Warner Classics Archive
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto and Chamber Works – Gautier Capucon – Erato
Gautier Capucon, with Martha Argerich, Bernard Haitink, Rene Capucon, present Robert Schumann’s major works for cello
Vilde Frang plays BARTOK: Violin Concerto; ENESCU: Octet for Strings – Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Warner Classics
The impassioned music of two contemporaries has stunning realization by Vilde Frang and her select group of musical collaborators.
Anima Sacra — Baroque Sacred Arias, featuring Jakub Józef Orlinski—Erato
A dramatic presentation of unknown religious arias that carry the operatic traditions of high baroque opera.
SAINT-SAËNS: Piano Concerto No. 2 & No. 5 in F Major – Bertrand Chamayou/ Orchestra National de France – Erato
Pianist Bertrand Chamayou reveals a convincing penchant for the large and salon works of Camille Saint-Saëns.
Double Review: Guitar Music by BACH, BROUWER, BARRIOS – Ricardo Gallén / Bin Hu – Eudora
Eudora presents two outstanding releases of guitar renditions of music by Bach, Brouwer, Piazzolla and others. Performing artists—Hu Bin and Ricardo Gallén.
BRAHMS: 16 Waltzes; 21 Hungarian Dances – Helene Mercier and Cyprien Katsaris, piano – Warner Classics
Cyprien Katsaris and Helene Mercier brings dash and abandon to the Brahms dance forms, played with a brio hard to match.
Editorial for April 2017
For our April free drawing we have a fantastic 40 CDs and 3 DVDs Rostropovich Cello Retrospective. It includes all his Erato and EMI recordings as well as recordings made during his stay in the Soviet Union by a secret mic in the Moscow hall. Music aficionados erased the Rostropovich name from the tapes after the regime denied the citizenship of the Rostropovichs. There is a balance of studio and live performance recordings, and over 60 composers are represented. Over 120 new works are included, since Shostakovich, Britten and Prokofiev were close friends of the cellist. All you need to do to enter the drawing is simply click below on the Register To Win banner and fill out the few fields we request. The lucky winner of the set will be announced here next month. EDITORIAL AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began as a local program in San Francisco and then in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, and aired for 13½ years on up to 200 public radio and commercial stations. In September 1998 its web site for program listings was expanded to this free Internet publication. April 2017 is our 217th issue! All disc reviews are added thru […]
OLIVIER LATRY: Voyages – (Organ transcriptions) – Olivier Latry, organ – Erato/ Warner Classics
OLIVIER LATRY: Voyages – (Organ transcriptions) – Olivier Latry, organ – Erato/ Rhino Warner Classics 0190295888503, 78:31 (1/20/17) **1/2: Good recording of a rather mundane program. “Voyages” is the first album to be recorded on the new organ of the Paris Philharmonie. Voyages contains 11 famous pieces – ranging from BACH to KHACHATURIAN By way of MENDELSSOHN, CHOPIN, LISZT, WAGNER, SAINT-SAËNS, RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, FAURÉ, DEBUSSY and DE FALLA – it showcases both the ‘symphonic’ capacities of the new organ and the artistry of leading French organist Olivier Latry. Paris’s magnificent new concert hall, the Philharmonie, opened in January 2015, but its massive organ – which has over 6000 pipes and 91 different stops and weighs more than 25 tons – was not inaugurated until early 2016. This CD, Voyages, containing short pieces transcribed for organ, is the first to be recorded on the new instrument. From the CD it’s clear this is a fine instrument. The low end is palpable, and the microphone is set back to give a sense of the acoustic space. I would have preferred the extended range of an SACD, but the CD rendering holds its own. Larry is a fine organist. A native of northern France, […]
SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2; RAVEL: Piano Concerto; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics
