SCARLATTI : Sonaten (Alexis Weissenberg) (1986) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

 Tracklist & Credits :

YUJA WANG - The Vienna Recital : Albéniz · Beethoven · Каpustin · Ligeti · Scriabin (2024) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

No longer the young sensation, pianist Yuja Wang these days gets Deutsche Grammophon's "The [fill-in-the-city-name] Recital" treatment with several live concert recordings presented as major events, and, indeed, they are. This one was made in Vienna in April of 2022, and it is a remarkable high-wire act in its programming and execution, one that few pianists of the present or past could have duplicated. The usually staid Viennese press reported that the crowd on hand "went wild." One would never know that; Deutsche Grammophon's engineers have stripped out every trace of audience noise, and one wishes for traces of the excitement hearers must have felt as Wang swings from Albéniz to Scriabin to the Russian jazz of Nikolai Kapustin to Beethoven. All that is just in the first half of the show. One can try without success to figure out exactly what makes all this music hang together in Wang's hands; she is certainly one of the few pianists who could successfully follow etudes of Ligeti with one of Glass. The secret seems to lie in the detail she brings to each work. Consider her quick reading of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 ("The Hunt"), in which she turns the opening gesture, usually gentle, into the call of a hunting horn at the beginning of an active outdoor happening. It is the same throughout, and the music works because it is all done sensitively, and it coheres into what the booklet calls "a musical gallery." An impressive outing from Wang, who continues to live up to and even exceed the high expectations she has generated for herself through publicity. Completely unsurprisingly, this release made classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2024. James Manheim    Tracklist & Credits :

BEETHOVEN : Complete Concertos (Daniel Barenboim · Gidon Kremer · Anne-Sophie Mütter · Maurizio Pollini) 5CD BOX-SET (2011) Serie Collectors Edition | FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Alle Beethoven Konzerte in einer Sammlung vereint. Das bietet diese Edition: Alle Klavierkonzerte mit Maurizio Pollini, das Violinkonzert mit Anne-Sophie Mutter, das Tripel Konzert mit Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma und Mark Zeltser. Zusätzlich finden sich auf den 5 CDs Raritäten und Arrangements mit Daniel Barenboim, Gidon Kremer, Gil Shaham, Sviatoslav Richter, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, den Berliner Philharmonikern, Wiener Philharmonikern und dem London Symphony Orchestra deutschegrammophon.com   Tracklist & Credits :

DEBUSSY : Preludes · Images · Children's Corner (Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli) 2CD (2020) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

GUSTAV HOLST : The Planets ♦ RICHARD STRAUSS : Also sprach Zarathustra (Boston Symphony Orchestra · William Steinberg) (2018) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

 Tracklist & Credits :

SCHUMANN : The Four Symphonies · Overtures (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra · Rafael Kubelik) 2CD (1992) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits :

FRÉDRÉRIC CHOPIN : Complete Nocturnes (Jan Lisiecki) 2CD (2021) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

 Pianist Jan Lisiecki, 26 years old when this recording was released in 2021, was dubbed the Doogie Howser of the piano by the New York Times, and the moniker is apt not only for his youthful appearance but for his wealth of experience. In the music of Chopin, with which he began to make a splash in Poland as early as age 14, he's positively a veteran, and it shows in this traversal of the composer's Nocturnes. Lisiecki does not propose any interpretive breakthroughs for these pieces; his tempos are moderate, perhaps on the slow side, and he is expressively self-effacing rather than dramatic, with the focus squarely on the melody. It may take multiple hearings to appreciate his accomplishment here, but those who devote the time will find exceptionally smooth Chopin readings in which every detail has been considered and practiced well. This is not to say that Lisiecki's Chopin is mechanical. The quasi-improvisatory element is there and is elegantly realized, but the pianist tends to defer it until later in the piece, after the quiet nocturnal atmosphere has been established. The Berlin Meistersaal is an ideal sound environment for Chopin in general, and here, it contributes a truly magical touch. The next generation of Chopin interpretation is in good hands. James Manheim
Tracklist & Credits :

