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I want to thank Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic for the wonderful couple of hours I just spent listening to this Pentatone double album release featuring Dvorak’s 7th, 8th, and 9th (New World) symphonies. It’s easy to have some strong favorites in this music– Some great conductors have done them very well– Kubelik, Fischer, Colin […]
There is no better example of why we do these “discoveries” than this recording of Beethoven’s 4th and 8th Symphonies with Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra. Recently I saw an on line review from David Hurwitz that made me want to revisit this album. I’m glad I did! I don’t care how many recordings […]
Many would say that the big three of the top English composers of the 20th Century would be the three whose music makes this album one of the hidden gems available at NativeDSD Elgar is celebrated for his Symphonies, his Cello Concerto, and (of course) The Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Elgar’s […]
The extremely talented Ning Feng is joined by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Carlos Miguel Prieto in the Violin concertos of Edward Elgar (1857-1934), and Gerald Finzi (1901-1956). Elgar’s Violin Concerto isn’t quite as well known as his Cello Concerto, but has a similar passion and beauty. It’s been said that Elgar’s pieces are […]
Here are two excellent recordings of a work that might be new to you: Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium). Quoting Bernstein, “The music, like Plato’s dialogue, is a series of related statements in praise of love.” The work is scored for Solo violin, harp, string orchestra, and percussion. It was premiered in 1954 in Venice with […]
I admit it. I was never a fan of director Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti westerns”. I got tired of closeups that allowed me to count the pores and follicles on the bad guy’s face, and the music that seemed a bit draggy. A lot of people disagreed. Many American westerns began to resemble spaghetti westerns. Don’t get me wrong, there […]
The amazing classical cellist Maya Fridman joins with jazz musicians, pianist Atzko Kohashi an acoustic bass player Frans van der Hoeven, to create something unique! It’s wonderful, it’s superbly played; but what is it? Yes, it’s jazz, but Maya Fridman’s cello makes for something like classical chamber music. Or, chamber jazz. (I didn’t coin that […]
When I was young I was very impressed by music from “big” motion pictures. There was Miklos Rozsa (Ben Hur, El Cid, Quo Vadis), Alex North (Spartacus), Bernard Hermann (Vertigo and other Hitchcockian delights), Dimitri Tiomkin (Giant, Lost Horizon, High Noon), and others. Aaron Copland, Prokofiev, and other “classical” composers also wrote music for films. But the most […]
I was looking through some releases from last year when I was reminded of this award winner. Sebastian Stanley’s Rachmaninoff album showcases his masterful playing, and HR’s superb recording quality. Rachmaninoff has a special place in my life. I began piano lessons just 7 years after his death. I’ve always seen the modern side of […]
Everybody knows Prokofiev’s ballets, and his 5th Symphony. I can’t think of a single work by Prokofiev that I don’t like. Well… there is an opera that takes some effort. The Firey Angel was commissioned in the early 1920s, but not performed in its entirety until after Prokofiev’s death. There is (to my […]
I’d like to put out some praise for “warhorses.” There’s a reason they hang around. People like them! And occasionally a conductor will come up with a new performance that reminds us why. This recording was the 2020 Orchestral Album of the Year at NativeDSD. Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the great orchestrators, bringing new color and life […]
This lovely, haunting album of Czech orchestral songs is a real winner. It’s a followup to last year’s Folk Songs, winner of Album of the Year in the vocal category. This new one from Magdalena Kozena, backed by the Czech Philharmonic with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, is even more attractive to me because 14 of these […]