Pianist Andrew von Oeyen embraces his twin cultural loyalties with brilliant elan. SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor, Op. 22; RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation from Thais (trans. Oeyen) – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics 019029508485, 66:05 (1/13/17) ****: Pianist Andrew von Oeyen (b. 1979) considers himself a Parisian-American, so little wonder that his debut album for Warner Classics (rec. 21-25 August 2015) embraces compositions – rather flashy and jazzy in their own respect – from both musical cultures. That Oeyen finds a natural, virtuoso vehicle in the 1868 Concerto No. 2 by Saint-Saens comes as little surprise – Andre Watts did much the same in early days when I heard him at Lewisohn Stadium in New York. Oeyen plays with requisite strength and optimism, dashing through the Bach prelude evolves into a lovely theme attributed to Gabriel Faure. The breadth of musical line and the plastic contours from the orchestra suggest that the several Artur Rubinstein renditions of the work served as models for the present reading. The second movement Allegro scherzando relies much on Saint-Saens’ great fondness for the fourth of the Chopin scherzos. […]
British Music – Conducted by Sir Charles Groves = ELGAR, DELIUS, VW, BRIAN, HOLST, WALTON, BRIDGE & Many Others – Warner Classics (24 CDs)
True to its advertisement, this set brings together a fine selection of British music led by a devoted practitioner of his craft. British Music – Sir Charles Groves = ELGAR: Nursery Suite; Funeral March from Grania amd Diaramid, Op. 42; Severn Suite, Op. 87; Caractacus, Op. 35: Complete Cantata; Woodland and Triumphal March; The Crown of India – Suite, Op. 66; The Black Knight, Op. 25; Spanish Serenade, Op. 23; The Snow, Op. 26, No. 1; Fly, Singing Bird, Op. 26, No. 2; Imperial March, Op. 32; The Light of Life, Op. 29; Enigma Variations, Op. 36; Violin Concerto in b, Op. 61; Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Op. 39: No. 1 in D and No. 4 in G; DELIUS: A Song of Summer; Eventyr; A Dance Rhapsody No. 1; Paris: a Nocturne; Lebenstanz; North Country Sketches; Sea Drift; Songs of Sunset; An Arabesque; A Mass of Life; Koanga; The Song of the High Hills; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Hugh the Drover; HOLST: The Hymn of Jesus, Op. 37; Short Festival Te Deum; Hymns from the Rig Veda – Second Group, Op. 26, No. 2; Ode to Death, Op. 38; Two Songs without Words, Op. 22: Marching Song; BRIAN: Symphony No. 8 in […]
C.P.E. BACH: Flute Concertos – Emmanuel Pahud, flute/ Kammerakademie Potsdam/ Trevor Pinnock – Warner Classics
C.P.E. BACH: Flute Concertos – Emmanuel Pahud, flute/ Kammerakademie Potsdam/ Trevor Pinnock – Warner Classics 27679, 66:44 (11/4/16) ****: Three exceptionally lively concertos demonstrating flute virtuosity. In a previous release, Emmanuel Pahud and the Potsdam Academy gave us an overview of the musical activities at the Court of Frederick the Great, especially as they celebrated the King’s predilection for the flute. We heard a creditable composition from the King himself as well as pieces by the court favorite, Johann Quantz. Somewhat incongruously, Bach senior was represented; He was a one time guest from the provinces and another era. His son, C.P.E. Bach, however, is the name most closely associated with this moment in musical history, and it is with his work that the present CD is concerned. In the liner notes, it seems like Emmanuel Pahud is interested in nudging Bach out of the Rococo and over to the left. Pahud writes: “He combines the world of the court with that of the people — and does this by fleeing from both realities and inventing a new and different world. He serves neither the powdered wigs not the struggling multitudes, but creates new, musical visions.” The playing of Pahud and […]
Martha Argerich/Itzhak Perlman – Works for Violin & Piano by SCHUMANN, BACH & BRAHMS – Warner Classics
Martha Argerich/Itzhak Perlman = SCHUMANN: Violin Sonata No. 1 in a, Op. 105; Drei Fantasiestuecke for Piano and Violin, Op. 73; BRAHMS: Scherzo in c from F.A.E. Sonata; BACH: Violin and Keyboard Sonata in c, BWV 1017 – Itzhak Perlman, v./ Martha Argerich, p. – Warner Classics 0190295937898, 50:58 (9/30/16) ****: A great pairing in some lovely selections. Assembled from two distinct venues, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Schumann, Op. 105, 30 July 1998) and Salle Colonne, Paris (29-31 March 2016), classical superstars Itzhak Perlman and Martha Argerich collaborate in music both familiar and unfamiliar to their respective repertory, the Brahms and the Bach sonata new to Martha Argerich. Having performed together in Saratoga, New York in 1998, the two artists had been eager to reunite, and the vivacious spontaneity of their recent recital proves infectious. Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1 (1851) casts an agitated veil in the course of its three movements, which betray something of the mental anxiety and obsession of the composer at this time. Besides its famed recording by Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin (1937), the work found another acolyte in Szymon Goldberg. The first movement – to be played with “passionate expression” – remains relatively subdued: […]