ACCARDO plays PAGANINI — Complete Recordings : Violin Concertos № 1-6 · Sonatas · 24 Caprices · Sonata Napoleone ... (London Philharmonic Orchestra · Charles Dutoit) 6CD BOX-SET (2018) Blu-ray Audio – RM | FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840)

CD1 - Violin Concertos 1 and 2 - [69:00]
CD2 - Violin Concertos 3 and 4 - [72:08]
CD3 - Violin Concerto 5, Primavera - [72:25]
CD4 - Violin Concerto 6, Sonata, etc - [71:44]
CD5 - 24 Caprices - [74:36]
CD6 - Sonata Napoleone, I palpiti, etc - [47:11]

Salvatore Accardo - Violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra - Charles Dutoit

GRIEG : Complete Music with Orchestra (Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra · Neeme Järvi) 6CD SET (1993) Serie Collectors Edition | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist & Credits 

JOHN DOWLAND : The John Dowland Collection (2007) 2CD / APE (image+.cue), lossless

Does this two-disc set contain John Dowland's greatest hits? Yes, indeed, it does. With "Flow, My Tears," "In Darkness Let Me Dwell," "Come, Heavy Sleep," seven "Larchimae" of various sorts, plus his greatest hit of all, "Semper Dowland, semper dolens," all the melancholy Elizabethan English composer's best-known and best-loved hits are here. Are these the best performances available of Dowland's greatest hits? While some might argue that there are other equally worthy performances available, few would argue that these aren't at least among the best ever made. With the sweet Barbara Bonney, the sensuous Anne Sofie von Otter, and the ethereal Emma Kirkby handling most of the vocals and lutinists Anthony Rooley and Jakob Lindberg plus guitarist Göran Söllscher handling most of the fretwork, these performances have the right blend of the soulful and the poetic with just the right touch of urbane to make them wholly convincing. Although Dowland's predominantly melancholy art may not appeal to everyone, those for whom it does appeal will surely enjoy this superbly chosen and sumptuously recorded two-disc set. by James Leonard  

JOHN DOWLAND (1563-1626)

CD1
1    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Antiquae 4'45
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
2    First Booke Of Songes, 1597, No.4: If My Complaints Could Passions Move 4'48
Lute – Jacob Heringman
Soprano Vocals – Barbara Bonney
3    First Booke Of Songes, 1597, No.5: Can She Excuse My Wrongs 2'39
Lute – Jakob Lindberg
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Anne Sofie Von Otter
4    First Booke Of Songes, 1597, No.11: Come Away, Come Sweet Love 2'25
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
5    My Lady Hudson's Allemande 1'22
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
6    A Piece Without Title 0'48
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
7    The Shoemaker's Wife 1'05
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
8    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Antiquae Novae 4'05
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
9    First Booke Of Songes, 1597, No.17: Come Again: Sweet Love Doth Now Invite 2'43
Lute – Jacob Heringman
Soprano Vocals – Barbara Bonney
10    First Booke Of Songes, 1597, No.20: Come Heavy Sleep 4'29
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
11    Mr. Dowland's Midnight 1'30
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
12    Sir John Smith, His Almain 2'23
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
13    Lachrimae, 1604: Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens 3'39
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
14    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Gementes 4'22
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
15    Second Booke Of Songes, 1600, No.1: I Saw My Lady Weep 5'34
Lute – Thomas E. Binkley
Tenor Vocals – Nigel Rogers
16    Second Booke Of Songes, 1600, No.2: Flow My Tears 4'45
Lute – Jacob Heringman
Soprano Vocals – Barbara Bonney
17    Second Booke Of Songes, 1600, No.12: Fine Knacks For Ladies 2'08
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
18    Second Booke Of Songes, 1600, No.19: Shall I Sue 3'25
Lute – Thomas E. Binkley
Tenor Vocals – Nigel Rogers
19    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Tristes 4'35
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke

