*Discount is applied automatically at checkout
*This is a constantly changing special, so act quickly in order not to miss out on the current discounted album
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 […]
I’ve been listening for too many years, and loved too many different recordings of the 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos to settle on absolute favorites, but this set comes very close, and it has kept me smiling since it was released last year. The estimable Garrick Ohlsson with Sir Donald Runnicles conducting the Grand Teton Music […]
When I went to check the mailbox today I was greeted by a cloudless sky. The temperature was perfect. Our large bay tree is perfuming the entire yard. And just when I thought things couldn’t be better, a hummingbird came by to check out the honeysuckles! Was I dreaming? It truly was an amazing moment. Believe it or not, […]
I first “discovered” Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem in 1963 with Andre Previn’s premiere album as conductor of the St. Louis Symphony. I bought the album because it had Aaron Copland’s Red Pony Suite, and while I love that, it was Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem that made this a favorite LP. It was commissioned in 1939 by […]
Golda Schultz, supported by seven other fine soloists, takes us on a delightful excursion through the three Mozart/da Pointe operas, Don Giovanni, Le nozzi di Figaro, and Cosi fan tutti. The album is dedicated to the five strong female characters in these three operas, and she brings strength to each, navigating the sometimes difficult arias perfectly. Conductor […]