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2024 UPDATE: I have been adding critiques to as many CDs as I can, starting with those acquired since Jan 2005.
Nov 24, 2024 (4 BDs)
"Rossini Opera Festival" with Rossini's Mosθ in Egitto; Ciro in Babilonia; L'italiana in Alger (conductors Roberto Abbado, Will Crutchfield, Josι Ramσn Encinar / Orch & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna); Il signor Bruschino (Daniele Rustioni / Orch Sinfonica G. Rossini) (Opus Arte 4BDs)
Nov 10, 2024 (2 CDs)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Julie ballet in 4 acts (Cleveland Orch / Maazel, London 2CDs) I wish more people would perform this 2+ hour work in its entirety, not just the suites
Nov 2, 2024 (10 CDs)
Alessandro Scarlatti: La Giuditta (The Queen's Chamber Band / Elaine Comparone, Albany Records 2CDs) pleasant but the homogeneity gets dull fairly quickly
Reinhard Keiser: Fredegunda (Munich Neue Hofkapelle / Christoph Hammer, Naxos 2CDs) a very obscure Baroque opera that's actually quite absorbing
Handel: Athalia (Barockorchester Frankfurt / Joachim Carlos Martini, Naxos 2CDs) almost as good as Messiah, though mellower
Glass: The Voyage (Bruckner Orchester Linz / Dennis Russell Davies, Orange Mountain Music 2CDs) beguiling, worth hearing at least once
Rameau: complete harpsichord works (Jory Vinikour, Sono Luminus 2CDs) good music, overly forceful playing
Oct 31, 2024 (12 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest / Haenchen 2005, Etcetera 2 SACDs) marginally better than Siegfried in this cycle
Mendelssohn: complete choral works (Chamber Choir of Europe / Nicol Matt, Brilliant Classics 10 CDs) gorgeous
Oct 18, 2024 (3 CDs)
Bizet: Carmen (Risλ Stevens / RCA Victor Orch / Reiner 1951, RCA 3CDs) more technical than musical, but even technically the orchestra can get sloppy
Oct 8, 2024 (5 CDs)
8th Cliburn Competition winners Sultanov, Cocarelli & Lupo playing Appassionata Sonata, Chopin Sonata no.3, Mephisto Waltz, Rachmaninoff Sonata no.2, etc. (Teldec 2CDs)
Verdi: Aida (L. Price / London Sym / Leinsdorf, RCA 3CDs)
Oct 7, 2024 (6 CDs)
"Jorge Bolet - His earliest recordings" from 1952 & 53: Prokofiev's 2nd cto, Chopin's 4 Scherzi, Liszt's Funerailles, solo works by Mendelssohn, Lecuona, Granados, Falla, Albeniz, etc. (APR 2CDs)
Liszt: Rhapsodie espagnole, Hungarian Rhapsody no.6; Schubert: Moments musicaux D.780 nos. 2,3,6; Bach: Partita no.2; Rachmaninoff: Sonata no.2 (Stanislav Ioudenitch, Harmonia Mundi)
Wolf-Ferrari: I Quattro Rusteghi (rec. 1969, conductor Ettore Gracis, Gala 2CDs)
Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht op.4 for string sextet; Schubert: String Quintet D.956 (The Hollywood String Quartet, Testament)
Sep 28, 2024 (3 CDs)
Bolcom: Songs of Innocence and of Experience (University of Michigan School of Music Sym Orch / Slatkin, Naxos 3CDs)
Sep 17, 2024 (2 CDs)
Gluck: Orphιe & Eurydice Berlioz version (von Otter & Barbara Hendricks / Orchestre de l'Opιra de Lyon / Gardiner, EMI 2CDs)
Aug 29, 2024 (17 CDs)
"Bamberg Symphony the first 70 years" with Smetana: The Moldau (Keilberth), The Bartered Bride (highlights; Kempe); Dvorak: Sym 8 (Lehmann); Mozart: Serenade in D (Leitner), Sym 38 & 40 (Keilberth), Sym 41 (Jochum); Beethoven: Sym 1 (Keilberth), Sym 6 (Sanderling); Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite 1 (Suitner); Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet (Lehmann); Mahler: Sym 1 (Jonathan Nott), Sym 4 (Kertιsz); R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels, Don Juan (Jochum), Metamorphosen (Sinopoli), Eine Alpensinfonie (Horst Stein); Brahms: Sym 1 (Stein), Sym 4 (Blomstedt); Bruckner: Sym 4 (Stein), Sym 9 (Wand); Schumann: Sym 1 (Keilberth), Sym 4 (Eschenbach); Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (J. Nott); Pfitzner: Prelude to Palestrina (Keilberth) (DG 17CDs)
Aug 28, 2024 (33 CDs)
Wagner "The Great Operas from the Bayreuth Festival": Der fliegende Hollδnder (Sawallisch 1961), Tannhδuser (Sawallisch 1962), Lohengrin (Sawallisch 1962), Tristan und Isolde (Bφhm 1966), Die Meistersinger (Varviso 1974), Ring (Bφhm 1966 & 1967), Parsifal (Levine 1985; Decca 33CDs) Outstanding performances under Sawallisch; 3.6 hours of nonstop adrenaline rush in Bφhm's Tristan is too much; I like Levine's controversially slow Parsifal. Solti was my introduction to both the Ring and Meistersinger but I didn't like them until after hearing Bφhm and Varviso.
Aug 10, 2024 (2 CDs)
Nielsen: Sym no. 5; Mahler: Sym no.7 (Hallι Orch & BBC Northern Sym Orch combined / Barbirolli 1960, The Barbirolli Society 2CDs)
Aug 7, 2024 (3 CDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Coro e Orch di Roma della RAI / Sawallisch 1968, Myto 3CDs)
Aug 5, 2024 (9 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Biss, Orchid Classics 9CDs) Marvelous kaleidoscopic playing
Jul 29, 2024 (6 CDs)
Glazunov: The Seasons (Symphony Orch / Glazunov 1929), Symphony no. 7 (Soviet State Radio Sym Orch / Golovanov, Pearl)
Mahler: Symphony no. 8 (Atlanta Sym Orch & Chorus / Shaw, Telarc)
Tchaikovsky: Eugen Onegin (Staatskapelle Dresden / Levine, DG 2CDs)
Strauss: Salome (London Sym Orch / Leinsdorf, RCA 2CDs)
Jul 5, 2024 (8 CDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Chor und Orchester des Staatstheaters Kassel / Roberto Paternostro 1999, Ars Produktion 4 SACDs)
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Chor und Orchester des Staatstheaters Kassel / Roberto Paternostro 1998, Ars Produktion 4 CDs)
Jun 30, 2024 (7 CDs)
Puccini: Il tabarro sung in German (Wiener Sym / Wilhelm Loibner, Walhall)
Puccini: La Bohθme (Pavarotti & Freni / Orch Sinfonica di Roma della RAI / Schippers 1969, Opera d'Oro 2CDs)
Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier I & II (Tureck 12/1952 - 5/1953, DG 4CDs)
Jun 22, 2024 (2 CDs)
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera (Bjoerling / New Orleans Opera Orch & Chorus / Walter Herbert 1950, VAI 2CDs)
May 21, 2024 (3 CDs)
Wagner: Siegfried (Coro e Orch di Roma della RAI / Sawallisch 1968, Myto 3CDs)
May 20, 2024 (4 CDs)
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Coro e Orch di Roma della RAI / Sawallisch 1968, Myto 4CDs)
May 19, 2024 (7 CDs)
Lully: Suite de pieces; Mendelssohn: Scherzo a Capriccio; Tchaikovsky: Grand Sonata in G Op. 37; Chopin: Polonaise Fantaisie; Hofmann: Kaleidoskop; Chopin: Waltz in A-flat Op. 42 (Cherkassky 1982, Ivory Classics)
"Overtures & Ballet Music of the 19th Century" (New Philharmonia Orch & London Sym / Bonynge, Decca 2CDs)
Kuula: Three Fairy-Tale Pictures Op.19, Three Pieces Op.3b; Merikanto: From the World of Children Op.31 (Eero Heinonen, BIS)
Morton Gould: Jungle Drums etc. (Morton Gould and his Orchestra, RCA Living Stereo)
Liszt: Hexameron, Polonaise No 1, Trauerwalzer Variationen after Schubert, Ballade No 2, Adelaide after Beethoven, Valse-Impromptu, Prelude & Fugue after Bach BWV545 (Moog, Claves Records)
Hindemith: Klaviermusik mit Orchester op. 29 for Piano Left-hand and Orchestra; Dvorak: Symphony no.9 (Fleisher / Curtis Sym / Eschenbach, Ondine)
May 18, 2024 (69 CDs)
Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 59 nos. 2 & 3 (Quartetto Italiano, PentaTone SACD)
Handel: Duets from The Great English Oratorios (Sampson, Blaze / Orch of the Age of Enlightenment / Kraemer, BIS SACD)
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Kanawa,Hampson / Met Opera / Levine, DG 3CDs)
"Bryn Terfel Sings Favorites" (Terfel, DG)
Handel: Acis & Galatea (English Baroque Soloists / Gardiner, Archiv Produktion 2CDs)
Tchaikovsky: 1812, Romeo & Juliet, The Nutcracker Suite (Chicago Sym / Solti, London)
Sousa Marches: The Band of the Grenadier Guards (London Weekend Classics)
"If You Love Me" (Bartoli / Fischer, London)
"Rossini Heroines" (Bartoli, London)
Vivaldi: Glorias RV 588 & 589 (George Guest, Argo)
Verdi: Il trovatore (Callas / Orch e Coro del Teatro alla Scala / Karajan, EMI 2CDs)
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Callas / Orch e Coro del Teatro alla Scala / Karajan, EMI 2CDs)
"The Very Best of Victoria de los Angeles" (EMI 2CDs)
"Gershwin - 'S Wonderful" (Grierson & Kane, EMI)
"Kiri Sings Gershwin" (Te Kanawa, EMI)
"Kiri Sings Kern" (Te Kanawa, EMI)
"Best Loved Hymns" (Choir of King's College / Cleobury, EMI)
"Vienna, City of My Dreams" (Domingo, EMI)
Handel: Operatic Arias (David Daniels, Virgin Classics)
"Drama Queens" (Joyce DiDonato / Il Complesso Barocco / Curtis, Virgin Classics)
Giordano: Andrea Chenier (Carreras / Hungarian State Orch / Patanθ, CBS 2CDs)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons and other great concertos (Zukerman etc., Sony Essential Classics 2CDs)
Wagner: Orchestral Music from Der Ring des Nibelungen, Die Meistersinger, Tristan und Isolde (Cleveland Orch / Szell, Sony Essential Classics)
Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Saint-Saλns: Carnival of the Animals (New York Phil / Bernstein, Sony)
Haydn: Piano Sonatas XVI: 48-52 (Gould, Sony)
• "Jerry Springer - the Opera" (Sony 2CDs)
Bach: Cantatas BWV 82 and 199 (Lieberson / Orch of Emmanuel Music / Craig Smith, Nonesuch)
Gershwin: The Piano Rolls (Gershwin, Elektra Nonesuch)
Gershwin: piano music (Bolcom, Elektra Nonesuch)
Rossini: La Gazza Ladra Overture; Respighi: The Birds; Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals; Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela (Atlanta Sym / Levi, Telarc)
Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 no. 6, Op. 59 no. 1 (Cleveland Quartet, Telarc)
"Empire Brass greatest hits" (Telarc)
"Brass Surround" (Millar Brass Ensemble, Delos)
Gershwin: A Dayful of Song, Rhapsody in Blue, etc. (Dallas Sym / Litton, Delos)
"On Tour in Russia" (Leonard Warren, RCA)
"Opera Duets" (Domingo, Milnes & Ricciarelli, RCA)
"Ragtime: The Musical" (RCA 2CDS)
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, 3 Slavonic Dances (New York Phil / Masur, Teldec)
Gershwin: selections from Porgy and Bess, An American in Paris, Cuban Overture (New York Phil / Mehta, Teldec)
"Last Night of the Proms" with Walton: Belshazzar's Feast; Wood: Fantasia on British Sea Songs; etc. (BBC Sym / Andrew Davis, Teldec)
Grieg: Sonata for piano & cello; Chopin: Sonata for piano & cello; Schumann: Adagio & Allegro (David Finckel & Wu Han, BBC Music) @
Brahms: Symphony No. 4, Zigeunerlieder (conducted by Andrew Davis & Stefan Parkman, BBC Music) @
Walton: Symphony No. 1; Takemitsu: From Me Flows What You Call Time (BBC Music) @
Berlioz: Les nuits d'ιtι; Handel arias (Lieberson / Philharmonia Baroque Orch / McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Productions) @
Schubert: selected songs (Margaret Price / Sawallisch as pianist, Orfeo) @
Bach: Cantatas BWV 170, 54, 169 (Kings Consort / Robert King, Hyperion) @
"Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Emmanuel": Bach and Handel (Lieberson / Orch of Emmanuel Music / Smith, Avie) @
Schubert: Schwanengesang, etc. (Schreier & Schiff, Wigmore Hall) @
"Abide With Me" and other favourite hymns (Naxos) so-so
"Met Moments" - highlights from six decades of broadcast intermissions (Texaco 2CDs) fascinating interviews
Rhapsody in Blue / West Side Story (guitarists Barbosa-Lima & Isbin, Concord Records) surprisingly effective transcriptions
Bach: Jesu, Meine Freude Motets (Sette Voci / Kooij, Ramee) beautiful but plain
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 109 - 111 (Feltsman, Musical Heritage Society) austere, high in clarity, low in romanticism
"Romanza" (Bocelli, Philips) a soothing but shaky voice
Purcell: Music for Queen Mary (Gardiner, Apex) Moving performance, joyous in the "birthday" odes and mournful in the funeral music; makes me want to explore Purcell much more
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, 2 Romances (Tetzlaff / Zinman, Arte Nova) Lean playing with fresh ideas, including cadenzas transcribed by Tetzlaff from Beethoven's piano version of this concerto
Handel: Judas Maccabeus (English Chamber Orch / Somary, Alto 2CDs) A noncommittal, nondescript rendition
May 1, 2024 (2 CDs)
"Across the Stars" featuring John Williams: Rey's Theme, Yoda's Theme, Hedwig's Theme, Across the Stars (Love Theme), etc. (Mutter / The Recording Arts Orch of Los Angeles / John Williams, DG) Mutter's vibrato can be excessive
Barber: Adagio; Piano Concerto; Violin Concerto; 4 Choral Pieces (Tedd Joselson / Ittai Shapira / London Sym Orch / Andrew Schenck, Alto) the piano concerto is nearly as appealing as the violin concerto and should be played more often; while Joselson is competent, Barber seems to call for more showmanship
Apr 20, 2024 (8 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Pollini, DG 8 CDs) With recording dates spanning nearly 4 decades (6/1975 - 6/2014), his technical polish is quite variable but most sonatas are played with more vigor and interpretive nuances than expected, even the ones recorded in his twilight years.
Apr 8, 2024 (10 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Paul Lewis, Harmonia Mundi 10 CDs) thoughtful but sounds calculated & stodgy
Apr 6, 2024 (4 CDs)
Beethoven: 10 violin sonatas (Pamela Frank / Claude Frank, MusicMasters 4 CDs) vigorous though a bit rough
Apr 3, 2024 (9 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Igor Levit, Sony 9 CDs) Superb tonal control, and every note is weighted with care, but tempi are almost always too fast and strict. His technique seems to greatly exceed what I witnessed at a recital, possibly the result of extensive editing; indeed the recording of most sonatas took 3 - 5 days each.
Dec 22, 2023 (2 CDs)
John Field: Piano Sonatas op. 1 nos. 1 - 3, Piano Sonata no. 4, Nocturnes nos. 3, 7, 17 (John O'Conor, Telarc) not for me
Jennifer Higdon: Piano Trio (2003), Voices (1993), Impressions (2003) (Anne Akiko Meyers, Alisa Weilerstein, Adam Neiman et al., Naxos American Classics) enjoyable new music with contrasting styles
Dec 9, 2023 (15 CDs)
Dvorak: Symphony #9 (Wiener Phil/Kondrashin), American Suite (Royal Phil/Dorati, London) opulent sounds in the New World Sym; lovely filler
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Symphony #1 (Chicago Sym/Solti, London) showy music tailored to Solti and the CSO
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloι (Orchestre symphonique de Montrιal/Dutoit, London) luscious, vivid, powerful, probably my favorite Ravel CD
John Longhurst plays the Mormon Tabernacle Organ, featuring works by Gigout, Bach, Widor, Vierne, Clarke, Heron, Handel, Franck (Philips) can't tell what's so special about this organ
Grofι: Grand Canyon Suite, Piano Concerto in D minor (Jesus Sanroma / Rochester Phil Orch / Grofι, Philips) adorable music, subpar playing
Orff: Carmina Burana (Chicago Sym/Levine, DG) classic Levine: logical, detailed, clean, well crafted
Copland: Billy the Kid, Rodeo (Saint Louis Sym Orch/Slatkin, EMI) not crazy about the music though it's spectacularly played
Shostakovich: Symphony #7 "Leningrad" (St. Petersburg Phil Orch/Temirkanov, RCA) good but could be more suspenseful in the soft sections
Der Stein der Weisen (The Philosopher's Stone) by Mozart, Hennebert, Schack, Gerl, Schikaneder (Boston Baroque/Pearlman, Telarc 2CDs) has some resemblance to The Magic Flute but is really no match for it
Albιniz: Iberia Books 1 & 2, Espana (Barenboim, Teldec) a serious reading
Berlioz: Harold en Italie (Bashmet / Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt / Inbal, Denon) Bashmet makes up for the comparatively square conducting
Bach: Secular Cantatas BWV 211, BWV 212 (Kammerorchester Berlin/Schreier, Berlin Classics) festive
Gershwin: An American in Paris, Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue (David Golub / London Sym Orch / Mitch Miller, Arabesque Recordings) marvelously soulful, relaxed, jazzy, the best Gershwin playing I have heard
"Gershwin: Remembrance and Discovery" (Richard Glazier, Centaur) tasteful
Dec 6, 2023 (59 CDs)
Tartini: Complete violin concertos (L'Arte dell'Arco, Dynamic 29 CDs) admirable dedication to all these generic-sounding pieces by a lesser-known composer
Handel "The Masterworks" including Music for the Royal Fireworks, Water Music, Concerti Grossi, Organ Concertos, Oboe Concertos, Trio Sonatas, Flute sonatas, Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Coronation Anthems, Dixit Dominus, Hercules, Judas Maccabaeus, Solomon, Giulio Cesare (Sir Neville Marriner, Christopher Hogwood, Trevor Pinnock, Mark Minkowski and others, Decca 30CDs) a terrific compilation that made me like Handel more than ever; middle-of-the-road instrumental playing, more assertive vocals
Nov 16, 2023 (1 CD)
John Williams: Themes and Transcriptions for Piano (Simone Pedroni, Varѐse Sarabande) lackluster
Nov 15, 2023 (32 CDs)
Verdi: Aida (National Sym Orch of Ireland/Rico Saccani, Naxos 2 CDs) almost amateurish
Vaughan Williams: The Collector's Edition (Handley, Hickox, Boult, Willcocks, Groves, Davies, etc., EMI 30 CDs) lots of gems to discover
Nov 4, 2023 (26 CDs, 2 DVDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Barenboim, Decca 10 CDs) Technical sloppiness abounds in these live performances at age 62, but his playing is more inspired and spontaneous than in his previous cycles, with more contrasts, surprises and even fire.
Debussy: Images, Printemps, La Mer; Franck: symphonic excerpts from Psyche; Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe Suite #2; Andriessen: Miroir de Peine; Escher: Musique pour l'esprit en deuil; Beethoven: violin concerto, piano concerto #3; Bach-Busoni: D minor keyboard concerto BWV 1052; Mozart: violin concerto #4; Schubert: Entr'acte music from Rosamunde; Schoenberg: 5 Orchestral Pieces op. 16 (Francescatti, Solomon, Lipatti, Menuhin / Concertgebouw Orch / Eduard van Beinum, Andante 4 CDs) The soloists are much more enjoyable than the conducting
Verdi: Macbeth (Met Opera / Leinsdorf 1959, RCA 2 CDs) not bad but could be more intense like some of Leinsdorf's Wagner performances
Verdi: Luisa Miller (RCA Italiana Opera Orch / Fausto Cleva, RCA 2 CDs) consistently gripping
Elgar: The Kingdom op. 51, Bach & Handel transcriptions (London Phil Orch / Slatkin, RCA 2 CDs) a few epic(ish) moments
Marschner: Der Vampyr (Bavarian Radio Sym Orch / Fritz Rieger, Opera d'Oro, 2 CDs) some resemblance to Wagner, whom this opera influenced
Rossini: La Gazzetta (Orchestra da camera "Alessandro Scarlatti" di Napoli della RAI / Franco Caracciolo, Nuova Fonit Cetra, 2 CDs) comical without being farcical
Verdi: Giovanna d'Arco (Orchestra di Milano della RAI / Alfredo Simonetto 1951, Melodram, 2 CDs) excellent early Verdi; possibly its earliest recording
Rossini: Ricciardo e Zoraide (Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI / Giacomo Sagripanti, C Major, 2 DVDs)
Oct 22, 2023 (11 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas, Sonata for Piano 4 Hands in D Major Op. 6 (Lortie, also Hιlθne Mercier in Op.6, Chandos 9CDs) Though not always technically at ease (some of which might be "pretend" struggles ΰ la Arrau), he plays with an easygoing style and peppers each movement with refreshing nuances
Beethoven: violin concerto; Ravel: Tzigane; Brahms: violin concerto; Chausson: Poθme (Ginette Neveu with conductors Rosbaud, Munch and Dorati, Music & Arts 2CDs) melancholy
Oct 10, 2023 (12 CDs)
Bruckner: symphonies 3 - 9, Te Deum, Mass no.3 in F minor (Munich Philharmonic Orchestra / Celibidache, EMI 12CDs) awesomely slow tempi, though I wish they varied more
Oct 7, 2023 (5 CDs)
Bartok: Duke Bluebeard's Castle (BBC National Orch of Wales / Mark Elder, BBC Music) one of Bartok's best works
Mahler: Symphony #3 (Los Angeles Phil / Salonen, Sony 2CDs) a satisfying emotional journey
Verdi: Otello (Orch & Chorus of La Scala / Carlo Sabajno 1932, Opera d'Oro 2CDs) potent
Sep 30, 2023 (3 CDs)
Tchaikovsky: sym #4; Beethoven: sym #8; Schubert: "Unfinished" sym; Ravel: La Valse; excerpts from various symphonies, orchestral, and choral works (Pittsburgh Sym Orch / Mariss Jansons, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra 3 CDs) almost as emphatic as his successor Manfred Honeck but without the occasional willfulness
Sep 29, 2023 (18 CDs)
Beethoven: 5 piano concertos, Choral Fantasy, 7 variations on "God Save the King" Woo 78, 7 bagatelles op.33, fantasie op.77, 11 bagatelles op.119, 6 bagatelles op.126, 5 variations on "Rule Britannia" Woo 79 (Melvyn Tan / London Classical Players / Norrington, Virgin Classics, 4 CDs) The orchestra often drowns out the solo, which is probably historically accurate because fortepianos are far from "forte"; copious unique details
Mozart: complete keyboard works (Bart van Oort & Ursula Dόtschler (2nd piano), Brilliant Classics 14 CDs) more enjoyable than expected for fortepiano
Sep 17, 2023 (4 LPs)
"Just your cup of tea" containing Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin Polonaise, Strauss Jr.'s Tales from the Vienna Woods, Rimski-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, Chopin's Les Sylphides part 1, Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream Scherzo, Gounod's Faust Waltzes, Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours (Boston Pops Orch / Arthur Fiedler 1960, RCA LP CR-124)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony no. 2 (Philadelphia Orch / Ormandy 1951 mono, Columbia Records LP ML4433)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 5 (London Phil Orch / Boult 1959 mono, Somerset Records LP P-10000)
• Tchaikovsky: The Swan Lake op. 20 (French National Sym Orch /Roger Dιsormiθre 1951 mono, Capitol Classics LP P-8142)
Sep 7, 2023 (4 CDs)
Wagner: Parsifal (Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Rafael Kubelνk 1980, Arts Music, 4 CDs) a well-rounded rendition with stupendous buildups to climaxes; Kubelik's best Wagner recording
Aug 28, 2023 (7 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Chor und Orchester des Staatstheaters Kassel / Roberto Paternostro 1999, Ars Produktion 3 CDs) lighthearted
Wagner: Siegfried (Chor und Orchester des Staatstheaters Kassel / Roberto Paternostro 1998, Ars Produktion 4 CDs) slightly more dramatic and eventful than in Das Rheingold
Aug 24, 2023 (3 CDs)
Wagner: Siegfried (Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest / Hartmut Haenchen 2004 & 2005, Etcetera 3 SACDs) underwhelming
Aug 15, 2023 (6 CDs)
Handel: violin sonatas (Rachel Barton, David Schrader, John Mark Rozendaal; Cedille Records) plain
Cello concertos by C.P.E. Bach, Boccherini, Vivaldi, Janson, Couperin (Starker, Santa Fe Festival Orch; Delos) radiant
Howard Hanson: Mosaics, Piano Concerto Op. 36, Sym #5, Sym #7 "A Sea Symphony" (Carol Rosenberger / Seattle Sym Orch & Chorale / Gerard Schwarz; Delos) composed in the grand Romantic tradition
Brahms: A German Requiem (Berliner Phil / Abbado; DG) dirge-like
Respighi: Ancient Dances and Airs for the Lute (parts I and III), The Birds, Three Botticelli Pictures (I Solisti Veneti / Claudio Scimone; Erato) pleasing
R. Strauss: Romance for cello and orchestra, Don Quixote, Sonate for cello and piano Op. 6 (Jan Vogler, Louis Lortie, Staatskapelle Dresden, Fabio Luisi; Sony hybrid-SACD) weak in Don Quixote, better in the chamber works
Aug 12, 2023 (5 CDs)
Beethoven: Piano concertos #4 and #5 (Cliburn / Reiner, RCA) played with his usual bright tone and articulation but interpretively plain; Reiner is more interesting
Bloch: complete music for violin and piano, volume 1 (Donald Weilerstein and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Arabesque Recordings) wonderful pieces
Bloch: complete music for violin and piano, volume 2 (Donald Weilerstein and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Arabesque Recordings) also nice
Beethoven: Quintet for horn etc. Op. 16; Dukas: Villanelle; Marais: Le Basque; Mozart: Quintet for horn etc. K. 407; Brahms: Trio for piano, violin and horn (Dennis Brain et al., BBC Legends) horn playing at its best
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Divertimento K. 334, Divertimento K. 251 (Chicago Sym & NBC Sym / Reiner, Testament) a tad too strong
Jul 28, 2023 (5 CDs)
Schubert: piano sonatas D. 958, 894, 566, 845, 575, 840 (Walter Klien, VoxBox 2CDs) dry, rigid
"No Boundaries" with works by Gershwin, Lecouna, Copland, Dvorak, Novacek, Ravel, Liebermann, Liszt, Lutoslawski, Ginastera, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky (The 5 Browns, RCA) musical playing, fun selections
Vaughan Williams: Mass in G minor (The Elora Festival Singers / Noel Edison, Naxos) spiritual
Percy Grainger: music for saxophone (Joyce Griggs, Naxos) cheesy
Jul 20, 2023 (18 CDs)
Scriabin "The Complete Works" (Aimard, Ashkenazy, Fergus-Thompson, Gergiev, Grosvenor, Inbal, Lisitsa, Maazel, Pogorelich, Richter, Szidon, etc., Decca 18 CDs) The orchestral works are better than expected and quite different from his piano music
Jul 18, 2023 (1 CD)
Chopin: piano concertos (Grosvenor / Royal Scottish National Orch / Elim Chan, Decca) The conducting is more interesting than the solo
Jul 12, 2023 (1 CD)
Josef Suk: Spring Op. 22a, Summer Impressions Op. 22b, Piano pieces Op. 7, Moods Op. 10 (Jonathan Plowright, Hyperion) soothing
Jul 5, 2023 (41 CDs)
"Georges Cziffra: The complete studio recordings 1956-1986" (Cziffra / various orchestras / Cziffra Jr, Dervaux, Giulini, Rosenthal, Vandernoot, Erato 41 CDs) After the first 8 disks of extreme pyrotechnics, I find the subsequent disks' less over-the-top playing more palatable. Tons of interesting and sometimes even insightful Chopin.