CD2
1    Third Booke Of Songes, 1603, No.5: Me, Me And None But Me 2'41
Lute – Thomas E. Binkley
Tenor Vocals – Nigel Rogers
2    Forlorne Hope Fancy 4'10
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
3    Weepe You No More, Sad Fountaines 5:24
Lute – Jakob Lindberg
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Anne Sofie Von Otter
4    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Coactae 4'14
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
5    A Pilgrim's Solace (1612), No.9: Go Nightly Cares 5'47
Directed By – Thomas E. Binkley
Ensemble – Studio Der Frühen Musik
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Andrea von Ramm
6    The Right Honourable Ferdinando, Earl Of Derby, His Galliard 2'19
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
7    The Most Sacred Queen Elizabeth, Her Galliard 1'15
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
8    A Pilgrim's Solace (1612), No.8: Tell Me, True Love 7'14
Bass Vocals – Karl-Heinz Klein
Countertenor Vocals – Grayston Burgess
Lute – Thomas E. Binkley
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Andrea von Ramm
Tenor Vocals – Nigel Rogers
9    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Amantis 4'30
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
10    In Darkness Let Me Dwell 4'26
Lute – Jakob Lindberg
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Anne Sofie Von Otter
11    A Fantasia 4'08
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
12    My Lord Chamberlain His Galliard 2'23
Guitar – Göran Söllscher
13    Far From Triumphing Court 5'07
Countertenor Vocals – Andreas Scholl
Lute – Edin Karamazov
Viol [Bass] – Christophe Coin
14    I Shame At Mine Unworthiness 2'30
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke
15    Lachrimae, 1604: Lachrimae Verae 4'18
Directed By – Anthony Rooley
Ensemble – The Consort Of Musicke

Bass Vocals [The Consort Of Musicke] – David Thomas (pistas: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 1-14, 1-17, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-14, 2-15)
Countertenor Vocals [The Consort Of Musicke] – John York Skinner (pistas: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 1-14, 1-17, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-14, 2-15)
Lute – Julian Crème (pistas: 1-1, 1-8, 1-14, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-15)
Lute [The Consort Of Musicke] – Anthony Rooley (pistas: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 1-14, 1-17, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-14, 2-15), Christopher Wilson (pistas: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 1-14, 1-17, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-14, 2-15)
Soprano Vocals [The Consort Of Musicke] – Emma Kirkby (pistas: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 1-14, 1-17, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-14, 2-15), Glenda Simpson (pistas: 2-14)
Tenor Vocals [The Consort Of Musicke] – Martyn Hill (pistas: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 1-14, 1-17, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-14, 2-15)
Viol [Bass] – Jane Ryan (pistas: 1-1, 1-8, 1-14, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-15)
Viol [Tenor] – Ian Gammie (pistas: 1-1, 1-8, 1-14, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-15), Trevor Jones (4) (pistas: 1-1, 1-8, 1-14, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-15)
Viol [Treble] – Catherine Macintosh (pistas: 1-1, 1-8, 1-14, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-15), Polly Waterfield (pistas: 1-1, 1-8, 1-14, 1-19, 2-4, 2-9, 2-15)

ANNE-SOPHIE MÜTTER - Hommage à Penderecki (2018) 2CD / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

With one exception, the recordings on the double-album Hommage à Penderecki are all reissues (the new one is the quite haunting Violin Sonata No. 2 of 1999 at the end of disc one). Yet the collection will be well worth the time and money even of Mutter fans, for it offers an ideal deep dive into a key aspect of the violinist's career. The beginning of her interaction with Penderecki was close chronologically to the point where she became well established as one of the world's preeminent violinists, perhaps even the very top one. Her technically precise but emotionally edgy style not only fit Penderecki unusually well, but also became part of her efforts to shape her legacy in an ongoing way. The collaboration has resulted in four works to date. All are representative of Penderecki's late style, which is less neo-Romantic than aimed at showing that there is still a lot of room to incorporate dissonant structures into Romantic idioms. Sample the Metamorphosen, the Violin Concerto No. 2, on CD two, perhaps the finale, where Mutter's violin is truly transcendent as it ascends to pure high notes. La Follia, written in 2013, is a rethinking of the Baroque ground-bass piece, and it and really all the other pieces are calibrated to Mutter's undiminished skills. There's a work for solo violin, a duo, a violin sonata, and a violin concerto (with Penderecki himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra), and the whole is a satisfying compilation of Mutter's effort to redefine the violin repertory, nicely illustrated with photos of Penderecki looking adoring. by James Manheim  

