KORNGOLD : Symphony in Fis-Dur · Abschiedslieder (Linda Finnie · BBC Philharmonic Orchestra · Edward Downes) (1993) APE (image+.cue), lossless

The two substantial selections on this Chandos release represent the early and late phases of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's impressive career and show the wide stylistic range and versatility of his work. The lush post-Romanticism of the Lieder des Abschieds, Op. 14, is typical of the youthful Korngold's music from the early '20s, and this haunting work is contemporary with his operatic masterpiece Die tote Stadt. These four orchestral songs partake of the musical language of Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, particularly in their poignant harmonies, richly colored orchestration, and overwhelmingly melancholy moods. In contrast, the Symphony in F sharp major is a rough-hewn and problematic work that reflects the tensions of tonal modernism in the years following WWII, as well as the difficulties the composer faced in using the expanded Romantic symphonic form for the first and only time. The 1992 performance of the songs by contralto Linda Finnie and the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Edward Downes, does justice to Korngold's tenderly lyrical side, while the same orchestra and conductor give the symphony a muscular reading that is striking in its vehemence and power. Chandos delivers excellent reproduction in both offerings, though the sound is somewhat crisper and more concentrated in the recording of the symphony. Blair Sanderson    Tracklist & Credits :

JOHN FIELD : The Complete Nocturnes (Míċeál O'Rourke) 2CD (1988) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

NINO ROTA : Harp, Bassoon & Trombone Concertos (I Virtuosi Italiani · Marzio Conti) (2002) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

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ALBAN BERG : Complete Chamber Music (Schoenberg Quartet) (2002) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

FRANK BRIDGE : Orchetral Works, Vol. 1 (BBC National Orchestra Of Wales · Richard Hickox) (2001) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits 

FRANK BRIDGE : Orchetral Works, Vol. 2 (BBC National Orchestra Of Wales · Richard Hickox) (2002) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits

FRANK BRIDGE : Orchetral Works, Vol. 3 (Howard Shelley · BBC National Orchestra Of Wales · Richard Hickox) (2004) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits 

FRANK BRIDGE : Orchetral Works, Vol. 4 (BBC National Orchestra Of Wales · Richard Hickox) (2004) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits 

FRANK BRIDGE : Orchetral Works, Vol. 5 (BBC National Orchestra Of Wales · Richard Hickox) (2004) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

 Tracklist & Credits 

FRANK BRIDGE : Orchetral Works, Vol. 6 (BBC National Orchestra Of Wales · Richard Hickox) (2005) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits

KABALEVSKY : Violin and Cello Concertos (Mordkovitch, Wallfisch) (2002) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Dmitry Kabalevsky

1-3    Violin Concerto, Op. 48 (1948) [16:08]
Conductor – Neeme Järvi
Leader [SNO] – Edwin Paling
Orchestra – Scottish National Orchestra
Violin – Lydia Mordkovitch

4-6    Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 77 (1964) [29:49]
Cello – Raphael Wallfisch
Conductor – Bryden Thomson
Leader [LPO] – David Nolan
Orchestra – London Philharmonic Orchestra

KABALEVSKY : Piano Concertos Nr. 2 & 3 • Colas Breugnon Overture • The Comedians (Stott, Sinaisky) (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987)

1    Overture to "Colas Breugnon", Op. 24 [4:40]
2-4    Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 23 (1935/36, revised version 1973) [23:49]
Piano – Kathryn Stott
5-14    The Commedians, Op. 26, (Suite for Small Orchestra) [14:59]    
15-17    Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 50 [18:07]
Piano – Kathryn Stott

Orchestra - BBC Philharmonic
Yuri Torchinsky - Leader
Conductor – Vassily Sinaisky

KABALEVSKY : Piano Concerto Nr. 1 & 4 • Symphony Nr. 2 (Neeme Järvi, Kathryn Stott) (1996) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The big news here isn't that Kathryn Stott has turned in another impressive recording of Kabalevsky's piano concertos. The virtuosic English pianist had already done that with her previous recording of his second and third concertos in 2005. The big news here is that Neeme Järvi, once the most recorded conductor in the world, has turned in his third recording for the Chandos label since the two bitterly and publicly parted company more than a decade ago. A talented conductor with a prodigious ability to learn scores, Järvi benefited greatly from the increased popularity of classical music with the introduction of digital technology. By the early '90s, Järvi had recorded enormous amounts of music outside the mainstream -- the complete symphonies of Berwald, Schmidt, and Kalinnikov, for example -- and he came to believe Chandos ought to give him a shot at more standard repertoire. After the artistic and financial disappointment of his Brahms cycle, however, Chandos declined to expand Järvi's territory. Breaking the unofficial code of silence, Järvi took his complaints to the media -- and Chandos let his contract expire.