Jun 23, 2023 (2 CDs)
• Foote: Suite in E for String Orchestra Op.63; Harl McDonald: San Juan Capistrano; Copland: El Salon Mexico; Roy Harris: Symphonies Nos.1 & 3 (Boston Sym Orch / Koussevitzky, Pearl) I like the Foote most
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (Boston Sym Orch / Koussevitzky, Pearl) Noble, refined
Jun 4, 2023 (4 CDs, 6 DVDs)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Welsh National Opera / Goodall, Decca 4CDs) Far better than his Ring; botched the big Act 2 climax though
Donizetti: La Fille du regiment (Royal Opera / Bruno Campanella, Virgin Classics DVD)
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Bayerisches Staatsoper / Carlos Kleiber, DG 2DVDs)
Strauss: Elektra (Metropolitan Opera / Levine, DG DVD)
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Wiener Philharmoniker / Furtwangler, DG DVD)
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Los Angeles Philharmonic + Simon Bolivar Sym Orch of Venezuela/ Dudamel, DG DVD)
Jun 3, 2023 (3 CDs)
Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (Verrett, Caballe / Carlo Felice Cillario, Opera d'Oro 2CDs) I like this almost as much as Anna Bolena
Prokofiev: piano sonatas nos. 9 and 10 fragment, Four Pieces op.4, Toccata op.11, Sarcasms op.17, Visions Fugitives op.22 (Barbara Nissman, Newport Classics) Scintillating, elastic
May 29, 2023 (4 CDs)
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Ewing / Myung-Whun Chung, DG 2CDs) More thrilling when I saw it in person, nonetheless this is an impactful presentation
Puccini: La bohθme (Freni, Pavarotti / Karajan, London 2CDs) Hard to get used to the hollow acoustics
May 28, 2023 (6 CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas opp. 109 - 111 (Uchida, Philips) Sensical tempo and volume variations
Dukas: complete piano music (Stigliani, Naxos) Nice obscure pieces
Chopin: 21 nocturnes (Barenboim, DG 2CDs) very slow but convincing; this was my first time being impressed by Barenboim's piano playing
Bruckner: symphonies nos. 8 and 9 (Wiener Phil / Schuricht, EMI 2CDs) Impatient, even a bit angry
May 26, 2023 (1 CD)
Liszt: Freudvoll und Leidvoll (Jonas Kaufmann & Helmut Deutsch, Sony) These Lieder greatly surpass expectations; fascinating to compare with some of their solo piano transcriptions
May 25, 2023 (4 CDs, 1 DVD)
Bernstein: On the Town (London Sym Orch / Michael Tilson Thomas, DG) Joyful
Verdi: Otello (Pavarotti, Te Kanawa, Nucci, Chicago Sym Orch / Solti, Decca 2CDs) Pavarotti sounds out of place
Mahler: Symphony no. 10 completed by Deryck Cooke (BBC National Orch of Wales / Mark Wigglesworth, BBC Music) Sounds reasonably Mahler-like
"Birthday Concert for Pope Benedict XVI" with Gabrieli: Canzona noni toni a 12 Sonata XIII; Mozart: Violin Concerto no. 3; Dvorak: Symphony no. 9 "From the New World" (Hahn, Stuttgart Radio Brass, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR / Gustavo Dudamel, DG DVD)
May 19, 2023 (4 CDs)
Bernstein: Mass, Dybbuk (Bernstein, Sony 3CDs) Cute and very American but will never be mainstream
Shchedrin: Lolita-Serenade, transcription of Two Tangos by Albeniz, Anna Karenina, Concerto No. 1 for Orchestra (Pittsburgh Sym Orch / Jansons, Pittsburgh Symphony Curtain Call) Could have been much more playfully interpreted
May 12, 2023 (2 CDs)
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (La Scala Opera / Abbado 1972, Opera d'Oro 2 CDs) A riveting performance that makes me forget about the awful sonics
Apr 16, 2023 (14 CDs, 1 DVD)
"A Legendary Collaboration: Georges Enesco & Yehudi Menuhin" with works by Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Wieniawski, Novacek, Mozart, Bach, Paganini, Enesco, Lalo, Chausson (Menuhin 1929-38 / Orch Sym de Paris, Orch Colonne / Enesco, LYS 4 CDs) More technically facile than in his later decades
R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Lehmann / Metropolitan Opera / Bodanzky 1939, Naxos Historical 3 CDs) Bodanzky's breakneck tempi are more tolerable here than in Wagner; too bad the sound is so primitive
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Melchior, Traubel / Metropolitan Opera / Leinsdorf 1943, Naxos Historical 3 CDs) A nice blend of fire and tenderness, fast but not rushed, probably Leinsdorf's best Wagner recording I have heard
Verdi: Falstaff (Leonard Warren / New Orleans Opera / Renato Cellini 1956, VAI Audio 2 CDs) I like the cheerful atmosphere/spirit
Puccini: La Boheme (de los Angeles, Bjφrling / RCA Victor Orch & Chorus / Beecham, EMI 2 CDs) Vibrant and firm but insufficiently sad
Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Netrebko, Villazσn / Orch & Chor der Winer Staatsoper / Alfred Eschwι, Virgin Classics, DVD)
Mar 9, 2023 (4 CDs)
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Metropolitan Opera / Leinsdorf 1962, Walhall 4 CDs) The most satisfying episode of this Ring cycle, with the most natural pacing and technical polish though I do miss some of the raw power in the earlier episodes
Mar 4, 2023 (2 CDs, 3 DVDs)
Donizetti: Anna Bolena (Callas / Gavazzeni, EMI, 2 CDs) Music that gets better over the course of the opera
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Welser-Most, EMI, 2 DVDs)
Mozart: The Magic Flute, abridged version in English (Metropolitan Opera / Levine, Sony, 1 DVD)
Feb 28, 2023 (1 DVD)
Mozart: Die Zauberflφte (The Royal Opera / Colin Davis, Opus Arte, 1 DVD)
Feb 25, 2023 (4 CDs)
Wagner: Siegfried (Metropolitan Opera / Leinsdorf 1962, Walhall 4 CDs) Lively but messy. The pre-Levine Met Orchestra was rather sloppy.
Feb 23, 2023 (3 CDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Metropolitan Opera / Leinsdorf 1961, Walhall 3 CDs) Frenzied, with incredibly wild climaxes in act 1 scene 3. Wotan (Otto Edelmann) had a memory lapse in act 3.
Feb 21, 2023 (2 DVDs)
Wagner: Rienzi (Choeurs et Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse / Pinchas Steinberg, Opus Arte 2 DVDs)
Feb 16, 2023 (2 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Metropolitan Opera / Leinsdorf 1961, Walhall 2 CDs) More thoughtful than his senior Met colleagues Stiedry & Bodanzky, though still a bit headlong
Feb 12, 2023 (1 BD)
Wagner: Das Liebesverbot (Coros y Orquesta del Teatro Real de Madrid / Ivor Bolton, Opus Arte, BD)
Feb 11, 2023 (8 CDs)
Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Philharmonia Choir & Orch / Klemperer, EMI 3 CDs) Very slow, though that adds to the gravity
Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila (Domingo et al., Orchestre et choeurs de l'Opιra-Bastille / Myung-Whun Chung, EMI 2 CDs) an exotic-sounding opera
"Jascha Heifetz Collection Volume 1" with works by Dinicu, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Rimsky-Korsakov, Godowsky, Mendelssohn, Clerambault, Brahms, Falla, Dohnanyi, Bruch (Heifetz, Doremi) Inimitable; strongly refutes the notion that he was "cold"
Verdi: Requiem, Quattro pezzi sacri (Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, et al., Vienna Phil / Solti, Decca 2 CDs) Solti seems uncharacteristically restrained
Feb 9, 2023 (13 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chor und Orchester der Tiroler Festspiele / Gustav Kuhn 1998-2001, Arte Nova, 13 CDs) Very straightforward, "objective", virtually unprocessed; can sound odd, comical and/or exciting when it's natural to slow down but he doesn't
Jan 29, 2023 (8 CDs)
"Orchestra!" with Bach: Brandenburg Cto #3 mvt 1; Schumann: piano cto mvt 1 excerpt; Tchaikovsky: piano cto #1 mvt 1 excerpt; Strauss: Don Juan; Lutosławski: sym #3 conclusion; etc. (Dudley Moore / Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orch / Solti (London) Bought this to hear Dudley Moore; interesting playing in the Schumann concerto
"Russian Album" with songs by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka, Prokofiev (Anna Netrebko / Gergiev, DG) These lesser-known songs took me multiple listens to appreciate; well worth the effort
Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #1, 2, 5, 9 (Victoria de los Αngeles / Orch National de la Radiodiffusion Franηaise / Villa-Lobos, EMI) Bewitching singing in #5
Wagner: Der fliegende Hollδnder (Bayreuther Festspiele 1955 / Knappertsbusch, ZYX Music, 2 CDs) This work is often performed with too much continuous excitement; this version is refreshing thanks to its "downtimes" and dramatic broadening of tempi.
Bellini: Norma (Jane Eaglen et al. / Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Muti, EMI, 3 CDs) The singing is better than Muti's conservative orchestral interpretation
Jan 28, 2023 (2 CDs)
"Inspired by Bach" with Bach: 6 cello suites (Yo-Yo Ma, Sony 2 CDs) Soulful
Jan 27, 2023 (2 CDs, 7 DVDs)
Schubert: piano sonata D784 (rec. 1979), 13 Variations on a Theme by Anselm Huttenbrenner D576; Schumann: Fantasiestucke Op.12; Debussy: Cloches ΰ travers les feuilles (rec. 1969; S. Richter, BBC Legends) Magnetizing
"Cinema Serenade" with The Color Purple: Main Title; Scent of a Woman: Tango (Por Una Cabeza); Yentl: Papa, Can You Hear Me?; Il Postino: Theme; The Age of Innocence: Theme; Far and Away: Theme; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: I Will Wait for You; Four Horseman of the Apocalypse: Theme; Sabrina: Theme; Out of Africa: Main Title; Black Orpheus: Manha de Carnaval; Schindler's List: Theme; Cinema Paradiso: Love Theme (Perlman / Pittsburgh Sym Orch / John Williams, Sony) Perlman plays his heart out
"Kent Nagano conducts classical masterprices" with Mozart: sym #41; Schumann: sym #3; Bruckner: sym #8; Beethoven: sym #3; Brahms: sym #4; Strauss: An Alpine Sym (Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Nagano, Arthaus Music, 7 DVDs)
Jan 17, 2023 (7 CDs, 1 DVD)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Domingo, Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Antonio Pappano, EMI, 3 CDs + 1 DVD) Rich in contrasts and emotions; one of the best Tristan und Isolde recordings in the digital era
Wagner: Die Meistersinger (Chor und Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Kubelik, Myto, 4 CDs) While effectively done, a 4.5-hour opera with copious repetitions and few climaxes could use more interpretive and stylistic variety.
Jan 5, 2023 (3 CDs)
Wagner: Lohengrin (Bavarian Radio Chorus & Sym Orch / Kubelik, Musical Heritage Society licensed from DG, 3 CDs) More than a few exciting passages especially "Heil! Kφnig Heinrich!" in Act 3, though the singing tends to be aloof
Dec 31, 2022 (22 CDs, 1 DVD)
"Works of Igor Stravinsky" (conducted by Stravinsky, Sony, 22 CDs) Nice to hear the composer interpret most of his own music but I wonder if top-tier orchestras might have provided more punch than Columbia's money-saving pickup orchestra. Regardless, it's a great intro to his lesser-known works though many of the vocal ones are hard to stomach.
Saint-Saens: violin concerto #3; Grieg: piano concerto (Julia Fischer, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie / Matthias Pintscher, Decca, DVD)
Dec 29, 2022 (5 CDs)
Mozart: piano concertos #23 and 24 (Serkin / London Sym Orch / Abbado, DG) Not as bad as some of the other Mozart concertos Serkin recorded in his final years though his diminished faculties remain obvious. Arrau at this age was technically comparable but far more insightful.
Verdi: Il Trovatore (Core e Orch del Teatro alla Scala / Serafin, DG, 2 CDs) Performed with Toscanini-like vigor
Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri (Horne, Ramey, Battle, Palacio, Zaccaria, I Solisti Veneti / Scimone, Erato, 2 CDs) Energetic and showy singing
Dec 26, 2022 (4 CDs)
"Lang Lang: Live in Vienna" with Beethoven: piano sonatas #3 and #23; Albeniz: Iberia Book I; Prokofiev: piano sonata #7; Chopin: Etude Op.25 No.1, Polonaise #6, Grand Valse Brillante #2 (Lang Lang, Sony, 2CDs) He shows restraint, warmth and maturity in the Beethoven sonatas which nevertheless contain myriad fun/exciting details, but is far less disciplined in the other pieces.
Offenbach: La Belle Hιlθne (Jessye Norman, Churs & Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse / Plasson, EMI, 2 CDs) Aside from a few catchy tunes, it's mostly farcical music.
Dec 24, 2022 (6 CDs, 1 DVD)
Wagner: Parsifal (Cluytens 1960 in Milano, Andromeda, 4 CDs) Pleasantly natural tempi and singing, surprisingly good for a conductor not known for his Wagner
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier, abridged (Lehmann, Vienna Phil Orch / Rober Heger 1933, Naxos 2 CDs) This work's very first recording albeit abridged. Not very polished by modern standards but historically significant.
Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollδnder (Bayerisches Staatsorchester / Sawallisch, DG, DVD)
Dec 22, 2022 (2 CDs)
"Maria Callas: The RAI recitals 1949-1956" with Lieder by Wagner, Bellini, Proch, Verdi, Donizetti, Delibes, Mozart, Meyerbeer, Charpentier, Rossini, Spontini, and Thomas; also a 14-min excerpt from Tosca act II with George London and Mitropoulos (Gala, 2 CDs) Good selections. I'm not a fan of Callas' voice but it suits Tosca well.
Dec 6, 2022 (6 CDs)
Dvorαk: Rusalka (Fleming, Heppner, Zajick, Hawlata, Urbanovα, Czech Phil / Sir Charles Mackerras, London, 3 CDs) I first heard Rusalka live in Sep 2022 and liked it right away, though I think it peaks too early musically.
Massenet: Manon (Gheorghiu, Alagna, Patriarco, van Dam, Ragon, Rivenq, Panzarella, Koch, Schimmack, Orch Sym & Chorus de la Monnaie / Antonio Pappano, EMI, 3 CDs) Growing on me, even though I am more familiar with Werther and Thaοs.
Dec 5, 2022 (5 CDs)
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Chor der Wiener Staatsoper / Wiener Philharmoniker / Karajan 1950, EMI, 2 CDs) Breakneck tempi, likely modeled after his idol Toscanini's 1930s performances. Lots of lovely singing by the sopranos.
Rossini: Armida (Ambrosian Opera Chorus / I Solisti Veneti / Claudio Scimone, Europa Musica, 2 CDs) Tuneful but largely forgettable, like most of Rossini's many operas
"By Request...The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra" : Olympic Fanfare and Theme; The Cowboys Overture; Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind; March from Midway; Flying Theme from "E.T."; Luke and Leia Theme from Return of the Jedi; March from Superman; Liberty Fanfare; March from Raiders of the Lost Ark; Yoda's Theme from the Empire Strikes Back; March from "1941"; Theme from Jaws; Imperial March from the Empire Strikes Back; Mission Theme (Theme for NBC News); Main Theme from Star Wars (Boston Pops Orchestra / John Williams, Philips) Containing so many of Williams' blockbuster numbers, conducted by himself and played by his main orchestra, this is one of the best samplers of his works.
Nov 28, 2022 (4 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Orch & Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin / Ronald Runnicles, Naxos, 4 BDs)
Nov 14, 2022 (1 CD)
Mozart: Piano Sonatas K. 280 & 311, Rondo K. 485 (Arrau, Philips) Unique in virtually every bar
Oct 24, 2022 (10 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Metropolitan Opera / Stiedry 1957, Walhall 2 CDs) Crude, without a single iota of nuance
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Hallι Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, The Royal Opera Chorus, Hallι Orch / Mark Elder, Hallι, 3 CDs) Unrushed, meticulously weighted orchestral playing
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Hallι Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, The Royal Opera Chorus, Hallι Orch / Mark Elder, Hallι, 5 CDs) Elder is as thoughtful and patient as in Das Rheingold and Die Walkόre, though this longer-than-most rendition (~ 4 hr 40 min) can be challenging to appreciate in one sitting.
Oct 22, 2022 (6 CDs)
Wagner: Der fliegende Hollδnder (Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano / Sawallisch 1966, Opera d'Oro, 2 CDs) Minimally interpreted, at times chaotic
Verdi: La traviata (Callas, di Stefano, Orch & Chorus of Teatro de Bellas Artes (Mexico City) / Umberto Mugnai, 1952 Opera d'Oro, 2 CDs) Deeply emotional singing
Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 (Boston Baroque / Martin Pearlman, Telarc, 2 CDs) Not my cup of tea
Oct 15, 2022 (7 CDs)
Wagner: Parsifal in Italian (Coro e Orchestra di Roma della Radio Italiana / Gui 1950, Virtuoso, 3 CDs) Uniquely Italian, not just language-wise but also stylistically
Wagner: Lohengrin (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Jochum, Opera d'Oro, 4 CDs) The singing really speaks to me, much more than the orchestra/conducting. Even Nilsson, whom I usually find too cold and hard, sings tenderly and movingly here.
Sep 27, 2022 (12 CDs)
Bruckner: Symphonies #00 - 9 (Philharmoniker Hamburg / Simone Young, Oehms, 12 CDs) A lighter-than-usual interpretation. While I prefer Bruckner with more oomph, it's good to hear a different take now and then. The infrequently played editions are also interesting.
Sep 20, 2022 (16 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen in English (English National Opera Chorus & Orch / Reginald Goodall, Chandos, 16 CDs) So slow and lethargic, much of it feels like a dirge.
Sep 7, 2022 (14 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Seattle Sym Orch, Seattle Opera Chorus / Asher Fisch, Avie, 14 CDs) The only Ring cycle recorded by an American opera company not named the Met. Sadly, a mic placed way too close to the tuba causes a serious imbalance that not only annoys but also makes it hard to evaluate the performance, though on the whole it's livelier than Fisch's 2004 cycle.
Aug 24, 2022 (8 CDs)
Wagner: Parsifal (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Knappertsbusch, Philips, 4 CDs) Widely considered the definitive version, it's very beautiful and soothing but IMO Parsifal should have more profundity and solemnity.
Wagner: Die Meistersinger (Gesamtchor der Bayerischen Staatsoper Orchester des Prinzregenten-Theaters Mόnchen / Eugen Jochum 1949, Walhall, 4 CDs) Too disorganized for my liking
Aug 4, 2022 (15 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Knappertsbusch 1957, Laudis, 15 CDs) Not as interesting as Kna's 1958 Ring cycle
Aug 2, 2022 (9 CDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Hallι Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, The Royal Opera Chorus, Hallι Orch / Mark Elder, Hallι, 5 CDs) Well-controlled dynamics and pacing; even when the music gets super slow, it feels more suspenseful than plodding, reminiscent of Levine. The singing is on the cautious side, though still reasonably expressive.
Wagner: Siegfried (Hallι Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, The Royal Opera Chorus, Hallι Orch / Mark Elder, Hallι, 4 CDs) Elder's pensive style does not suit this opera. Here he sounds like Goodall.
Jun 28, 2022 (7 DVDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chor und Orchester des Nationaltheaters Mannheim / Dan Ettinger 2013, Arthaus Musik, 7 DVDs)
Jun 14, 2022 (13 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Knappertsbusch 1958, Walhall 2 CDs) Knappertsbusch's tendency to drag the tempo is actually fascinating!
Wagner: Die Walkure (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Knappertsbusch 1958, Walhall 3 CDs) I enjoy Kna's unique tempo choices, which add weight to the music without causing boredom.
Wagner: Siegfried (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Knappertsbusch 1958, Walhall 4 CDs) Not as special as in the other episodes
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Knappertsbusch 1958, Walhall 4 CDs) On the whole Kna's slow tempi still work well, though the chorus feels sluggish.
Jun 2, 2022 (2 DVDs)
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Sofia Opera and Ballet / Erich Wδchter, Dynamic 2 DVDs)
May 31, 2022 (4 CDs)
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (The State Opera of Australia and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/ Asher Fisch 2004, Melba 4 SACDs) Performed with more variety than in the other episodes though this is partly because the music has more ups and downs
May 23, 2022 (10 CDs)
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Bayreuth/ Rudolf Kempe 1962, Myto 4 CDs) Superior singing techniques do not make up for the interpretive blandness permeating this Ring cycle.
Wagner: Das Rheingold (The State Opera of Australia and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/ Asher Fisch 2004, Melba 2 SACDs) Not a bad start to Australia's very first production of the complete Ring cycle, though it's rather listless.
Wagner: Die Walkure (The State Opera of Australia and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/ Asher Fisch 2004, Melba 4 SACDs) Wanting in drama, not as engaging as Siegfried in this cycle
Apr 14, 2022 (6 CDs)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Mδnnerchor der Staatsoper Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin / Robert Heger 1943, Preiser Records, 3 CDs) Excellent sonics given the age; highly charged performance.
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Metropolitan Opera / Mitropoulos 1957, Nuovo Era, 3 CDs) This was part of the Met's early 1957 Ring cycle with Stiedry conducting the other three episodes. Mitropoulos favored tempi almost as fast as Stiedry's but paid more attention to details and better captured the musical ebbs and flows.
Mar 18, 2022 (4 CDs)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Philharmonia Orch / Furtwangler, EMI, 4 CDs) An impressively beautiful, natural interpretation with a good dose of passion, though it's perhaps a bit too natural -- I wish it had more unique/surprising elements.
Mar 14, 2022 (18 CDs)
Wagner, Siegfried. (Wolfgang Windgassen, Marth Modl, Otto Edelmann, Kurt Bohme, Jean Madeira, Laurel Hurley et al. Cond. Fritz Stiedry. Rec. 1957; Walhall 3 CDs) Rushed and thoughtless as expected for Stiedry, though the vivaciousness suits this relatively light opera. BTW Met audiences tend to clap prematurely at the end of Act II; they should stop doing that!
Wagner, Gotterdammerung. (Wolfgang Windgassen, Hermann Uhde, Kurt Bohme, Lawrence Davidson, Margaret Harshaw, Marianne Schech, Jean Madeira et al. Cond. Fritz Stiedry. Rec. 1957; Walhall 3 CDs) High on speed and energy, low on nuances
Wagner, Das Rheingold. (Otto Wiener, Marcel Cordes, Horst Wilhelm, Gerhard Stolze, Grace Hoffman, Jutta Meyfarth, Marga Hoffgen, Otakar Kraus, Erich Klaus, Walter Kreppel, Peter Roth-Ehrang, Gundula Janowitz, Elisabeth Schwarzenberg, Sieglinde Wagner. Bayreuth/ Rudolf Kempe. Rec. 7/28/62; Myto 2 CDs) The lack of urgency is problematic for me.
Wagner, Die Walkure. (Fritz Uhl, Gottlob Frick, Otto Wiener, Jutta Meyfarth, Astrid Varnay, Grace Hoffman et al. Bayreuth/ Rudolf Kempe. Rec. 7/29/62; Myto 3 CDs) Dull. Varnay's Brόnnhilde is the only mildly memorable aspect.
Wagner, Siegfried. (Hans Hopf, Birgit Nilsson, Marga Hoffgen, Erich Klaus, Otto Wiener, Otakar Kraus, Peter Roth-Ehrang et al. Bayreuth/ Rudolf Kempe. Rec. 7/30/62; Myto 3 CDs) Meh
Wagner, Siegfried. (Gary Rideout, Richard Greager, Liane Keegan, David Hibbard, John Wegner et al. The State Opera of Australia and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/ Asher Fisch 2004; Melba 4 SACDs) A fairly enjoyable animated reading, without the overamplified tuba in Fisch's 2013 Seattle Ring.
Feb 21, 2022 (2 DVDs)
Wagner: Parsifal (Metropolitan Opera / Levine, DG, 2 DVDs)
Jan 25, 2022 (2 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Duisburger Philharmoniker / Axel Kober, Avi Music, 2 CDs) Performed in Nov 2019, this was the most recent pre-pandemic Ring that has been issued commercially. Kober takes a relaxed and warm approach throughout, which can be soporific in a 15-hour cycle.
Jan 12, 2022 (3 CDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Duisburger Philharmoniker / Axel Kober, Avi Music, 3 CDs) Flows well but is nothing special interpretively, and the lightness makes this supposedly powerful episode sound more like a chamber opera.
