and even added a few back cover scans. BTW if you have some of these releases, please feel free to send on any back cover photos or CD booklet photos. I have almost every work, but not all are in…
Vivaldi is of course known for the ‘Four Seasons’, the first 4 works of his Op. 8 ‘The Contest Between Harmony and Invention’. His other Opus collections have a lot to offer, and are well worth checking out. The Op. 3 ‘L’Estro Armonico’ features 12 works for 1, 2 and 4 Violins. It is well-represented with many good recordings, but a few stand out. Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert hold the top honors. The 2 CD collections of these…
I posted a review and some other info at Amazon: This release combines recordings from the RCA and CBS vaults. Ormandy re-recorded many works when the Philadelphia Orchestra moved to RCA in the 1970’s. While not all of these recordings matched the earlier versions, several were better but have been mostly out of circulation for a while. The Shostakovich 5 is a particular favorite of mine, much better than the CBS version. Since there seems to be no real info…
Brandenburg Concertos / Orchestral Suites: Pinnock / English Concert
Swedish composer Franz Berwald may not be the best known composer, but his works are worth exploring. Naxos offers a budget CD that contains Symphonies 3 & 4 along with Piano Concerto No. 1. The performances are great and this is an inexpensive way to hear an unfamiliar composer. Symphonies 3 and 4 at Amazon
Roy Harris’ works are not that well known, but as an American 20th Century composer, he created some great works. His Symphony 3 is by far the most popular, and there is a nice recording at Archive.org from 1939. Well worth checking out. There is a good Naxos album of Symphonies 7 and 9, and to be honest I prefer them overall to the more famous 3rd. Harris is somewhat similar to Copland but with a more modern outlook, not…
BIS has released a box set of symphonies and other works by Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg SO. Formerly a 6CD set, it is now a download album, and at under $8 is a steal. While many listeners are familiar with Symphonies 4-6, and maybe No. 2 ‘Snow Maiden’, Symphonies 1 and 3 are well worth hearing. Add in some orchestral works, great BIS sound and solid performances, this is definitely a set to check out. Amazon MP3: http://a.basicrep.com/tch-jarvi iTunes…
Everest Records recorded the bulk of its famous classical albums from 1958 into the early 1960’s. Featuring new stereo recordings that were recorded on 35mm magnetic tape, its goal was to put out the best sounding classical albums available. On the recording roster were Stokowski, Susskind, and composers conducting their own works such as Aaron Copland. In the 1990’s CDs of much of the catalog were re-released, then just vanished except for the odd release by other labels. Countdown Media…
Get 99 Tracks for pennies a track! Get 100 tracks in our mega classical set! If you have checked out the Amazon MP3 store lately, there have been a flood of these ‘mega’ classical sets. From collections on a theme to sets dedicated to one composer, these sets are put out by X5 and Cobra Entertainment, to name a few. Many of these recordings seem to come from the bargain CDs you used to find at grocery stores or at…