No conductor working in the recording studios in the 1960s and beyond did more than Richard Bonynge to recover the sound of the 19th-century ballet, especially in its home of the Paris Opéra-Comique. A central figure in that culture was Adolphe Adam who supplied vaudevilles, ballets, pastiches and comic operas over the course of three […]
Compiled from several Decca recordings made between 1964 and 1988, this portrait of Auber was created at Richard Bonynge’s specific request and supervised by him. Most substantial of these recordings is the ballet version which Auber made from his opera ‘Marco Spada’: 65 minutes of scintillating dance music, in the adaptation made by Richard Bonynge […]
A collection of all of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies and ballet suites from the rich archives of Deutsche Grammophon. All the performances have been justifiably critically appraised. This volume includes First, Second and Fourth Symphonies, the latter two with Abbado, and the First in Michael Tilson Thomas’s suave, fairy-lights recording with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. ‘Michael Tilson […]
Stravinsky began work on ‘Petrushka’in the summer of 1910, shortly after the successful première of his first ballet, ‘The Firebird’. Like ‘The Firebird’, and ‘The Rite of Spring’ which came later, ‘Petrushka’ was written for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The choreographer was Mikhail Fokine and the title role was danced by the mercurial, Vaslav Nijinsky. Nijinsky […]
From some of the great Rachmaninoffian moments on Decca comes this compilation presenting the complete symphonic poem ‘The Isle of the Dead’ in a darkly dramatic reading by Ashkenazy (as conductor) and the Concertgebouw plus moments from the Piano Concertos and a selection of preludes with Ashkenazy this time as pianist.
Two Russian violin concertos together on a single disc. The performances are staggering, to say the least… just try the finale of the Tchaikovsky to get an idea (which, incidentally, is released complete for the first time on CD). The brooding, expansive Shostakovich makes an ideal foil to the highwire Tchaikovsky, its meditative Passacaglia worth […]
Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the first volume, Music for Relaxation, offers a miscellany of classical pieces from piano (the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata) to orchestral music by Grieg, Elgar and Borodin.
A Beethoven extravaganza, coupling two of his works using the piano & other forces. The ‘Choral Fantasy’ receives one of its most powerful performances and the ‘Triple Concerto’ one of its most ennobling.
Besides Verdi, Puccini was the other great nineteenth-century Italian opera composer. This anthology brings together favourite arias and ensemble pieces from his operas. All the most famous are represented – ‘Bohème, Butterfly, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi…’ And of course the performers are the greatest operatic stars you can think of having all on a single CD!
A brilliant collection of some of Tchaikovsky’s most moving and most exciting moments. Continuing Eloquence’s popular ‘Best Of’ series – ideal for the newcomer.
If you think the three pieces on this disc make odd bedfellows, just listen to the opening of the finale of the Paganini, skip to the finale of the Strauss and then go into the Tchaikovsky Valse-Scherzo. Sparkling wit and virtuosity abound and what’s more, the Paganini receives its first release on CD (outside Taiwan), […]
In 1883, Max Bruch boarded a New York-bound steamer departing from Liverpool where he had been working as a conductor. During his American tour, he would conduct various choral societies but biographical material preceded his arrival in New York, making special mention of the first violin concerto: ‘It may well be said that since Mendelssohn’s […]