Jan 11, 2022 (4 CDs, 4 DVDs, 9 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Orchester der Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Chor der Tiroler Festspiele Erl / Gustav Kuhn 2003, Col Legno, 4 PAL DVDs)
Bruckner: 9 symphonies (Staatskapelle Dresden / Thielemann, C Major, 9 BDs)
Wagner: Gφtterdδmmerung (Duisburger Philharmoniker / Axel Kober, Avi Music, 4 CDs) More than a few effective tempo variations. While the preponderance of tranquility adds to this version's uniqueness, some of the prolonged quiet sections can get boring.
Jan 10, 2022 (1 DVD)
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (Overture, The Christmas Tree, March, Pas de deux); Rachmaninoff: Piano cto #3; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps (Bronfman / Berlin Phil / Rattle, Medici Arts DVD)
Jan 3, 2022 (45 CDs, 2 DVDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (New Japan Philharmonic / Asahina 1984-87, Fontec, 12 CDs) An all-Japanese effort with respectable orchestral playing under a conductor famous for his Bruckner, but much of the singing is flat and/or weak.
"Wagner: The Bayreuth Edition": Der fliegende Hollδnder (Thielemann), Tannhδuser (Kober), Lohengrin (Nelsons), Der Ring des Nibelungen (Thielemann 2008), Tristan und Isolde (Schneider), Die Meistersinger von Nόrnberg (Weigle) (Opus Arte, 30 CDs) I usually like Thielemann but this Ring sounds clunky and has too many contrived ritardandos. The other operas, including Thielemann's Hollδnder, are generally more agreeable though I doubt I will listen to them more than a couple times. It is also unfortunate that Parsifal is excluded.
Wagner: Siegfried (Duisburger Philharmoniker / Axel Kober, Avi Music, 3 CDs) Largely acceptable, until the final scene gets butchered by Linda Watson's extreme vibrato.
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Bayerisches Staatsorchester / Mehta, Image Entertainment, 2 DVDs)
Dec 28, 2021 (12 CDs, 1 BD)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Teatro Alla Scala Milano / Furtwδngler 1950, Gebhardt, 12 CDs) Probably the most musical Ring. Both the singing and the orchestral playing are wonderfully natural and full of life throughout, with occasional phrases highlighted very effectively. While not as exciting as some other versions, there is nonetheless plenty of drama. Even Das Rheingold (my least favorite among Wagner's 10 mature operas) is amply satisfying here.
Rachmaninoff: Piano cto #3; Ustvolskaya: Sym #3; Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Suite; Ravel: Bolero; Berlioz: Rakoczy March (Abduraimov / Munchner Phil / Gergiev, Naxos BD)
Nov 13, 2021 (6 DVDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Sofia Opera and Ballet, Palev Baleff, Dynamic 2 DVDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Sofia Opera and Ballet, Palev Baleff, Dynamic 2 DVDs)
Wagner: Siegfried (Sofia Opera and Ballet, Palev Baleff, Dynamic 2 DVDs)
Oct 7, 2021 (11 DVDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Residentie Orkest, Netherlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest / Haenchen 1999, Opus Arte, 11 DVDs)
Aug 31, 2021 (9 CDs)
Bruckner: 9 symphonies (Staatskapelle Berlin / Barenboim, DG, 9 CDs) "Flowing" if you deem these monumental works too long, but as a Bruckner fan I find the tempi rushed and trivializing.
Aug 3, 2021 (27 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London / Kempe 1957, Testament, 13 CDs) Both orchestra and singers dial things up a notch after an overly calm Rheingold. This Ring satisfies with heartwarming lyricism rather than power.
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chor der Oper Frankfurt Frankfurter Opern-und Museumsorchester / Weigle 2010-2012, Oehms, 14 CDs) The orchestra often feels sluggish, though there are more than a few moments of reprieve.
Jul 30, 2021 (16 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Wiener Philharmoniker / Solti, Decca, 16 CDs + 1 CD-ROM) The soulless, reading-like singing is a huge problem for me, and the orchestra's earthbound playing is marginally better. It was a truly groundbreaking project, but we now have numerous better options.
Feb 22, 2021 (11 CDs)
Bruckner: Symphonies 0 - 9 (Wurttemberg Philharmonic Reutlingen / Paternostro, Membran Documents 11 CDs) flat, both sonically and performance-wise
Jan 29, 2021 (14 CDs, 6 DVDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, Groίes Symphonieorchester / Swarowsky 1968, Profil, 14 CDs) The engineers over-amplified the vocalists, a pity since the orchestral playing seems more interesting than the relatively rigid singing.
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Orchester der Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Chor der Tiroler Festspiele Erl / Gustav Kuhn 2004, Col Legno, 4 PAL DVDs) lifeless
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nόrnberg (Orchester und Chor der Bayreuther Festspiele / Weigle 2008, Bayreuther Festspiele, 2 PAL DVDs)
Jan 5, 2021 (13 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Krauss 1953, Orfeo, 13 CDs) bland, overrated
Dec 2, 2020 (14 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orch / Levine 1988-89, DG, 14 CDs) Levine was a master sculptor who patiently built climaxes, making riveting music without playing particularly fast or loud. This recording singlehandedly convinced me that Act I of Die Walkόre contains the greatest music ever composed.
Nov 17, 2020 (8 DVDs)
• Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Frankfurter Opern-und Museumsorchester / Weigle 2012, Oehms, 8 DVDs)
Sep 24, 2020 (2 DVDs)
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nόrnberg (Australian Opera Chorus, Elizabethan Philharmonic Orchestra / Mackerras 1988, Kultur, 2 DVDs)
Sep 18, 2020 (3 CDs, 2 DVDs)
Wagner: Die Walkόre (Flagstad, Melchior / Metropolitan Opera / Bodanzky 1935 & 1937, Archipel, 3 CDs) Considering the super fast tempi typical of Bodanzky, Flagstad's singing is remarkably musical.
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nόrnberg (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Stein 1984, DG, 2 DVDs)
Aug 11, 2020 (10 CDs)
Bruckner: Symphonies 0 - 9 (Deutsches Sym Orch Berlin / Chailly, Decca 10 CDs) shallow
Jul 31, 2020 (11 CDs)
Bruckner: Symphonies 00 - 9 (Royal Scottish National Orch & National Sym Orch of Ireland / Tintner, Naxos 11 CDs) decent choice for a cheap set that includes #00 and #0, but the playing is often nondescript
Jul 30, 2020 (16 CDs)
Bruckner: Symphonies 1 - 9 (Kolner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester / Wand, RCA Red Seal 9 CDs) A powerful yet serious cycle that highlights the brass.
"Charles Munch: Late Romantic Masterpieces": Wagner: selections from Tannhauser, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walkure, and Gotterdammerung; Tchaikovsky: Sym #4 & #6, Serenade for Strings in C, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Violin Cto, Francesca da Rimini; Dvorak: Sym #8, Cello Cto; Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder; R. Strauss: Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Eileen Farrell, Szeryng, Piatigorsky, Maureen Forrester / Boston Sym Orch / Munch, RGC Red Seal 7 CDs) interesting
Jul 27, 2020 (2 DVDs)
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nόrnberg (Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele / Barenboim 1999, Unitel Classica, 2 DVDs)
Jul 8, 2020 (2 DVDs)
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nόrnberg (Metropolitan Opera / Levine 2001, DG, 2 DVDs) too fussy
Apr 10, 2020 (11 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Metropolitan Opera / Fritz Stiedry 1951, Gebhardt Records, 11 CDs) It is so thoughtlessly rushed that I wonder if the conductor liked the music at all. The frantic pace often left the vocalists little room to project emotions.
Mar 25, 2020 (7 DVDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Philharmonisches Orchester der Hansestadt Lόbeck / Brogli-Sacher 2010, Musicaphon, 7 DVDs)
Feb 24, 2020 (14 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Philharmoniker Hamburg / Simone Young 2008 - 2010, Oehms Classics, 14 CDs) The orchestra is okay, but the singing is often not.
Dec 28, 2019 (1 BD)
Bruckner: Symphony #8 (Staatskapelle Dresden / Thielemann, Unitel Classica, BD)
Dec 6, 2019 (12 CDs)
Bruckner: complete symphonies including #00 and #0 (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrόcken / Skrowaczewski, Oehms Classics, 12 CDs) Usually a tad too fast and lacking in finesse, but there are occasional pleasant surprises.
Jul 2, 2019 (13 SA-CD Hybrids)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Janowski 2012 - 2013, Pentatone, 13 SA-CD Hybrids) stirring orchestral playing
Jun 10, 2019 (13 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden / Konwitschny 1959, Memories Reverence, 13 CDs) Unusually relaxed and spontaneous, laden with unique ideas. This undeservedly obscure Ring is possibly the most charming version available commercially.
May 30, 2019 (14 CDs + 2 DVDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Wiener Staatsoper / Thielemann 2011, DG, 14 CDs + 2 DVDs) awful sonics
May 19, 2019 (1 BD)
Mahler: Symphonies #7 and #8 (Frankfurt Radio Sym Orch / Paavo Jarvi, C Major, BD)
Apr 16, 2019 (4 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Staatskapelle Weimar / St. Clair 2008, Arthaus Musik, 4 BDs)
Mar 28, 2019 (14 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayreuther Festspiele / Keilberth 1955, Testament, 14 CDs) breathtaking!
Mar 22, 2019 (7 DVDs)
"The Copenhagen Ring": Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (Royal Danish Opera / Michael Schψnwandt 2006, Decca, 7 DVDs)
Feb 22, 2019 (12 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayreuther Festspiele / Keilberth 1953, Intense Media, 12 CDs) The vocals have been amplified at the expense of the orchestra. Great for listeners who care mainly about the singing, but I find it hard to appreciate the orchestral playing.
Jan 10, 2019 (1 BD)
Brahms: German Requiem (Munich Phil Orch / Thielemann, Unitel Classica, BD)
Jan 8, 2019 (6 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Staatsoper Stuttgart / Zagrosek, EuroArts, 4 BDs)
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarasthustra, Macbeth, Till Eulenspiegel (Royal Concertgebouw Orch / Andris Nelsons, Unitel Classica, BD)
Strauss: Last Songs, An Alpine Symphony (Harteros / Staatskapelle Dresden / Thielemann, Unitel Classica, BD)
Jan 7, 2019 (25 DVDs)
"The Wagner Edition": Der fliegende Hollander, Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, Die Mestersinger von Nurnberg, Parsifal (conductors Haenchen, Layer, Nagano, de Billy, Belohlavek, Jurowski. Opus Arte, 25 DVDs)
Jan 2, 2019 (27 BDs)
"Tutto Verdi": the complete operas plus the Requiem by Verdi (conductors Gallegari, Temirkanov, Gelmetti, Luisotti, Muti and others. C Major Entertainment, 27 BDs)
Dec 31, 2018 (4 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen, recorded in 2010 - 2013 (Orch & Chorus of Teatro alla Scala / Barenboim, Arthaus Musik, 4 BDs)
Dec 28, 2019 (5 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen, recorded in 2010 - 2012 (The Metropolitan Opera Orch & Chorus / Levine, DG, 5 BDs)
Dec 21, 2018 (8 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana / Zubin Mehta, Unitel Classica, 4 BDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Hong Kong Philharmonic / Zweden, Naxos, Blu-ray Audio)
Wagner: Die Walkure (Hong Kong Philharmonic / Zweden, Naxos, Blu-ray Audio)
Wagner: Siegfried (Hong Kong Philharmonic / Zweden, Naxos, Blu-ray Audio)
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Hong Kong Philharmonic / Zweden, Naxos, Blu-ray Audio)
Jun 19, 2018 (2 CDs)
"Liszt New Discoveries vol. 3" (Leslie Howard, Hyperion 2CDs) Many tracks are just incomplete fragments, though it can be fun to hear early drafts of familiar tunes. Howard's playing is a tad more engaging here than in the 1st volume of New Liszt Discoveries.
May 24, 2018 (1 CD)
"New Liszt Discoveries" (Leslie Howard, Hyperion) Sometimes it sounds like he was just sightreading these fragments and early drafts, which were discovered after conclusion of his complete Liszt project.
Previously uncatalogued (17 CDs)
The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio (Capitol)
Elvis Presley: The Number One Hits (RGC)
Al Jolson: The Best of the Decca Years (MCA)
The Platters: The Magic Touch - An Anthology (Mercury 2CDs)
Carpenters: From the top (A&M Records, 4CDs)
The Best of Air Supply (Starnice)
The Very Best of Everly Brothers (Pickwick)
Neil Sedaka (Ariola Express BMG)
• Elvis: Blue Hawaii (RCA)
Elvis Presley: 30 #1 Hits (RCA)
Fiddler on the Roof (EMI)
South of the Border (The Beautiful Music Company)
Gordon MacRae (The Beautiful Music Company)
Feb 25, 2018 (1 CD)
"Della Reese: Della" (RCA Living Stereo)
Jun 21, 2016 (4 BDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayreuther Festspiele/Barenboim, Teldec/Kultur 4 BDs)
Jun 24, 2009 (38 CDs)
"Karajan Symphony Edition": symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schumann and Tchaikovsky (Berlin Phil, DG 38CDs) The tempi are incredibly strict, but the broad phrasing, lush sound and unforced execution (Karajan's trademarks) make the Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Tchaikovsky symphonies special.
May 14, 2009 (1 CD)
"Horowitz in Tokyo, 1986" - pieces by Scarlatti, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin (Classical Video Rarities) His playing resembles that at his Moscow recital of the same year, albeit with a few more clinkers. This is not the disastrous Tokyo recital of 1983.
May 1, 2009 (2 CDs)
Bizet: Carmen (Vinay/Koshetz/Heidt/Hollywood Bowl/Stokowski, Eklipse 2CDs) a unique, spontaneous-sounding live performance in English, with many cuts and alterations
Apr 13, 2009 (5 CDs)
Pavarotti: "Greatest Hits" (Pavarotti, London 2CDs) Great technique, but he belches out every song almost the same way, so listening to 2+ hours of greatest hits can be tiring.
"Mad About Mad About" (DG 2CDs) Sold on Jul 9, 2010; A decent introduction to classical music.
Carreras: "Memories" (Carreras, Philips) He is more convincing in the operatic arias and Neapolitan songs than in the crossover numbers. I do love his "Tonight" elsewhere but not in this incarnation.
Apr 1, 2009 (1 CD)
R. Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie, Rosenkavalier Suite (Thielemann/Wiener Phil, DG) splendid, with awesome climaxes in the Alpine Symphony.
Mar 26, 2009 (1 CD, 1 DVD)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Piano Trio #1 Op 49, Violin Sonata in F (Mutter/Harrell/Previn/Masur, DG, 1 CD 1 DVD) a highly individual, intensely passionate Mendelssohn concerto, definitely among her best recordings. All musicians, including the 79-year-old Previn, play the chamber works with youthful energy.
Mar 17, 2009 (1 CD
Messiaen: Preludes pour piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux, Quatre Etudes de rythme (#1 & 4) (Aimard, DG) The Preludes are very melodic while the last 4 tracks are more modern.
Feb 21, 2009 (1 CD, 1 DVD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Gilels/Philadelphia Orch/Ormandy, Classical Video Rarities) a very fast live performance (~35.5 min) that lacks finesse
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Bolet/BBC Scottish Sym, Classical Video Rarities, DVD)
Feb 13, 2009 (1 CD)
Godowsky: Strauss Transcriptions and other waltzes (Hamelin, Hyperion) While the opener is fairly lively, in the other pieces the playing is so inhibited that they sound more like nocturnes than waltzes.
Feb 5, 2009 (1 CD)
Tchaikovsky: piano concerto #1; Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3; Kabalevsky: Rondo in A minor Op. 59 (Cliburn/Moscow Phil Orch/Kondrashin, Testament) Though not Cliburn's best Rach 3, it's still more lyrical and expressive than all other pianists' versions. The Tchai 1 is also wonderful. Kondrashin's accompaniment is marvelous in both works, eclipsing even the piano part.
Nov 21, 2008 (2 DVDs)
"The 2nd China International Piano Competition" (FZ-5068, 2DVDs):
1st prize winner - Qin Chuang (China)
Haydn:Piano Sonata in F major Hob.16-28
Rachmaninov:Piano Concerto No.3 (Complete)
2nd prize winner - Oliver Kern (Germany)
Brahms:Ballades Op.10 No.1 & 2
Barg:Piano Sonata Op.1
Beethoven:Piano Concerto No.5 (Complete)
3rd prize winner - Yundi Li (China)
Chopin:Andante spianato & grand polonaise Op.22
Brahms:Piano Concerto No.2 (Complete)
4th prize winner - Olga Kern (Russia)
Liszt:RΓ©miniscences de "Don Juan"
Rachmaninov:Piano Concerto No.3 (Complete)
5th prize winner - Alexander Mikhailuk (Ukraine)
Chopin:Ballade in F minor Op.52
Stravinsky:Petroushka
Tchaikovsky:Piano Concerto No.1 (Complete)
6th prize winer - Ruben Kalibaltayav (Amenia)
Scrabin:Piano Sonata No.7
Young pianist - Iddo Bar-Shai (Israel)
Chopin:Polonaise-Fantaisie Op.61
Semi finalist - Sergei Tarasov (Russia)
Mozart:Piano Sonatas K281
Rachmaninov:Piano Sonata No.2
Liszt:Mephisto Walze No.1
Nov 10, 2008 (8 CDs 1 DVD)
Mahler: Symphony #2; Debussy: La Mer (Abbado/Lucerne Festival Orch, DG 2CDs, DDD cycle) The Mahler 2 is the most unique among these five Abbado albums. I seldom enjoy Abbado's work as much as I do in this cycle. The explosive La Mer also thrills.
Mahler: Symphony #3 (Abbado/Berlin Phil Orch, DG 2CDs, DDD cycle) a straightforward interpretation that's far from boring, thanks to an enormous dynamic range
Mahler: Symphony #4; Berg: Seven Early Songs (Abbado/Berlin Phil Orch, DG, DDD cycle) The 4th is my least favorite Mahler, yet I do find this version enchanting.
Mahler: Symphony #6 (Abbado/Berlin Phil Orch, DG, DDD cycle) a powerful reading that's somehow not very memorable, perhaps because it is easy to desensitize to prolonged stretches of loud playing in such an long symphony
Mahler: Symphony #7 (Abbado/Berlin Phil Orch, DG, DDD cycle) meaty and expansive
"Live at Carnegie Hall" (Lang Lang, DG, 1CD, 1DVD) idiosyncratic as usual
Oct 24, 2008 (15 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3, Paganini Rhapsody (pianist Leonel Morales); Buxtehude-Chavez: Chacona; Beethoven: Symphony #3 (Orch Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico/Batiz, Compromiso 2CDs) The Cuban-born pianist plays both works with an assured style. Given these performances were recorded live, the occasional clinkers are completely forgivable.
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Dieter Zechlin, Berlin Classics 9CDs) I feel irritated by the restlessness and hastiness permeating his playing.
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Janowski, RCA Red Seal 4CDs) I really like the almost-constant sense of propulsion, which makes for breathtaking music, though this does mean a dearth of creative tempo variation.
Oct 18, 2008 (3 CDs)
Schubert: "Trout" Quintet, Sonata in A minor for piano and arpeggione (Ax/Frank/Young/Ma,Meyer, Sony Great Performances) joyful in the Quintet, and touchingly wistful in the Sonata
Smetana: Ma vlast (Kubelik/Boston Sym, DG Galleria) Justly famous, though I wish the big melodies in The Moldau were more sumptuous and dramatic.
Bach: 2 violin concertos; Gubaidulina: violin concerto "In tempus praesens" (Mutter/London Sym/Gergiev, DG) I find the Bach concertos a tad too hyper, but enjoy the modern piece more than expected.
Oct 10, 2008 (4 CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas #16 - 17, 21; Andante favori WoO 57 (Schiff, ECM Records 2CDs) An extremely unique cycle of the 32 sonatas, the result of thoughtful microanalysis. His emphasis of details can sometimes sound labored, and melodies can become disjointed, but I appreciate his interesting perspectives. If you have nothing new to say, why record yet another cycle of these pieces?
Beethoven: piano sonatas #27 - 29 (Schiff, ECM Records) See above comments
Beethoven: piano sonatas #30 - 32 (Schiff, ECM Records) See above comments
Oct 6, 2008 (3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Rashkovskiy); Prokofiev: piano concerto #2 (Vinnitskaya); Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit (Vinnitskaya); Debussy: 4 Preludes (Vanbeckevoort); Chopin: Sonata #2 (Hyo-Sun Lim); Mozart: Piano concerto #9 (Mangova); Schubert: Sonata D537 (Mangova); Schumann: Fantasiestucke (Piemontesi) (Queen Elisabeth Competition of Belgium, 3CDs) mostly characterless playing
Sep 22, 2008 (10 CDs, 1 LP)
Wagner: Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried (Janowski, RCA 10CDs) I really like the almost-constant sense of propulsion, which makes for breathtaking music -- a great example is the Prelude to Act 2 of Die Walkόre -- though this does mean a dearth of creative tempo variation.
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Cliburn/Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra/Kondrashin, Aprelevskiy zavod. USSR. D-04330-1)
Sep 18, 2008 (14 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayerischer Staatsoper/Sawallisch, EMI 14CDs) Painfully insipid, surprising for such an eminent Ring veteran. The only quasi-satisfying spot is the brisk tempi in Gφtterdδmmerung Act 2, scene 3.
Sep 17, 2008 (3 CDs)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #5 - 8 (Schiff, ECM Records) An extremely unique cycle of the 32 sonatas, the result of thoughtful microanalysis. His emphasis of details can sometimes sound labored, and melodies can become disjointed, but I appreciate his interesting perspectives. If you have nothing new to say, why record yet another cycle of these pieces?
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #9 - 11, 19 & 20 (Schiff, ECM Records) See above comments
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #12 - 15 (Schiff, ECM Records) See above comments
Sep 16, 2008 (11 CDs)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Met Opera 1937-1941 cycle conducted by Bodanzky & Leinsdorf, Naxos Historical 11CDs) Too darn fast, as if the conductors were worried that the audience would fall asleep had they taken too long to finish each opera. The best part is the singing, which can still be reasonably appreciated despite the primitive sonics, but the orchestral sound is far too faint.
Sep 15, 2008 (1 LP, 2 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 (Katsaris/National Orch of Belgium/Defossez, DG)
Beethoven: piano sonatas #1 - 4 (Schiff, ECM Records 2CDs) An extremely unique cycle of the 32 sonatas, the result of thoughtful microanalysis. His emphasis of details can sometimes sound labored, and melodies can become disjointed, but I appreciate his interesting perspectives. If you have nothing new to say, why record yet another cycle of these pieces?
Sep 9, 2008 (3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3, Prelude Op.3 No.2 (Weissenberg/Orch National de France/Bernstein, Toshiba-EMI) He seems to be pounding out most notes as strongly as he can. Sinewy chords can sound great in Rachmaninoff, but there are too many of them here.
Dutilleux: Sur le meme accord; Bartok: Violin Concerto #2; Stravinsky: Concerto en re (Mutter/Boston Sym/Ozawa and Philharmonia Orch/Sacher, DG) intense
Beethoven: piano sonatas #22, 23, 24, 25, 26 (Schiff, ECM Records) An extremely unique cycle of these sonatas, the result of thoughtful microanalysis. His emphasis of details can sometimes sound labored, and melodies can become disjointed, but I appreciate his very unique perspectives.
Sep 5, 2008 (1 CD)
Crusell: clarinet concertos (Billman/Korsten, Naxos) much more listenable than expected
Aug 29, 2008 (1 CD, 3 DVDs)
Beethoven: Symphonies #4, 8 & 9 (The Cleveland Orch/Dohnanyi, Telarc 2CDs) technically worldclass, but musically it adds little to the vast discography that already existed at the time of these recordings
Puccini: La Boheme (Scotto/Niska/Pavarotti/Met Opera/Levine, DG DVD)
Puccini: Turandot (Domingo/Marton/Mitchell/Met Opera/Levine, DG DVD)
Verdi: Il Trovatore (Kabaivanska/Cossoto/Domingo/Vienna State Opera/Karajan, TDK DVD)
Aug 23, 2008 (1 DVD)
Beethoven: Symphonies #4 and 7 (Carlos Kleiber/Concertgebouw Orch Amsterdam, Philips DVD)
Aug 19, 2008 (1 DVD)
"Van Cliburn in Moscow VOl. 3" - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos #2 and 3 (Cliburn/Moscow Phil Orch/Kondrashin, VAI DVD) fanTAStic!!!!
Aug 13, 2008 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos 1 - 4, Paganini Rhapsody (Ian Hobson/Sinfonia Varsovia, Zephyr 2CDs) Bland, almost emotionless, though the gentleness and strict meter can sound unique in these Romantic showpieces.
Aug 6, 2008 (1 CD)
"Tribute to Horowitz" - Liszt: Dante Sonata, Mephisto Waltz #1, Hungarian Rhapsody #2; Bizet-Horowitz: Carmen Variations; Rossini-Ginzburg: Fantasy on a Theme from Il barbiere di Siviglia (Denis Matsuev, RCA Red Seal) plenty of virtuosity but little else; Horowitz was much more than playing fast and loud
Jul 30, 2008 (19 CDs)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Sym des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Haitink, EMI 2CDs) Among the Ring Cycles with top-tier conductors, this is the weakest, lacking both power and inspiration. Haitink was more of a symphonic conductor. Needless to say, it's much harder to engage the listener for 2.5 - 4.5 hours than for an hour.
Wagner: Die Walkure (Sym des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Haitink, EMI 4CDs)
Wagner: Siegfried Sym des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Haitink, EMI 4CDs)
Wagner: Gotterdammerung Sym des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Haitink, EMI 4CDs)
Beethoven: 9 symphonies (Wiener Phil/Bernstein, DG 5CDs) I was hoping for edgier interpretations
Jul 27, 2008 (3 CDs, 1 DVD)
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Kreutzer Sonata (Repin/Argerich/Muti, DG 2CDs) Repin's playing is alright, but Argerich's accompaniment can get neurotic and eclipses the violinist
Bernstein: West Side Story (Carreras/Te Kanawa/Bernstein, DG, 1CD + 1DVD) fun video
Jul 25, 2008 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concertos #1 & #3 (Barry Douglas/Russian State Sym Orch/Svetlanov, RCA Red Seal) Douglas plays conservatively; the orchestra sounds slightly more engaging.
