Tags
Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake, The Nutcracker – Fistoulari
29 Tuesday Jan 2019
29 Tuesday Jan 2019
Tags
25 Friday Jan 2019
Tags
25 Tuesday Dec 2018
11 Tuesday Sep 2018
Posted Chesky
in04 Tuesday Sep 2018
Posted Pristine
inTags
06 Sunday May 2018
Posted Pristine
in14 Wednesday Feb 2018
Posted Pristine
inTags
21 Saturday Oct 2017
Posted Guild, Guild Historical Recordings
in20 Friday Oct 2017
Posted Guild, Guild Historical Recordings
in25 Thursday May 2017
Posted Testament
inTags
21 Friday Apr 2017
Tags
Adrian Boult, Beethoven, Bruch, Fistoulari, Joe Seiger, Korngold, Krips, Mischa Elman, Mozart, Solti, Tchaikovsky, Vitali, Wieniawski
26 Thursday Jan 2017
19 Thursday Jan 2017
15 Sunday Jan 2017
Tags
Adrian Boult, Ansermet, Argenta, Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, Cesar Franck, Chopin, Erno von Dohnányi, Ferencsik, Fistoulari, Gershwin, Grieg, Josef Suk, Karl Munchinger, Katchen, Kertész, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Monteux, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Peter Maag, Piero Gamba, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Ricci, Rorem, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Solti, Starker, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky
29 Saturday Oct 2016
Posted Boxset, Mercury, Mercury Living Presence
inTags
Albeniz, Barber, Bartok, Beethoven, Bizet, Chabrier, Debussy, Delibes, Dorati, Dvorak, Falla, Fistoulari, Frederick Fennell, Gershwin, Grainger, Gustav Holst, Hindemith, Howard Hanson, Ives, Jacques Ibert, Kubelik, Marcel Dupre, Milhaud, Morton Gould, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Paul Paray, Rafael Puyana, Ravel, Respighi, Roussel, Saint-Saëns, Schoenberg, Starker, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, Webern, Widor
Label : Mercury
Format : Flac track
Cover : Yes
This new collection of 55 CDs from the acclaimed Mercury Living Presence label offers a wealth of recordings from the 1950s and 1960s in an unrivalled range of repertory from solo Bach played by harpsichordist Rafael Puyana and American composer and conductor Howard Hanson in his own works as well as music by fellow-Americans, and Antal Dorati in works ranging from Beethoven to Bartok and Berg. Frederick Fennell, Rafael Kubelik, Paul Paray and Janos Starker are among the other key artists in the set.
20 Thursday Oct 2016
Posted Boxset, Music & Arts
in18 Sunday Sep 2016
Posted Doremi, Doremi Legendary Treasures
in01 Thursday Sep 2016
Tags
Adrian Boult, Aronowitz, Bach JS, Balsam, Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Chausson, Copland, Corelli, Cyril Scott, Debussy, Delibes, Delius, Derek Simpson, Dvorak, Edouard Lalo, Falla, Faure, Fistoulari, Gaspar Cassadó, Gendron, Gerald Moore, Granados, Handel, Hubert Giesen, Jean Fournet, Kreisler, Leclair, Locatelli, Louis Kentner, Maksymiuk, Mendelssohn, Menuhin, Monteux, Mozart, Nicanor Zabaleta, Novacek, Paganini, Pritchard, Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov, Robert Irving, Rossini, Sarasate, Schubert, Schumann, Spohr, Tartini, Tchaikovsky, Tuckwell, Viotti, Wieniawski
Label : Warner
Format : Flac (image + cue)
Cover : Yes
Unpublished material and recordings previously unreleased on CD by EMI or Warner. This box includes Menuhin’s first recordings (USA, 1928), and recordings from as late as 1981
27 Saturday Aug 2016
Tags
Beethoven, Brahms, Fistoulari, Karl Munchinger, Kempen, Kempff, Konwitschny, Krips, Kubelik, Leitner, Liszt, Mozart, Schumann
07 Sunday Aug 2016
Posted Boxset, EMI, EMI Collectors
inTags
Adrian Boult, Bach JS, Barshai, Bartok, Beethoven, Berg, Boulez, Brahms, Bruch, Corelli, Dorati, Edouard Lalo, Elgar, Fistoulari, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Gaston Poulet, Gioconda De Vito, Goossens, Haydn, Kempe, Mendelssohn, Menuhin, Mozart, Nielsen, Paganini, Pritchard, Saint-Saëns, Sibelius, Susskind, Tchaikovsky, Tippett, Vieuxtemps, Vivaldi, Walton, Woldike