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)

CD1
1-10    La Folia (2013) For Solo Violin
11    Duo Concertante (2010) For Violin And Double Bass. Andante, Quasi Una Cadenza – Allegretto Scherzando – Andante, Quasi Una Cadenza
Double Bass – Roman Patkoló
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mutter
12-16    Sonata No. 2 (1999) For Violin And Piano
Piano – Lambert Orkis
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mutter

CD2
1-6    Metamorphosen (1992–95): Concerto For Violin And Orchestra No. 2
Conductor – Krzysztof Penderecki
Orchestra – The London Symphony Orchestra
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mutter

RIHM : Lichtes Spiel • PENDERECKI : Duo Concertant • CURRIER : Time Machines (Anne-Sophie Mütter) (2011) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Veteran violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is not performing the usual Beethoven or Mozart repertoire here, but branching out to embrace new music commissioned for her. Along for the ride are the excellent New York Philharmonic under the baton of Michael Francis for the first Rihm work, and then under Alan Gilbert for the Currier piece, along with contrabassist Roman Patkoló. Lichtes Spiel (for violin and small orchestra) is indeed a "light game," with layered voices in the strings. There are moments of singing romanticism and beautiful vibrato, even a section that sounds vaguely classical, while the piece constantly stays in motion. Rihm clearly gets interesting colors and characters from Mutter's violin, in surprising, exciting ways. Duo concertante shows off a really lively, rapid, eager violinist full of emotion that pours forth, and it is precisely this explosive quality that makes the piece so engaging to hear. But equally in the spotlight is contrabassist Patkoló, who plays with such agility that it is hard to believe he is not playing a smaller string instrument like a viola or cello. Composer Penderecki, tricks the listener into believing the intensity has died out, but no, it resumes again, a vigorous duet between the violin and contrabass. The piece is, in a word, fun. Rihm's Dyade is quite a contrast in programming, moody and layered, the voices of the two instruments intertwining. Sometimes the lines are long, sometimes shard-like and shrieking. Mutter clearly relishes the textures and notes, and the excellent recording quality allows the listener to truly feel each bow stroke, heavy and into the string, or bouncing, or attacked tremolos. The dark contrabass is a nice contrast in register and mood. Sebastian Currier's Time Machines (for violin and orchestra) contain seven movements representing different aspects of time. Particularly interesting are the urgent, frenzied "Fragmented Time"; the perpetual motion of "Compressed Time"; the melodic patterns that climb in the violin and xylophone in "Entropic Time"; and the "Harmonic Time" with her solo violin soaring above the sound "scenes" that fade in and out like movie images. Mutter has chosen to explore a new direction, and both she and her listeners are rewarded. This is an album that will delight not only fans of Anne-Sophie Mutter, but also fans of new music who like to take their time to reflect on and savor thoughtful compositions. A most unique album indeed. by V. Vasan  

Wolfgang Rihm
1    Lichtes Spiel (2009)
Conductor – Michael Francis
Orchestra – New York Philharmonic
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mütter

Krzysztof Penderecki
2    Duo Concertante (2010)
Double Bass – Roman Patkoló
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mütter

Wolfgang Rihm
3    Dyade (2010-2011)
Double Bass – Roman Patkoló
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mütter

Sebastian Currier
4-10    Time Machines (2007)
Conductor – Alan Gilbert
Orchestra – New York Philharmonic
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mütter

PENDERECKI : Violin Concerto Nr. 2 >>Metamorphosen<< • BARTÓK : Sonata for Violin and Piano Nr. 2 (Mütter, Penderecki, Orkis) (1997) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)

1-6    Metamorphosen (1992-1996)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2
(Dedicated To Anne-Sophie Mutter)
Conductor – Krzysztof Penderecki
Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mutter

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

6-8    Sonata For Violin And Piano No. 2 Sz 76 (1922) (19:47)
Piano – Lambert Orkis
Violin – Anne-Sophie Mutter