Jul 14, 2008 (2 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata #1, Piano Concerto #3 (Eteri Andjaparidze/Tbilisi Sym Orch/Djansug Kakhidze, DePaul University School of Music, 2CDs) respectable performances by a lesser-known pianist
Jul 11, 2008 (2 CDs)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Gang Chen and Zhanhao He: The Butterfly Lovers Concerto for Violin (Shaham/Singapore Sym Orch/Lan Shui, Canary Classics) a bit too masculine in the Butterfly Lovers Concerto, though I might just be used to Takako Nishizaki's renditions
"Horowitz in Hambourg: The Last Concert" - Mozart: Rondo K 485, Sonata K 333; Liszt after Schubert: SoirΓ©e de Vienne No.6; Schumann: Kinderszenen; Chopin: Mazurka Op.33 No.4, Polonaise Op.53; Schubert: Moment Musical in F minor, Op.94 No.3; Moszkowski: Etincelles, Op.36 No.6 (Horowitz, DG) one of the better recordings from his last years
Jul 7, 2008 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3, Moments Musicaux Op.16 Nos.4 & 5 (Iannone/Orch Sinfonica della Provincia di Bari/Yoritomo, Phoenix Classics) not up to the technical demands
Jul 3, 2008 (2 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3, Preludes Op.3 No.2, Op.23 Nos.4&5; Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1, "October" from "The Seasons"; Prokofiev: Precipitato from Sonata #7, Prelude Op.12 No.7, Toccata Op.11; Shchedrin: Humoresque; Scriabin: Etude Alla ballata, op. 8 No. 9; Cziffra: The Flight of the Bumble Bee (Katsaris, Piano 21, 2CDs) super showy; astounding mechanistic ease; the music sounds frivolous when he plays so fast
Jun 22, 2008 (11 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3, Symphonic Dances (Pietro Massa/Orch Bruno Maderna/Giorgi, Genuin) An effectively dark Rach 3 marred by copious technical blemishes in the 3rd mvt; an overly calm Symphonic Dances
• Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3, The Isle of the Dead (Andreas Jetter/Phil Moldova/Scholler-Manno, Bella Musica) despite the brisk tempi in the Rach 3, it's mostly ho-hum except for the vivacious beginning of the cadenza
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Maria Grinberg, Veheunr 9CDs) often playful, sometimes crass, but usually unique
Jun 21, 2008 (12 CDs)
Mahler: 10 symphonies (Chailly, Decca 12CDs) not every movement is special, but some of them can be powerful and grand especially when Chailly took broad tempi; I most enjoy symphonies nos. 3, 5, 6, and 9
Jun 20, 2008 (1 CD, 5 DVDs)
Toscanini Collection Vol. 20 - Franck: Symphony in D minor; Saint-Saens: Symphony #3 (Toscanini/NBC Sym Orch, RCA) quite exciting, despite the dry sonics
Satie: Gymnopedie #1, Croquis et agaceries d'un gros bonhomme en bois, Embryons desseches; Debussy: Suite Bergamasque; Ravel: Pavane pour une infante defunte; Rachmaninoff: Concerto # 3, 1st mvt (Ciccolini/Orch de Radio-Canada/Barbini, VAI DVD)
"In Celebration of the PIANO - An All-Star Tribute to the Steinway": Peter Orth, Ilana Vered, Feghali, Rudolf & Peter Serkin, Perahia, Cipa & Misha Dichter, Hai-Kyung Suh, L. Berman, Brendel, Laredo, Alee Chien, Cherkassky, Taub, Leon Bates, Edmund Battersby, Weissenberg, Hough, Rose, Dubal, Navah Perlman, Nissman, Toradze, Thibaudet, Grant Johannesen, Christopher O'Riley (VAI DVD) many pianists played amazingly sloppily
Franck: Symphonic Variations; Saint-Saens: Piano Concerto #2 (Freire/Orch della Svizzera Italiana/Shallon, VAI DVD)
Mozart: Piano Sonata K. 310; Beethoven: Piano Sonata #32 (Arrau, VAI DVD)
R. Strauss/Risler: Till Eulenspiegel; Chopin/Godowsky: three Etudes; Debussy: L'Isle joyeuse; Hummel: Rondo Op. 11; Liszt: Totentanz; Ligeti: L'Escalier du diable; Saint-Saens: Etude en forme de valse; Tchaikovsky/Libetta: Pas de deux from "The Sleeping Beauty"; Alkan: "20 ans" from the Grand Sonata Op.33; Delibes: Pizzicato Polka from "Sylvia" (Libetta, VAI DVD)
Jun 11, 2008 (8 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano concertos #2 and 3 (Sigfridsson/Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart/Solyom, Hanssler Classic) timid
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3, Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (Moura Castro/Slovenia Radio and TV Sym Orch/Amadio, L'Art) sooooo slow!!!
"Glenn Gould - the young maverick": Bach's Goldberg Variations (rec. 1954), Partita #5, Italian Concerto; Beethoven's Concertos #1 - 3, Sonatas #4, 19, 28; Schoenberg's Concerto Op.42, Three Piano Pieces Op.11, Suite Op.25; Berg's Sonata Op.1; Webern's Variations Op.27 (Glenn Gould, CBC Records 6CDs) stylistically already "Gould-like"
May 30, 2008 (6 CDs)
Mahler: Symphony #8 (Staatskapelle Berlin/Boulez, DG 2CDs) Not a fan of Boulez's conducting, though I do appreciate the clarity in the choral movements
Mahler: Symphony #5 (Wiener Phil/Boulez, DG) slightly better than his Mahler 2, but still rather sterile
Sibelius & Schoenberg: violin concertos (Hahn/Swedish Radio Sym/Salonen, DG) very good Schoenberg
"Kapell reDiscovered - The Australian Broadcasts": Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto (with Victoria Sym Orch/Heinze), Bach's Suite in A minor, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Mozart's sonata K. 570, Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, Chopin's Barcarolle & Scherzo #1, Prokofiev's Sonata #7 (RCA Red Seal, 2CDs) A lyrical Rach 3. Generally more inspired than in his studio recordings; the tender moments are particularly captivating.
May 13, 2008 (3 CDs)
Tchaikovsky: violin concerto; Shostakovich: violin concerto #1 (Midori/Abbado, Sony) spectacular in the Shostakovich, a little uneven in the Tchaikovsky
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Bjorling/Cellini, EMI) very strong singing; orchestra captured faintly
Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Ziguenerweisen, etc.; Falla, Granados, Halffter, Albeniz (Perlman, EMI) reliable
Jan 21, 2008 (3 CDs)
Mozart: Piano Concertos #13 & 23; Haydn: Piano Concerto #11 (Michelangli/Orch Alessandro Scarlatti/Zurich Chamber Orch/Caracciolo/de Stoutz, EMI Great Artists of the Century) technically faultless, musically sleepy
Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze, Fantasiestucke (Perahia, Sony) youthful (in both good and bad ways)
Bernstein: West Side Story (Nashville Sym Orch/Schermerhorn, Naxos American Classics) halfway decent
Alkan: Concerto for solo piano, Troisieme recueil de chants (Hamelin, Hyperion) stunning virtuosity
Dec 23, 2007 (2 CDs)
Brahms: Piano Concerto #2, Four Piano Pieces Op 119 (Hamelin/Dallas Sym Orch/Litton, Hyperion) so-so
Beethoven: Emperor Concerto, Piano Sonata #28 (Grimaud/Staatskapelle Dresden/Jurowski, DG) one of her better albums, with invigorating conducting from Jurowski
Nov 20, 2007 (1 CD)
Complete Liszt Vol. 21: Beethoven-Liszt Symphony No. 9 (Scherbakov, Naxos) don't like it, Leslie Howard is better
Nov 14, 2007 (2 CDs)
Beethoven: piano concerts #1 & 4 (Lang Lang/Eschenbach, DG) Lang plays with sparkling virtuosity, flowing introspection, and more discipline than usual; possibly his best CD so far
Kapustin: piano music (Hamelin, Hyperion) high-efficiency playing
Nov 12, 2007 (2 CDs)
Schumann: piano concerto; Clara Schumann: 3 Lieder; Brahms: sonata for piano and cello #1, Two Rhapsodies Op. 79 (Grimaud/Salonen/von Otter/Truls Mork, DG) The cello sonata is well played, while the rest can sound rambling
Complete Liszt Vol. 20: Concert Etudes, Etude en douze exercices, Mazeppa S136 (William Wolfram, Naxos) interesting precursors to the Transcendental Etudes
Jul 18, 2007 (3 CDs)
Chopin: Polonaises Op. 26 Nos.1 & 2, Op.40 No.2 & Op. 53; 4 Impromptus (Kissin, RCA) almost insufferable
R. Strauss: Elektra (Nilsson/Wiener Phil/Solti, Decca 2CDs) Pretty good, though a tad dry
Jun 15, 2007 (5 CDs)
Scriabin: Complete piano works except the sonatas (Ponti, VoxBox 5CDs) fierce playing marred by subpar sonics
Apr 30, 2007 (5 CDs 1DVD)
Bizet: "Carmen" (de los Angeles/Beecham, EMI Great Recordings of the Century 3CDs) sounds messy, unrefined; many conductors approach Carmen too casually
Bizet: "Carmen" (Bumbry/de Burgos, EMI GEMINI 2CDs) the briskness can be exciting, but on the whole this performance rubs me the wrong way
Bizet: "Carmen" (Baltsa/Carreras/Levine, DG DVD)
Apr 28, 2007 (4 CDs)
Chopin: 19 Nocturnes (Rubinstein 1965 recording, RCA 2CDs) sounds lovely if I listen to just one or two pieces at a time, but it is hard to sit through the whole cycle due to his perpetually thick tone and lack of interpretive surprises
R. Strauss: Salome (Nilsson/Solti, Decca Originals 2CDs) sizzling; IMO Solti's tense and often dry conducting was a better fit here than in any of his Wagner. More lyricism would still be welcome though.
Apr 27, 2007 (5 CDs)
Bizet: "Carmen" (Gheorghiu/Plasson, EMI 3CDs) lackluster orchestral playing, with occasionally uncomfortable singing
Rossini: "Il Turco in Italia" (Callas/Gavazzeni, EMI 2CDs) melodic and fun
Apr 27, 2007 (1 DVD)
Bizet: "Carmen" (Domingo/C. Kleiber, TDK) Pretty good
Apr 8, 2007 (3 CDs)
Bizet: "Carmen" (The Met Opera/Bernstein, DG Trio 3CDs) fanTAStic! The best "Carmen" ever.
Mar 1, 2007 (2 CDs)
Rota: piano works (D. Laval, Naive Classique 2CDs) charming music
Feb 16, 2007 (4 CDs)
Mussorgsky: "Boris Godunov" (Karajan, Decca Originals, 3CDs) has more than a few high points
"Simply Anne-Sophie" (Mutter, DG) a compilation of some of Mutter's signature pieces
Jan 29, 2007 (2 CDs)
Paganini: Violin Cto #1; Spohr: Violin Cto #8 (Hahn/Swedish Radio Sym/Oue, DG) Astounding technical flair -- Heifetz (who dared not record the Paganini concerto) would be envious! The Spohr concerto is listenable and should be programmed more.
Brahms: Piano Cto #1 (Zimerman/Berlin Phil/Rattle, DG) Zimerman's first recording of this cto is much better
Jan 24, 2007 (10 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas, Diabelli Variations (Georges Pludermacher, Transart 10CDs) unforced, sensitive, though at times a tad monotonous
Dec 22, 2006 (1 CD)
Beethoven: violin cto; Bernstein: Serenade (Hahn/Zinman, Sony) An exquisitely elegant rendition by the most complete violinist of her generation. Zinman is underrated. The Bernstein piece is fairly accessible.
Dec 16, 2006 (6 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Aleko, The Miserly Knight, Francesca da Rimini (Jarvi, DG Trio 3CDs) underrated
Mozart: Sonata K330; Chopin: Sonata #3; Schumann: Kinderszenen; Liszt-Horowitz: Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (Lang Lang, DG 2CDs) captivating in the Schumann, uneasy in the others
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn K297b; Beethoven: Symphony #5 (West-Eastern Divan Orch/Barenboim, Warner) fascinating conducting
Dec 14, 2006 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Ctos #2 & 3 (Berezovsky/Orch Phil de l'Oural/Liss, Mirare) The tenderness is refreshing.
Dec 9, 2006 (12 CDs)
"Queen Elisabeth Competition, Piano 2003": Prokofiev Cto #2 (Eckardstein), Rachmanninoff Cto #3 (Wen-Yu Shen), Ian Munro's piano concerto "Dreams", Balakirev Islamey (Park), Mozart Cto #20 (Jin Ju), etc. (Cypres 3CDs) Lots of amazing virtuosos, though the only one who stands out musically is finalist Amir Tebenikhin in Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 60 in C major, Hob.XVI:50. These competitions need to look beyond techniques and reward musicianship much more.
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Craig Sheppard, Romeo 9CDs) mechanical and tense
Dec 5, 2006 (19 CDs)
Wagner: The Ring (Furtwangler 1953, EMI 13CDs) a uniquely relaxed Ring; musically natural, pleasant, and refreshing, but could use more excitement.
Beethoven: 9 symphonies (Karajan 1950s, EMI 5CDs) not too different from his cycle recorded just several years later, but the mono sound reduces enjoyment
Etler, Siqueira, Osborne and Villa-Lobos: music for bassoon and piano (Helene Grimaud/Jeff Keesecker, aca Digital Recording) hard to sit through
Dec 1, 2006 (11 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas, violin sonatas #7 and 10 (with Ricci), piano concerto #1 (with Karl Bohm) (Gulda, Decca mono recordings, 11CDs) Gulda's 1950s cycle with solid albeit straightforward playing. Ricci's flippant playing adds variety to the set.
Nov 21, 2006 (1 CD)
Brahms: Piano concerto #2 (Peter Serkin/Shaw, ProArte) much gentler than his father, and more musical than at his live performance I saw in 2006
Nov 8, 2006 (5 CDs)
Mahler: Sym #2 (Wiener Phil/Boulez, DG) atrociously interpretationless
Mozart: 5 violin concertos, Sinfonia Concertante (Mutter/Bashmet/London Phil, DG 2CDs) too fiery for Mozart
Brahms: 2 piano concertos (Freire/Gewandhausorchester/Chailly, Decca 2CDs) potent, but lacks personal touches needed to stand out among the competition
Nov 1, 2006 (2 CDs)
Chopin: Nocturnes (Pollini, DG 2CDs) frigid
Oct 10, 2006 (1 LP)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 (Kurt Leimer/Nόrnberger Symphoniker/Zsolt Deaky, Colosseum COLOS SM 581)
Oct 21, 2006 (8 CDs)
Mozart: complete violin sonatas (Mutter/Orkis, DG 4CDs) spirited, emphatic, never dull
Chopin: 24 Preludes Op. 28 (Pogorelich, DG) alternates between pensive and breathtaking
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (Skrowaczewski); Moussorgsky: A Night on Bald Mountain (London Sym Orch/Dorati, Mercury) serviceable; could be much more exciting and fun
Joachim: Violin Concerto #2; Brahms: Violin Concerto (R. Barton/Chicago Sym Orch/C. Kalmar, Cedille Records 2CDs) She is more mellow and indifferent than expected, though with a refined tone. And yes, the Joachim concerto is too long.
Aug 31, 2006 (2 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concertos #2 & 3; Savva: Theme and Variations for Steinway and Orchestra (Sgouros/Cyprus State Orch/Zoltowski, Steinway Club Cyprus 2CDs) mostly insipid in the Rach concertos, aside from a few electrifying spots in the last mvts; Debussy's "Clair de lune" makes a cameo in the Savva piece
Aug 29, 2006 (3 CDs)
Brahms: Paganini Variations, Rhapsodies Op.79, Ballades Op.10 (Nicholas Angelich, Virgin) relatively slow and gentle
Mozart: Trios for piano, violin and cello, K.502, 542, 548 (Mutter, Previn, Muller-Schott, DG) uncharacteristically timid for Mutter
"Opera Proibita": Handel, Scarlatti, Caldara (Bartoli, Decca) virtuosic
Aug 26, 2006 (4 CDs)
Beethoven: Hammerklavier Sonata, Sonata #32; Liszt: Sonata, Benediction, Sposalizio, Hungarian Rhapsody #12; Levy: Pieces for piano (Ernst Levy, Marston 2CDs) labored, ugly, undisciplined
Bach-Busoni: Chaconne; Brahms: Paganini Variations (1950 recording); Mozart: concerto #15 (Michelangeli, EMI) he made the Paganini Variations sound too easy
R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben; Mozart: Magic Flute Overture; Haydn: Sym #99 (Toscanini/NBC Sym Orch, Naxos Historial) appropriately driven in the Strauss, but too much for the Mozart and Haydn
Jun 26, 2006 (7 DVDs)
Wagner: The Ring (Boulez, DG 7DVDs) fast, clinical conducting; good staging
Apr 17, 2006 (1 LP)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 (Horatio Gutierres/Great Sym Orch of Moscow Radio/Rozhdestvensky, Melodiya LP) from an era when most young pianists wanted to play like Horowitz
Mar 21, 2006 (6 CDs)
Tchaikovsky: piano cto #1 (w/ Ozawa); Rachmaninoff: solo piano works (Volodos, Sony) refreshing orchestral playing; Volodos plays with his usual aplomb and technical ease
Mahler: sym #2 (Gilbert Kaplan, DG 2CDs) countless insights, with all instruments amply utilized, though a bit wanting in grandeur and creative tempo variation
• Szymanowski: Masques Op.34, piano sonata #3, Metopes Op.29 (Anderszewski, Virgin) Scriabin/Debussy-like music; expressive, sensual playing
Chopin-Godowsky: Etudes (Berezovsky, Warner) each Chopin etude is immediately followed by the Godowsky arrangement; understandably cautious in these demanding pieces, performed live
Mozart: Violin sonatas K. 301, 304, 376 and 526 (Hahn/Zhu, DG) impeccable playing but without more personal touches, it's hard to stand out in Mozart; "perfect" doesn't cut it
Feb 28, 2006 (1 LP)
Rachmaninoff: piano cto #3 (di Bonaventura/Boston University Sym Orch/Silverstein) Rach 3: slow and cautious, though fairly musical and unique
Feb 24, 2006 (4 CDs)
"The Prague Spring Festival" - Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto (Oborin/Stokowski), Tchaikovsky 4th symphony (Mravinsky), Martinu 6th symphony (Munch), Stravinsky Rite of Spring (Markevitch), Berlioz Sym fantastique (Cluytens), Dvořαk Holoubek (Talich), Smetana Ma Vlast -- From Bohemian Woods and Fields (Ančerl), Mozart 20th concerto (S. Richter/Kondrashin), Prokofiev 1st violin cto (D. Oistrakh/Kubelik) (Andante 4CDs) rigid, crude playing in the Rach 3
Jan 30, 2006 (14 CDs)
Britten: War Requiem (New York Phil/Masur, Teldec 2CDs) the high points are few and far between
Donizetti: Anna Bolena (Sills, Verrett, London Sym/Rudel, DG 3CDs) an underrated, underprogramed opera
Satie: The Early Piano Works (de Leeuw, Philips 2CDs) pensive, super slow
Debussy: Complete Piano Music Vol. 2 (Werner Haas, Noel Lee, Philips 2CDs) not sufficiently impressionistic
Renee Fleming "Signatures" (Fleming/Solti, London) good selections especially the lesser known ones
Franck, Caplet, Poulenc, Janacek, Stravinsky, Shostakovitch: chamber music (Kremer, Rabinovitch, Robert Levin, Hagen Quartett, etc., ECM Records 2CDs) a mixed bag
"The 3 Tenors - Paris 1998" (Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti, Levine, Atlantic Recording Corp.) prefer their two previous performances as they had greater stylistic diversity
Sibelius: Violin Cto; Goldmark: Violin Cto (Bell/Los Angeles Phil/Salonen, Sony) feminine as well as masculine qualities
Dec 12, 2005 (4 CDs)
Bartok: 3 piano concertos (Zimerman, Andsnes, Grimaud/Boulez, DG) so-so, though it's hard to be musical in these largely percussive works
Tchaikovsky, Korngold: Violin concertos (Mutter/Previn, DG) passionate as usual
Messiaen, Ravel, Grey, Salonen, Beethoven, Brahms (Josefowicz/Novacek, Warner 2CDs) accessible modern pieces, soothing playing
Nov 19, 2005 (3 CDs)
Waxman: Carmen Fantasy; Bartok: Rhapsody for Violin and Piano no 2; Ravel: Tzigane; Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen (Lara St. John/Ilan Rechtman, Well-Tempered Productions) explosive
Bach: Partita #2, Sonata #3 (Lara St. John, Well-Tempered Productions) too forceful for Bach, though could be due to the microphones being too close
Wieniawski: Variations for Violin on an original theme, Scherzo-Tarantelle, Polonaise brillante for Violin and Piano no 1; Paganini: Cantabile; Kreisler: Liebesleid, Liebesfreud; Ysaye: Caprice d'apres l'etude en forme de Valse de Saint-Saens (Vengerov, EMI) dreamy; great inclusion of the theme from Schindler's List
Oct 24, 2005 (3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano cto #3 (Gelber/Orch Della Svizzera Italiana/Karabtchevsky, Transart) messy, noisy
Albeniz: Iberia (Hamelin, Hyperion 2CDs) one of his better recordings, though I would prefer more fire
Jul 5, 2005 (7 CDs)
Chopin: 14 waltzes, sonatas #2 and 3, 20 nocturnes, 7 polonaises, cto #1, etc.; Mozart: sonata K570; Liszt: Liebestraum #3, Valse Oubliee #1; Schubert and Mendelssohn (Stefan Askenase, DG 7CDs) graceful, colorful, fluid; frequent but natural tempo variations; often bogged down by a limited mechanism
Jun 14, 2005 (24 CDs)
"Berlioz Edition": Beatrice et Benedict, Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens, Romeo et Juliette, Symphonie fantastique, Grande Symphonie funebre et triomphale, Harold en Italie, Lelio, Marche funebre, Reverie et Caprice, 7 Overtures, La Damnation de Faust, L'enfance du Christ, Requiem, Te Deum, Les nuits d'ete, Lelio, La mort de Cleopatre, Herminie, 5 Songs (Colin Davis, Philips 24CDs) Davis' laid-back style does not appeal to me
Jun 14, 2005 (7 CDs)
"The Art of Alicia de Larrocha": Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Schumann, Soler, Turina, Granados, Mompou, Albeniz, Falla, Ravel, Khachaturian (Decca 7CDs) consistently articulate and delightful
Jun 13, 2005 (4 CDs)
Chopin: Piano Sonata #2, Berceuse, Barcarolle; Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata #2 (Helene Grimaud, DG) too casual and relaxed
Beethoven: Piano Concertos #2 and 3 (Argerich/Mahler Chamber Orch/Abbado, DG) excessively frenzied in the 3rd concerto, better in the 2nd
Mozart: Piano Sonatas K281, K282, K576, Fantasia in C minor K396 (Brendel, Philips) a detail-focused interpretation
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2, Paganini Rhapsody (Lang Lang/Gergiev, DG) virtuosic and unique, though not always convincing
Jun 2, 2005 (17 CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas #1, 2, 3, 20, 19, 8, 10, 4, 9, 5, 6, 7 (Michael Steinberg, Elysium 3CDs) mediocre, often seems to accelerate unintentionally which is an amateur tendency
Beethoven: piano sonatas #11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23 (Michael Steinberg, Elysium 3CDs) same as above
Beethoven: piano sonatas #22, 26, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 (Michael Steinberg, Elysium 3CDs) slightly better in these late sonatas
Haydn: symphonies #44, 45, 49, 55, 80, 88, 92 - 104 (Hermann Scherchen, DG 6CDs) lively
Liszt: Norma Fantasy, Rigoletto Paraphrase, Lucia di Lammermoor Fantasy, etc. (Nicola Frisardi, EMI Austria) a careful but moving Norma Fantasy
Gershwin "Fascinating Rhythm" (Menuhin, Grappelli, EMI) charming dialogue
May 6, 2005 (53 CDs)
Richard Strauss: orchestral works (Rudolf Kempe, EMI 9CDs) love it! The best anthological introduction to Strauss
Yehudi Menuhin: "The Violinist" (EMI 10CDs) hit-and-miss, though surprisingly good in the Paganini 1st cto; he was much better in the mono era
Wagner: The Ring (Rudolf Moralt 1948/49, Gebhardt 12CDs) a fast-paced performance without a single dull moment; surprisingly good sonics
Wagner: The Ring (Joseph Keilberth 1952, Archipel 12CDs) far less compelling than Keilberth's 1955 Ring
Alkan: Grand duo concertant for violin and piano Op.21; Marche funebre Op.26; Trio for piano, violin and cell Op.30; etudes Op.35 Nos.10, 11, 12; Sonata for cello and piano Op.47 (Clark/Welsh/Ronald Smith, APR 2CDs) pleasant chamber music, though not as special as his solo works
Alkan: Allegro barbaro Op.35/5; Fantaisies Op.41; 12 Etudes Op.39 (Ronald Smith, APR 2CDs) more musical than Hamelin's Alkan
"The Complete Columbia Recordings 1936-39": Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Scriabin, Rachmaninov (Anatole Kitain, APR 2CDs) aside from a few inspired moments, mostly forgettable
"The Virtuoso Liszt": Octave Etude, Gnomenreigen, Hungarian Rhapsodies #2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, Grand galop chromatique, Paganini Fantaisie (Fiorentino, APR) so-so
Medtner: 16 Marches; Beethoven: Appassionata Sonata (Nicolas Medtner, APR) likely the best interpretation of Medtner I've heard; a very unique Appassionata
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, Piano Concertos, Valses nobles et sentimentales, etc. (Perlemuter, Vox 2CDs) unshowy introspective playing, better technique-wise than in his Nimbus era
Apr 25, 2005 (8 CDs)
Debussy and Ravel: orchestral works (Jean Martinon, EMI 8CDs) a nice, compact collection of the two composers' music
Apr 14, 2005 (2 CDs)
Mozart: Piano Ctos #20 and 23 (Pletnev/Pletnev, Virgin Classics) idiosyncratic
Rachmaninov: Piano Cto #1, Paganini Rhapsody (Pletnev/Pesek, Virgin Classics) a fine Rach 1, but iffy Paganini Rhapsody
Mar 16, 2005 (2 CDs)
Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila (Bouvier/Luccioni/Cabanel/Cambon/Fourestier 1946, Naxos Historical 2CDs) good music & performance, despite a dimly recorded orchestra
Mar 7, 2005 (5 CDs)
Mahler: Sym #2 (rec. 1924!!! Oskar Fried), Kindertotenlieder (Horenstein) (Naxos 2CDs) interesting
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Flagstad/Melchoir/Reiner, rec.1936, Naxos 3CDs) too rushed
Febuary 21, 2005 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Alexei Orlovezki/Dmitriev), Uncompleted Quartet 1889 (Aristova, Ionova, Rasuvajeva, Voronzov) (WCD) a lifeless Rach 3; lovely quartet
Febuary 17, 2005 (9 CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas #1 - 10 (Seymour Lipkin, Newport 3CDs) lucid, detail-rich, "classical" rendition
Beethoven: piano sonatas #11 - 22 (Seymour Lipkin, Newport 3CDs) same as above
Beethoven: piano sonatas #23 - 32 (Seymour Lipkin, Newport 3CDs) same as above, which works less well for the late sonatas' depth and sublimity
Febuary 14, 2005 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #2 (Alexander Lubiantsev), piano concerto #3 (John Chen) (with conductor Janos Furst, ABC Classics) juvenile playing by two teenage pianists
Febuary 6, 2005 (3 CDs)
Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin, Winterreise, Schwanengesang, Erlkonig, Nacht und Traume, Du bist die Ruh (Fischer-Dieskau/Gerald Moore, EMI 3CDs) captivatingly expressive
Febuary 3, 2005 (8 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Andrea Lucchesini, Stradivarius 8CDs) graceful, gentle, polished live performances
Febuary 1, 2005 (28 CDs)
Messian: Catalogue d'oiseaux, La Fauvette des jardins (Ugorski, DG 3CDs) too modern and too long for me
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Stravinsky: Petrouchka Suite; Balakirev: Islamey (Brendel, Vox) surprisingly plain for Brendel
"The Complete Caruso" (recorded 1902 - 1920, RCA, 12CDs) enjoyable despite the primitive sound
Schumann: Arabeske, Papillons, Symphonic Etudes, Carnaval, Humoreske, Waldszenen, Kinderszenen, Sonatas #1 and 2, Davidsbundlertanze, Kreisleriana, Novelleette, Abegg Variations, Fantasy Op.17, Bunte Blatter, Nachtstucke, 3 Romanzen, Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Phantasiestucke Op.12, Blumenstueck, Novelletten (Ashkenazy, Decca 7CDs) mostly uninspired; better in the intimate pieces and earlier recordings
Schubert: Sonata D960; Schubert-Liszt: Standchen, Das Wandern, Wohin?, Aufenthalt; Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 (Kissin, RCA) boring
Elgar: Violin Concerto; Williams: The Lark Ascending (Hahn/Colin Davis, DG) underappreciated music, justly acclaimed playing
Rachmaninoff: piano concertos #1 and 2 (Zimerman/Ozawa, DG) Zimerman at his most electrifying, marred by an over-amplified piano
Prokofiev: Cinderella Suite; Ravel: Ma Mere l'Oye (Argerich/Pletnev, DG) a dynamic collaboration of two like-minded virtuosi
"Jussi Bjorling reDiscovered" (RCA) beautiful singing that's at times overly strong
Jan 8, 2005 (1 CD)
RCA Red Seal Classic Library sampler (RCA)
Jan 2, 2005 (3 CDs)
Beethoven: Symphony #9 (Rebmann et al./Royal Concertgebouw Orch/Eugen Jochum 1969, Rose Records) fairly good
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Shostakovich: Violin Concerto #1 (Ilya Gringolts/Israel Phil/Perlman, DG) competent but too restrained
"The New Generation" CD sampler, with tracks by Anna Netrebko, Hilary Hahn, Lang Lang, Magdalena Kozena, Yundi Li, and Michael Tilson Thomas (DG) Gave away on June 24, 2009
Dec 21, 2004 (9 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Dino Ciani, Dynamic 9CDs) horrible sound!