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake Suite – Menuhin, v./Philharmonia Orch./ Efrem Kurtz – HiQ xrcd24
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake, Op. 20: (Suite from the Ballet) – Yehudi Menuhin, v./ Philharmonia Orch./ Efrem Kurtz – Hi-Q xrcd24 HIQXRCD49, 60:00 (6/24/16) [Distr. by Warner Classics] ****: A fine xrcd remastering of a classic performance recording. Once more, Hi-Q remasters Parlaphone 1958 original analog recordings from the three Tchaikovsky ballets recorded in excerpts by Efrem Kurtz and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Given that 1916 marks the centennial of violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999), the sliken collaboration in some of the world’s finest ballet music becomes even more attractively noteworthy. Menuhin appears thrice in the course of the excerpts, the last of which, the Danse russe from the Supplement materials, provides a rousing finale. As per expectation, the warm and often suavely heart-rending Menuhin violin tone proves ravishing, as in the appearance of the Swan Princess, Odette. Kurtz himself has an excellent grasp of the Tchaikovsky style, although for unbridled passion in particular dances and scenes, I might recommend Fricsay, Markevitch, and Gergiev as my preferences. At every moment, however, the effect of the new mastering process by Tohru Kotetsu at JVC consistently stuns for effects, especially through my BOSE headphones. The booklet, the slick production qualities, and the recording itself […]
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker, Op. 71 – Suite from the Ballet – Philharmonia Orch./ Efrem Kurtz – Hi-Q Records
The 1958 classic Nutcracker excerpts assume a new audiophile guise in this issue from Hi-Q Records. TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker, Op. 71 – Suite from the Ballet – Philharmonia Orch./ Efrem Kurtz – Hi-Q Records xrcd24 HIQXRCD51, 60:00 (6/24/16) [Distr. by Warner Classics] ****: The Nutcracker – Suite From The Ballet is performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by the well-known Russian conductor Efrem Kurtz. Kurtz had already been a familiar name with the Philharmonia to the record collector of the 1950s, and he embarked upon a series of Tchaikovsky ballet recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra for EMI in 1958. A tall, imposing figure – he often dispensed with a podium – Efrem Kurtz had studied with Glazunov and Tcherepnin and was a pupil of Arthur Nikisch. Kurtz had a broad symphonic and operatic repertory and conducted the premieres of works by Copland, Barber, Walton, Hindemith, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Khachaturian. He remained most highly regarded for his interpretations of Russian music. Of this Nutcracker in the original review in The Gramophone of November 1958, R. F. remarked: “The orchestral quality is superb, and the dynamic contrasts tremendous. If you can hear the opening pizzicato notes of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, the […]
“Martha Argerich & Friends Live from Lugano 2015” – Emphasis on piano works incl. 3 pianos – Warner (3 discs)
The piano dominates the 2015 Lugano Festival, the convocation of fine chamber music performances. “Martha Argerich & Friends Live from Lugano 2015” = BRAHMS: Horn Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 40 (arr. Viola); Scherzo from F.A.E. Sonata; Clarinet Trio in a minor, Op. 114; SCHUMANN: Six Canonic Studies (arr. Debussy), Op. 56; SCHUBERT: Variations for 2 Pianos, D. 813; RIES: Piano Quintet in b minor, Op. 74; TURINA: Piano Trio No. 2 in b minor, Op. 76; BARTOK: Rumanian Folk Dances; DEBUSSY: En blanc et noir; BACALOV: Portena for Two Pianos and Orchestra; POULENC: Sonata for Two Pianos; GLASS: Suite from Les enfants terrible (arr. for 3 pianos); GINASTERA: Dances from Estancia – Martha Argerich, p./ Lilya Zilberstein, p./ Nathan Braude, viola/ Ilya Gringolts, v./ Alexander Mogilevsky, p./ Mayu Kisima, v./ Akane Sakai, p./ Paul Meyer, clar./ Gautier Capucon, v./ Nicholas Argerich, p./ Andrey Baranov & Lyda Chen, v./ Jing Zhao, cello/ Enrico Fagone, doublebass/ Alissa Margulis, v./ Natalia Margulis, cello/ Jura Margulis, p./ Geza Hosszu-Legucky, v./ Stephen Kovacevich, p./ Eduardo Hubert, p./ Sergio Tiempo, p./ Karin Lechner, p./ Giorgia Tomassi, Carlo Maria Gringuoli and Alessandro Stella, pianos (Ginastera)/ Orch. della Svizzera Italiana/ Alexander Vedernikov – Warner Classics 08256646285495 […]