But following two discs of Busoni's orchestral music, this 2006 Kabalevsky disc reaffirms Järvi's primacy in second-rank repertoire. In the Concerto, pianist Stott tears into the bravura and almost Romantic First with gusto and brio and the brilliant and not quite Modernist Fourth with zest and strength while Järvi supports her with a colorful, characterful, and powerful accompaniment. But in the disc's central C minor Second Symphony, Järvi leads the superb BBC Philharmonic in a performance that makes the "social realist" work sound as much as possible like first-rate music for as long as it's playing. And after it's over, if its themes seem too heroic, its forms seem too dramatic, its rhythms seem too driven, its colors seem too bright, and its gestures seem too familiar to be believed, these doubts do not exist while Järvi is pushing its tempos, inflating its rhetoric, and enhancing its climaxes. With only a handful of other recordings of the Second available -- the antique 1949 recording with Jacques Rachmilovich leading the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the classic 1973 recording with David Measham leading the New Philharmonia, the strident 1977 recording with Erwin Acél leading the Szeged Philharmonic, and the vigorous 1998 recording with Loris Tjeknavorian leading the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra -- Järvi and the BBC's rises right to the top of the list. Chandos' sound is appropriately loud and direct. by James Leonard  

Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987)

1-9    First Concerto For Piano And Orchestra, Op. 9*    (31:13)
10-12    Symphony No. 2, Op. 19    (24:11)
13-16    Fourth Concerto For Piano And Orchestra, op. 99 'Prague'*    (11:57)

Piano - Kathryn Stott*
Orchestra - BBC Philharmonic
Yuri Torchinsky - Leader
Conducted - Neeme Järvi

TCHAIKOVSKY : Piano Concerto No. 2 • KHACHATURIAN : Piano Concerto (Xiayin Wang, Peter Oundjian) (2016) 24bits-96hz / FLAC (tracks), lossless

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Concerto No. 2 In G Major For Piano And Orchestra, Op. 44 (Original Version) (42:03)

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)
Concerto In D Flat Major For Piano With Orchestra, Op. 38 (33:35)

Conductor – Peter Oundjian
Leader – Maya Iwabuchi
Orchestra – Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Piano – Xiayin Wang

KHACHATURIAN : Piano Concerto • Gayaneh • Masquerade (Oberlian-Järvi) (1987) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Aram Khatchaturian (1903-1978)

1-3 Concerto For Piano & Orchestra* (33:13)
4-8 Masquerade-Suite (16:17)
9-12 Gayaneh - 4 Movements From The Ballet (12:21)

Conductor – Neeme Järvi
Orchestra – Scottish National Orchestra
Piano – Constantine Orbelian* 

WEINBERG : Соncertos (Thord Svedlund) (2008) SACD / FLAC (tracks), lossless

Fantasia For Cello And Orchestra, Op.52 (18:51)
Cello – Claes Gunnarsson

Concerto No.2 For Flute And Orchestra, Op.148 (19:31)
Flute – Anders Jonhäll

Concerto No.1 For Flute And Orchestra, Op.75 (14:43)
Flute – Anders Jonhäll

Concerto For Clarinet And String Orchestra, Op.104 (25:49)
Clarinet – Urban Claesson

Concertmaster – Christer Thorvaldsson
Conductor – Thord Svedlund
Orchestra – Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

WEINBERG : Cello Concerto • Symphony No. 20 (Thord Svedlund) (2012) SACD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

With the general increase in the popularity of Dmitry Shostakovich's music, that of his protégé Mieczyslaw Weinberg has also been gaining a hearing outside the former East Bloc. A Polish-born Jew, Weinberg survived two waves of Nazi invasion only to find himself buffeted by the same political forces as Shostakovich, by then his mentor, in the postwar Soviet Union. The Cello Concerto in C minor, Op. 43, dating from 1948, is parallel to Shostakovich's works of enforced conservatism from that period, but is somehow more joyful and genuinely melodic. More interesting is the Symphony No. 20, Op. 150, written in 1988 and here receiving its premiere recording. It's a roughly symmetrical five-movement work, on a large orchestral canvas, with slow movements with continuous melody on the outside, scherzo-like pieces of contrasting character second and fourth, and an extremely unusual centerpiece that seems to lose its integrity as it goes along. Weinberg in his later years seems to have tried to pursue avenues suggested by Shostakovich's very personal late works, and this piece, down to the Mahlerian feel, is in that vein. It's not Shostakovich, but it's quite absorbing, and the performances by Sweden's Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra are clean and on top of Weinberg's long lines in the outer movements of the symphony. A strong entry in the catalog of a composer on the rise. by James Manheim  

Symphony No. 20 Op. 150 (1988)    (39:37)
Concerto, Op. 43 (1948)    (31:04)*

Cello – Claes Gunnarson *
Conductor – Thord Svedlund
Leader – Per Enoksson
Orchestra – Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