NEMANJA RADULOVIC - Journey East (2014) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic, long flying hair and all, evokes the spirit and sound of the central European violinists of a hundred years ago. On this collection of pieces, mostly associated with Slavic lands (John Williams' Theme from Schindler's List makes a fascinating exception), he takes new chances, and they pay off big time. Radulovic has developed a vigorously rhythmic style that can build up a good deal of momentum in a piece like the opening Hungarian Dance No. 1 of Brahms, and he effectively alternates these with pieces that lay on the sentiment. What's new here is that Radulovic has reached out and gotten the music he needs from other genres, from unusual sources, and from a variety of ensembles. There are several arrangements by Yvan Cassar that make a wonderful effect. Sample the violin-and-small ensemble version of Khachaturian's Sabre Dance (track 4) for a bit of pure excitement that someone might have come up with in an old Viennese cafe in 1900, but probably not since then. Radulovic draws on some Serbian film soundtracks and on original compositions. He employs not only his usual backing group Les Trilles du Diable, but also a slightly larger string group called Double Sens and, on several tracks, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The musicians back up Radulovic's fiery effects, and the result is perhaps the most colorful and exciting exotic violin recitals in many years. Bravo! by James Manheim
Tracklist :
Hungarian Dance
Composed By – Johannes Brahms
1    No. 1 in G minor    3:12
2    Songs My Mother Taught Me 3:17
Composed By – Antonín Dvořák
Swan Lake
Composed By – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
3    Russian Dance    4:20
Gayaneh
Composed By – Aram Khatchaturian
4    Sabre Dance    2:56
5    Vatra Suze 3:16
Composed By – Sonia Kalajic
6    Pašona Kolo 2:42
Traditional
Masquerade
Composed By – Aram Khatchaturian
7    Nocturne    3:38
Gadfly Suite
Composed By – Dmitri Shostakovich
8    Romance    4:15
Love For Three Oranges Suite
Composed By – Sergei Prokofiev
9    March    1:34
10    Schindler's List: Theme 3:50
Composed By – John Williams
11    Niška Banja 2:20
Traditional
12    Petrijin Venac: Theme 4:18
Composed By – Zoran Simjanović
13    Ojo Je Muški Svet 4:19
Composed By – Dejan "Leopold" Sparavalo, Emir Kusturica
14    Csárdás 4:45
Composed By – Vittorio Monti
15    Zajdi, Zajdi, Jasno Sonce 5:37
Composed By – Aleksandar Sarijevski
Credits :
Cimbalom – Ludovit Kovac
Conductor – Michail Jurowski
Ensemble – Double Sens, Les Trilles Du Diable
Orchestra – Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Percussion – Nicolas Montazaud
Piano – Laure Favre-Kahn
Technician [Piano] – Vincent Guyon
Violin – Nemanja Radulović
Vocals – Ksenija Milošević

MIKHAIL SIMONYAN - Two Soul (London Symphony Orchestra, Kristjan Järvi) (2011) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Two Souls. An ideal title for the debut recording album of a young violinist whose heritage draws from Armenian and American backgrounds. To highlight these two divergent cultural influences, violinist Mikhail Simonyan has chosen the violin concertos of Aram Khachaturian and Samuel Barber. The flamboyantly virtuosic Khachaturian concerto is punched out with authoritative bravura, gripping power of tone, and a musical excitement that keeps listeners rapt from start to finish. Making this particular recording even noteworthy is the new cadenza that Simonyan commissioned in an effort to highlight the distinctively Armenian musical idiom. Simonyan's heritage truly emerges throughout the hauntingly beautiful cadenza, contrasting marvelously with the concerto's many aggressive moments. Deutshe Grammophon's sound in this concerto appropriately highlights the edgy, gritty tone that Simonyan produces and is nicely balanced with the superb playing by the London Symphony Orchestra under Kristjan Järvi. This same close sound does not serve the Barber concerto quite as well. A bit more warmth and softness would have greatly helped the first and second movements. Simonyan makes the curious choice to tone down the frenetic nature of the Presto Finale, opting for a slower, more deliberate tempo that doesn't make for quite as exciting a finish as this talented young violinist is capable of. by Mike D. Brownell  

Aram Khatchaturian (1859-1935)

