Adagio Archive
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D Major; BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D Major – Bronislaw Huberman, violin/ Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ George Szell/ New York Philharmonic Orch./ Artur Rodzinski – Pristine
Andrew Rose restores Bronislaw Huberman renditions of the two great violin concertos in the canon, and the results should mesmerize us forever.
EARL WILD – The Complete Transcriptions and Original Piano Works = Giovanni Doria Miglietta, piano – Piano Classics
A young Italian piano virtuoso meets Earl Wild on his home ground of classics, jazz and Gershwin and they shake talented hands.
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major – Budapest Festival Orch./ Ivan Fischer – Channel Classics
A well-played Bruckner Seventh with a reference level recording.
HAYDN: Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat Major; BEETHOVEN: 11 Bagatelles; SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata No. 21 – Gilbert Kalish, p. – Bridge
In a stirring memorial to his late wife Diane, pianist Gilbert Kalish performs glowing pieces by Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert.
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor; Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major – Nicholas Angelich, piano/ Frankfurt Radio Sym. Orch./ Paavo Jarvi – Erato (2 CDs)
Erato reissues the two Brahms piano concertos with Nicholas Angelich; offers impressive, sympathetic interpretations.
MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major; Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major; Violin Sonata No. 22 – Ray Chen, violin/ Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orch./Christoph Eschenbach, p. & cond. – Sony
Ray Chen transcends his ‘virtuoso’ status with these elegantly stylized versions of two Mozart concertos and one of his sonatas.
MOZART: Adagios & Fugues After J.S. Bach = Akademie fuer Alte Musik Berlin – Harmonia mundi
Mozart’s contrapuntal studies of J.S. Bach receive intensely rigorous, austere, and stylized treatment from Akademie fuer Alte Musik Berlin.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat Major; Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major; Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major – Angela Hewitt, p. – Hyperion
Angela Hewitt inscribes Volume 4 of her Beethoven cycle with the same intelligent passion and decisive clarity as mark her previous efforts.
Klemperer = MOZART: Symphony No. 40; BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7 – New Philharmonia Orch./ Otto Klemperer – Testament (2 CDs)
The familiar conjunction in Klemperer’s repertory of Mozart and Bruckner proves as apocalyptic as the audience appreciation of the works themselves.
Otto Klemperer = BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major; SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” – New Philharmonia Orch./ Otto Klemperer – Testament (2 CDs)
The opportunity to display Klemperer’s capacity for monumental and transcendent architecture in Bruckner and Schubert renders a Royal Festival Hall audience in 1967 spellbound.
LIGETI: String Quartets = String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2; BARBER: Adagio – Keller Quartet – ECM New Series
Hungarian twentieth century master Gyorgy Ligeti’s two string quartets are given performances by the Keller Quartet that are worthy of their verve and significance.
MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Bruno Walter – Pristine Audio
Andrew Rose breathes even another life into the classic 1938 Bruno Walter performance of Mahler’s last-completed symphony, itself a paean to dying man and a beleaguered vision of civilization.
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, violin – “Sept Poesies pour Violon et Piano“ = BAGDASARJANZ: Berceuse; Dracula; Gipsy-Romance; Caprice; Reverie; Joie de vivre; Introduction et petite Valse des Alpes; MOZART: Sonata in B-flat Major: Allegro moderato; HANDEL: Sonata in f Major; NARDINI: Sonata in D Major: Adagio; PAGANINI: Sonata – Ursala Bagsarajanz, violin/ Milanie Di Christino, violin (Bagdasarjanz “Poesies”)/ Fernande Kaesar, Bruno F. Saladin, Luciano Sgrizzi, Raluca Stirbat, pianists – Gallo
The last of the Gallo edition given to violin virtuoso Bagdasarjanz allows us to savor her gifts as stylish performer and gifted composer in her own right.
BEETHOVEN: A Single Breath = Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major; Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major; Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor – Beth Levin, p. – Navona Records
Pianist Beth Levin ascends either Everest or K-2 in this traversal of the last Beethoven sonatas: compelling and digitally adept, all rendered with fervent intelligence.
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C Major; BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Herbert von Karajan – ICA Classics (2 CDs)
Herbert von Karajan leads the Vienna Philharmonic in London, 1962, a concert that critics at the time applauded for its “Noble Height” in Bruckner.
MAHLER: Complete Symphonies; Adagio from Sym. No. 10 Soloists & Choirs/ London Sym. Orch./ Valery Gergiev – LSO Live (10 SACDs)
Gergiev is well worth your serious consideration, and the LSO by the way has never sounded better.
“BRUCKNER in Cathedral” – 4 works, incl. arr. of Adagio of Sym. No. 7 – Czech Horn Chorus – Cryston
From one to eight French horns and Wagner tubas in a cathedral environment in works of Bruckner.
The Mahler Album = MAHLER: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5; Adagio from Symphony No. 10; BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 11, “Quartet Serioso” – Amsterdam Sinfonietta/ Candida Thompson – Channel Classics
Not quite all Mahler, but what we do get is very attractive indeed.
SCHUMANN: Fantasiestuecke; SCHUBERT: Sonata Fragment in E Major; Adagio; BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 17, “Tempest” – Adrian Aeschbacher, piano – KASP Records
The under-represented art of Adrian Aeschbacher finds excellent expression in this issue of rare inscriptions 1952-1954 of Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann.
SCHUBERT: Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat, Op. 100; Adagio in E-flat “Notturno” –Trio Latitude 41 – Eloquentia
Fully satisfying performances of two Schubert masterworks.
BACH: 5 Klavier Concertos – Ramin Bahrami, p./Leipzig Gewandhaus Orch./Riccardo Chailly – Decca
Youthful virtuoso takes a decidedly sanguine approach to five of Bach’s piano concertos, assisted in all matters of infectious but sometimes heavy brio by Riccardo Chailly.
MAHLER: Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Adagio from Symphony No. 10, Blu-ray (2011)
In this case, get the video, not the audio version.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
