This is yet another wonderful album.
Gorgeous sound. Excellent recording/mastering.
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i’ve always liked Bychkov, since his days in Buffalo (sang the Verdi Requiem with him there), and his Nutcracker ('tis the season) with the BPO is fabulous.
I have not especially enjoyed his Mahler. perhaps I need to try again.
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Yeah, this is a thrilling recording – “high octane” if you will.
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I have been tremendously enjoying a new recording of a selection of Bohuslav Martinů string quartets by the Pavel Haas Quartet. The pieces are new to me (I am embaressed to say), but obviously I need to explore more, because this is fantastic music. Recommended for anyone seeking 20th century string quartets that are interesting yet accessible.
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I don’t remember how or when I came across this, but it’s one of my favorites in my disc collection.
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Anthologies like ´Complete Bach cantatas´ enjoy a mixed reputation, particularly with sacred vocal music, if it comes to Baroque or early classical composers and their remarkable catalogue in one particular form.
An exceptional project in my understanding was the recording of all sacred work by Heinrich Schütz, some 30+ hours of music, executed by the Dresden chamber choir (one of my favorite vocal ensembles, not to be mixed up with the Dresden Frauenkirche chamber choir) and Hans-Christoph Rademacher.
Not a single piece disappoints. What I particularly like about these recordings, is the homogeneity of choir and soloists, lack of ´romanticed singing technique´, and a perfect balance between proximity and church ambience. It might be very subjective, but particularly with Schütz´ early compositions being rooted in Renaissance music, I oftentimes get the feeling that this is close to how it might have sounded back in the days.
If you are unfamiliar with the works, I recommend to start with the Musicalische Exequien and some later motets/psalms.
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Thanks @Arindal .
I explored the Rademann / Dresdener Kammerchor set a few years ago, and learned so much about Schutz’s works beyond the commonly heard / played Symphoniae Sacrae, Psalmen David, and Christmas Story. I agree with the suggestion to start with the later Psalms. I’d start with this volume of the series:
I find the various Passions to be uneven (as musical works only – the performances are wonderful), so I wouldn’t start there. But, I found the Becker Psalter compelling, and a magical connection to the liturgy of the day:
Snippet of the print from Psalm 2:
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You can find the three big boxes on qobuz
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Have you come across
It’s a mix of Decca / BBC and live recordings. Quality is surprisingly good as is Radu Lupu
Always been a fan he was my intro to Schubert sonatas along with Richter
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Due to the stellar Shostakovich cycle Petrenko did with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Naxos), I’ve become a definite fan.
I really like his Elgar symphonies (onyx Classics) even though a few critics wrote negative reviews and this new recording with the RPO continues my admiration for Petrenko’s interpretations.
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An underrated work by a composer who on the brink between 19th and 20th century was about to rise to fame (he was praised by Johannes Brahms, studied with Anton Bruckner and helped his brother-in-law, Arnold Schoenberg, with the latter´s career).
Despite what the title may suggest, this is not a 19th-century style tone poem. It sounds theatrical at times, but rather in an over-the-top expressive and psychoanalytically dark way. It is using romantic orchestrations and romantic harmonic conventions, but stretching both into obscurity (maybe comparable in conception to some interludes in Wagner´s ´Parsifal´). In my understanding, it represents exemplarily what I would expect from a post-romantic, post-Wagnerian, post-Dvorak, post-diatonic composition, completed and premiered in 1902.
The obscure chapter of history was not over with the composition completed. It was premiered together with Schoenberg´s ´Pelleas and Melisande´, which initiated the latter composer´s rise to fame, while Zemlinsky slowly sank in despair, stopped the worked from being published and not only withdrew it, but separated the autographs of the three movements, so for 70 years it was supposedly lost and unknown as a integral composition. The composer fled first Germany, eventually Austria after Nazi regime took over the reign.
Kudos to Ricardo Chailly who revived it for a radio broadcast somewhen in the 1980s. Only in the region of 10 recordings exist. Among the ones I own, I prefer the reading by Marc Albrecht and the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, who IMHO keep the balance between very detailed and precise playing and some sort of psychoanalytical madness deep between the lines of the score.
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Let’s face it: Arnold Schönberg’s music still has a boogeyman effect sometimes, and some of it can indeed be thorny and spiky. But his “Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31”, his first large-scale 12-tone composition, was not just a daring feat, it is also a tremendously influential work. And while one may debate whether the influence of Schönberg on classical music in the decades to come may have been for the good or bad (or perhaps both), there is not denying that those compositions by Schönberg himself are excellent works.
For some reason, the Berlin Philharmonic tends to make the best recordings of this piece, who premiered it under Wilhelm Furtwängler. Karajan made a famous recording (which he himself financed, when DG questioned its market value), and that has always been my go-to recording.
But this new recording made by Kirill Petrenko is exciting and hits all the right notes! Really good stuff. While it’s still not an album for the “easy listening” section, this recording makes a case for 12-tone compositions as a valid outlet for personal expression. Very good recording of a fascinating piece.
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Some further information would be appreciated as your image is not available to readers in the UK. Many thanks
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Oh, thanks Graham, sorry, seems the image wasn’t universally available. I hope it’s working now?
Just an image of a ROON listening to Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” conducted by Ashkenazy on Decca.
Sorry I just clicked it was actual image that was missing !!
I am amazed you can’t find it , South Africa is normally at the back of the queue for anything new 
This is on Tidal (South Africa) , we don’t have Qobuz so I can’t say
This is on the Decca Site
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Great - thank you
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