1-3    Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

4-6     Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14
7    Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
 
Violin – Mikhail Simonyan
Conductor – Kristjan Järvi
Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra

WEINBERG : Symphonies Nos. 2 & 21 (Gražinytė-Tyla, Kremer) 2CD (2019) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg has received renewed attention, especially as the centenary year of his birth in 2019 approached. He has hardly received better advocacy than he gets here from the sensational young conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla in her first recording for Deutsche Grammophon, and first as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Weinberg lost most of his family in the Holocaust; he himself fled to the Soviet Union, where he wasn't exactly well treated, but survived and became closely acquainted with Shostakovich. The two mutually influenced each other, but it is surprising how individual Weinberg's style remained. The Symphony No. 21, Op. 152 ("Kaddish") was worked at by Weinberg for some time and was completed in 1991, a few years before his death. The work is dedicated to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II and has the feeling of a personal memorial. It is almost unrelievedly grim, although it has an episodic quality deriving partly from its association with a film about the ghetto. You would not pick the youthful Gražinytė-Tyla as an interpreter, but this is an extraordinary reading. The finale has a kind of wordless keening for soprano, which Gražinytė-Tyla takes herself. There is no way to know what Weinberg had in mind for the work, but the effect of her chorister's voice is extraordinary here. A factor adding a personal quality to the performance is the presence of violinist Gidon Kremer, who has championed Weinberg's music, and who here appears not only as the leader of his Kremerata Baltica in Weinberg's Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra, Op. 30, but also takes the violin solo part in the Symphony No. 21. It is as though the Weinberg baton was being handed on to the next generation. The Symphony No. 2 itself is an elegant string serenade that draws more on interwar Czech and Polish music than it does on Shostakovich. The work of Kremerata Baltica and the CBSO here seems almost to mesh, and this is an extraordinary debut overall. How is Gražinytė-Tyla going to follow it up? by James Manheim

Symphony No. 2 (Opus 30, 1946) (34:21)
Conductor – Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
Orchestra [String] – Kremerata Baltica

Symphony No. 21 (“Kaddish”, Opus 152, 1991) (54:38)
Clarinet – Oliver Janes
Conductor, Soprano Vocals – Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
Double Bass – Iurii Gavryliuk
Orchestra – City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra [String] – Kremerata Baltica
Piano – Georgijs Osokins
Violin – Gidon Kremer

ANTON WEBERN : Complete Webern (Pierre Boulez) 6xCD Box-Set (2000) APE (tracks+.cue), lossless

Those who are familiar with Pierre Boulez's earlier "Complete Webern" on Sony will notice that his new Deutsche Grammophon edition contains six discs to Sony's three. That's because Sony only included works for which Webern assigned opus numbers, plus the composer's Schubert and Bach arrangements. DG fleshes out the picture with all of Webern's posthumously published music, mostly dating from his apprentice years. Virtually all of these recordings already have been available. Discs one through three are given over to orchestral, choral, and chamber works with Boulez leading the Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Singers, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Soprano Christiane Oelze's survey of Webern's lieder with voice and piano occupies disc four, with the addition of three unreleased songs set to poems by Ferdinand Avenarius. On disc five, the Emerson Quartet plays all the string trio and quartet works. The final disc brings together the cello and piano music, the four pieces Op. 7 for violin and piano, and the piano works. Gianluca Cascioli's traversals of both 1906 movements for piano were previously released, while Krystian Zimerman recorded two tiny pieces and the Op. 27 Piano Variations especially for this collection.