Dec 2, 2004 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd piano concerto; Beethoven: Waldstein Sonata (Peter Vinograde/Dubuque Symphony Orch/Nicholas Palmer) (CATalina Recordings)
Nov 13, 2004 (1 LP, 1 CD-ROM)
Jon Nakamatsu/Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional/Julio De Windt (rec. 1998, privately issued), CD-ROM Normally I don't count CD-ROM's toward my number of Rach 3's,but this disc was an advance copy that the producer made
Sheppard/Pritchard (rec.1976, EMI)
Oct 18, 2004 (2 CDs)
• Rachmaninoff: 4 piano concertos, Paganini Rhapsody (Hough/Dallas Sym/Litton, Hyperion 2CDs) too rushed
Oct 15, 2004 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos #2 and 3
(Rachmaninoff/Stokowski and Ormandy, Naxos Historical)
Oct 11, 2004 (14 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Kovacevich, EMI 9CDs) unpleasantly violent
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3, Piano Sonata #2
(Horowitz/Ormandy, RCA Red Seal 2004) nicer sound than the older re-issue that I have
Faure: Ballade; Chabrier: from Dix pieces pittoresques; Satie: Gymnopedie #1; Ravel: Jeux d'Eau, Pavane pour une Infante defunte, Gaspard de la Nuit (Naida Cole, Decca)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #15 - 18, 23, Bagatelles
Opp.33 and 126, Eroica Variations (Gould, CBS 3CDs)
Sep 24, 2004 (3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: cto #3; Eylar: Rhapsody for Orchestra; Bernstein: Candid Overture; Walton: Johannesburg Festival Overture (Cionco/California Youth Sym Orch/Eylar) Bought three copies
Sep 21, 2004 (1 CD)
Liszt "New Discoveries - 2" (Leslie Howard, Hyperion)
Sep 9, 2004 (13 CDs)
Chopin: The Piano Works (Ashkenazy, Decca 13CDs)
Aug 25, 2004 (22 CDs)
Complete Bach Vol.6 "The Sacred Vocal Works": Mass in B minor, St Matthew Passion, St John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, Easter Oratorio,
Missae Breves, Magnificat, Christe Eleison, Psalm 51 (Teldec 14CDs)
Scarlatti: Sonatas K11, K332 and K172; Beethoven: Sonata #32; Clementi: Sonata in B flat; Chopin: Sonata in B flat (Michelangeli, BBC
Music)
Complete Beethoven piano sonatas Vol.8: Sonatas #28 and 29 (Nikolayeva, Olympia)
Chopin: 51 Mazurkas (Wasowski, Concord Concerto 2CDs) very unconventional
Brahms: Piano Concerto #2; Schubert: Three Piano Pieces D946 (Arrau, BBC Music)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Sonata, Hopak, Impromptu Passionne (Browning, Delos) his own arrangement of the Pictures...sort of
Shura Cherkassky "The Historic 1940s Recordings": Saint-Saens: Prelude and Fugue in F minor; Rachmaninoff: Polka de W.R.; Poulenc: Toccata from Trois Pieces; Chaminade: Autrefois; Brahms: Sonata in F minor; Liszt: 4 Hungarian Rhapsodies; Khachaturian: Toccata; Medtner: Fairy Tale; Prokofiev: Suggestion Diabolique; Liadov: Music Box; Glinka: Tarantella; Shostakovich: 2 Preludes; Scriabin: Left-Hand Prelude; Tchaikovsky: October; Rebikov: Waltz; Gould: Waltz Op.21; Chopin: pieces (Ivory Classics 2CDs) interesting
Aug 23, 2004 (1 CD)
Complete Beethoven piano sonatas Vol.6: Sonatas #18 - 22 (Nikolayeva, Olympia)
Aug 19, 2004 (4 CDs)
Schumann: Symphonic Etudes, Fantasy in C, Bunte Blatter Op.99, Arabeske (Pletnev, DG)
Chopin: Sonata #3, Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise Op.22, Etudes Op.10 #2 and 5 and Op.25 No.11, Nocturne Op.9 #1 and 2 and Op.15 #2, Impromptu No.4 (Yundi Li, DG)
Previn: Violin Cto; Bernstein: Serenade (Mutter/Previn, DG)
"Helene Grimaud Artist Portrait" (Warner)
Aug 9, 2004 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 (Peter Bradley-Fulgoni/Sinfonia of Leeds/David Greed, Fox)
Jul 30, 2004 (4 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 (Roudenko/Zollman), Paganini Rhapsody (Melnikov/Zollman) (Rene Gailly)
"Credo" - Corigliano: Fantasia on an ostinato for solo piano; Beethoven: Tempest Sonata, Choral Fantasy; Part: Credo for piano, mixed choir and orhc (Grimaud/Salonen, DG)
"Tango Song and Dance" - works by Previn, Brahms, Gershwin, Kreisler and Faure (Mutter/Previn/Orkis, DG)
Chopin: Ballades, Mazurkas, Polonaises (Anderszewski, Virgin) too weak
Jul 23, 2004 (10 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Anne Oland, The International Music Company 10CDs) stiff
Jun 9, 2004 (1 CD)
Schumann: Sonata # 2, Carnaval, Kinderszenen (Slencynska, Ivory Classics)
Apr 22, 2004 (1 CD)
"Presenting Francesco Libetta" - pieces by Godowsky, Liszt, Chopin, Ravel, Debussy, Mompou, Galilei (VAI Audio)
Mar 27, 2004 (4 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Tedd Joselson/Casteels, Singapore National Youth Orchestra) Bought two copies
Horowitz "Boston Recital" (Living Stage 2CDs)
Mar 26, 2004 (11 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concertos #2 and 3 (Konstantin Scherbakov/Russian State Sym Orch/Yablonsky, Naxos SACD/CD hybrid disc)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Cto #3 (Ohlsson); Schumann: Piano Cto (Goode, Nuova Era) Good!
Rachmaninoff: Piano cto #3, Piano Sonata #2 (Michie Koyama/Fedoseyev, Master Sound)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2 and 3 (Mikhail Petukhov/Simonov, Monopoly)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3; Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos #1 - 3 (Denis Matsuev/Saccani, BPO Live 2CDs)
Janacek: Jenufa (Mackerras, Decca 2CDs)
Hubay: Violin Cto #3 and 4, Variations sur un theme hongrois Op.72 (Hagai Shaham/Brabbins, Hyperion)
Bach: Toccatas (Hewitt, Hyperion)
Romantic Piano Concerto Vol.21 - Kullak and Dreyschock (Piers Lane/Willen, Hyperion)
Mar 22, 2004 (3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3; Bach/Busoni: Concerto for piano and strings in D minor BWV 1052; Bach/Rachmaninoff: Suite in E (Skoumal/Svarovsky, ArcoDiva)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3; Chopin: Nocturne Op.9 No.2; Saygun: Prelude in Aksak Rhythms Op.45 No.12; Bach/Busoni: Chorale Prelude BWV 734; Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2 (Onay/Erdinc, Universal Muzik 2CDs)
Mar 9, 2004 (5 CDs, 2 LPs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Pokorna/Pinkas, Supraphon LP)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Mogilevski/Kondrashin, Melodiya LP) This is NOT a new version; it's just a backup copy
Mozart: Piano sonatas K.332 and K.333 (Arrau, Philips)
Brahms: Piano concertos #1 (rec. 1935) and #2 (rec. 1939 and 1948) (Horowitz/Toscanini, APR 2CDs) I already had the 1935 and 1948 recordings, but didn't have the 1939 one.
Bach: The English Suites (Angela Hewitt, Hyperion 2CDs)
Mar 2, 2004 (6 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd concerto (Nikolsky/Octors, Rene Gailly CD87 501)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd concerto (Petkukhov/Feranek, Opus 91 2672-2)
Bach: violin partitas #2 and 3, sonata #3 (Hahn, Sony)
Mozart: piano concertos #20 and 21 (Uchida/Tate, Philips)
Mahler: Symphony #3 (Boulez, DG 2CDs)
Feb 17, 2004 (38 CDs)
Szymanowski: The complete mazurkas (Hamelin, Hyperion)
Bach: Suites for solo cello #2 - 5 (Daniil Shafran, Yedang Classics)
Brahms: Sonata Op.5, Intermezzo Op.76 No.7, Capriccio Op.76 No.2, Hungarian Dances #1, 2, 3, 6, 7 (Kissin, RCA)
Beethoven: Violin sonatas (Menuhin/Kentner, EMI 3CDs)
Ligeti Project I: Melodien, Chamber Concerto, Piano Concerto, Mysteries of the Macabre (Aimard, Masseurs, de Leeuw; Teldec)
Ligeti Project II: Lontano, Atmospheres, Apparitions, San Francisco Polyphony, Concert Romanesc (Nott, Teldec)
Ligeti Project IV: Hamburg Concerto (Horn Concerto), Double Concerto, Ramificiations, Requiem (Neunecker, Holliger, Zoon, Stein, van Reisen/Nott; Teldec)
Mendelssohn: Violin concerto; Shostakovich: Violin concerto #2 (Hahn, Sony)
Beethoven: 9 symphonies, 5 overtures (New York Phil/Bernstein, Sony 6CDs)
Beethoven and Mendelssohn: violin concertos (Mullova/Gardiner, Philips)
Tchaikovsky and Myaskovsky: Violin concertos (Repin/Gergiev, Philips)
Schumann: Carnaval, Papillons, Kinderszenen, Arabeske (Freire, Decca)
Chopin: Piano Sonata #3, 12 etudes Op.25, trios nouvelles etudes (Freire, Decca)
Beethoven: Violin concert and 2 Romances (Mutter/Masur, DG)
Tchaikovsky and Mendelsson: first piano concertos (Lang Lang/Barenboim, DG) Strange and ugly playing
Liszt: Sonata in B minor, La Campanella, Liebeslied, Liebestraum #3, Tarantella, Rigoletto (Yundi Li, DG)
Brahms: Violin and Double concertos (Shaham/Wang/Abbado, DG)
Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze, Concert sans orchestre (Pollini, DG)
Bach: Concertos for violin (Hahn/Kahane, DG)
Schubert: works for violin (Kremer, DG 4CDs)
βThe Segovia Collection" works by Rodrigo, Boccherini, Torroba, Mompou, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ponce, etc. (Segovia, DG 4CDs)
Chopin: Sonatas #2 and 3, Fantasie Op.49 (Cherkassky, Decca/Ermitage)
Thelonious Monk: βThe Columbia Years ΒE2 ΒEΒE8 (Columbia/Legacy 3CDs)
Dec 30, 2003 (1 CD)
Liszt: Sonata, Mephisto Waltz, Liebestraum #3 (Arrau, Philips DDD) He has big technical difficulties
Dec 27, 2003 (9 CDs)
William Kapell's complete commercial recordings (RCA, 9CDs)
Dec 19, 2003 (2 CDs)
"Vladimir Horowitz Rediscovered" (RCA 2CDs) Vulgar playing
Oct 30, 2003 (9 CDs)
Complete Liszt Collection Vol.31: The Schubert Transcriptions I (Howard, Hyperion 3CDs)
Complete Liszt Collection Vol.32: The Schubert Transcriptions II (Howard, Hyperion 3CDs)
Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words (Barenboim, DG 2CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos 2 and 3 (Hae-Jung Kim/Rozhdestvensky, Kleos Classics) This is NOT a new version; it's just a backup copy
Oct 24, 2003 (2 CDs 1 DVD)
Horowitz - Live and Unedited - Historic 1965 Return Concert (Sony) He was shockingly inaccurate!
Oct 20, 2003 (2 CDs 1 DVD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3; Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Concerto (Tamara Orlovsky/Serov, Musique De La Ferme Normandie Concert Series). I already had this version, but got one more as a backup copy because it's quite rare.
"New Faces of Music" (Sony). A free sampler from Tower.
"Virgin Classics 15th Anniversary - Major releases 2003" (Virgin DVD). A free sampler from Tower.
Oct 17, 2003 (10 CDs)
Brahms: 4 Symphonies (Celibidache, DG 4CDs)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Stravinsky: The Fairy's Kiss, The Firebird Suite; Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade; Prokofiev: Scythian Suite, Symphony #5, Romeo and Juliet (Celibidache, DG 4CDs)
Delibes: Lakme (Sutherland, London 2CDs)
Oct 3, 2003 (4 CDs, 1 DVD)
Chopin: Piano Concertos (Zimerman/Zimerman, DG 2CDs) Too exaggerated
"The Magic of Horowitz" - Mozart: 23rd piano concerto w/ Giulini) on DVD, plus a bunch of solo pieces on 2 CDs (DG) Biggest bargain of the year! Nice footages on the DVD!
Sep 4, 2003 (34 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3, etc. (Gilels/Kondrashin, Doremi)
Grieg and Schumann: Piano Concertos; Chopin: Allegro de Concert (Arrau/Galliera, Testament)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.7 - Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.8 - Weihnachtsbaum, Via Crucis (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.9 - Sonata, Premiere Elegie, Zweite Elegie (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.11 - The Late Pieces (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.13 - A La Chapelle Sixtine, Six Preludes and Fugues, Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.14 - St Elisabeth, Christus & St Stanislaus (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.23 - Harold in Italy (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.24 - Beethoven and Hummel Septets (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.25 - The Canticle of the Sun (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.26 - The Young Liszt (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.28 - Dances and Marches (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.29 - Magyar Dalok & Magyar Rapszodiak (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.30 - Liszt at the Opera III (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.35 - Arabesques (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.36 - Excelsior! (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.40 - Gaudeamus igitur - Pieces d'occasion (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.43 - Deuxieme Annee de Pelerinage - Italie (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.44 - The Early Beethoven Transcriptions (Howard, Hyperion 3CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.45 - Rapsodie espagnole (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.46 - Responsorien und Antiphonen (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.47 - Litanies de Marie (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.48 - Complete Paganini Etudes (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt "Complete Music for Solo Piano" Vol.52 - Ungarisher Romanzero (Howard, Hyperion)
Aug 22, 2003 (1 LP, 0 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3 (Ann Schein/The Vienna State Opera Orch/Goossens, Kapp)
Aug 20, 2003 (3 CDs, 1 DVD)
Alkan: Grande Sonate, Sonatine, Barcarolle, Le Festin D'Esope (Hamelin, Hyperion)
Liszt: Piano Concertos (Fialkowska/Hans Graf, CBC Records)
Franck and Grieg: Violin Sonatas; Grieg: 5 Lyric Pieces (Nishizaki/Jando, Naxos)
Beethoven: 5 cello sonatas (Rostropovich/Richter, EMI DVD) Great!
Aug 12, 2003 (2 DVDs, 0 CDs)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4 (Rubinstein); Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto 1st mvt (Heifetz); Walton: Cello Concerto (Piatigorsky) (EMI)
Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Violin Concerto #3; Bruch: VIolin Concerto #1 (Menuhin, EMI)
Aug 7, 2003 (4 CDs)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 (Horowitz/Toscanini 1943); Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Horowitz 1951) (Toscanini Collection Vol.44, RCA)
Paganini: Violin Concerto No.1; Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No.5 (Mullova/Marriner, Philips) Good!
Bach: Partita No.1; Bartok: Sonata for solo violin; Paganini: Introduction and Variations on "Nel cor piu non mi sento" (Mullova, Philips)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos.1 and 4, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Wild/Horenstein, Chesky)
Jun 24, 2003 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos #1 and 3 (Lugansky/Oramo, Warner)
Jun 13, 2003 (2 CDs)
Chopin: 24 etudes (Perahia, Sony) Like it!
Schumann: Sonata #1, Carnaval (Kissin, RCA)
Jun 11, 2003 (1 CD)
Godowsky: Piano Sonata in E minor, Passacaglia (Hamelin, Hyperion)
Jun 10, 2003 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Wakabayashi/Octors); Swerts: Rotations (Rolf Plagge) (Rene Gailly)
May 28, 2003 (0 CDs 1 LP)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Weissenberg/Bernstein, EMI) awful
May 13, 2003 (2 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Nakamura/Svetlanov, CBS Sony)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Wright/Chiang, River Music)
May 9, 2003 (3 CDs)
"The Best of Bud Powell" (BlueNote)
Massenet: Werther (de Los Angeles, Gedda/Pretre, EMI 2CDs)
Apr 29, 2003 (0 CDs 1 LP)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Concerto (Alfidi/Orchestre National de Belgique/Defossez, DG)
Apr 23, 2003 (2 CDs)
Mussorgsky: Pictures; Beethoven: Appassionata; Chopin: Heroic Polonaise; Gottschalk: Pasquinade (Helfgott, RAP)
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies #3 and 9, Venezia e Napoli, Valses oubliee #1 and 2, Feux-follets, Waltz from Faust (Louis Lortie, Port-Royal)
Apr 11, 2003 (0 CDs 1 LP)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3 (Bachauer/London Orch/Sherman, EMI Encore)
Mar 27, 2003 (6 CDs)
Dvorak: Stabat Mater Op.58; Janacek: Glagolitic Mass (Rafael Kubelik, DG 2CDs)
Chopin: 4 Ballades, Barcarolle, Fantasie Op.49 (Zimerman, DG)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Cto (w/ Fricsay); Beethoven: Violin sonatas #5, 7, 9 (w/ Kempff) (Menuhin, DG 2CDs)
Concrete Corner sampler
Mar 19, 2003 (9 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd cto; Prokofiev: 3rd cto (Pletnev/Rostropovich, DG) disappointing
Brahms: 2nd cto (Arrau/Giulini, EMI) good
Mozart: Sonata K310; Beethoven: Sonata No.22; Schumann: Symphonic Etudes (Cziffra, EMI) not good
Chopin: 1st cto, Ballade #4, Polonaise #3, Etudes Op.25 Nos.1 and 2, Op.10 Nos.3 and 10, etc. (Cziffra, EMI)
Brahms: 2nd cto, Paganini Variations; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #12; Beethoven: Sonata #9 (Bachauer, Mercury)
Chopin: Sonata #2, 4 Impromptus, Sonata #3 (Fialkowska, Opening Day Recordings)
Wagner: Tannhauser Overture, Siegfried-Idyll, etc.; Liszt: Les Preludes (conducted by Louis de Froment, Forlane Fioretti) Sold for $2 on May 5, 2009
Prokofiev: Peter and the wolf, Cinderella suite (Jarvi, Chandos)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd cto, Vocalise, Prince Rostislav (pianist Jorge Luis Prats, conductor Enrique Batiz, IMG Records) I already had this version but this is on a different label.
Mar 18, 2003 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: piano concerto #3 (Natalia Trull), Paganini Rhapsody (Serovatov) (conductor Andrei Anikhanov, Audiophile Classics) Both performances sound strange to me
Mar 14, 2003 (1 CD)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Schumann: Bunte Blatter; Debussy: Cloches a travers les feuilles (Richter 1968, BBC Legends) Definitely NOT Richter at his best
Feb 15, 2003 (8 CDs)
John Cage: "Diary: How to Improve the World" (Cage, Wergo 8CDs)
Feb 5, 2003 (8 CDs)
Beethoven: 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos (with Backhaus), violin concerto (with Szeryng), 3 overtures (Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Decca 8CDs) Backhaus - good; Schumidt-Isserstedt - dull
Jan 29, 2003 (0 CDs, 2 LPs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd cto (Eresko/Ponkin, Melodiya LP)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd cto (Gavrilov/Lazarev, Melodiya LP)
Jan 24, 2003 (23 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd cto, Etude-Tableau Op.39 No.5; Liszt: Mazeppa (Cliburn); Liszt: 1st cto (Liu Shikun); Tchaikovsky: violin cto (Klimow); 1st cto (Vlasenko) (Moscow State Conservatoire, 2CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto, Six Moments musicaux Op.16 (Joyce Hatto/Koehler, Concert Artist)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Lydia Jardon/Penin, I.L.D.)
Mahler: 10 symphonies, Lieder (Sinopoli, DG 15CDs)
Chopin: 24 Etudes, 19 Waltzes (Abbey Simon, VoxBox 2CDs)
Chopin: Sonatas #2 and 3, 4 Impromptus, 4 Scherzos, 4 Ballades, Barcarolle (Abbey Simon, VoxBox 2CDs)
Jan 21, 2003 (18 CDs)
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations; Chopin: Cto #1, 4 Impromptus (Horszowski/Vienna Sym Orch/Swarowsky, VoxBox 2CDs)
Beethoven: Sonatas #13 and 14; Beethoven/Liszt: Symphony #5; Liszt: Consolation #3, Ballade #2, Valse oubliee, Cantique d'amour, Harmonies du soir, Wilde jagd; Scriabin: Etude Op.42 No.5; Schumann/Liszt: Widmung; Schumann: Symphonic Etudes (Joseph Villa, Dante 2CDs)
Medtner: Piano Concertos #2 and 3 (Medtner/Philharmonia Orch/Dobrowen, Testament)
Brahms: Piano Concerto #2 (Arrau/Orch National de France/Markevitch, INA Memoire) rec. 1976
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas, Bagatelles, Variations, Rondos, Fantasy Op.77, Polonaise Op.89 (Yukio Yokoyama, Sony 12CDs)
Jan 11, 2003 (1 CD, 1 DVD-v)
Liszt: Sonata, Sonetto 47/104/123 del Petrarca, Dante Sonata (Browning, Delos)
"Pavarotti & Friends for the children of Liberia" (Decca, DVD)
Jan 5, 2003 (1 CD)
Pavan Das Baul & Sam Miles: Real Sugar
Dec 28, 2002 (6 CDs)
Brahms: 4 symphonies (Celibidache, Europa Musica 3CDs)
Beethoven: 5 piano concertos (Serkin/Caracciolo and Scaglia, Europa Musica 3CDs)
Dec 11, 2002 (2 CDs)
Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Zigeunerweisen, Spanish Dances, Navarra, Caprice Basque (Aaron Rosand, Vox) excellent!
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto 2 (Cziffra/Gyorgy Cziffra, EMI) BAD!!!! Sold for $1 on Jul 12, 2023
Dec 10, 2002 (17 CDs 7 DVDs)
"Lady Day - The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933-1944" (Columbia 10CDs)
Schubert: Sonatas D.167 and D.894; Schubert/Liszt: Der Muller und der Bach (Volodos, Sony)
Beethoven: piano concerto 5 (Perahia/Haitink, CBS)
Beethoven: piano concerto 1 and 2 (Perahia/Haitink, CBS)
Bach: keyboard concertos 3, 5, 6, 7 (Perahia, Sony)
Bach: keyboard concertos 1, 2, 4 (Perahia, Sony)
Bach/Busoni: 4 solo pieces; Mendelssohn: 15 Songs Without Words; Schubert/Liszt: 4 solo pieces (Perahia, Sony) VERY nice!
