Concert

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

in

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 concert. Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Gewandhausorchester, the MDR Rundfunkchor, the GewandhausChor and the GewandhausKinderchor.  Soloists are Simona Šaturová (soprano), Mihoko Fujimura (alto), Christian Elsner (tenor), Christian Gehaher (baritone). Produced by Paul Smaczny and Steffel Keitel. Directed for TV by Ute Feudel. Released in 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Read More

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor

in

2016 Europakonzert: Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker this year in its  "Europakonzert" on May 1 celebrating the founding of the orchestra on May Day. This event traditionally occurs in a different European city in a beautiful venue of historical significance. For 2016, the concert was held at the famous Baroque church in the Norwegian town of Røros. Features the Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang. Directed for TV by Henning Kasten. Here's the program:

  1. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor (Vilde Frang)
  2. Beethoven Symphony No. 3
  3. Grieg Evening in the Mountains, No. 4 from Lyric Pieces (Version for orchestra)
  4. Bejarne Brustad Veslefrikk. (Brustad was a Norwegian violinist and composer. Veslefrikk was, I think, an old Norwegian tale about a little boy named Frikk with a fiddle, and the music is part of Brustad's Fairy Tale Suite. Today Veslefrikk is also the name of a major offshore Norwegian oil field.)

Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Read More

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

in

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 concert. Christian Thielemann conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker (Chorus Master Johannes Prinz). Soloists are Annette Dasch, Mihoko Fujimura, Piotr Beczala, and Georg Zeppenfeld. Video direction by Agnes Méth. Also comes with a 58-minute Discovering Beethoven documentary with a conversation between Thielemann and music critic Joachim Kaiser. The documentary film was made by Anca-Monica Pandelea & Christoph Engel. Released in 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Read More

Brahms Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

in

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and Piano Concert No. 2 concert. Zuben Mehta conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker with Rudolph Buchbinder on piano. Directed for TV by Karina Fibich. Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA

Poor Buchbinder is apparently a great guy, pianist, and musical scholar. He has managed to get quite a few recordings made in HDVD, but all of them have suffered, in our judgement,  from poor production designs and/or bad cases of DVDitis. This title is also available in a DVD version. In this situation, symphony videos shot by Karina Fibich have in the past earned poor grades from us. We are not optimistic about this title, but there's always hope.

Read More

Beethoven Symphonies 1-9

in

Beethoven Symphonies 1-9 (or Beethoven Complete Symphonies) box set. Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestre de L'Opéra National de Paris in all nine Beethoven symphonies. Other performers featured in Symphony No. 9 are Ricarda Merbeth (Soprano), Daniela Sindram (Mezzo-Soprano), Robert Dean Smith (Tenor), Günter Groissböck (Bass), and the Choeurs de L'Opéra National de Paris (José Luis Basso Chorus Master).  Grade: NA

Richard Osborne in the December 2016 Gramophone at pages 51-53 condemns this box for weak sound quality. The presentation of technical information about this box seems confusing. Nobody seems to want credit for the video. One has to wonder if sloppiness in the cover also suggests carelessness in the recordings. Can you sometimes judge the book by its cover?

Read More

From the New World

in

From the New World symphony concert. In 2010 Andris Nelsons directs, at the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks) in a concert of pieces related to the New World:

  1. Charles Ives The Unanswered Question (American composer)
  2. John Adams Slonimsky's Earbox (American composer)
  3. Igor Stravinsky Le Chant du Rossignol (Song of the Nightingale) (Stravinsky lived in Los Angeles longer than in any other city)
  4. Dvořák Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" (inspired by Dvořák's experiences in America)

Perhaps you could make a case that all of these pieces explore "new worlds" of music as all of the composers lived in the 20th century (Dvořák just barely). Video director was Agnes Méth. Released 2013, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D

 

Read More

Mozart Symphony No. 35

in

Mozart Symphony No. 35 concert. Here's the program:

  1. Mozart concert arias sung by soprano Christine Schäfer:

    1. Misera, dove son? - Ahi! non son io che parlo, K. 369

    2. Ah, lo previdi! - Ah, t'invola, K. 272

    3. Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! K. 418 (Lucas Macias Navarro, oboe)

  2. Mozart Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner")

  3. Beethoven Egmont Incidental Music with soprano Juliane Banse and narrator Bruno Ganz

Claudio Abbado conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2011 and 2012 at the Lucerne Summer Festival (KKL Concert Hall). Directed by Michael Beyer; produced by Paul Smaczny.  Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B- blended grade for 3 segments.

