Three of my favorite composers are Russian, and they were contemporaries. Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, and Igor Stravinsky all left Russia in their younger years, with only Prokofiev returning. Both Rachmaninov and Stravinsky resided in the USA for a long time and eventually became US citizens. They lived in Los Angeles at the same time, […]
This is my 21st post, and I’m really happy that I’ve been able to help people get know about some great music! This time I’ve decided to do something a little different. Many of you know the Channel Classics label for unsurpassed recording quality. That’s a given with all of their releases. The label is […]
This month I was listening to a couple of composers whose work seems to exist outside of their time and place. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) seems startlingly ahead of his time. While he never reached the heights of Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven, his work seems now to have signaled a seismic shift in music comparable […]
Have you heard about it yet? Have you read about it? Ivan Fischer’s new release of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 is garnering raves from everywhere. This is one of the high points of his superb on-going survey of Mahler symphonies. Yes, there are LOTS of fine recordings of this symphony, but this is one you […]
Last year I praised the album of works by “Herbert Howells” performed by Gloriae Dei Cantores which I find myself returning to quite often. This time I’d like to spotlight another set by this wonderful ensemble: “The Chants of the Holy Spirit”. The set opens and concludes with the sound of the bells at the […]
It’s always a pleasure to discover wonderful performances. But it’s really wonderful to discover unfamiliar composers. Tabea Zimmermann (violin) and Kirill Gerstein (piano) come together in an exquisitely recorded, beautifully played set of Sonatas by Brahms, Vieuxtemps, and a wonderful surprise: Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979). Clarke was born in England, but lived mostly in the US. […]
Bach’s Art of the Fugue! I love this music no matter what instruments are involved. Check out Lynx, a quartet of Japanese flute players, traveling to a church in Germany to record Bach’s The Art Of The Fugue (BWV 1080)! What a delightful discovery this is! The album is called Fuga Lynx. I was totally […]
I love Debussy. I think he was a giant among composers. And I suspect that some or all of the Preludes, Books 1 and 2, are probably part of your own library. Some pianists capture the dreamy, impressionistic qualities. Others play them in a neo-classical manner, letting the notes speak for themselves. I love having […]
Transcriptions, reductions, and orchestrations can be quite enjoyable. Stokowski got a lot of mileage out of orchestrating Bach organ pieces. Ravel orchestrated many of his own works for piano, not to mention his famous orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition. This next DSD Discovery is Gustav Mahler’s arrangement for full string orchestra of Franz […]
To me there is no musical instrument that captures the range of human emotion as well as the cello. Here are three works for the cello featuring the outstanding young Nicolas Altstaedt, backed by Berlin’s other world-class orchestra, the Deutches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by the up and coming Michal Nesterowicz. Included are Cello Concertos by […]