WEINBERG : Symphony No. 3 • Suite No. 4 From 'The Golden Key' (Thord Svedlund) (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This release by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, not under music director Gustavo Dudamel but under the highly capable Thord Svedlund, is part of a series on the Chandos label devoted to the orchestral music of the Polish-born Soviet composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Weinberg was more obedient to the whims of Soviet cultural commissars than was his contemporary and friend Dmitry Shostakovich, but he nevertheless ran afoul of officialdom, probably because of the strong anti-Semitic streak of the Stalinist state. His music is expertly written and reflects many of the same currents as Shostakovich's. The Symphony No. 3 in B minor, Op. 45, was composed in 1949, right after the second denunciation of Shostakovich the previous year. Weinberg's response to such strictures was less edgy than that of his friend, but the score, packed full of folk tunes from various regions, is consistently attractive. The real find here may be the Suite No. 4 from The Golden Key, Op. 55d, a ballet with elements of the Pinocchio story. These sparkling pieces (hear the three animal dances in the middle, tracks 8-10) sound like lost Prokofiev gems, and in fact you might try them out in a blind listening test on Prokofiev enthusiasts. They'd be ideal for concerts directed at young people. Chandos continues to back the Weinberg series with excellent Super Audio sound that favors every part of the composer's vast orchestral palette. The biggest objection here may be that the entire program clocks in at under 50 minutes; other music from the ballet, at the very least, could have been included. by James Manheim

Symphony No. 3, Op. 45 In B Minor (1949-50, Revised 1959) (32:40)*
Suite No. 4 From 'The Golden Key' For Large Orchestra, Op. 55d (1954-64) (17:01)**

Conductor – Thord Svedlund
Leader – Per Enoksson *, Sara Trobäck **
Orchestra – Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

WEINBERG : Chamber Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (Thord Svedlund) (2015) SACD / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996)

Chamber Symphony No. 3, Op. 151 (1990)    (32:56)
Chamber Symphony No. 4, Op. 153 (1992) (32:34)
Cello – Niklaas Weltman
Clarinet – Johnny Jannesson
Violin – Fredrik Burstedt

Orchestra – Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra
Conductor – Thord Svedlund
Leader – Fredrik Burstedt

IAIN QEEN - Variations on America (American Organ Works) (2009) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

These Variations on America consist not just of Charles Ives' famous piece of that title ("My Country, 'Tis of Thee" -- the same melody as the British and other national hymns, as well as "Heil dir im Siegenkranz," the German liner notes helpfully explain) but also of varieties of American organ music in general. British organist Iain Quinn even programs some pieces that have never been recorded in the U.S., to say nothing of Britain, and they include some very nice finds. Chief among these is the pair of fugues by Ives, written while he was a student at Yale University. They're basically academic exercises, but there are hints of a tweaking spirit in both of them. Another student exercise is the ambitious, uncharacteristically chromatic Prelude and Fugue of Samuel Barber, composed in 1927. Barber's nifty setting of The Sacred Harp tune Wondrous Love, Op. 34, alluding to the parallel harmonies of the American folk hymn style from which the melody comes, has been recorded before but not often, and the same is true of William Grant Still's Reverie (1962). Other premieres include works by Henry Cowell and Stephen Paulus, who are often-programmed composers, but not well known for their organ music. The more famous pieces on the program are given a fresh twist due partly to the environs of Coventry Cathedral, a space whose acoustic subtleties are matched by few in the U.S. This is, as Quinn points out in his concise and helpful notes (in English, French, and German), especially impressive in the case of Copland's Preamble (For a Solemn Occasion), written in 1949 to honor the first anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The Ives Variations on America themselves, first improvised by the composer as an obstreperous teenager, are presented here in their final version; Ives added ad libitum interludes in 1910, with bitonal elements, and continued to revise the piece even after he had given up composing. Quinn is not prevented by any British propriety from appreciating the piece's humorous aspects. More characteristic of Ives' mature idiom is the 1898 setting of Adeste Fidelis, S. 131, which Ives also later revised. The opening strains piece contains an early example of the cosmic, transcendental elements in his musical language, and they, too, come alive in mysterious, muted colors here, as if they came from Messiaen. An enjoyable program that fans of organ music and American composition will equally enjoy. by James Manheim  

Aaron Copland
Preamble (For A Solemn Occasion) (5:31)

Charles Ives
With Bold And Noble Expressivity Throughout - Allargando    
Variations On 'America', S 140 (8:51)
Adeste Fidelis, S 131 (4:11)
Fugue, S 136 - 5:04
Fugue, S 135 - 3:31
Score Editor – Charles Krigbaum, John Kirkpatrick

Henry Cowell
Hymn And Fuguing Tune No. 14 - 7:16

William Grant Still
Reverie (4:38)

Samuel Barber
Slow
Prelude And Fugue (8:23)
Wondrous Love, Op. 34 (8:23)

Stephen Paulus
In Moderate Tempo - Slightly Faster - Same Tempo - With Grace - Very Much Slower    
Triptych (14:40)

Organ – Iain Quinn