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Execution of Stepan Razin; The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland; The Song of the Forests – Soloists/ Narva Boys Choir/ Estonian Concert Choir/ Estonian Nat. Sym. Orch./ Paavo Jarvi – Warner Classics
Excellent performances of questionable music…with one exception. SHOSTAKOVICH: The Execution of Stepan Razin; The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland; The Song of the Forests – Alexi Tanovitski, bass/ Konstantin Andreyev, tenor/ Narva Boys Choir/ Estonian Concert Choir/ Estonian Nat. Sym. Orch./ Paavo Jarvi – Warner Classics 0825646166664, 79:52 [Distr. by Naxos] ***1/2: The Execution of Stepan Razin is a masterpiece. Composed to a libretto by Yevgeny Yevtushenko in 1964, the composition considers Stepan Razin, a Cossack leader who headed a major uprising (1670–71) against the nobility in southern Russia. The piece is pure later Shostakovich, wonderful melodies and brilliant harmonies that are striking and dramatic. Of the three works here, it is by far the less egregious politically—unless you are a Tsarist. The other two works, considered important by conductor Jarvi, who supposedly had to hire bodyguards when giving these works in Estonia four years ago, so sensitive is the subject, are far less important, and quite frankly, rather banal, especially when taken in the light of the composer’s greatest works. Both were the result of an official slap down, the response of the composer to “just criticism”, and both had their intended effects. [No wonder the Baltic states hate […]
CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 3; Mazurka Nos. 36, 37 & 38; Nocturne No. 4; Scherzo No. 3; Polonaise No. 6 “Heroic” – Martha Argerich, p. – Parlophone/ Warner Classics
A magnificent format for an amazing piano performer. CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 3; Mazurka Nos. 36, 37 & 38; Nocturne No. 4; Scherzo No. 3; Polonaise No. 6 “Heroic” – Martha Argerich, piano – Parlophone/ Warner Classics 0825646372867 stereo vinyl (6/3/16) *****: This is the first release on LP, the format for which the recording session was originally aimed. It became available on CD in 1999, but this legendary 1965 recording for first time makes it possible to enjoy a more natural piano sound, and none of the usual technical difficulties of pressing vinyl albums seem to affect this one. There is not a single instance of pops or ticks (and I was listening on Grado headphones), not is there any noticeable diminution of the high end as the grooves approach the center label on each side. And no rumble whatsoever. The liner notes concerning how taken aback producer Suvi Raj Grubb was the first time he heard Argerich are fascinating. He felt she “was quite the most formidable player we had ever come across.” This is a performance of the Chopin Piano Sonata that leaves even Horowitz in the lurch. The technical level of the whole thing, and especially […]
Audio News for April 12, 2016
Classical Artists Speak to the Audience – A change has happened in the classical music world – more and more artists speak directly to the audience about the music they are about to play. Audiences love this; they get more of a sense of the artists as people. The idea of maintaining an aura of mystery onstage is going away, but not all musical artists are comfortable speaking directly to the audience. Our culture has become less formal and this is part of all that. Many conductors now do this at orchestral series concerts. Nokia Offers $60,000 VR Camera – Nokia sold its cellphone business to Microsoft in 2014 and are making a hardware comeback with an eight-lensed virtual reality camera that shoots videos that few people can watch today. To do a VR video with it, a filmmaker typically has to put seven of the cameras on a rig, with the lenses all pointing in different directions. This model is meant to be sold or rented to professional filmmakers, but Nokia hopes to introduce cheaper versions later for hobbyists. Something like the Google Cardboard glasses would be required to view the VR products. Denon New S Series AVRs – […]