Read More

Vier Letzte Lieder

in

Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder and Eine Alpensinfonie concert. Recorded 2014 at the Dresden Semperoper. Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden. Features soprano Anja Harteros. The following three works are presented on this Blu-ray:

  • Wolfgang Rihm Ernster Gesang (Serious Song)

  • Strauss Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs), with an inserted fifth song “Malven” (in a version orchestrated by Wolfgang Rihm in 2013). The combined presentation of five songs is therefore titled Letzte Lieder (Last Songs). Because the title Vier Letzte Lieder is so famous, we call it that way in the Alphalist. Here are the songs, all sung by soprano Anja Harteros:

    • I. “Fruhling” ("Spring")

    • II. “Malven” ("Mallows" or Malva . . . the plant genus)

    • III. “September”

    • IV. “Beim Schlafengehen” ("When Falling Asleep")

    • V. “Im Abendrot” ("At Sunset")

  • Strauss Eine Alpensinfonie

Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Read More

Strauss: Renée Fleming In Concert

in

RRichard Strauss: Renée Fleming In Concert. Christian Thielemann conducts the the Vienna Philharmonic in an all-Strauss program of 5 songs and a tone poem. Recorded 2011 at the Großes Festspielhaus as part of the Salzburg Festival.  Here are the works performed:

  • "Befreit" ("Released") Renée Fleming, soprano

  • "Winterliebe" ("Winter Love") Fleming

  • "Traum durch die Dämmerung" ("Dream at Dusk") Fleming

  • "Gesang der Apollopriesterin" ("Song of the Priestess of Apollo") Fleming

  • "Mein Elemer!" ("My Elmer" from the opera Arabella) Fleming

  • Eine Alpensinfonie

Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by James Whitbourn. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D+ blended overall grade.

Read More

Verdi Messa da Requiem

in

Verdi Messa da Requiem. Recorded 2013 at the Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein. Mariss Jansons conducts the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Chorus (Chorus Master Michael Gläzer). Soloists are Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano), Marina Prudenskaja (mezzo-soprano), Saimir Pirgu (tenor), and Orlin Anastassov (bass). Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Sung in Latin. Subtitles in English, German, and French. Released 2014, the music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling; the disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Read More

Piano Concertos (Schiff)

in

Sir András Schiff in 2015 conducts the Orchestra Cappella Andrea Barca and plays piano solo during the Salzburg Mozart Week (Mozartwoche). The performances are Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 (Schiff playing piano and conducting); Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22 (Schiff playing piano and conducting); and Schubert's Symphony No. 5 (Schiff conducting).  Directed for video by Hella-Brit Giese. Music was recorded with 96kHz/24-bit sound sampling (per report from Wonk Bryan Balmer); released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: NA

Read More

Bruckner Symphony No. 8

in

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 concert (Edition: Robert Haas). This is part of the "Bruckner Mature Symphonies" series by Accentus. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Philharmonie Berlin in 2010. Directed for TV by Andreas Morell; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2014, music was recorded at 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C-

Read More

Missa solemnis

in

Beethoven Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123. On April 19-25, 2012, Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Choir in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Soloists are Marlis Petersen (soprano), Elisabeth Kulman (contralto), Werner Güra (tenor), and Gerald Finley (bass). TV direction by Joost Honselaar. Released in 2013, the audio was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling. The Blu-ray disc has PCM stereo and 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B

Read More

Missa solemnis

in

Beethoven Missa solemnis concert. Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden and Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden (chorus master Pablo Assante) in 2010. Stars soloists Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano), Elīna Garanča (mezzo), Michael Schade (tenor), and Franz-Josef Selig (bass). Violin solo by Matthias Wollong. TV direction by Michael Beyer. Released in 2011, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling; the Blu-ray disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Read More

Mozart Concertos (Minkowski)

in

Marc Minkowski in 2015 conducts Les Musiciens du Louvre during the Salzburg Mozart Week (Mozartwoche). The concertos are Piano Concerto No. 23with Francesco Corti and Violin Concerto No. 5 "Turkish" with Thibault Noally. Both concertos are played on instruments once "possessed" by Mozart. Also has bonus performances of the 2nd movement of Mozart's Violin Sonata No. 21 and the 4th movement of Schubert's Symphony No. 9 "The Great". Directed for video by Oliver Becker.  Music was recorded with 96kHz/24-bit sound sampling (per report from Wonk Bryan Balmer); released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: NA

Read More