RIAS Archive
BACH: St. John Passion – Soloists/RIAS Ch. Choir/ Academy for Old Music Berlin/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi (2 discs)
Outstanding in every facet, this could be, just maybe, the one to own. BACH: St. John Passion (1749 + 1725 Appendix) – Werner Gura, tenor/ Sumhae Im, sop/ Benno Schachtner, alto/ Sebastian Kohlhepp, tenor/ Johannes Weisser, bass/ RIAS Chamber Choir/ Academy for Old Music Berlin/ Rene Jacobs – Harmonia mundi multichannel SACD (2 discs) + DVD HMC 802236.37, 2:15:20 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *****: This is the version completed right at the end of Bach’s life, with the powerful and familiarly haunting “Herr, Herr, Herr” in the opening chorus. I mention this because there is an appendix from the 1725 version that includes some numbers also rather popular but not in the regular performing version presented here, and the opening of that earlier edition is absent the aforementioned chorus. However, in a generous and wonderfully intelligent decision by Harmonia mundi, they have included three free downloads, one of the 1749 version given in toto here, and also the complete 1725 edition as well, both offered in a high def 24 bit FLAC file, about ten times the size of a normal 128kbps MP3 file. This is a great treat, and you can even give the third download to a friend […]
Amadeus Quartet, Vol. 4, Modernism = Quartets of BRITTEN, TIPPETT, PURCELL, SEIBER & BARTOK – Audite (2 CDs)
Music of Britain and Germany engages the Amadeus Quartet for their 1950-1956 series of inscriptions for RIAS.
“Gala from Berlin – Grand Finales”, Blu-ray (1999/2014)
A New Year’s celebration focusing on finales, entertaining but significant especially because of the 2000 Millennium celebration.
BARTOK: Ferenc Fricsay Conducts the Masterpieces of Bartok – Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 25 May, 1952 – Reconstitution of the Concerto – Praga Digitals
This new release from Praga Digitals is another in the Reminiscences series of archival recordings re-mastered with the latest technology.
Julius Katchen, p. = Works of LISZT, BRAHMS, BEETHOVEN, SCHUMANN, CHOPIN – Audite (2 CDs)
The tragically short-lived Julius Katchen has an expanded discography courtesy of RIAS tapes from his 1962 and 1964 studio recitals.
The Amadeus Quartet Recordings, Vol. II = SCHUBERT String Quartets – Amadeus-Quartett – Audite (2 CDs)
Vol. 2 of a fine series by the Amadeus-Quartet.
BARTOK: The Three Piano Concertos – Geza Anda, piano/ Berlin Radio Sym. Orch./ Ferenc Fricsay – DGG/Pristine Audio
Producer/editor Andrew Rose revives an already-brilliant DGG original recording of the Bartok concertos with a new “finish,” and the result (on both CD and hi-res) yields potent Bartok piano concertos for the ages.
HANDEL: Belshazzar, Blu-ray (2011)
A staged production of this marvelous work is definitely overkill, but the music shines through.
Bronislav Gimpel, violin = Works of SIBELIUS, SZYMANOWSKI, WIENIAWSKI, SCHUBERT, MENDELSSOHN & Others – Various artists – Audite (3 CDs)
The Ukraninian violinist was among the finest virtuosis on his instrument. A 3-CD reissue package.
Koczalski plays CHOPIN = (incl. Piano Con. No. 2) – Music & Arts (2 CDs)
Koczalski, an emissary from Chopin’s 19th Century musical world, bestows upon us lights of that Romantic style that may well have passed away.
Hermann Scherchen: Live Unissued Recordings = Works of SCHUBERT, RAVEL, HANDEL, MOZART, BEETHOVEN, DEBUSSY, BRUCKNER – Tahra (2 CDs)
Tahra releases a diverse program of music from the extensive Scherchen previously unissued archives.
J.C. BACH: Requiem; Miserere in B-flat – soloists/Academy for Old Music/Rademann – Harmonia mundi
A wonderful issue of the always-inspired JC Bach.
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 2; SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9 – Karolyi, p./ RIAS Sym./ Leo Blech – Audite
Two “neglected” masters–Julian von Karolyi and Leo Blech– return in vivid colors for a concert of Chopin and Schubert from 1950, viscerally restored by Audite.
BARTOK: Violin Con.; Deux Portraits; Cantata Profana; Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta; 3 Piano Concertos; Tanzsuite; Divertimento – Var. soloists/RIAS Sym. Orch./Ferenc Fricsay – Audite (3 CDs)
A splendid assemblage of conductor Ferenc Fricsay’s homage to Bartok, a project to inscribe an integral Bartok legacy but frustrated by the conductor’s untimely demise.
Hans Knappertsbusch – The Complete RIAS Recordings = Works of BRUCKNER, BEETHOVEN, SCHUBERT, J. STRAUSS, NICOLAI, HAYDN, TCHAIKOVSKY, KOMZAK – Audite (5 CDS)
A seminal collection of Hans Knappertsbusch inscriptions with the Berlin Philharmonic, demonstrating the breadth, girth, and facility of his Bruckner and popular works.
MOZART: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543; Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550; DEBUSSY: Danses sacree et profane – Nicanor Zabaleta, harp/Vienna Symphony Orch./ RIAS Symphony Orch., Berlin (Debussy) /Ferenc Fricsay – Archipel
Despite their being a second-best source for Fricsay’s Mozart, these performances convey a tragic intensity, and the Zabaleta collaboration scintillates.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
