Marriage of Figaro Archive
Horenstein Early Recordings = BACH Choral Preludes (trans. Schoenberg); HAYDN: Symphony No. 94; MOZART: Overtures, Le nozze di Figaro and La Clemenza da Tito; SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 5 – Berlin Phil. Orch./ Jascha Horenstein – Pristine
Horenstein Early Recordings = BACH (trans. Schoenberg): Gott, Schoepfer, Heiliger Geist, BWV 631; Schmucke dich, O liebe Seele, BWV 654; HAYDN: Symphony No. 94 in G Major “Surprise”; MOZART: Le nozze di Figaro – Overture, K. 492; La Clemenza da Tito – Overture, K. 691; SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, D. 485 – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/ Jascha Horenstein – Pristine Audio PASC 506, 69:02 [www.pristineclassical.com] ****: Pristine restores Jascha Horenstein’s German-Austrian repertory of 1929 to the active catalogue. Mark Obert-Thorn re-masters the 1929 Polydor recordings by Jascha Horenstein (1898-1973), his electrical performances of music to which he did return later in his recording career. Some collectors will recognize this program as having had prior issue on the Koch Legacy label (5-7054-2) in inferior sound. What becomes significant in this program lies in the fact that circumstances—mostly political—would prevent Horenstein’s access to the recording studio until Vox Records signed this versatile conductor in 1952. Each of the performances presents a driven, committed interpreter of the Great German Tradition, rather linear in conception and quite brightly lit in the interior vocal lines, especially in the Mozart selections. The Marriage of Figaro Overture suffers no “romantic” distortion in what proves a […]
MOZART: Da Ponte Operas, Blu-Ray (2016)
MOZART: Da Ponte Operas, Blu-Ray (2016) The great writer/rogue/adventurer Da Ponte deserves far better than this middling set. (Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, and Cosi fan tutte) Performers: Chorus & Orch. of the Zurich Opera House/ Juergen Flimm (Director), Soloists: Rodney Gilfrey, Cecilia Bartoli, Liliana Nikiteanu, Agnes Balta, et al. – Nikolaus Harnoncourt; Chorus Master: Ernst Raffeksberger/ Studio: Arthaus Musik [7/29/16] [Dist. by Naxos] Length: 598 minutes Video: for 16:9 screens, color Audio: DTS-HD 5.1, PCM Stereo Subtitles: English, German, French Ratings: Audio: ***¼ Video: *** I had great hopes for this set. Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838) wrote the librettos for three of Mozart’s greatest operas and his lines sparkle, amuse, and sting, unlike any librettist before or since. You can read all about his colorful life in his Memoirs (New York Review of Books, 2000). Oddly, he doesn’t spend much time describing his work with Mozart; he treats their collaboration as if it were just another gig, like the hack work he did for Antonio Salieri. Arthaus Musik has collected the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s versions of these on three Blu-ray discs. The operas, recorded about twenty years ago at the Zurich Opera House – Le Nozze de Figaro […]
Leopold Stokowski – Conducts MOZART – Guild
Certain to be among the most sought-after Stokowski discs, this collection of Mozart performances offers some truly rare and outstanding collaborations.
Fritz Busch = Works of BRAHMS; BEETHOVEN; MOZART; REGER – Wuertembergischen Landes-Th./Dresden St. Orch./Danish Radio Sym. Orch. – Guild
The earliest recordings of conductor Fritz Busch, as well as some of his last concert appearances, testify to a past master of his craft.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