Chopin: piano concertos (Perahia/Mehta, Sony)
Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Met Opera/Levine, DG 7DVDs)
Dec 9, 2002 (2 CDs 3 DVDs)
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 3 and 4 (Perahia/Haitink, CBS)
Bach: English Suites 2, 4, 5 (Perahia, Sony)
Beethoven: 10 violin sonatas (Mutter/Orkis, DG 2DVDs)
"The Art of Violin" (NVC Arts, DVD)
Dec 4, 2002 (3 CDs)
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 2 - 5, Sonata No.14 (Solomon, EMI References 2CDs)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas "Moonlight", "Pathetique", "Les Adieux", "Appassionata" (Cliburn, RCA) One of his least satisfactory discs<
Dec 3, 2002 (13 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 sonatas (Ian Hobson, Zephyr 9CDs)
"Nathan Milstein: Concert Performances & Broadcasts, 1942-1969", with concertos by Mozart, Bruch, Dvorak, Brahms, Goldmark, Prokofiev, Beethoven (Music & Arts, 4CDs)
Nov 10, 2002 (2 CDs)
Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Bolero; Honnegger: Pacific 231; Saint-Saens: Symphony #3 (Piero Coppola, rec. 1927 to 1934, Koch Historic)
Luciano Pavarotti: "Mamma" -- Popular Italian songas arranged and conducted by Henry Mancini (London)
Oct 24, 2002 (4 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd concerto (Nelson Goerner/BBC Phil/Vassily Sinaisky), 3 preludes; Felix Blumenfeld: Etude Op.36 (Nelson Goerner, Cascavelle)
"Emil Gilels Legacy Vol. 5" - Mozart: Sonata K 457; Beethoven: Appassionata; Prokofiev: Sonata #2; Rachmaninoff: Moment Musical Op.16 No.5; Balakirev: Islamey; Albeniz: Malaguena, Navarra (Doremi)
"Emil Gilels Legacy Vol.6" - Mozart: Sonata K 570; Debussy: Etude No.11; Chopin: Sonata #2; Shostakovich: 3 preludes and fugues; Prokofiev: 5 Visions Fugitives; Beethoven: Bagatelle Op.33 No.1; Prokofiev: March from "The Love of Three Oranges"; Paganini-Liszt: La Campanella Etude (Doremi)
"Sviatoslav Richter Archives Vol.4" - Brahms: Concert #2 (w/ Georgescu, Sept 1961), Handel Variations (Aug 1988) (Doremi) He sounds sleepy!
Sep 30, 2002 (2 CDs)
Chopin: Etudes, Ballades, Waltzes (Anievas, EMI 2CDs) so-so
Sep 17, 2002 (16 CDs)
"The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books" (Verve, 16CDs) fanTAStic!!!!!!
Sep 10, 2002 (3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3 (Ambre Hammond/Orquesta Sinfonica De Cordoba/Miguel Gilardi, Gold Classics) I bought two copies of this
Bach: Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C, BWV 564; Glinka: The Lark; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Kissin, RCA)
Sep 9, 2002 (8 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: piano cto 3, Paganini Rhapsody (Kutelia, Kalandadze, Analekta)
Brahms: Piano sonata 3, Intermezzi, Paganini Variations (Wild, Ivory Classics)
Beethoven: piano ctos 1 - 4 (Gilels/Szell, EMI 2CDs)
Haydn: 4 masses, including the Nelson Mass (Marriner, EMI 2CDs)
Liszt: Paganini Etudes, Les Jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este, Sonata, Un sospiro, Valse oubliee No.1, etc. (Watts, EMI 2CDs)
Sep 6, 2002 (3 CDs)
"City Rhythm Strikes Again" (Limehouse)
The Ray Gelato Giants: "The Men From Uncle" (Double Scoop Records)
"Got Swing?" (Wanna Dance Productions)
Aug 28, 2002 (28 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto; Shostakovitch: 1st symphony (Franz Vorraber/Daniel Klajner, Nishimura)
Rachmaninoff: 4 ctos, Paganini Rhapsody (Oleg Marshev/James Loughran, Danacord 3CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas 7 to 13 (Pommier, Erato 2CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas 14 to 20 (Pommier, Erato 2CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonata 3; Chopin: piano sonata 2; Brahms: Paganini Variations (Michelangeli, Archipel Records)
Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Brahms, Bach, Mozart: violin ctos; etc. (Menuhin, Hall of Fame 5CDs)
Beethoven: 9 symphonies (Masur, Philips 5CDs)
Mozart: Sym 39; Beethoven: sym 4, 5, 7 violin cto (w/ Erich Roehn); Schubert: sym 9 (Furtwangler, DG 4CDs)
Schumann: piano cto (w/ Gieseking), cell cto (w/ De Machula); Brahms: piano cto 2 (w/ Fischer); Bruckner: sym 5; Strauss: Sinfonia domestica, Don Juan; Sibelius: En Saga; Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe Suite No.2 (Furtwangler, DG 5CDs)
Aug 27, 2002 (1 CD)
Beethoven: piano sonatas 1, 3, and 32 (Solomon, Testament)
Aug 23, 2002 (3 CDs)
Brahms: Violin Cto; Stravinsky: Violin Cto (Hilary Hahn/Marriner, Sony)
"Heifetz Rediscovered" - Grieg: Violin sonata #3; Brahms: sonata #1; Wieniawski: Etude Op.10 No.5; Tchaikovsky: Lensky's Aria; Rameau: Tambourin; Bach: Sicilienne; Padilla: Valencia; Sarasate: Zapateado (Heifetz, RCA)
Scriabin: Piano Sonata #9; Wagner-Liszt: Isolde's Liebestod; Barber: Sonata Op.26; Schubert: Impromptu D 935 No3; Zaimont: Impronta Digitale; Liszt: Don Juan fantasy (Olga Kern, Harmonia Mundi)
Aug 15, 2002 (3 CDs)
J. Strauss: Waltzes (Clemens Krauss, Iron Needle)
"Strictly Dancing - Charleston" (French Charleston Orchestra, LaserLight) HORRIBLE!!!!! The stiffest band I have heard so far
Dino: "Somewhere in Time" (Benson Music Group)
Aug 9, 2002 (6 CDs)
Complete Liszt Vol.22: The Beethoven symphonies (Leslie Howard, Hyperion 5CDs) A decent set. His gentle and subtle interpretation sounds more appropriate than Katsaris' more driven renditions
• Alkan: Symphony for Solo Piano, Trois Morceaux dans le genre pathetique (Hamelin, Hyperion)
Aug 8, 2002 (1 CD)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Liszt: Dante Sonata; Wagner/Liszt: Isolde's Liebestod (Barry Douglas, RCA)
Aug 7, 2002 (10 CDs)
"Bernstein Live": Rachmaninoff: Piano Cto 3 (w/ Lazar Berman); Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale; Elgar: cockaigne Overture; Thomson: Seine at Night; Mozart: Piano Cto 23 (w/ Janis); Webern: 6 Pieces for Orch.; Hindemith: Symphony, Mathis der Maler; Britten: Spring Symphony; Schumann: Cell Cto (w/ du Pre); Sibelius: Songs (w/ Curtin); Mozart: Magic Flute Overture; Beethoven: Piano Cto 3 (w/ Kempff); Foss: Quintets for Orch.; Copland: Dance Symphony; Prokofiev: Piano Cto 2 (w/ Ashkenazy); Markevitch: Icare; Varese: Arcana; Barber: Second Essay; Russo: Symphony 2; Ruggles: Men and Mountains; Ives: Symphony 2; Shchedrin: Mischievous Folk Ditties; Stravinsky: Capriccio; Henze: Symphony 5; Beethoven: Triple Cto (w/ Bernstein, Corigliano and Varga); Bach: Brandenburg 5 (w/ Bernstein, Stern and Wummer); Bruckner: Symphony
6; Bernstein discusses and conducts 20th-century music; Copland: Outdoor Overture; Xenakis: Pithoprakta; Brant: Antiphon One; Boulez: Improvisations sur Mallarme I; Cage: Atlas Eclipticalis; Wagner: Gotterdammerung (w/ Farrell and
Thomas) (New York Philharmonic Special Editions, 10CDs)
Jul 29, 2002 (1 CD)
"The Best of Peggy Lee - The Capitol Years" (Capitol Jazz)
Jul 16, 2002 (7 CDs)
Liszt: Sonata in B minor, Three Petrarch Sonnets, Dante Sonata (Alfredo Perl, Arte Nova)
Mendelssohn: Le Songe d'une nuit d'ete Overture; Beethoven: Violin Cto (Menuhin/Furtwangler 1947, Tahra)
Mussorgsky: Night on the Bare Mountain; Dukas: Sorcerer's Apprentice; Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf; Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals (Bernstein, Sony)
Beethoven: Piano cto #2; Schubert: Moment musical D780 No3, Waltzes, Landlers, Impromptu D935 No2; Schumann: Romance Op28 No2; Brahms: Intermezzo Op116 No6 (Kapell, RCA) Sold for $4 on Oct 10, 2004
Chopin: 4 Ballades, Mazurka Op17 No4; Schumann: Symphonic Etudes; Ravel: Sonatine in F sharp; Faure: Prelude Op103 No5, Impromptu Op102; De Severac: Etude No.5 (Casadesus, Pearl)
Tchaikovsky: Cto #1 (Gilels/Ancerl)< Schumann:: Piano Cto (Jan Panenka/Ancerl) (Praga)
A Porcupine Tree sampler
Jul 8, 2002 (16 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Claude Frank, Music & Arts 10CDs) In general he's quite musical, but often
needlessly violent. Certainly one of the better sets.
Beethoven: 9 symphonies (Abbado/Berliner Phil, DG 1999/2000 5CDs)
Chopin: 27 Etudes (Berezovsky, Teldec Apex)
Jun 29, 2002 (5 CDs)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales (Pogorelich, DG) Unbearable
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 (Pogorelich/Abbado, DG)
Scarlatti: 15 Sonatas (Pogorelich, DG)
Rachmaninoff: Sonata No.2, 3 Preludes Op.23, 3 Preludes Op.32, Moment musical Op.16 No.5, Daisies Op.38 No.3 (John Browning, Delos)
Ravel: Miroirs, Gaspard De La Nuit (Nojima, Reference Recordings)
Jun 25, 2002 (2 CDs)
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3 (Raytchev/Plovdiv Phil Orch/Todorov, Music Minus One 2CDs)
Jun 21, 2002 (9 CDs)
Rossini: La Cenerentola (Bartoli etc./Chailly, London 2CDs)
"Luciano Pavarotti: Live Recital" with works by Bononcini, Beethoven, Scarlatti, Bellini, Puccini, Tosti, Donizetti, Cilea and Verdi (Decca) Way past his prime
"American Scenes": Gershwin: 3Preludes, Copland: Nocturne; Previn: Vineyard Sonata; Copland: Sonata (Shaham/Previn, DG)
Glass: Concerto; Rorem: Concerto; Bernstein: Serenade (Kremer/Dohnanyi or Bernstein, DG)
Verdi: Messa solenne; Qui tollis; Tantum ergo; Laudate pueri; Tantum ergo in G; Pater noster; Ave Maria; Libera me (Chailly, Decca)
"Conversations with Bill Evans" (Thibaudet, London) Sounds too classical
Paganini: Violin Concerto No.6, Sonata con Variazioni, Non piu mesta accanto al fuoco, Le streghe Op.8 (Accardo/Dutoit, DG)
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes (Berezovsky, Teldec) A revelation!
Jun 14, 2002 (1 CD)
"Swingin' the Blues Vol.1 (Wanna Dance Records)
Jun 12, 2002 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd cto; Tchaikovsky: Concert Fantasy for piano and orchestra Op56 (Valery Kuleshov/Yablonsky, Bel Air Music) Disappointing
Jun 11, 2002 (1 CD)
Debussy: Etudes (Uchida, Philips)
Jun 10, 2002 (12 CDs)
Bill Evans: "Conversations with Myself" (Verve)
Lester Young: "Lester Swings" (Verve)
Charlie Parker: "Big Band" (Verve)
Chucho Valdes: "Briyumba Palo Congo" (Blue Note)
Verdi: Rigoletto (Chernov/Studer/Pavarotti/Scandiuzzi/James Levine, DG 2CDs)
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress (Terfel/Bostridge/York/von Otter/Gardiner, DG 2CDs)
Bach/Busoni: Chaconne; Beethoven: Sonata 32; Chopin: 4 Scherzi; Rachmaninoff: Etude-tableau Op39 No5; Scriabin: Poeme Op32 No1; Scarlatti: Sonata K9; Moszkowski: Etude de virtuosite Op72 No6; Balakirev: Islamey (Pletnev, DG 2CDs)
Debussy: Images, etudes, etc. (Thibaudet, Decca 2CDs)
Jun 5, 2002 (6 CDs)
Liszt: Sonata in B minor; Beethoven: Sonatas 21 and 28 (Gilels 1966, AS Disc) Excellent!
"Virtuoso Music for Trumpet", including Waxman: Carman Fantasy; Brandt: Concert Piece No; Arban: Variations on a Tyrolean Song; Falla: Spanish Dance; Saint-Saens: Le Cygne; Arban: Norma Variations; Paganini: Caprice Op.1 No.17; Tchaikovsky: Valse-Scherzo; Faure: Le Reveil; Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen; Pagan; Moto perpetuo (Sergei Nakariakov/Alexander Markovich, Teldec) Hair-raising!
Mozart: Symphonies 29, 35, 38 (Beecham, BBC Legends)
Beethoven: Symphony 9 (Klemperer 15 Nov 1957, Testament) Good!
Sibelius: Symphonies 2, 5, and 7, Swanwhite Op.54, Tapiola Op.112 (Koussevitzky, Pearl 2CDs)
Jun 3, 2002 (2 CDs 1 DVD)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Concerto, 9 Preludes, Moment musical Op16 No3 (Grinberg, Denon)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Concerto; Stravinsky: 4 etudes for piano Op7; Glazunov: Piano Sonata Op.74 (Takahiro Sonoda/Mueller-Kray, Evica)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Concerto (Horowitz/Mehta, DG DVD) Entertaining!
May 21, 2002 (31 CDs)
Fats Waller and his Rhythm: The Middle Years Part 2 (RCA 3CDs)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.4: 12 Transcendental Etudes, etc. (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.5: Saint-Saens, Chopin and Berlioz transcriptions (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.10: Hexameron, Symphonie Fantastique, Un Portrait En Musique (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.37: Tanzmomente and other rare German and Austrian transcriptions (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.49: Schubert and Weber Transcriptions (Howard, Hyperion)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.50: Liszt at the Opera V, including Rossini's William Tell Overture (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.54: Liszt at the Opera VI, including Wagner's Tannhauser Overture (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.55: Grande Fantaisie sur La Clochette and other first thoughts and second drafts (Howard, Hyperion 3CDs)
Liszt Complete Piano Music Vol.56: Rarities, Curiosities, Album-Leaves and Fragments (Howard, Hyperion 4CDs)
Beethoven: complete string quartets (The Talich Quartet, Calliope 7CDs) Good!
Mozart: Fantasia in D minor, Sonata in G K283, Sonata in A K331 (Pogorelich, DG)
Mussorgsky: Pictures; Tchakovsky: The Seasons; Rachmaninoff: 5 solo pieces (Warenberg, Brilliant Classics 2CDs)
Schubert: Piano Sonatas D894 and D960 (Sokolov, Opus111 2CDs)
May 15, 2002 (4 CDs)
"Count Basie at Newport" (Verve) FanTAStic!
"Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Carmen McRae at Newport" (Verve) Addicting!
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie: "Bird and Diz" (Verve)
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie: "Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall" (Roost)
May 14, 2002 (2 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Concerto #3 (Cherkassky/Schwarz, 1957); Prokofiev: Concerto #2 (Cherkassky/Nagano 1991, BBC Music) Good Rach 3
Indigo Swing: "All Aboard!" (Time Bomb Recordings) Surpassed my expectations
May 8, 2002 (4 CDs)
Nat King Cole Trio: "Live at the Circle Room" (Capitol Jazz)
Chet Baker: "My Funny Valentine" (Pacific Jazz) Boring
Sarah Vaughan (Ken Burns Jazz on Verve)
Paganini: Violin Concerto No.1; Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto No.3 (Shaham/Sinopoli, DG)
May 3, 2002 (8 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3; Scriabin: 11 etudes (Lang Lang/Temirkanov, Telarc) Playing sounds random
Complete Liszt Vol.18: Fantasies, transcriptions and paraphrases upon incidental music by Liszt, Weber, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Lassen (Howard, Hyperion)
Complete Liszt Vol.51: "Paralipomenes", The original two-movement Dante Sonata, and other first thoughts and second drafts (Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Chausson: Poeme Op.25; Debussy: Sonata in G minor; Ravel: Tzigane, Piece en forme de habanera; R.Strauss: Sonata in E flat (Ginette Neveu, EMI)
Beethoven: Piano sonatas Nos.8, 14, 21, 23, 24, 28 (Hans Richter-Haaser, Philips 2CDs) Unique
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.5 and 8 (Karajan 1977, DG)
Apr 24, 2002 (3 CDs)
Alanis Morissette: "Under Rug Swept" (Maverick) Decent
Schumann: Piano Sonata 1; Scarlatti: 5 sonatas; Bach: Aria variata alla maniera i Tchaikovsky: 3 of Six morceaux; Prokofiev: Toccata Op.11 (Gilels, BBC Music)
Schubert: Sonatas D575, D625, D664, Moment musical in C (Richter, BBC Music)
Apr 16, 2002 (1 CD)
Shades of Brown: "Lines & Spaces" (Albatross Records)
Mar 30, 2002 (2 CDs)
Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze, Fantasie, Three pieces from Album for the Young (Hough, Virgin)
R. Strauss: Sinfonia Domestica, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite Op.60 (Clemens Krauss, Testament)
Mar 27, 2002 (20 CDs)
"Richter reDiscovered" - Haydn: Sonata Hob.XVI/50; Chopin: Scherzo 4, Ballade 3, Etudes Op.10 Nos.10 and 12; Prokofiev: Sonata 6, Visions fugitives; Ravel: Jeux d'eau, La Vallee des Cloches; Rachmaninoff: Preludes Op.23 No.1, Op.32 Nos.9, 10 and 12 (RCA 2CDs)
"Vengerov & Virtuosi" - Rachmaninoff: Vocalise; Ponce: Estrellita; Brahms: 3 Hungarian Dances; Novacek: Perpetuum Mobile; Dvorak: Humoreske; Tchaikovsky: Souvenir d'un lieu cher; Schubert: Ave Maria; Bazzini: La Ronde des Lutins; Khachaturian: Sabre Dance; Massenet: Meditation; Monti: Csardas (Vengerov and 11 violinists, EMI) Disappointing
Beethoven: Emperor Concerto (Brendel/Rattle, Philips) Sold in 2006
"RCA Red Seal Century - Soloists & Conductors" - with Bauer, Bream, Cliburn, Cortot, Elman, Feuermann, Fiedler, Gabrilowitsch, Galway, Glennie, Heifetz, Horowitz (playing Carmen Variations), Iturbi, Kapell, Kissin, Koussevitzky, Kreisler, Landowska, Levine, Lhevinne, Lockhart, Monteux, Much, Munch, Pachmann, Paderewski, Piatigorsky, Primrose, Rachmaninoff, Reiner, Rubinstein, Shaw, Slatkin, Stokowski, Stoltzman, Tilson Thomas, Toscanini and Wand (RCA 2CDs) A very different edition of Horowitz's Carmen Variations
Mozart: Requiem K 626 (Scherchen, DG Westminster)
"Brendel live in Salzburg" - Haydn Sonata Hob. XVI/50; Schubert: sonatas D784 and D840; Liszt: Liebestod (Philips)
Beethoven: Sonatas 7, 8 13, 14 (Solomon, Testament)
Marx and Korngold: piano concertos (Hamelin/Vanska, Hyperion)
Madonna: "Music" (Maverick/Warner Bros) Like it
Coleman Hawkins (Verve Ken Burns Jazz)
"Ella and Louis Again" (Verve)
"Carmen McRae's finest hour" (Verve)
"Nina Simone" (Verve Jazz Masters 17) Strange voice
Count Basie Encounters Oscar Peterson: "Satch and Josh" (Pablo)
"Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings 1941-1947" (Columbia/Legacy 2CDs)
"Bessie Smith - The Complete Recordings Vol.1" (Columbia/Legacy 2CDs)
Mar 20, 2002 (1 CD 1 DVD video)
Tchiakovsky: Piano Concerto #1; Grieg: Piano Concerto (Curzon/Solti and Fjeldstad, London)
"The Cliburn -- Playing on the Edge", with Olga Kern (with James Conlon) playing the Rach 3 (The Van Cliburn Foundation; DVD) Not bad
Mar 12, 2002 (45 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Annie Fischer, Hungaroton 9CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (1968), 5 concertos, Sonatas #23 and 24 (1973). (Gulda, Decca 12CDs)
"Sviatoslav Richter ΐ Prague": Beethoven sonatas 3, 7, 12, 17, 18, 23, 27, 28, 29, 31; Chopin: 4 ballades; Mussorgsky: Pictures; Schumann: Fantasy, Symphonic Etudes; Mozart: Sonatas K280, 282, 310, 333, 533, 545; etc. (Praga 15CDs) Good stuff
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 28 - 32 (Pommier, Erato 2CDs)
Complete Liszt Vol.13: Hungarian Rhapsodies 10 - 19 (Jando, Naxos)
Complete Liszt Vol.17: Schubert Song Transcriptions vol.2 (Valerie Tryon, Naxos)
"The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury Vol.7" (Mercury 3CDs)
Benny Goodman - Most Famous Hits (Surprise 2CDs) Big bargain
Feb 26, 2002 (1 CD)
"The Complete Atomic Basie" (Roulett) Good, but don't see why Lindy Hoppers LOVE it so much
Feb 22, 2002 (17 CDs)
Betty Roche: "Take the A Train" (Avenue Jazz)
Nat King Cole: "The King Swings" (Capitol)
Clarence Gatemouth Brown: "Gate Swings" (Verve)
Royal Crown Revue: "Mugzy's Move" (Warner Bros.)
Benny Carter: "All of Me" (BlueBird) Very good!
"The Bobby Darin Story - Mack the Knife" (Atco)
Bunny Berigan: "The Pied Piper (1934-40) (BlueBird) Excellent!
Artie Shaw: "Begin the Beguine" (BluBird) Awesome!
"The Best of Ray Charles" (Rhino)
"Rikarena" (J & N Records) Fun!
Juan Luis Guerra: "Ojala Que Llueva Cafe" (Karen Publishing Co.)
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana; Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Callas/Serafin, EMI 2CDs)
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons (Ashkenazy, Decca)
Chopin: 21 nocturnes (Pires, DG 2CDs)
"Reflections on Duke" (Thibaudet, Decca) Quite boring
Feb 19, 2002 (1 CD)
Elgar and Dvorak: Cello concertos (Casals with Boult and Szell, ADS Records)
Feb 16, 2002 (6 CDs)
Benny Carter: "These Foolish Things" (Tring)
Benny Carter and His Orchestra "1937-1939" (Jazz Portraits)
Mahler: Symphony No.2 (Sep 1950, Klemperer/Sydney Sym Orch, Doremi) Overrated
Bruckner: Sym #9; Haydn: Sym #94 (Knappertsbusch, Music & Arts)
Bruckner: Sym #8 (Knappertsbusch, Music & Arts)
Milstein: "The Last Recital" with works by Beethvoen (Kreutzer), Bach, Handel, Sarasate, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Paganini, Liszt (Milstein/Pludermacher, Teldec)
Jan 31, 2002 (3 CDs)
Fats Waller and His Rhythm: "The Middle Years Part 1 (19436-38)" (Bluebird 3CDs)
Jan 18, 2002 (3 CDs)
Dinah Washington: "Complete Recordings on Mercury Vol.1" (Verve 3CDs)
Jan 16, 2002 (57 CDs)
Duke Ellington: "Black, Brown and Beige" (Columbia) I don't get it...
"Ella Fitzgerald: The Early Years" (Decca Jazz 4CDs) Delightful!
The Glenn Miller Orchestra: "In the Digital Mood" (GRP Records)
Brahms: Piano Cto #1, Intermezzo Op.117 No.1, Intermezzo Op.116 No.2, Rhapsody Op.79 No.2 (Schnabel/Szell, Naxos) So so...
Brahms: Piano Cto #2; Schumann: Kinderszenen (Schnabel/Boult, Naxos) So so
• Tchaikovsky: Piano Cto #1 (Horowitz/Toscanii), Pathetique Symphony (Toscanini) (rec. April 19, 1941) (Naxos)
Beethoven: Symphony #9 (Oscar Fried, Naxos)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Ciccolini, Bongiovanni 10CDs)
Wagner: Ring (Bohm, Philips 14CDs)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, both versions (Karajan, Berman) (DG)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Cto #1 (Berman/Karajan), Violin Cto (Ferras/Karajan) (DG)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #1 - 10 (Pommier, Erato 3CDs)
Complete Beethoven Vol.2: 5 Piano Ctos (Pollini), Rondo for piano and orch WoO 6 (Richter/Sanderling), Romance cantabile for piano, flute and bassoon accompanied by two oboes and strings (Patrick Gallois/Pascal Gallois/Philharmonia/M-W Chung), Piano Cto in D Op.61 (Barenboim), Piano Cto WoO 4 (Eva Ander), Violin Cto (Mutter), Triple Cto (Mutter/Zeltser/Ma), Romances for Violin (Shaham), Violin Cto WoO 5 (Kremer) (DG 5CDs)
Complete Beethoven Vol.4: Leonore (Gardiner), Fidelio (Bernstein) (DG 4CDs)
Complete Beethoven Vol.16: Lieder (Fischer-Dieskau, etc.) (DG 3CDs)
Complete Beethoven Vol.20: Sym #3 (Schuricht), Sym #5 (Nikisch), Sym #7 (Fricsay), Sym #9 (Busch), Violin Cto (Josef Wolfsthal/Gurlitt), Piano Cto #3 (Annie Fischer/Fricsay), Piano Cto #5 (Kempff/Raabe), Overtures Coriolan, Egmont (Furtwangler), Leonore III (Klemperer), Leonore II (Busch), Rage Over a Lost Penny (Kempff), Violin Sonatas #5 (Schneiderhan/Kempff), and #9 (Kulenkampff/Kempff), five Lieder (Heinrich Schlusnus); Mozart: Piano Cto #20 (Richter/Wislocki) (DG 6CDs)
Jan 7, 2002 (7 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Cto 3 for two pianos; cello sonata arranged for two pianos (Jeffrey Reid Baker, JRB Records)
Sibelius: Kullervo (Symphonic Poem with soprano and baritone) (Panula, Naxos)
Fats Waller and His Rhythm: "Fractious Fingering/The Early Years, Part 3 (1936)" (RCA 2CDs) Good!
