Adagio Archive
HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx
HAYDN: Cello Concertos – Pavel Gozmiakov, cello/Orch. Gulbenkian – Onyx 4151, 59:55 (6/17/16) *****: The legendary King of Portugal 1725 Stradivarius makes police-escorted journey from museum to concert hall where it dazzles in two Haydn concertos. In some endeavors, say bird-watching, novelty is the desideratum. Last year a Siberian Bunting (sp. vlasowae) with a faulty compass created quite a stir as a rare guest from another continent. In other experiences, say having some dental work done, surprises and experimentation are not what we are looking for. Listening to two cello concertos by Joseph Haydn falls somewhere in the middle. These works top the list for both the genre and the composer’s oeuvre and are thus exceedingly familiar. A new wrinkle would not come amiss. On the other hand, we don’t wish for major tinkering or indulgent extravagances that would mar the perfect design of these works. The Haydn recital begins with a cello adaptation of the adagio from the violin Concerto in C. The sound of Pavel Gomziakov’s cello is astonishingly beautiful on the simple melodies of what is rare in Haydn, a true adagio. Behind the cellist and quite recessed at that, the Gulbenkian orchestra mostly stands quietly in […]
Beecham ABC, Vol. 4 – Pristine Audio
The last of the Beecham ABC Network concerts evokes thunderous applause at every piece. Beecham – The ABC Blue Network Concerts, Vol. 4 = HAYDN: Symphony No. 102 in B-flat Major; MOZART: The Impreasario – Ov., K. 486; SAINT-SAENS: Omphale’s Spinning Wheel, Op. 31; BERLIOZ: Les Troyens: Royal Hunt and Storm; Hungarian March from La damnation de Faust – Blue Network Sym. Orch./ Sir Thomas Beecham – Pristine Audio PASC 480, 53:37 [avail. in various formats from www.pristineclassical.com] ****: The Haydn 1795 Symphony No. 102 in B-flat Major provides the centerpiece for this high-energy concert from 28 April 1945, the fourth and last of Sir Thomas Beecham’s concerts sponsored through the ABC network. The onrush of musical dynamism begins earlier, with Beecham’s thoroughly spontaneous approach to Mozart’s 1786 singspiel The Impraesario, whose Overture permits all sorts of interior colors as well as witty rhythmic subtleties not lost on our engaged conductor. Even narrator Milton Cross seems delighted to announce it as his prelude to the Saint-Saens symphonic poem that depicts the Lydian queen’s “humiliation” of the Greek hero Hercules – for the fatal fall of Iphitos – in the form of “women’s work.” A brilliant piece of orchestration – set […]
SCHUMANN: Phantasie in C Major, Op. 17; BRAHMS: Ten Intermezzi – Iskander Zakirov, p. – Blue Griffin
Kindred Romantic spirits Schumann and Brahms provide the lyric and passionate content of Zakirov’s recital. SCHUMANN: Phantasie in C Major, Op. 17; BRAHMS: Ten Intermezzi – Iskander Zakirov, p. – Blue Griffin BGR 387, 64:38 (1/5/16) [Distr. by Albany] ****: Iskander Zakirov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to a family of professional musicians. He started his musical studies at the age of five. At the age of six he entered the Uspensky Music Lyceum for Gifted Children in Tashkent, Soviet Union. Iskander Zakirov received his Doctor of Musical Arts from Michigan State University, where he studied with Deborah Moriarty. He also studied in the Tashkent State Conservatory and Duquesne University. His teachers include Lev Naumov, Lia Schwartz, and David Allen Wehr. This recital recording, engineered by Sergei Kvitko, results from sessions May-July 2015. Zakirov has a natural affinity for the Schumann Fantasie (1835-1838), conceived originally as part of a tribute for the Bonn monument to Beethoven. The piece, moreover, has a powerful autobiographical component for Schumann, who called the work a “deep lament” for his beloved Clara Wieck, from whom he had been separated in 1836. Schumann inscribed the score with a lyric from Schlegel that a secret note resounds […]
BACH: Six Trio Sonatas BWV 525 – 530 – arr. and performed by Eliot Fisk, guitar & Albert Fuller, harpsichord – Nimbus
Six charming Bach organ sonatas arranged and performed by Eliot Fisk and Albert Fuller.
![BACH Imagine: Transcribed Selections [TrackList follows] – Jean Rondeau, solo harpsichord – Erato/Warner Classics:
BACH By Syrinx + CPE BACH: Flute Concerto in A [TrackList follows] – Simion Stanciu, syrinx/ Ens. Orch. de Normandie/ Jean-Pierre Berlingen/Zurich Ch. Orch./Edmond de Stoutz – Cascavelle](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/RondeauSyrinx2.jpg)
BACH Imagine: Transcribed Selections [TrackList follows] – Jean Rondeau, solo harpsichord – Erato/Warner Classics: BACH By Syrinx + CPE BACH: Flute Concerto in A [TrackList follows] – Simion Stanciu, syrinx/ Ens. Orch. de Normandie/ Jean-Pierre Berlingen/Zurich Ch. Orch./Edmond de Stoutz – Cascavelle
Two fascinating treatments of Bach on instruments for which the music was not actually written (except for one sel.).
