CD-Charts Position 171
Average Rating:

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: EMI Classics

Release Date September 12, 1991
Boult and RVW go way way back, of course, so he offers authoritative performances just about all the time. Here the Pastoral is the better performance, a lovely and sensitive reading of a very elusive work. The Fifth is a little slack, unfortunately, but if you can accept that it's still a warm and loving rendition.

CD-Charts Position 172
Average Rating:

Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Kronos Quartet

Release Date February 05, 2008
"This project by pipa player Wu Man and the untiringly eclectic string quartet Kronos continues a collaboration that began more than a decade ago, when they recorded Ghost Opera.."(The Guardian).
Once again the Kronos, the hippest string quartet on the planet, has teamed up with its favourite composer, Terry Riley, the man who brought '60s hippieness into classical music. The original minimalists are now old men.
Riley, turned 70 in 2005 and to mark the occasion the Kronos Quartet commissioned a new work from him.
In this six-movement "mid-summer rite", there's a prominent solo role for the jangling Chinese lute, or pipa, played by the wonderful Wu Man - who also sings Chinese lullabies - against the astringent, urgent ensemble sound ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 173
Average Rating:

Vivaldi: Concerti per mandolini

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
by: Antonio Vivaldi, Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

Release Date January 07, 2003
The Concerto for Diverse Instruments (called Two Mandolins on this CD) a piece that I had an old LP of with Bernstein & the NY Philharmonic, but until now, no one has really played it with the speed and spirit that old LP recording had. I really do recommend this CD and also will be buying more of Fabio Biondi's materials as time goes on. While he's no Bernstein, his work on this particular piece surpasses that of the great master!

CD-Charts Position 174
Average Rating:

Paganini: 24 Caprices

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from: EMI Classics

Release Date March 14, 2000
I've been fortunate enough to own most of the performances of Paganini's 24 Caprices for Solo Violin that are frequently mentioned as the best sets available, and for me, this cd by Itzhak Perlman from EMI's Great Recordings of the Century is the clear first choice to add to any classical music library. The playing is technically brilliant, full of passion & fire, and the recording is top notch. No other performance I've heard quite matches this one for all the elements one would want in a great compact disc of these pieces. The James Ehnes offering on Telarc is stunningly played, but he lacks Perlman's artistic passion, and the recorded sound is just a bit abrasive. Midori gives a wonderful performance (a close second to this disc) as well, but she lacks, to a very ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 175
Average Rating:

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: Philips

Release Date November 08, 1991
I like how one review of Mr. Janis's performance described that he plays the Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto with "steely acidity."

The way the recording is set up, the piano definitely dominates over the orchestra, but it's still a fantastic recording.

CD-Charts Position 176
Average Rating:

Schubert: String Quintet in C, D. 956

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by: Franz Schubert, Emerson String Quartet

Release Date August 11, 1992
It's all in the liner notes: "During the five years preceding his early death, Schubert wrote seven masterpieces of chamber music: three string quartets, two piano trios, the Octet and the C major String Quintet [this piece]. Of these, the last, and arguably the finest, is the Quintet." I first became introduced to this work in the LP recording with Jacqueline duPre & Mstislav Rostropovich (cover graphic, a large wooden C). Out of reverence for that recording now lost to me, I refrained from buying anything more contemporary, hoping for its re-release; but it is unlikely ever to be. I had eyed buying one of the Emerson Quartet's versions, but it wasn't until I heard it on XM Channel 112 that I was transfixed. The XM people so kindly responded by identifying this recording. I have bought two ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 177
Average Rating:

Satie: Piano Works

CD-Charts > Music > Featured Performers- A-Z
from: EMI Classics

Release Date January 23, 1992

Ciccolini's recording of Satie's piano music had dominated decades as finest set, but only because there wasn't any rivals at the time. Now compared to other superior recordings, his playing, highly sophisticated, sounds rather conventional and shallow. I get an impression that this pianist regarded Satie's music as some witty light music. I would love complete satie piano works played with more depth and delicacy (Leeuw's earlier recording comes close to ideal, but it was not complete set). Thibaudet's complete recording is very fine, but again without much depth.

CD-Charts Position 178
Average Rating:

Dvorak: Slavonic Dances

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from: Sony

Release Date January 29, 2002
Reading the quibbles about this CD's sonic imperfections shouldn't lead anyone to think this disk features the dismal sound Szell usually got from Columbia. Sony somehow raised the sound quality miles above that. No, it's not quite state of the art, but Sony will do music a huge service if they remaster more of Szell's great recordings to this standard!

Szell opts for wide contrasts in tempo--so once in awhile, fast sections may seem a trifle rushed and slow passages a bit labored. On the whole, though, this just adds to the color of the performance.

Aside from the above, I agree wholeheartedly with the consensus of other reviews.

CD-Charts Position 179
Average Rating:

Beethoven: The 5 Piano Concertos; Choral Fantasy

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from: RCA

Release Date December 09, 2003
Emanuel Ax really understands the poetic heart of this music. He highlights the dark melancholy of beethoven's music without ever becoming sacharine or sentimental. However, those looking for a barn burnig version of these concertos would do well to look elseware: Ax's performance is understated, with a focus on nuance, precision, color and dynamic shading. He never resorts to vulgar clanging in the forte passages. While not lacking in passion, his performance simly lets the music speak for itself.
One minor quible: the Choral Fantasy sounds like it was recorded in a TB ward, and the overall sound of this piece is notably inferior to the rest of the cycle. This is understandable, because the Fantasy was recorded live and at a different venue than the other recordings.
For an excellent Choral ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 180
Average Rating:

Schubert: The Piano Sonatas

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from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date October 10, 2000
To my uneducated ear this set is excellent. But beware, the first CD of the first set sent to me, when viewed on iTunes was totally in an oriental language. I sent the set back and the second set had the very same thing. The first CD seems to have come from a foreign edition. All other CDs were fine. The paperwork was in English.