Abbado Celebrated In Music Recalling Beloved Conductor
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL REVIEW - When the late Claudio Abbado's health began to interfere with his ability to function, the Lucerne Festival gathered musicians around Europe into a summer orchestra just for him. Their memorial tribute is on Blu-ray.
2 Recordings Pull Composers From History’s Shadow
By Paul E. Robinson
Clara Schumann's half-brother Woldemar Bargiel, well-known in his time, is one of two composers whose music has been rescued on recent recordings. The other taught Bernstein, Sessions and Carter as his own music lay silent.
In Recaptured 7th, Echo Of Great One That Got Away
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW - Dudamel’s recording from Caracas, with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, has many of the qualities that made their Los Angeles performance something to savor, but not the same electrifying intensity.
Stellar DVD Set Offers Cavalcade Of Strauss Operas
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL REVIEW - As part of the 150th Richard Strauss birthday celebrations in 2014, descendants selected seven of his operas captured on video from as early as 1965 for an impressive compilation that would enhance any collection.
Chailly’s Brahms Redux: Luminous Via Blu-ray Audio
By Lawrence B. Johnson
DIGITAL REVIEW - How could anyone be blasé about holding a substantial chunk of Brahms' life’s work on one little disc? Yet these Leipzig Gewandhaus performances with Riccardo Chailly transcend by far the slim form of the medium.
In Piano Duets, Schubert Sings, ‘Rite’ Isn’t Quite
By Robert Battey
DIGITAL REVIEW - Former Buenos Aires child prodigies Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim often collaborate as soloist and conductor, but before a concert caught on DG they had played duo pianos together only once.
Stunning ‘Babi Yar’ Caps Shostakovich Cycle By Petrenko
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW - Once a rarity, complete recordings of Shostakovich’s 15 symphonies now number well over a dozen. One of the best has just reached its conclusion with a powerful rendering of the choral Symphony No. 13.
Bartoli Rekindles Trove Of Arias From Old Russia
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL REVIEW - France was the model for Russia's tsaritsas, but not in musical matters. Italian composers beat a path to St. Petersburg in the 18th century. In her CD research pilgrimage, Cecilia Bartoli uncovered real gems.
‘Ring’ In Seattle: ‘Echt’ Wagner From Spirited Ensemble
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW — Against all odds, the upstart Seattle Opera made Wagner’s Ring its signature achievement in 1975, and just as astonishingly kept at it. Now the company is taking its 2013 Ring to the world in a CD box from Avie.
Lost Swedish Epic ‘The Jewish Song’ Reprinted On CD
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL REVIEW - There is really no excuse for Moses Pergament's magnum opus to languish in obscurity. The new CD incarnation of a notable 1974 LP may help to bring overdue attention to the late Finnish-Swedish composer.
Andriessen Opera Makes Impact In Audio And Video
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW -- The inventive Dutch composer's La Commedia is a burst of audacious and eclectic ideas — based on Dante's The Divine Comedy — in its CD/DVD debut. Expect equal helpings of shock tactics and lyricism.
Crumb’s Spanish, American Songs Make CD Debuts
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW - Before long, it seems, the words of Federico García Lorca will be set almost as many times as those of Shakespeare. For George Crumb, Sun and Shadow (2009) is his eleventh go at the Spanish poet.
Stravinsky’s Dim Hollywood Years Conjured on DVD
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW – In just 52 minutes, Marco Capalbo's new film summarizes how Stravinsky's stay in Southern California prompted a rebirth of his creative energies even though he was rejected by the Hollywood movie industry.
Swinging, Soulful B’way Cast Clicks In ‘West Side Story’
By Richard S. Ginell
Rejecting Leonard Bernstein's disjointed operatic approach, Michael Tilson Thomas' new recording is all of a piece, the sound of 1957 Broadway stretching confidently into fresh, tragic territory instead of a work at war with itself.
Nézet-Séguin CDs Display Schumann In Classical Light
By Paul Hyde
DIGITAL REVIEW – Working with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads streamlined readings of Schumann's four symphonies that bring out considerable detail often lost in a thicker orchestral sound.
Berlin PO Blazes Own Trail With Schumann Discs
By Nancy Malitz
DIGITAL REVIEW - In recording circles, May 2014 will be remembered as the Berlin Philharmonic's new spring. A bold Schumann project under Simon Rattle is the orchestra's first venture as a go-it-alone label.
Seattle Symphony Spotlights Carter In Label Launch
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW - Joining the go-it-alone recording trend, the Seattle Symphony under Ludovic Morlot has issued an all-American release including Elliott Carter's Instances, written for them at the unbelievable age of 103.
French Orientalist Opera Revived In Stylish Recording
By Marvin J. Ward
DIGITAL REVIEW – Félicien David's exotically tinged Lalla Roukh was popular at the Opéra-Comique in 1862, but it disappeared from the repertoire with its century. Naxos preserves its 2013 revival by Opera Lafayette.
Downsized Mahler Second Symphony Is Mixed Bargain
By Richard Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW – Gilbert Kaplan, who conducts only one work in public, the "Resurrection" Symphony, and who has already made two recordings, has just issued a third, for small orchestra. Yes, the mighty "Resurrection."