27 Monday Jun 2016
Posted Boxset, Decca, Decca Original Masters
in27 Monday Jun 2016
Posted Boxset, DG, DG Original Masters
inTags
Beethoven, Brahms, Fistoulari, Karl Munchinger, Kempen, Kempff, Konwitschny, Krips, Liszt, Mozart, Schumann
08 Sunday May 2016
Posted Collection, Decca, Decca Legendary Performances
inTags
Adrian Boult, Ansermet, Anthony Lewis, Ashkenazy, Borodin, Boskovsky, Britten, Curzon, di Stefano, Dutoit, Eduard Strauss, Fistoulari, Giuseppe Taddei, Glinka, Janet Baker, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss, Karajan, Kondrashin, Leontyne Price, Liszt, Maazel, Mussorgsky, Peter Pears, Prokofiev, Puccini, Purcell, Rachmaninov, Radu Lupu, Ravel, Respighi, Ricci, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert, Solti, Suppe, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams
23 Saturday Apr 2016
Posted Boxset, Decca, Phase 4 Stereo
inTags
Arthur Fiedler, Bach JS, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bernard Herrmann, Bizet, Britten, Carl Orff, Charles Munch, Dorati, Dvorak, Edward Downes, Eric Rogers, Fistoulari, Gershwin, Glazunov, Henry Lewis, Ilana Vered, Ivan Davis, Jean Fournet, Johann Strauss II, Ketelbey, Khachaturian, Kodaly, Leinsdorf, Liszt, Maazel, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mussorgsky, Offenbach, Philip Sousa, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Respighi, Ricci, Richard Strauss, Rimsky-Korsakov, Robert Sharples, Rodney Bashford, Rossini, Rozsa, Schubert, Stanley Black, Stokowski, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Wagner
Label : Decca
Format : Flac track
Cover : No
Decca’s legendary Phase 4 series started off in 1961 with a number of gimmicky titles designed to showcase their bold new approach to stereo. The company had already set new sonic standards with their Ernest Ansermet/Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s; those pioneering efforts, reissued countless times, sound wonderful in their most recent re-masters. In contrast to that emphasis on high seriousness – both musical and technical – Phase 4 was aimed at a broader, less demanding audience in search of aural excitement and adventure. Indeed, the word ‘Spectacular’ appeared in both the Phase 4 logo and in several album titles.
In 1964 Decca launched their Phase 4 Concert Series with a string of safe bets. These included Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite with Stanley Black and the London Festival Orchestra (PFS 4036) and an all-Tchaikovsky disc from the same ensemble conducted by Robert ‘Bob’ Sharples (PFS 4044). The LFO, a mainstay of the Phase 4 project, was set up in the 1950s as Decca’s ‘house orchestra’. Meanwhile, as composers, arrangers and band leaders both Sharples and Black had an established reputation that made them an ideal ‘bridge’ between the light catalogue and the more serious one. Black is particularly well represented in this new Decca box; Sharples leads the charge in the bonus disc, Battle Stereo (PFS 4034).
Once the Concert Series had gained traction Decca introduced some heavyweight conductors, among them Antal Doráti, Leopold Stokowski, Arthur Fiedler and Bernard Herrmann; they hired high-profile orchestras too, notably the Royal Philharmonic, the New Philharmonia and the London Symphony. Even their roster of soloists improved, with mezzo Marilyn Horne singing excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen, violinist Ruggiero Ricci in Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos, and pianist Ilana Vered in Mozart, Stravinsky and the faddish Yellow River Concerto.