We first encounter Webern writing music in a style that resembles Brahms with a little Grieg mixed in for good measure. Soon his harmonic palette blossoms with chromatic complexity and takes a refined turn during studies with Arnold Schoenberg. Finally, Webern's singular voice emerges by way of pocket pieces whose ascetic contours sport asymmetrical rhythms, canonic lines that leapfrog from instrument to instrument, and rigorously organized pitches. There's no filler, no fat, and every note counts.
Sometimes it's hard to grasp such fleeting, fragile, and texturally exposed music in a single hearing. When I hear a Webern work in concert, for instance, it's usually over before it begins. Imagine passing a Joan Miró painting while riding a bicycle and you'll understand what I mean. You need to find quiet listening space and know that you can play a movement or even a whole piece more than once.
Performing Webern well demands the utmost in precision and concentration, yet without negating the music's passionate undercurrents. Boulez has lived with this music a long time, and the refinement of his latest interpretations beggar description. The sonic advantages of the DG recordings play no small part, in that fine-tuned dyanmic adjustments at quiet levels can be heard with no compromise. The conductor's tempos have broadened since his 1967-72 recordings in the aforementioned Sony set, and instrumental balances are smoother, more blended than before. Yet the ferocity and edginess of the earlier versions haven't been superceded. Nor is the elemental force and dynamism of Dohnanyi's superb Cleveland Webern readings surpassed here.
No qualms, though, concerning Christiane Oelze, who negotiates Webern's treacherous, leaping lines as if they were nursery rhymes. Similarly, the Emersons leave no little detail unscrutinized, and make a lean contrast to the more opulent, aristocratic Quartetto Italiano Webern recordings from the 1970s. I'm sorry the not-so-famous Cascioli wasn't brought back to record the piano works assigned to the better-known Zimerman, whose mincing, overwrought Variations lack the grace and eloquence of Peter Serkin's recent Koch version.
An excellent booklet includes an introduction by Boulez, numerous photos of Webern at work and play, an informative essay by Paul Griffiths, a comprehensive Webern timeline, and complete texts and translations. Whatever reservations one might harbor about this or that individual performance, it is unlikely that this set as a whole will be surpassed in the near future. It belongs in every serious music library, private or public. by Jed Distler

CD1
Passacaglia . 5 Movements op. 5
6 pieces op. 6 fuga
german dances Inm smmerwind

CD2
5 pieces for orchestra
3 orchestral songs . symphony op. 21
cantatas . variations op. 30

CD3
piano quintet . lieder
5 pieces op.10 + quartet op. 22
concerto op. 24

CD4
lieder

CD5
works for string quartet & string trio

CD6
works for solo piano, violin & piano, cello & piano
All Tracks & Credits

BARTÓK : Boulez Conducts Bartók (2009) 8xCD BOX-SET / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 CD1
Four Orchestral Pieces • Concerto for Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD2
Dance Suite • Two Pictures
Hungarian Sketches • Divertimento
Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD3
Piano Concerto Nrs 1-3
Zimmerman • Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Andsnes • Berliner Philharmonikér
Grimaud • London Symphony Orchestra

CD4
Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra
Stefanovich • Aimard • Thomas • Percy
London Symphony Orchestra

Violin Concerto Nr. 1
Kremer • Berliner Philharmonikér

Violin Concerto Nr. 2
Bashmet • Berliner Philharmonikér

CD5
Violin Concerto Nr. 2
Rhapsodies for Violin and Orchestra Nr. 1 & 2
Shaham • Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD6
Bluebeard's Castle
Norman + Polgár • Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD7
Cantata Profana • The Wooden Prince
Aler • Tomlinson
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

CD8
The Miraculus Mandarin
Music for Strings, Percussion and celesta
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

CHARLES IVES : Symphony Nr. 2 • Central Park In The Dark • The Unanswered Question • Tone Roads No. 1 • Hymn For Strings • Hallowe'en • The Gong On The Hook And Ladder (Leonard Bernstein) (2001) APE (image+.cue), lossless

CHARLES IVES (1874-1954)

1-5    Symphony No. 2
6    The Gong On The Hook And Ladder Or Firemen's Parade On Main Street    2:13
7        Tone Roads No. 1    3:16
8        Hymn: Largo Cantabile (For String Orchestra)    3:43
9        Hallowe'en    1:56
10        Central Park In The Dark    7:11
11        The Unanswered Question    6:07

Conductor – Leonard Bernstein
Orchestra – New York Philharmonic

ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - A Set of Pieces : Music by Charles Ives (1994) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Three Places In New England ("First Orchestral Set")
A Set Of Pieces
Symphony No. 3 "The Camp Meeting"
Set No. 1, for theater orchestra (6), S. 10 (K. 1C31)

Orchestra – Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Piano – Gilbert Kalish