BACH Imagine: Transcribed Selections [TrackList follows] – Jean Rondeau, solo harpsichord – Erato/Warner Classics: BACH By Syrinx + CPE BACH: Flute Concerto in A [TrackList follows] – Simion Stanciu, syrinx/ Ens. Orch. de Normandie/ Jean-Pierre Berlingen/Zurich Ch. Orch./Edmond de Stoutz – Cascavelle
Two fascinating treatments of Bach on instruments for which the music was not actually written (except for one sel.).
Organ Works of LISZT, REUBKE & MENDELSSOHN – Stephen Cleobury, organist – Kings College
A chance to hear a grand organ in high resolution surround.
BACH: Keyboard Concertos = Concerto in D Minor; Concerto in D Major; Concerto in F Minor; Concerto in G Minor – Lucia Micallef, pianoforte/ European Union Ch. Orch./ Brian Schembri – Divine Art
Spirited and alert renditions of Bach keyboard concertos, likely the first in a survey of the complete oeuvre.
JONGEN: Violin Concerto in b; Adagio symphonique; Fantasia; LAZZARI: Rapsodie in e – Philippe Graffin, violin/ Royal Flemish Philharmonic/ Martyn Brabbins (Vol. 18 of series) – Hyperion
An almost unknown work by a composer known for another work, plus an unknown composer.
JONGEN: Violin Concerto in b; Adagio symphonique; Fantasia; LAZZARI: Rapsodie – Philippe Graffin, violin/ Royal Flemish Philharmonic/ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion
The “Romantic Violin” series extends its legacy to neglected works from the Gallic school of imaginative concerted pieces.
HAYDN: Symphony No. 57 in D Major; Symphony No. 67 in F Major; Symphony No. 68 in B-flat Major – Philharmonia Baroque Orch./ Nicholas McGegan – Philharmonia Baroque
Three symphonies from Haydn’s early, mature period of the 1770s receive expert realization in virile and “authentic” colors.
SCHOENBERG: Pelleas und Melisande; Variations for Orch. – Israel Philharmonic Orch./ Zubin Mehta – Helicon
Zubin Mehta leads two distinct personae in the Schoenberg canon, and they persist in their testing of our musical perceptions.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 29 “Hammerklavier”; Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight”; The Ruins of Athens: Chorus of Dervishes; Turkish March – Alessio Bax, p. – Signum
Alessio Bax commands our attentive respect in two Beethoven sonatas, of which his Hammerklavier may rate as a contemporary classic.
![Pieces of the World: Music for Cello by SCHUBERT, ROSSINI, TCHAIKOVSKY & others [TrackList follows] – Marta Bagratuni – cello and voice, and others. – Blue Griffin](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Pieces-of-the-World.jpg)
Pieces of the World: Music for Cello by SCHUBERT, ROSSINI, TCHAIKOVSKY & others [TrackList follows] – Marta Bagratuni – cello and voice, and others. – Blue Griffin
An interesting exploration of the cello repertoire over 300 years and 13 composers.
“Bach & Beethoven: Mostly Transcriptions 2” = BACH: Prelude and Fugue in D, “The Great” (Busoni); Prelude and Fugue in a (Liszt); Adagio from Sonata No. 5 in f (Siloti); Chorale Prelude “I Cry to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ”, (Busoni); BEETHOVEN: An die ferne Geliebte (Liszt); Piano Sonata No. 32 in c – Tien Hsieh, piano – MSR
Interesting transcriptions, but the Beethoven Sonata will knock your socks off.
![HAMPTON: “Hard Listening” [TrackList follows] = Performed by Mitch Hampton, piano – Navona](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/mitchhampton.jpg)
HAMPTON: “Hard Listening” [TrackList follows] = Performed by Mitch Hampton, piano – Navona
Perhaps the disc’s title should be “Close Listening?”
BEETHOVEN: Easy Piano Works, Vol. I = Joerg Demus, piano – Tuxedo
A selection of “easy” Beethoven keyboard works from master Joerg Demus proves beguiling and refreshing at once.
MAHLER: Symphonies Nos. 9 and 10 (Adagio) – Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne/ Markus Stenz – Oehms Classics – 2 SACDs
A reference-quality Mahler Ninth and Tenth with an equally stirring recording.
Felix Salmond, cello = Works of BEETHOVEN, BRUCH, ST.-SAENS, GLAZUNOV, BRIDGE, GRIEG & Trad. – Pristine Audio
Pristine restores much of the electrical recording legacy of Felix Salmond, Britain’s extraordinary cellist.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in C Major; BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 – Mindru Katz, piano/ Israel Philharmonic Orch./ Josef Krips – Cembal d’amour
Mindru Katz at his elegant and explosive best in the music of Beethoven and Brahms.
“The Real Beeler – The Symphonic Music of Alan Beeler” – Richard Stoltzman, clar./other soloists/ Slovak Radio Sym./ Kirk Trevor – Navona
A kind of mixed “legacy” collection.
DVORAK: Symphony No. 8 in G Major; Ten Legends – Bournemouth Sym. Orch./ Jose Serebrier – Warner Classics
Jose Serebrier extends his affectionate survey of Dvorak with an effective pairing of both modest and grandly symphonic works.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