Lester Young: "The Kansas City Sessions" (Commodore)
Bob Wilber and Friends: "What Swing is all about..." (Nagel Heyer Records)
Bombay Jim & The Swinging Sapphires: "Keep Honkin'" (Q&W Music Group)
Dec 14, 2001 (1CD)
City Rhythm Orchestra: "Goin' To Town" (Limehouse)
Nov 26, 2001 (2 CDs)
Squirrel Nut Zippers: "The Inevitable" (Mammoth)
Squirrel Nut Zippers: "Hot" (Mammoth)
Nov 23, 2001 (4 CDs)
Beethoven: Symphonies #1 and 3 (Furtwangler, EMI)
Beethoven: Symphonies #2 and 4 (Furtwangler, EMI)
Beethoven: Symphonies #6 and 8 (Furtwangler, EMI)
Bloch: Concerto Grosso Nos.1 and 2, Schelomo Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orch (Hanson, Mercury)
Nov 21, 2001 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 (Gieseking/Barbirolli 1939); Franck: Symphonic Variations; Debussy: Fantasie for piano and orch (Gieseking/Mengelberg) (Music & Arts)
Nov 20, 2001 (5 CDs)
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: "Live in Swing City - Swingin' with Duke" (Columbia)
Stray Cats: "Runaway Boys: A retrospective '81 - '92" (EMI Records)
Frank Sinatra: "Songs for Swingin' Lovers!" (Capitol)
Marc Anthony: "Contra La Corriente" (RMM Records)
Domingo Quinones: "Poeta & Gurrero" (RMM Records)
Nov 19, 2001 (11 CDs)
"The Best of Louis Jordan" (MCA) Superb!
"Roy Eldridge with the Gene Krupa Orchestra Featuring Anita O'Day - Uptown" (Columbia)
"Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive" (A & M Records)
Jan and Dean: "Surf City" (EMI-USA)
Earl Hines: "Piano Man!" (ASV)
Frank Sinatra: "Come Dance With ME!" (Capitol)
Natalie Cole: "Unforgettable with Love" (Elektra)
"Walter Gieseking at RIAS" - Mozart: 6 Variations K 137, Sonata K 545, 9 Variations K 264; Mendelssohn: 4 Songs without Words; Beethoven: Sonata Op.31 No.2, 4th Cto; Debussy: 15 Preludes; Ravel: Sonatina, Gaspard de la nuit; Schubert: Impromptus Op.90 No.4 and Op.142 No.3; Schumann: Excerpts from Album for the Young; Brahms: Op.76 Nos.1 - 8; Scriabin: 24 Preludes Op.11 (Music & Arts, 4CDs)
Nov 16, 2001 (6 CDs)
Chucho Valdes: "solo - Live in New York" (Blue Note)
Cab Calloway: "Are You Hep to the Jive?" (Columbia)
"Night Train: The Oscar Peterson Trio" (Verve)
Beethoven: sym #9 (Monteux, DG Westminster)
Bartok: Herzog Blaubarts Burg, Cantata profana (Fricsay, DG Originals)
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Shaham/Meyer/Wang/Chung, DG)
Nov 7, 2001 (6 CDs)
The Elliott Swing Orchestra: "Swingin' the Century" (Wayland)
"Indigo Swing" (Welt & Placket) Justly popular
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: "This Beautiful Life" (Interscope Records) Almost as good as their first album
"Charlie Christian--The Genius of the Electric Guitar" (Columbia Jazz)
Nat King Cole Trio: "Hit That Jive, Jack" (Decca Jazz)
"The Mambo Kings" (Elektra) Good!
Nov 2, 2001 (4 CDs)
Count Basie and His Orchestra: "I Told You So" (Pablo)
"Cootie Williams in Hi-Fi" (RCA Victor)
"Chet Baker & Strings" (Columbia)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #8 to 11 (Kovacevich, EMI) Sold for $5 on Jun 13, 2005
Oct 24, 2001 (24 CDs)
The Brian Setzer Orchestra: "Vavoom!" (Interscope)
Indigo Swing: "Red Light!" (Time Bomb)
Jet Set Six: "Livin' it up" (Mutiny Records)
Squirrel Nut Zippers: "Perennial Favorites" (Mammoth Recording Co.)
Squirrel Nut Zippers: "Sold Out" (Mammoth Recording Co.)
Royal Crown Revue: "The Contender" (Warner Bros)
Oct 22, 2001 (1 CD)
"Basie in London" (Verve) Excellent!
Oct 3, 2001 (1 CD)
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3, Paganini Rhapsody (Nakamatsu/Seaman, Harmonia Mundi) Pretty good
Sep 5, 2001 (14 CDs)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Cto #1 (Tarasov/Tchivzhel); Rachmaninoff: Piano Cto #3 (Cominati/Tchivzhel); Prokofiev: Piano Cto #2 (Takao/Tchivzhek); Bartok: Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs (Stephen Ham); Ginastera: Piano Sonata #1 (Takao); Vine: Piano Sonata (Tarasov) (ABC Classics, 2CDs)
Mozart: Piano Cto #21 (Vera Kameneva/Hogwood); Liszt: Paganini Etudes (Marina Kolomiitseva); Rachmaninoff: Paganini Rhapsody (Uehara/Tchivzhel), Piano Cto #3 (Ukhanov/Tchivzhel); Tchaikovsky: Piano Cto #1 (Kolomiitseva/Tchivzhel) (ABC Classics, 2CDs)
Beethoven: 32 Piano Sonatas (Gerard Willems on a Sutart & Sons piano, ABC Classics 9 CDs)
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas #8 and 9 (Nikolai Petrov, Melodiya)
Aug 28, 2001 (8 CDs)
Miles Davis "The Complete Birth of the Cool" (Capitol Jazz)
The Andrews Sisters "Apple Blossom Time" (ASV Living Era)
"Ella & Duke at the Cote D'Azur" (Verve 2CDs)
Duke Ellington "The Blanton-Webster Band" (RCA 3CDs)
Beethoven: Sym #5; Sibelius: Sym #2 (George Szell, Philips)
Aug 22, 2001 (8 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto; Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Cto in C sharp minor Op.30 (Tamara Orlovsky, Musique De La Ferme Normandie Concert Series)
Beethoven: 5 Piano Ctos, Sonatas #14, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28, 31, 32, Variations WoO 80 (Arrau 1947 to 1960, EMI 5 CDs)
Beethoven: Sonatas #18 and 11 (Arrau 1988, Philips)
Brahms: Piano Cto #2 (Weisenberg/Peter Maag), Schicksalslied Op.54 (Walter) (Fonit Cetra)
Aug 21, 2001 (12 CDs)
"The Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium 1951 - 2001", with the following recordings: Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto (Moguilevsky/Sternefeld); Liszt: 1st Cto (Ashkenazy); Mussorgsky: Pictures (Ekaterina Novitskaja); Tchaikovsky: Violin Cto (Vadim Repin): Sibelius: Violin Cto (Miriam Fried); Brahms: 1st Cto (Leon Fleisher); Marcel Poot: Piano Cto (Malcolm Frager); Schubert: Sonata D664 (Valery Afanassiev); Plus recordings by Kogan, Senofsky, Sitkovetsky, Jaime Laredo, Castleman, Lazar Berman, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Michlin, Hirshhorn, Kremer, Zazofsky, Andre De Groote, Yuri Egorov, Uchida, Abdel-Rahman El-Bacha, Nikolsky, Volckaert, Bezverkhny, Faerman, Volondat, Schmidt, Nai Yuan Hu, Yayoi Toda, Nikolaj Znaider, Daniel Blumenthal. Braley, Markus Groh, Vitaly Samoshko, Ghindin, Winska, Felix, Salters, Stefanescu, Matos, Pasichnyk, Brenciu, and Lemieux.
Aug 20, 2001 (23 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto, Paganini Rhapsody (Pennario, Seraphim Classics)
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #3, 14, 21, Eroica Variations (David Bar-Illan, Audiofon)
Chopin: Ballade #4, Weber: 2nd Sonata; Liszt: En Reve, Dante Sonata; Mussorgsky: Pictures (David Bar-Illan, Audiofon)
Tchaikovsky: 2nd Cto; Liszt: 1st Cto; Moszkowski: Etude Op.72 No.1; Chopin: Etudes Op.10 Nos.5 and 12, Op.25 Nos.1, 2, 6, 9, 11 and 12; Bernstein: Age of Anxiety; Ben-Haim: Toccata Op.34 (David Bar-Illan, Audiofon)
Liszt: Hungariand Rhapsodies 1 - 16, 19, Les Annees de pelerinage (Cziffra, EMI 4CDs)
Chopin: 51 Mazurkas (Yakoff Fliere, Dante 2CDs)
Tchaikovsky: Violin Cto; Shostakovich: Violin Cto #1 (Oleg Kagan, Live Classics)
Prokofiev: Sonata #2; Scriabin: Three Etudes Op.65, Sonatas #7 and 9, Vers la flamme, Preludes Op.9 No.1 and Op.15 No.2 (Igor Zhukov, Live Classics)
Beethoven: Andante favori WoO 57; Schubert: Moment Musical Op.94 No.3, Impromptu Op.142 No.3, Sonata Op. 143; Prokofiev: Sonata #9 (Igor Zhukov, Live Classics)
Haydn: Sonata in D, Hob.XVI:24; Schubert: Sonata in A minor Op.143; Chopin: Polonaise Fantasy; Prokofiev: Sonata #8 (Steven De Groote, VAI)
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder; Symphony #9 (Horenstein, VoxBox 2CDs)
Brahms: Piano Cto #1, 6 Piano Pieces Op.118 (Donohoe, EMI)
Ravel: Solo piano works (Monique Haas, Erato 2CDs)
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, Sonatine, Valses nobles et sentimentales, La Valse (Berezovsky, Teldec)
Ravel: Violin Sonata; Medtner: Violin Sonata #3 (Vadim Repin/Berezovsky, Erato)
Chopin: Fantaisie Op.49, Ballade Op.52, Waltz Op.64 No.2, Scherzo Op.54, Polonaise Op.53, 3 Mazurkas Op.50, Nocturnes Op.27 No.2 and Op.62 No.2 (Lugansky, Vanguard)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Cto #1; Rachmaninov: Piano Cto #2 (Ohlsson/Marriner, Hanssler Classic)
Aug 13, 2001 (8 CDs)
Ives: The nanswered Question; Cage: Five, Four; Boulez: Cummings ist der Dichter; Feldman: Coptic Light; Varese: Ionisation; Webern: Fuenf Orchesterstucke Op.10; Varese: Ionisation Repetition; Mahler: Totenfeier;
Kurtag: ...quasi una fantasia...; Bartok: Der wunderbare Mandarin Op.19 symphonic suite; Ravel: Une barque sur l'ocean; Fuerrer: Chiaroscuro; Maderna: concerto for oboe and orchestra No.3; Debussy: Images; Messiaen: Chronochromie; Lachenmann: Air; Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps; Huber: Lamentationes de fine vicesimi saeculi; Kagel: Etudes I to III; Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz; Carter: Three Occasions; Holliger: Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl; Schoenberg: Vier Lider fuer Gesang und Orchester Op.22; Berg: Drei Orchesterstuecke Op6; Zender: Kalligraphie I; Rihm: In-Schrift; Hartmann: Adagio from Sinfonie Nr.2; Zimmermann: Musique pour les soupers du Roi Ubu; Schnittke: Trio-Sonate; Ligeti: Ramifications; Shostakovich: Chamber Symhphony Op.110a (SWR, 8CDs)
Aug 10, 2001 (1 CD)
"Music That Moves You", with songs by Jann Arden, Laura Nyro, Michelle Willson, etc. (Rounder Records) Discarded on 9 May 2006
Aug 8, 2001 (2 CDs)
Schumann: Fantasiestuecke; Ravel: Sonatine, Gaspard de la nuit (Argerich, EMI)
"Big Bad Voodoo Daddy" (Coolsville Records)
Aug 6, 2001 (1 CD)
Rach 2 and 3 (Wibi Soerjadi/Miguel Gomez Martinez, Philips)
Aug 5, 2001 (1 CD)
Tchaikovsky and Brahms: Violin Ctos (Morini/Rodzinski, DG Westminster) Sold for $4 on May 5, 2009
Aug 2, 2001 (1 CD)
A sampler from ADS Recordings with historic recordings by Casals, Rubinstein, Menuhin and Schnabel (ADS)
Jul 25, 2001 (22 CDs)
Grieg: Olav Trygvason, Bergliot, Sorgemarsj til minne om Rikard Nordraak (Ole Kristian Ruud, Virgin Classics)
Complete Liszt Vol. 53a: Concerto #1, Totentanz, Grande fantaisiesymphonique, Malediction, Grand Solo de concert, C M von Webers Polonaise brillante, Fantasie uber Motive aus Beethovens Ruinen von Athen (Leslie
Howard, Hyperion 2CDs)
Complete Liszt Vol.53b: Concerto #2, De profundis, Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie, Concerto pathetique, Weber's Konzertstueck, Totentanz, Fantasie uber ungarische Volksmelodien, Sophie Menter's Ungarische Zigeunerweisen
(Leslie Howard, Hyperion 3CDs)
Scarlatti: 4 Sonatas (Carlo Grante); Haydn: Sonata Op.58 (Ponti); Beethoven/Liszt: Symphony 5 mvt 1 (Joseph Villa); Mendelsohn: 4 Songs
Without Words (Paik); Chopin: 4 Mazurkas (Villa); Liszt: Feux follets (Ponti)....etc. (Dante 3CDs)
Liszt: 6 Paganini Etudes; Brahms: Paganini Variations (Ponti, Meridian)
Bruch: Scottish Fantasie; Beethoven: Violin Cto (Campoli, Beulah)
Prokofiev: Classical Symphony; Rachmaninov: Cto #2; Chopin: Valse in A flat; Prokofiev: March from "Love for Three Oranges"; De Falla: Ritual
Fire Dance (Rubinstein/Koussevitzky, Rockport Records)
Beethoven: Emperor Cto (with Cor de Groot); Bruch: Violin Cto (with Guila Bustabo); Chopin: 2nd Cto (with Theo van der Pas); Tchaikovsky: symphony #5; Bartok: Violin Cto #2 (with Zoltan Szekely); Wagner: Tannhauser
Overture; Debussy: Fantaisie (with Walter Gieseking); Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite #1; Bloch: Violin Cto (with Joseph Szigeti); R. Strauss: Tod und Verklarung; Beethoven: symphony #9; Mahler: Symphony #4.....etc. (Willem Mengelberg/Concertgebouw Orch, Q Disc 10 CDs)
Jul 23, 2001 (1 CD)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto (Mona Golabek/American Youth Orchestra/Mehli Mehta, Romantic Hours Music)
Jul 22, 2001 (5 CDs)
Puccini: La Boheme (Toscanini Collection Vol.55, RCA 2CDs)
Brahms: A German Requiem (Toscanini/NBC, Naxos Historical)
Liszt: Capriccio alla Turca, Sechs Lieder von Goethe, An die ferne Geliebte (Yung Wook Yoo, Complete Piano Music Vol.16 Naxos)
Brahms: Piano Cto #1 (Ashkenazy/Haitink, Decca)
Jul 20, 2001 (12 CDs)
Chopin: Fantasy, Etudes Op.10 No.5, Op.25 Nos.6 and 7, Sonata #3, Impromptu Op.29, etc. (Pletnev, DG)
Haydn: Piano sonatas 33, 60 and 62, Variations Hob XVII:6 (Pletnev, Virgin)
Schoenberg: Piano Cto, Chamber Symphonies #1 and 2 (Brendel/Gielen, Philips)
R.Strauss and Christopher Headington: Violin Ctos (Xue-wei/Jane Glover, ASV)
Mozart: Piano Cto 20 (Argerich), 19 (Rabinovitch) and 10
(Argerich/Rabinovitch) (Teldec)
Brahms and Schumann: Violin Ctos (Joshua Bell/Dohnanyi, London)
Ligeti: String Quartets 1 and 2, duets (Arditti String Quartet, Sony)
Beethoven: Emperor Cto, 32 Variations WoO 80 (Uchida/Sanderling, Philips)
Mahler: Symphony #2 (Klemperer, EMI)
String trios by Henji Bunch, Astor Piazzolla, Leonard Bernstein, Eric Eqazen, Michael Numan, David Bowie/Pat Metheny (Ahn Trio, EMI)
Beethoven: Sym 1 and 2 (Karajan Gold on DG)
Mozart: Piano Ctos 23 and 24 (Goode, Nonesuch)
Jul 19, 2001 (6 CDs)
Schubert: 8 impromptus (Perahia, Sony)
Shostakovich: Trio for piano, violin and cello #2; Tchaikovsky: Trio for piano, violin and cell Op.50 (Argerich, Kremer, Maisky, DG)
Chopin: Sonata Op.58, Mazurkas Op.59, Nocturne Op.15 No.1, Scherzo Op.39, Polonaise #6 (Argerich, EMI)
Goldmark: Violin Cto, Overture from "Prometheus Bound" (Sarah Chang/James Conlon, EMI)
Mozart: Rondo K511, Sonatas K330, 331 and 570 (Brendel, Philips)
Schumann: Piano Sonata #1, Fantasy Op.17 (Andsnes, EMI)
Jul 16, 2001 (15 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 3rd Cto, Etude-Tableau Op.39 No.8, Prelude Op.23 Nos.4, 2 and 6 (Eugen Kelder, Estonian Radio)
Liszt: Liebestraum 3, Gnomenreigen, Un sospiro, Funerailles, La campanella, Waldesrauschen, Grand Galop chromatique, Rhapsodie espagnole,
Tannhauser Overture (Bolet "Rediscovered Liszt", RCA)
Bach: English Suites 1, 3, 6 (Perahia, Sony)
Bach: Goldberg Variations (Perahia, Sony)
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 5, 8 and 9 (Szeryng/Rubinstein, RCA)
Prokofiev: Piano Ctos 1 and 3; Bartok: Piano Cto 3 (Argerich/Dutoit, EMI)
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations (Pollini, DG)
Verdi: Stabat Mater, Te Deum, and other sacred pieces (Myung-Whun Chun, DG)
Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol)
Radiohead: The Bends (Capitol)
Ken Burns Jazz: Fletcher Henderson (Columbia)
Diana Krall "All for You" (Impulse)
Quincy Jones "Big Band Bossa Nova" (Verve)
Diana Krall "When I Look in Your Eyes" (Verve)
Woody Herman "The Thundering Herds 1945-1947" (Columbia)
Jul 16, 2001 (3 CDs)
Beethoven: piano sonatas #10, 28, 19, 20, 13, 29, 22, 24, 27 and 30 (Michael Levinas, Ades 3CDs)
Jul 10, 2001 (4 CDs)
Karl Amadeus Hartmann: 8 symphonies (Rieger, Leitner, Kubelik and Macal, on Wergo 4CDs)
Jul 5, 2001 (7 CDs)
Chopin: 4 Scherzos, Fantaisie; Liszt: feux follets, Sonnet 104, La Campanella, Reve d'amour, Polonaise 2, Mephisto Waltz, Appassionata,
Consolation 3, Funerailles; Berlioz-Liszt: Symphonie FanTAStique; Dukas: Sonata; Saint-Saens: Waltz Etude, 6 Etudes Op.111, Allegro appassionato,
Mazurka Op.66 (Francois-Rene Duchable, EMI 3CDs)
Liszt: Les Annees de pelerinage (Ciccolini, EMI 2CDs)
Cherubini: Masses (Muti, EMI 2CDs) Sold for $5 on May 5, 2009
Jul 3, 2001 (11 CDs)
Chopin: Ctos, Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise; Schumann: Toccata, Papillons, Sym Ets, Carnaval, Kinderszenen, Cto; Liszt: Ctos; Prokofiev:
3rd and 5th Ctos, Sonata #7, Toccata Op.11; Hindemith: Les Quatre Temperaments; Francois: Cto; Franck: piano Quintet; Faure: Piano Quartet; Bach/Busoni: four works; Mendelssohn: Andante et rondo capriccioso, Three Romances; Mozart: Variations sur "Ah!vous dira-je Maman", Sonata K282; Scriabin: 3rd Sonata; Prokofiev: Visions fugitives; Bartok: 2 Elegies; Faure: 3 nocturnes, 2 impromptus (Samson Francois, EMI 8CDs)
Tchaikovsky: Serenade; Elgar: Introduction and Allegro; Barber: Adagio for Strings, Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance (Charles Munch, RCA)
Bach: Piano ctos #4 and 2, Brandenburg Cto #5 (Joao Carlos Martins, Concord Concerto)
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky, Lieutenant Kije Suite; Glinka: Russlan and Ludmila Overture (Reiner, RCA)
Jul 1, 2001 (15 CDs)
Isaac Stern "A Life in Music" Vol.4: Bartok: 2 sonatas; Webern: Four Pieces for Violin and Piano; Prokofiev: two sonatas; Hindemith: Sonata; Bloch: Sonata, Baal shem; Copland: Sonata (with Copland at the piano);
Franck: Sonata; Debussy: Sonata; Enesco: Sonata No.3; Brahms: three sonatas; Schubert: four sonatas, Fantasy, Fondo; Haydn: Concerto #1; Beethoven: 10 sonatas; CPE Bach: Sonata; JS Bach: two Sonatas; Handel: Sonata Op.1 No.3; Tartini: Sonata in G minor; "Encore" pieces by Bloch, DeFalla, Dinicu, Dvorak, Gluck, Kreisler, Leclair, Milhaud, Mozart, Novacek, Prokofiev, Pugnani, Sarasate, Schumann, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Tchaikovsky (Sony 12CDs)
Haydn: Piano Sonatas #53 - 56 and 58, Variations (Un Piccolo Divertimento) in F minor, Hob. XVII:6 (Jando, Naxos)
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies #4 - 6 (Klemperer, EMI 2CDs)
Jun 30, 2001 (5 CDs)
Bach: Complete Violin Sonatas (Grumiaux/Jaccottet/Mermoud, Philips 2CDs)
Mahler: Symphony #5 (Barbirolli, EMI)
Mahler: Symphony #6; R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (Barbirolli, EMI 2CDs)
Jun 29, 2001 (7 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos #1 and 3 (Kai Adomeit/Peter Luecker, Bayer Records)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos #2 and 4 (Kai Adomeit/Peter Luecker, Bayer Records)
Rachmaninoff: Die Toteninsel Op.29, Symphonic Dance Op.45 (Peter Luecker, Bayer Records)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony #1 (Peter Luecker, Bayer Records)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2 (Peter Luecker, Bayer Records)
Rachmaninoff: Symphony #3 (Peter Luecker, Bayer Records)
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms; William Schuman: Carols of Death; Copland: In the Beginning; Libby Larsen: How it thrills us; Ives: Psalm 90 (Stephen Cleobury, EMI)
Jun 26, 2001 (75 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 4 Ctos, Chopin Variations, Paganini Rhapsody, Four Piano Pieces (Pisarev, Mishtchuk and Dimitriev, with Samuel Friedmann
conducting; Arte Nova 3 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 4 Ctos, Paganini Variations (Kun-woo Paik/Fedoseyev, RCA 3CDs)
Rachmaninoff: Ctos 2 and 3 (Biret/Antoni Wit, Naxos)
Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev: 3rd Ctos (PontiHeribert Beissel, Dante)
Beethoven: 32 sonatas (Friedrich Gulda, Amadeo 9CDs) Sold for $45 on Mar 20, 2002
Beethoven: 32 sonatas (Backhaus, Decca 8CDs)
Chopin: 24 etudes and Ballades 1 and 3 (Gavrilov, EMI)
Schumann: Davidsbuendlertaenze, Fantasie in C (Backhaus, Piano Library)
Thalberg: Fantasies on operas by Bellini (Nicolosi, Naxos)
Tippett: 4 symphonies, Suite from "New Year" (Hickox, Chandos 3CDs)
Works by Balakirev, Titov, Liszt, Rubinstein, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Liadov, Glazunov, Arensky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff (Yelena Bekman-Shcherbina, BMG Melodiya)
Corigliano: Tournaments, Fantasia on an Ostinato, Elegy, Piano Cto (Douglas/Slatkin, RCA)
Rubinstein: Piano Cto #5, Caprice russe (Banowetz/Stankovsky, Marco Polo)
Rachmaninoff; 2nd cto and sonata (Sultanov/Maxim Shostakovich, Teldec)
"The Piano Masters", with recordings by Arrau, Backhaus, Bauer, Casadesus, Cortot, Gieseking, Gilels, Haskil, Horowitz, Kempff, Landowska,
Michelangeli, Ney, Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Schnabel, Serkin, etc.