22 Friday Apr 2016
Tags
Adrian Boult, Albeniz, Alfredo Campoli, Ansermet, Anthony Collins, Argenta, Arthur Bliss, Backhaus, Bartok, Beecham, Beethoven, Bloch, Boccherini, Boyd Neel, Brahms, Britten, Bruckner, Chabrier, Clemens Krauss, Curzon, Debussy, Dennis Brain, Desormière, Elgar, Enescu, Erich Kleiber, Ferras, Fistoulari, Fournier, Gendron, Griller String Quartet, Gulda, Handel, Haydn, Honegger, Jean Fournet, Johann Strauss II, Katchen, Khachaturian, Knappertsbusch, Kreisler, Krips, Lympany, Magaloff, Martinon, Mischa Elman, Mozart, Nelsova, Nielsen, Paganini, Peter Maag, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Quartetto Italiano, Quintetto Chigiano, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Ricci, Robert Irving, Roussel, Schubert, Schumann, Schuricht, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Solti, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Thomas Jensen, van Beinum, Vaughan Williams, Wagner, Wiener Oktett
Label : Decca
Format : Flac track
Cover : No
Decca’s big box “Mono Years” retrospective focuses on orchestral and instrumental recordings made between 1944 and 1956, many of which appear for the first time on CD. Its 53 discs are packaged in original jacket facsimiles (many including generous “bonus” fillers), ordered alphabetically by performer, and for the most part transferred from the best possible sources. If Decca lacked the strong artist and repertoire policies that distinguished EMI and RCA Victor during that time, its early outreach into local European markets actually yielded a surprisingly eclectic, far-reaching, and unpredictable catalog. Unpredictable, in fact, is the operative word regarding the set’s overall artistic and sonic quality.
Decca’s “Full Frequency Range Recording” engineering yielded some of the mono era’s best-sounding releases, like the Jean Martinon/London Philharmonic Lalo Suites from Namouna and concerted works with pianist Kathleen Long contained on Disc 38. By contrast, the Eric Tuxen/Danish Radio Symphony Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 sounds as if the hard-pressed orchestra had been shoved into an airless closet. Yet another dynamically constricted Danish Radio Symphony release conveys vivid detail and far superior playing in Sibelius’ complete Lemminkainen Suite under Thomas Jensen. Similarly, London’s orchestras could be strident and scrappy in Elgar and Vaughan Williams with Anthony Collins in charge, or positively shine in Haydn, Kodály, Mozart, and Bartók when the young Georg Solti wielded the baton.
You never knew what you’d get from the post-war Vienna Philharmonic: phoning in Haydn and Beethoven for Karl Münchinger; oozing charm (if not tip-top precision) for Hans Knappertsbusch in Bruckner’s Third Symphony, corrupt text and all; or trying hard to reconcile their genial style within Erich Kleiber’s forthright rhythmic integrity in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
21 Thursday Apr 2016
Tags
Abbado, Ansermet, Ashkenazy, Bartok, Beethoven, Bernstein, Bloch, Bonynge, Brahms, Britten, Bruckner, Cesar Franck, Chopin, Copland, Curzon, David Oistrakh, Debussy, Dorati, Dutoit, Dvorak, Fistoulari, Fitzwilliam Quartet, Fjeldstad, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Gardelli, Gershwin, Grieg, Gustav Holst, Haitink, Haydn, Hindemith, Horenstein, Horst Stein, Karajan, Karl Munchinger, Kertész, Kodaly, Krips, Kyung Wha Chung, Maazel, Mahler, Massenet, Mehta, Mendelssohn, Monteux, Montsalvatge, Mozart, Offenbach, Pascal Roge, Piero Gamba, Previn, Prokofiev, Puccini, Radu Lupu, Ravel, Ricci, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rostropovich, Saint-Saëns, Schmidt-Isserstedt, Schoenberg, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Serafin, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Solti, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Walter Weller, Walton, Wolf-Ferrari
Label : Decca
Format : Flac track
Cover : Front
In the late 1940s, the pioneering Decca recording engineers perfected a new set of microphone techniques that allowed the full range of frequencies to be fully heard by listeners for the first time, and the term ‘full frequency range recording’ was launched. It was a major revolution in sound quality, and the beginnings of high fidelity.