RICHARD STRAUSS Lieder sung by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf – Parlophone vinyl
We are hearing how it must have sounded in the Grunewaldkirche. RICHARD STRAUSS: Vier letzte Lieder – Orchestral songs: Muttertändelei, Op. 43 No. 2; Waldseligkeit, Op. 49 No. 1; Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1; Freundliche Vision, Op. 48 No. 1; Die heiligen drei Könige aus Morgenland Op. 56 No. 6 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, sop.. Berlin Radio Sym. Orch./ George Szell – Warner Classics/ Parlophone 0825646049646 vinyl, 38:84 (11-6-15) ****(*): Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was born in 1915, and came to symbolize the ultimate operatic drama queen in the core German opera, operetta, recital and various other repertoires, with numerous excursions into other shores. To celebrate her centenary, Warner Classics has re-released the original LP of her recordings of Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs and four earlier orchestral songs, recorded in September 1965 with George Szell and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. The performances were an odd couple pairing of the coquettish soprano with the disciplinarian conductor; the combination produced heady results. Szell focused on giving the subtly Technicolor orchestra the clear direction it needed in what is treacherously flexible but gorgeous Romantic music, letting Schwarzkopf, just past her glorious prime, the extra room and emotional dimensions she needed to float and phrase […]
RACHMANINOV: Symphony No. 3; Capriccio on Gypsy Themes; Symphonic Dances; The Rock; Vocalise – Orch. de Paris/ Paavo Jarvi – Erato
Paavo Jarvi embarks on a series of recordings dedicated to the composer’s orchestral oeuvre. RACHMANINOV: Symphony No. 3 in a minor, Op. 44; Capriccio on Gypsy Themes, Op. 12; Symphonic Dances, Op. 45; The Rock, Op. 7; Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 – Orch. de Paris/ Paavo Jarvi – Erato 0825646195794, 60:18, 56:42 (2 CDs) (10/2/15) [Distr. by Warner Classics] ****: As part of the Serge Rachmaninov Foundation, conductor Paavo Jarvi undertook several recordings at the Salle Pleyel in Paris – 19-21 October 2011 and 27-28 March 2013 – “to preserve the cultural heritage of Villa Senar in Switzerland. . .and to bring the whole of his oeuvre. . .to public attention.” The concert opens with the 1936 Symphony No. 3, in which Rachmaninov maintains – even in exile – his basic nostalgia for Mother Russia, while incorporating a new economy of means and sparser sonority than he had invested into his last orchestral works, dating from 1909. The modal threnody that dominates the first movement Lento – Allegro moderato – Allegro will reappear in various guises, typical of the composer’s tendency to cyclic form. The combined instruments occasionally splash passionately in rich colors, with touches from a Russian wedding […]
HAYDN: String Quartets = 6 Quartets; String Quartet in G Major; String Quartet in F Major; String Quartet in C Major, No. 3 “Bird”; HOFFSTETTER: Serenade, Op. 3, No. 5 – Alban Berg Q. – Warner Classics (3 CDs)
Warner reinstates the exquisitely tailored Haydn performances inscribed by the Alban Berg Quartett.
Editorial for September 2015
For September our free drawing is for three copies of the 3-CD boxed set The Perlman Sound – a selection of items from the new complete 59-CD comprehensive set of everything the famous violinist has recorded for Warner, EMI and Teldec over 30 years. Some of his collaborations with the world’s greatest orchestras and soloists are included, including Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Andre Previn. All the analog recordings have been remastered in 96K/24-bit digital format at Abbey Road Studios and the designs reflect the original jackets. All you have to do to be considered as the winner of this set is to register this month using our simple non-intrusive form (and be sure to list your accurate address and email address). The three lucky winners will be announced in this space next month. The lucky winner of the 53-CD Mercury Living Presence Vol. 3 set from Decca/Universal – our August free giveaway – is Joe Higday of Leawood, KS. Congrats – you have a lot of great listening there! [audaud-hr] EDITORIAL AUDIOPHILE AUDITION began as a local program in San Francisco and then in 1985 as a weekly national radio series hosted by John Sunier, and aired for 13½ years […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