(History 40CDs)
Jun 21, 2001 (4 CDs)
Ponchielli: Elegia; Catalani: Scherzo, Contemplazione; Puccini: Preludio sinfonico in A, Le Villi -- Intermezzo, Capriccio sinfonico (Muti, Sony)
Tan Dun: Symphony 1997 (Yo-yo Ma etc., Sony)
Gorecki: Totus Tuus; Part: Magnificat; Martin: Mass; Barber: Agnus Dei with soprano; Schoenberg: Friede auf Erdn (Robert Shaw, Telarc)
Britten: Humn to St. Cecilia; Debussy: Trois chansons; Ravel: Trois chansons; Poulenc: Un soir de neige; Badings: Trois chansons bretonnes;
Argento: I Hate and I Love (Shaw, Telarc)
Jun 17, 2001 (1 CD)
Chopin: Sonata #2, 4 Ballades (Gavrilov, DG)
Jun 12, 2001 (32 CDs)
Glenn Miller "The Ultimate Collection" (Prism Leisure)
Glenn Miller "More Miller Magic" (Classic Jazz)
"Dizzy Gillespie and his quintet" Olympia 24 Nov 1965 (RTE)
"Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" Olympia 13 May 1961 (RTE 2CDs)
Count Basie: "The Complete Decca Recordings" (Decca Jazz 3CDs)
Grieg: Olav Trygvason, Landkjenning, Peer Gynt (LSO/Per Dreier, Unicorn-Kanchana)
Weber: Sonata #3; Brahms: four short pieces; Prokofiev: Sonata #6 (Richter, Ermitage)
Brahms: Intermezzo Op.118 NO.6, Rhapsody Op.79 No.2; Beethoven: Appassionata; Chopin: Nocturne Op.48 No.1, Ballade #3, 3 Mazurkas, Scherzo #3, Revolutionary Etude (Malcuzynski, Ermitage)
Bach: Adagio BWV 968, Capriccio in B flat, Aria and 10 Variations in the Italian Style, Chromatic Fantasy, Partita #2 (Tureck in 1995, Ermitage)
Mahler: Sym 5 (Sinopoli, DG)
Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible Op.116, Alexander Nevsky, Lieutenant Kizheh (Slatkin, VoxBos 2CDs)
Bruckner: 9 symphonies (Eugen Jochum and Georg-Ludwig Jochum, Tahra 9CDs)
Bach: L'offrande musicale; Beethoven: Sym 8 and 9; Schoenberg: Symphonie de chambre No.1; Krenek: Symphonie No.1; Bartok: Musique pour cordes, percussion et celesta; Kalinnikov: Sym 1; etc. (Scherchen, Tahra 5CDs)
Bach-Busoni: Prelude and Fuga BWV 532; Beethoven: Waldstein; Schumann: Carnaval; Chopin: Polonaises Op.26 No.2 and 53; Liszt: Valse-Impromptu (Cziffra, Ermitage)
Chopin: Sonata #3, Ballade #3, Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante, Fantasy in F minor, Polonaise-Fantaisie (Kempff, Ermitage)
Mendelssohn/Hutcheson: Scherzo from A midsummer NIght's Dream; Liszt: 6 Paganini Etudes; Debussy: two pieces; Brahms: Handel Variations (Tureck, VAI)
Jun 8, 2001 (14 CDs)
Benny Goodman: "The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert" (Columbia 2CDs)
Glenn Miller: "The Loszt Recordings" (RCA 2CDs)
Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: "The Great Summit Complete Sessions" (Roulette Jazz 2CDs)
Brahms: 2 piano ctos, Handel Var, Waltzes Op.39 (Fleisher, Sony 2CDs)
Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky: Violin Ctos; Beethoven: 2 Romances (David Oistrach, DG 2CDs)
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius; The Music Makers (Boult, EMI 2CDs)
Mahler: Sym 1 and 2, Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Walter, Sony 2CDs)
Jun 7, 2001 (12 CDs)
The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959 (Verve 10CDs)
Milt Jackson: "Sa Va Bella" (Qwest Records)
Sinatra and Basie: "It Might As Well Be Swing" (Reprise Records)
Jun 5, 2001 (13 CDs)
Rachmaninoff: 2nd Cto, Prelude Op.32 No.12, Etudes tableaux Op.33 Nos.1, 2, 9, Corelli Var (Helene Grimaud, Teldec)
Haydn: complete piano sonatas (McCabe, London 12CDs)
Jun 4, 2001 (9 CDs)
Liszt: Don Juan Fantasy, Rigoletto, Miserere, Aida, Boccanegra, Don Carlos, Tarantella, and William Tell Overture txns (Duchable, EMI)
Brahms: Rhapsodies Op.79, Handel Var, Intermezzi Op.117; Franck: Variations symphoniques; Liszt: 2nd Hung Rhap; Chopin: Waltz No.14;
Stravinsky: Danse russe from Petrouchka; Nat: Pour un petit moujik (Yves Nat, EMI 2CDs)
Bach: some txns of Bach by Liszt, Busoni and Hess; Mozart: 20th Cto; Beethoven: 30th and 31st Sonatas, Diabelli Variations (Yvonne Lefebure,
EMI 2CDs)
Ravel: Cto; Debussy: Fantaisie for piano and orch; Milhaud: Saudades do Brazil, Printemps; Poulenc: Cto for 2 pianos and orch, Napoli, Theme
varie, Improvisations, Les Soirees de Nazelles (Jacques Fevrier, EMI 2CDs)
Granados: Goyescas; Albeniz: Iberia (Aldo Ciccolini, EMI 2CDs)
Jun 1, 2001 (4 CDs)
Brahms: Piano Cto 1, Intermezzi Op.117 (Andsnes, EMI)
Schubert: Die Schoene Muellerin (Peter Schreier/Andras Schiff, London)
Schumann: Liederkreis Op.24, Dichterliebe Op.48, 7 Lieder (Ian Bostridge, EMI)
Arias by Charpentier, Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi, Bellini, Puccini, Bizet and Gounod (Hei-Kyung Hong, RCA) Sold?
May 31, 2001 (6 CDs)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Barenboim, Teldec 4CDs)
Camargo Guarnieri: 20 piano etudes (Frederick Moyer, Jupiter Recordings)
Haydn: string quartets Op.1 Nos.5 & 6, Op.2 Nos.1 & 2 (Kodaly QT, Naxos)
May ??, 2001 (4 CDs)
Schumann: piano works (Nat, EMI 4CDs)
May ??, 2001 (5 CDs)
Gounod: two symphonies, Faust Ballet Music (Marriner, Philips)
Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila (Colin Davis, Erato 2CDs)
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites (Dervaux, EMI 2CDs)
May 27, 2001 (9 CDs)
Herbie Hancock "Perfect Machine" (Columbia)
Haydn: Sonata in E; Rachmaninoff: Sonata No.2; Brahms: Op.118; Tchaikovsky: Dumka, Nocturne Op.19 No.4; Balakirev: Islamey (Lang Lang, Telarc)
Rachmaninoff: Piano Cto 2, Paganini Rhapsody (Jando, Naxos)
Paganini: 24 Caprices (Ricci 1959, Decca)
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Four Orchestral Etudes, Scherzo a la russe (Inbal, Teldec)
Humperdinck: Haensel und Gretel (Schwarzkopf/Karajan, EMI 2CDs)
Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances (Brendel+Walter Klien), 16 Waltzes (Walter and Beatriz Klien); Dvorak: 16 Slavonic Dances (Brendel+Walter Klien) (VoxBox 2CDs)
May 24, 2001 (1 CD)
Mahler: symphony #4 (BBC Scottish Sym Orch/Ion Marin, BBC Music) Sold on Jul 9, 2010
May 18, 2001 (1 CD)
Marco Rapetti plays waltzes by Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Balakirev, Glazunov, Scriabin, Stravinsky and Schoenberg (Dynamic)
May 13, 2001 (1 CD)
Jeff Jerolamon's "Swing Thing!" (Candid)
May 10, 2001 (8 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 piano sonatas (Nat, EMI 8CDs)
May 10, 2001 (2 CDs)
Eliane Elias: "The Three Americas" (Blue Note)
Milt Jackson: "The Prophet Speaks" (Qwest)
May 7, 2001 (50 CDs)
"Bill Haley and His Comets - From the original master tape" (MCA)
"The complete Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife" (Ella Fitzgerald, Verve)
"Count Basie and His Orchestra: April in Paris" (Verve)
"Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives" (Columbia)
"The Count meets the Duke" (Ellington and Basie, Columbia)
"Bix Beiderbecke Vol.1: Singin' the Blues" (Columbia)
"An Electrifying Evening With the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet" (Verve)
"Cannonball & Coltrane" (Emarcy)
Milt Jackson and John Coltrane: "Bags & Trane" (Atlantic Jazz)
John Coltrane: "My Favorite Things" (Rhino)
Weather Report: "Heavy Weather" (Columbia)
Miles Davis: "Kind of Blue" (Columbia)
• Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery: "Jimmy & Wes the Dynamic Duo" (Verve)
"Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" (Blue Note)
The Dave Brubeck Quartet: "Time Out" (Columbia)
Herbie Hancock: "Head Hunters" (Columbia)
Sonny Rollins: "Saxophone Colosus" (Prestige)
Chick Corea and Return to Forever: "Light as a Feather" (Polydor)
Sonny Stitt: "Endgame Brilliance" (32Jazz)
Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia: "Firday Night in San Francisco" (Columbia)
"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (Ruffhouse)
Pat Metheny Group: "Letter from Home" (Geffen)
"Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles" (Epic)
Bob Dylan: "Time out of Mind" (Columbia)
Celine Dion: "Falling Into You" (Sony)
"I am Shelby Lynne" (Island)
Eric Clapton: "Unplugged" (Reprise Records)
"Christina Aguilera" (RCA)
"When Harry Met Sally" soundtrack (Columbia)
Rachmaninov: Piano Cto 4, Corelli Var, Sonata 2 (Thibaudet, London)
Chopin: Polonaise 6, Ballade 1, Scherzo 2, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, etudes, preludes (Thibaudet, Decca)
Chausson: Sym in B flat, Poeme, Poeme de l'amour et de la mer (Dutoit, Decca)
Hindemith: Symphonia Serena, Symphonie "Die Harmonie der Welt" (Blomstedt, Decca)
Beethoven: Sym 3 and 5 (Erich Kleiber, Decca)
Mahler: Sym 7 (Boulez, DG)
Mahler: Sym 6 (Boulez, DG)
Mahler: Sym 4 (Boulez, DG)
Bazzini: La ronde des lutins; Sarasate: Faust Concert Fantasy; Paganini: Caprice 13; etc. (Shaham, DG)
Honegger: Sym 2 and 3; Stravinsky: Cto in D for String Orch (Karajan, DG)
Mahler: Sym 5 (Karajan, DG)
David and Igor Oistrach play works by Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Benda, Wieniawski, and Sarasate (DG)
Smetana: Ma Vlast (Kubelik, Mercury)
Barber: Violin Cto; Meyer: Violin Cto (Hahn, Sony)
Tchaikovsky: Sym 5 (Celibidache, EMI)
Tchaikovsky: Sym 6 (Celibidache, EMI)
Dvorak: Piano Cto in G minor; Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy (Richter, EMI)
"A Window in Time", player piano recordings by Rachmaninov of his own works (Telarc)
"A Window in time", player piano recordings by Rachmaninov of other composers' works (Telarc)
Britten: Young Appollo, Double Cto, Two Portraits, Sinfonietta (Nagano, Erato)
Saint-Saens: The Complete Etudes (Piers Lane, Hyperion)
May 6, 2001 (13 CDs)
Bizet: Carmen Suite 1, L'Arlesienne Suites, Au fond du temple saint, Patrie, Jeux d'enfants (Beecham, Dervaux, and Ozawa, on HMV Classics)
Ketelby: In a Persian Market, In a Monastery Garden, Chal Romano, In the Mystic Land of Egypt, The Clock and the Dresden Figures, Bells across the Meadows, In a Chinese Temple Garden, In the Moonlight, Sanctuary of the Heart; Coates: Cinderella Phantasy (HMV Classics)
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream; Sullivan: The Tempest Incidental Music (Tate, Dunn, on HMV Classics)
Coates: London Suite, By the Sleepy Lagoon, etc. (HMV Classics) Sold for $2 in Dec 2008
MacCunn: The Land of the Mountain and the Flood; Delius: Brigg Fair; Smyth: The Wreckers; Harty: With the Wild Geese; German: Welsh Rhapsody (HMV Classics) Sold?
"A Gilbert and Sullivan Gala" (HMV Classics)
Haydn: Trumpet Cto in E flat; Bach: Brandenburg Cto 2; Hummel: Trumpet Cto in E flat; Dinicu: Hora staccato; Rimsky-Korsakov: The Flight of the Bumble-Bee (Andre, HMV Classics)
Duke Ellington: Caravan, Sucrier Velours, The Mooche, Sultry Sunset, Minnihaha, Isfahan, Sonnet for Caesar, Star-crossed Lovers, In a Mellotone (HMV Classics)
Beethoven: Sym 9 (Sanderling, HMV Classics) Sold for $2 in Dec 2008
Grieg: Peer Gynt Incidental Music, Piano Cto (Beecham and Ousset/Marriner, HMV Classics)
Wagner: Tannhauser Act II (Kuenneke, recorded in 1909, Minerva)
Wagner: Parsifal Act III (Muck, recorded in 1928, Minerva)
Giorgio Gaslini: chamber music (La Bottega Discantica)
May 4, 2001 (1 CD)
Charlie Parker: "1949 Jazz at the Philharmonic" (Verve)
Apr 27, 2001 (10 CDs)
Beethoven: 32 sonatas (Russell Sherman, GM Recordings 10CDs)
Apr 20, 2001 (19 CDs)
Wagner: The Ring (Karajan, DG 14CDs)
"Violin for Anne Rice" including Sting's Moon Over Bourbon Street, Sadin's Crescent Moon (Leila's Dance) (Josefowicz, Philips)
Beethoven: Sym 9 (Drahos, Naxos)
Bach: Canatas BWV 59, 51, and Magnificat in D BWV 243 (Kurt Thomas, Berlin Classics) Sold for $2 on May 5, 2009
Beethoven: Violin Cto, Romances #1 and 2 (Grumiaux, Philips)
Liszt: Sonata in B minor, La Campanella, Valse oubliee, Sonetto 123, Feux follets, Harmonies du soir (Jeanne-Marie Darre, Vanguard)
Apr 16, 2001 (12 CDs)
Mahler: Complete symphonies (Bernstein, Sony 12CDs)
Apr 13, 2001 (10 CDs)
Michelangeli plays works by Albeniz, tomeoni, Galuppi, Chopin, Marescotti, Granados, Mompou, Beethoven, Grieg, Scarlatti, Mozart, Bach, Liszt, Vivaldi, Schumann, Haydn, and Debussy (Fonit Cetra 10CDs)
Apr 12, 2001 (1 CD)
Arthur Sullivan: Macbth Overture, Cello Cto, Te Deum (Charles Mackerras, BBC Music) Sold on Jul 9, 2010
Apr 6, 2001 (16 CDs)
Duke Ellington: "Piano Reflections" (Ellington, Capitol Jazz)
Weber: Invitation to the Dance; Strauss: On the Beautiful Blue Danube; Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite; Sibelius: Finlandia, etc. (Stokowski,
Biddulph)
Schubert: Impromptus, Sonatas D.845, 664, 960, Wanderer Fantasy (Lili Kraus, Vanguard 3CDs)
Bartok: Piano Ctos 1 and 2 (Pollini/Abbado, DG)
Brahms: Sym 2; Schumann: Sym 4 (Munch, Valois)
Andrew Imbrie: Requiem, Piano Cto 3 (Alan Feinberg/George Rothman, Bridge)
Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Muti, EMI 2CDs)
Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder (Kegel, Berlin Classics 2CDs)
Bartok: Piano music (Kraus, Vanguard)
"Le Chant Du Monde January-July 2000 New Releases" free sampler with works by Caplet, Chostakovitch, Faure, Russie, Zograbian and Kasparov (various artists, Le Chant Du Monde) Given away on 9 May 2006
"Harmonia Mundi January-June 2001 new releases" free sampler with works by C.P.E. Bach, J.S. Bach, Borodine, Chopin, Danzi, De Carella, Dvorak, Elgar, Foss, Liszt, Padovano, Purcell, Ravel, Rossini, Rovetta, Scarlatti, Stravinski, Tavener, Verdi (various artists, Harmonia Mundi) Given away on 9 May 2006
"Channel Classics Collection 4" free sampler with works by Bach, Rossini, Bruch, Ravel, Lebrun, Lawes, Rodrigo, Chopin, Telemann, Shostakovitch, Handel, etc. (various artists, Channel Classics) Given away on 9 May 2006
Apr 5, 2001 (1 CD)
"Introducing 'In Classical Mood'" free sampler (unknown artists) Given away on 9 May 2006
Mar 27, 2001 (22 CDs)
"Artie Shaw and His Orchestra" (Prism Leisure)
"Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra" (Prism Leisure)
"Cab Calloway and Orchestra" (Prism Leisure)
"Count Basie and His Orchestra" (RTE 2CDs)
"Duke Ellington and His Orchestra" (RTE 2CDs)
"Ella Fitzgerald--The Classic Decade 1935-1945" (Prism Leisure) Sold?
Reproducing piano recordings by Cortot and Horowitz (Fone)
Chopin: 14 waltzes, Nocturne Op.27 No.2, Berceuse (Cziffra, Decca) Sold for $1 on Jul 12, 2023
Rach 3 (with Malcuzynski), Beethoven 3rd sym, Haydn 88th and 94th sym, Tchaikovsky 5th sym, Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scherazade, Stravinsky's Petrouchka, Mussorgsky's Pictures, etc. (Rowicki, Lys 6CDs)
Rach 3 (with Mogilevski), Debussy's Iberia, Waxman's Carmen Fantasy (with Kogan), Shostakovich's violin ctos (Kogan and Oistrakh), Prokofiev's 3rd cto (with Gilels), Khatchaturian's Cto-Rhapsody (with Kogan), etc. (Kondrashin, Lys 6CDs)
Mar 19, 2001 (6 CDs)
"MTV Unplugged" (Alanis Morissette, Maverick)
Bartok: Sonata for Solo Violin; Kreisler: Recitativo and Scerzo-Caprice; Paganini: "Nei cor piu non mi sento"; Isawe: Sonata for solo violin Op.27 No.3 and No.4; Ernst: Erlkonig (Leila Josefowicz, Philips)
Prokofiev: Sonata Op.94a; Crumb: Four Nocturnes; Webern: Four Pieces Op.7; Respighi: Sonata (Mutter/Orkis, DG)
Waxman: Carmen Fantasie, Tristan and Isolde Fantasie, City Montage; Dvorak: Humoresque; Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee; Bach: Sonata in G minor-Presto; etc. (Salerno-Sonnenberg, Nonesuch)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Kremer/Abbado, DG)
Satie: solo piano works (Daniel Varsano and Philippe Entremont, Sony)
Mar 10, 2001 (1 CD)
Brahms: 1st cto (Gutierrez/Previn, Telarc)
Mar 3, 2001 (92 CDs)
Bach: complete organ works (Wolfgang Stockmeier, Art & Music 20CDs)
Beethoven: 9 symphonies, Missa solemnis, overtures, Die Geschoepfe des Prometheus, Violin Cto and Romances (Harnoncourt with Kremer, Teldec 10CDs)
Beethoven/Liszt: 9 symphonies (Katsaris, Teldec 6CDs)
Bruckner: 9 symphonies (Barenboim, Teldec 9CDs)
Beethoven: Sym 2 & 5 (Weller, Conifer)
Beethoven: Sym 6 & 8 (Weller, Conifer)
Beethoven: Sym 4 & 7 (Weller, Conifer)
Beethoven: Sym 1 & 3 (Weller, Conifer)
Beethoven: Sym 9 (Weller, Conifer)
"The Piano Concertos Collection", with complete piano ctos by Mozart (Derek Han), Liszt (Brendel), Mendelssohn (Derek Han), Tchaikovsky (Derek Han), Saint-Saens (Tacchino), Beethoven (Shoko Sugitani), Chopin (Giacometti), Grieg and Schumann (Seta Tanyel), Brahms (Karin Lechner), Rachmaninov (Prats and Lugansky), Ravel (Osorio and Cattarino), and Gershwin (Cattarino) (Brilliant Classics 25CDs) Sold in 2006
Chopin: 4 Ballades, 5 Mazurkas (Moravec, VAI)
Brahms: Piano Cto 2 (Moravec, Supraphon)
Britten: Piano Cto; Debussy: Fantaisie (Barry Douglas, RCA)
Schubert: Wanderer Fantaisie, 8 Impromptus (Kempff, DG)
Brahms: Piano Cto 2 (Ashkenazy/Haitink, London)
Glazunov: Complete Solo Piano Music Vol.4 (Stephen Coombs, Hyperion)
"The Great Danish Pianist" Victor Schioler plays Liszt, Saint-Saens, Grieg, Beethoven, Chopin, Godowsky, Friedman, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Sibelius, Brahms and Scarlatti (Danacord 2CDs)
Hovhaness: Magnificat (Pearson, Delos)
Solo piano works by Sauer, Delius, Gruenfeld, Chopin, Balakirev ,Godowsky and Medtner (Marshev, Lane, Vorraber, Fialkowska, Bloch and Hamelin, on Danacord)
"Demidenko Live at Wigmore Hall", with solo piano works by Vorisek, Haydn, Scarlatti, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Kalkbrenner, Beethoven/Liszt, Berg, Buxtehude/Prokofiev, Gubaidulina, Liszt and Schubert (Hyperion 2CDs)
Prokofiev: 9 sonatas, Etudes Op.2, Four Pieces Op.3, Four Pieces Op.4 (Gyorgy Sandor, VoxBox 3CDs)
"Glenn Miller and His Orchestra", with 22 pieces (Bluebird)
"Benny Goodman & His Orchestra", with 21 pieces (Prism Leisure)
Feb 28, 2001 (5 CDs)
Brahms: Cto 1; Franck: Symphonic Variations; Litolff: Scherzo (Curzon/Szell, Decca)
Scriabin: 24 Preludes Op.11, Sonatas 4 and 10, etc. (Pletnev, Virgin)
Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (Milstein, DG 2CDs)
Leila Josefowicz "Americana" (Philips)
Feb 23, 2001 (1 CD)
Chopin: First mvt of Sonata #2, 4 etudes, 3 mazurkas, scherzo 4; Liszt: Funerailles, Sonata (Horowitz, APR)
Feb 11, 2001 (9 CDs)
Bartok: Piano Cto 2; Liszt: Hungarian Fantasy for piano and orch, Tannhauser Overture (Cziffra, EMI) Sold for $1 on Jul 12, 2023
Brahms: Capriccio Op.76 No.1, Intermezzo Op.118 No.2, Rhapsodies Op.79, Intemezzi Op.117 (Pogorelich, DG)
Natalia Gavrilova plays Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Babadjanyan, Tso Chenhuan, De Falla, Strauss and Dohnanyi (Talents of Russia "Russian Piano School")
Vaughan Williams: Sym 9, Job (Andrew Davis, Teldec)
Bach: Six Preludes, English Suite 3, Three Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered, Sonata in D minor (Rosalyn Tureck, VAI). Recorded in 1948.
Brahms: Piano Cto 1, with rehearsal excerpts (Ogdon/Stokowski, Music and Arts)
Paganini: Violin Cto 4, Sonata Varsaria (Kremer/Muti, Philips)
Antonina Nezhdanova sings arias/songs by Mozart, Glinka, Chopin, Verdi, Grieg, Rachmaninov, Arensky, Goldmark, Alabieff, etc. (Pearl)
Ives: Sym 1, Three Places in New England, Robert Browning Overture (Ormandy and Stokowski, Sony Essential Classics)
Feb 8, 2001 (2 CDs)
Scriabin: Preludes Vol.1 (Evgeny Zarafiants, Naxos)
Scriabin: Preludes Vol.2 (Evgeny Zarafiants, Naxos)
Liszt: Annees de pelerinage Second Year, Deux Legendes, Venezia e Nappoli (Kempff, DG)
Feb 3, 2001 (2 CDs)
Reinhard Keiser: Croesus - excerpts (Rene Jacobs, Harmonia Mundi) Given away on 9 May 2006
August - December 2000 new releases (Harmonia Mundi) Given away on 9 May 2006
Feb 1, 2001 (3 CDs)
Beethoven: Op.53, 57, 90 (Barry Douglas, RCA)
Mendelssohn: Concertos for Two Pianos (Frith and Tinney, Naxos)
Rachmaninoff: Morceaux de Salon Op.10, Moments Musicaux Op.16 (Shelley, Hyperion)
Jan 28, 2001 (2 CDs)
Moussorgsky: Pictures; Rachmaninoff: 2nd Sonata; Hindemith: 1922 Suite for Piano Op.26 (Simone Pedroni, Philips)
Haydn: Sym 45 and 48 (Derek Solomons, CBS) Sold for $2 on May 5, 2009
Jan 25, 2001 (4 CDs)
Sarasate: Eight Spanish Dances, Carmen Fantasy, Serenata Andaluza, Introduction et tarantelle, Miramar (Rachel Barton/Samuel Sanders, Dorian)
Handel: Suites 2, 3, 5, Chaconne; Scarlatti: Sonatas K491, 27, 247, 29, 537, 206, 212 (Perahia, Sony)
Beethoven: Sym #9 "Ode to Freedom" (Bernstein on Dec 25 1989, DG)
Schnittke: The complete string Quartets (Kronos Quartet, Nonesuch 2CDs)
Jan 20, 2001 (1 CD)
Liszt: Third Year of Pilgrimage (Jando, Naxos)
Jan 19, 2001 (17 CDs)
Beethoven: 5 piano ctos (Rubinstein/Krips, RCA 3CDs). Recorded December 6-16, 1956.
Bolet plays Mendelssohn's Rondo capriccioso, Jagerlied; Chopin's Nocturne Op.15 No.2, Minute Waltz, Waltz in E minor, Nocturne Op.9 No.2, Etudes Op.25 Nos.1, 2, 11; Debussy's La Fille aux cheveux de lin; Schubert/Godowsky's Ballet music from Rosamunde; Albeniz/Godowsky's Tango;
Godowsky's Elegie for left hand; Richard Strauss/Godowsky's Staendchen; Bizet/Godowsky's Adagietto from L' Arlesienne; Moszkowski's En automne, La Jongleuse; Paul de Schloezer's Etude Op.1 No.2 (London)
Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty highlights (BBC Music) sold for $0.25 on 9 May 06 to Half Price Books
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg (Varviso, Philips 4CDs)
"Gilels in concert": Schumann's 4 Pieces Op.32, Arabeske Op.18; Chopin's Don Juan Variations, Nocturne Op.55 No.2 and Ballade Op.23; Debussy's Images; Ravel's Miroirs. (Music and Arts, rec. Dec 1963)
Bach: Sonatas for violin and harpsichord (Schneiderhan and Karl Richter, DG 2CDs)
Liszt: Legendes, 6 Consolations, Fantasia $ Fugue on B-A-C-H, Ballade No.2, Impromptu, Waltz (Zilberstein, DG)
Dvorak: Requiem Op.89; Kodaly: Psalmus hungaricus, Humn of Zrinyi (Kertesz, Decca 2CDs)
Mendelssohn: Paulus (Corboz, Erato 2CDs)
Jan 17, 2001 (4 CDs)
Massenet: Thais (Fleming, Decca 2CDs)
Saint-Saens: The three violin ctos (Philippe Graffin, Hyperion)
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales, the two piano ctos (Zimerman/Boulez, DG)
Jan 8, 2001 (211 CDs)
The Romantic Piano Cto Vol.4: Arensky and Bortkiewicz (Coombs, Hyperion)
The Romantic Piano Cto Vol.14: Litolff's 2nd and 4th Ctos (Donohoe, Hyperion)
The Romantic Piano Cto Vol.6: Dohnanyi's 1st and 2nd Ctos (Roscoe, Hyperion)
The Romantic Piano Cto Vol.9: D'Albert's 1st and 2nd Ctos (Lane, Hyperion)
Schubert: piano sonatas (Kempff, DG 7CDs)
Great Pianists of the 20th Century (various pianists, Philips 200CDs)
Jan 6, 2001 (5 CDs)
Haydn: Orfeo ed Euridice (Bonynge, Olympia 2CDs)
"Symphonic Latin" (Stratta/Royal Phil, Teldec 3CDs)
Last Update: November 28, 2024.