Perfected with the birth of stereo in the mid-1950s, Decca’s ‘Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound’ became a worldwide hallmark of sonic excellence and a golden age of classical recorded music was born. THE ANALOGUE YEARS presents a 50-Album overview across 53 CDs, in original jackets, of the celebrated international recordings that emerged from the London-based record label in that pre-digital era.
20 Wednesday Apr 2016
Tags
Adrian Boult, Alfredo Campoli, András Schiff, Ansermet, Argenta, Ashkenazy, Bach JS, Barber, Bartok, Bartoli, Beethoven, Berg, Bloch, Blomstedt, Boskovsky, Brahms, Britten, Bruch, Bruckner, Chailly, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Curzon, Debussy, Dorati, Dvorak, Elgar, Falla, Fistoulari, Fleming, Freire, Granados, Grieg, Gustav Holst, Haitink, Haydn, Hogwood, Janacek, Janine Jansen, Joshua Bell, Karajan, Karl Bohm, Karl Munchinger, Katchen, Kempe, Kertész, Kyung Wha Chung, Larrocha, Maazel, Mackerras, Marriner, Martinon, Mehta, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Monteux, Moszkowski, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Pascal Roge, Peter Maag, Peter Pears, Pickett, Prokofiev, Puccini, Purcell, Rachmaninov, Radu Lupu, Ravel, Respighi, Richard Strauss, Saint-Saëns, Schoenberg, Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Solti, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Walton, Webern, Willcocks, Zinman
Label : Decca
Format : Flac track
Cover : Yes
This set is a marvel, a mostly wonderful 50-CD tribute to some of the finest stereo recordings ever made in the Classical medium. Smartly packaged, and intelligently chosen, the box is worth having even if one owns some of the contents already. And you are bound to, for even a novice collector will recognize the great singers, conductors, and soloists on display. It’s also reasonably priced on both sides of the pond, and is undoubtedly a limited edition, in the sense it will be pulled soon and sold at outrageous eBay prices. So if the prospect interests you, by all means indulge.
By and large the historical recordings are of more worth than the more recent offerings. Argenta, Martinon, and Maag all get a nod, and it’s equally nice to see that Ashkenazy is being recognized as both an arranger and conductor here. Karajan and Solti naturally appear, although it must be said that those are wholly successful appearances, Dorati gets tons of kudos on Mercury, so one disc will do here; I wish only that it were Haydn. Schiff’s justly famous Goldberg’s are here, and Radu Lupu gets a disc, even if it’s hardly the best. Britten’s War Requiem with the composer conducting has been jammed onto one disc, as if it could get any more essential, and Kerstez’s Vienna 9th and London 8th make a memorable Dvorák disc indeed.
19 Saturday Mar 2016
Posted Esoteric, Remastered, SACD
inTags
23 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted EMI, EMI 20th Century
inTags
Fistoulari, Glazunov, Matacic, Milstein, Rostropovich, Steinberg, Svetlanov
20 Saturday Feb 2016
Tags
Bach JS, Balsam, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Chausson, Dvorak, Firkusny, Fistoulari, Glazunov, Golschmann, Handel, Leon Barzin, Leon Pommers, Mendelssohn, Milstein, Mozart, Prokofiev, Robert Irving, Saint-Saëns, Steinberg, Susskind, Tartini, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi
Label : EMI
Format : APE
Cover : Yes Continue reading
08 Monday Feb 2016
06 Sunday Dec 2015
Posted Boxset, Decca, Decca Original Masters
in