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“Who would have guessed that Sting’s most exciting album in years would be a set of orchestral remakes? Symphonicities rocks hard from the outset.”–Rolling Stone
Category Archive for 'Classical'
Joseph Haydn: Die Schopfung
Posted in Choral on May 19th, 2010
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“René Jacobs’ recording of Haydn’s “Die Schöpfung” is a miracle. Throughout, Jacobs and his forces find precisely the right realization of Haydn’s score…anyone who admires the work should by all means hear this recording.” –All Music Guide
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio from Symphony No. 10
Posted in Alt-Country, Concertos, Rap/Hip Hop on May 19th, 2010
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“It has the right balance of line and harmony, the right feel for mass and momentum, the right sense of being in and of the moment, and above all, the sheer audacity to pull off the whole mighty and monumental work.” — All Music Guide
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Posted in Classical on May 19th, 2010
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“What shines through her playing most of all is a sovereign control of touch, texture and dynamic, so that every line is perfectly characterised and distinct.” –The Guardian
Karol Szymanowski: The Complete Music for Violin and Piano
Posted in Classical on May 12th, 2010
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“This disc will amaze those who know Szymanowski’s music—and confound those who only think they know Szymanowski’s music.”–All Music Guide
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“Jansen’s technique is fully formed and flashy, while her interpretation is big-boned but lyrical.” –All Music Guide
Louis Andriessen: Bells for Haarlem
Posted in Vocal on May 12th, 2010
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“Andriessen often uses rock instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, and synthesizer to augment his ensembles…His popularity with young listeners and presence on the scene has provided an unprecedented boost to the prominence of contemporary Dutch music throughout the world.” –All Music Guide
Kim Kashkashian: Neharot
Posted in Classical on May 12th, 2010
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“If anyone has “made” the viola in the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been American violist Kim Kashkashian. The instrument she terms “the much-maligned viola” has a first-class champion who works to broaden the range of technique, advocacy, and repertoire for the instrument.” –All Music Guide
Gustav Mahler: The Complete Symphonies
Posted in Symphonies on May 6th, 2010
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“Few can deny Bernstein’s lasting importance in promoting Mahler’s cause, for in the 1960s and early ’70s there was only a handful of conductors of comparable magnitude who specialized in this music, and his work…certainly caught the attention of the world.” –All Music Guide
Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich: The Nose
Posted in Operas on May 3rd, 2010
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“Gergiev leads the Chorus and Orchestra and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre in a colorful and propulsive reading that fully exposes the brash quirkiness of the score.” –All Music Guide
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“These trios are impeccably performed and full of zest.” –Democrat and Chronicle
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“[Uchida] brings remarkable sensitivity and insight to every harmonic twist and melodic turn of two of the great masterpieces of the genre.” –New York Times
Gidon Kremer: The Berlin Recital
Posted in Chamber on Apr 28th, 2010
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“Violinist Gidon Kremer and pianist Martha Argerich are two of the greatest living virtuosos on their instruments and, though they are wholly individualistic players, they get along extremely well together.” –All Music Guide
Vincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi
Posted in Operas on Apr 28th, 2010
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“This recording, taken from a live 2008 Vienna performance, delivers fully on the promise of the era of bel canto: beautiful singing. Anna Netrebko is a radiant Juliet. She soars over the orchestra and other singers with agility and grace, and her tone is unfailingly focused, fresh, and pure. Elína Garanca is vocally [...]
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“Dmitri Hvorostovsky has enjoyed an A-list career since he emerged in the early 1990s. His brilliant, yet deceptively dark-hued voice is the embodiment of chiaroscuro, and the combination of vocal polish and emotion that he brings to his performances has made him an audience favorite.”–All Music Guide
Stile Antico: Song of Songs
Posted in Choral on Apr 7th, 2010
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“The members of the British vocal ensemble Stile Antico…have an exceptionally pure and youthful sound. The group works without a conductor, and the sensitivity and attention that that demands of each member pays off beautifully in these performances, where they seem to operate as a single organic entity.”–
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partitas 1, 5 & 6
Posted in Classical, Solo Piano on Apr 6th, 2010
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“Murray Perahia is one of the few genuine stars of the piano…The inner dissonances that make themselves known to anyone who plays Bach seriously are all exposed here, taken slowly and gracefully enough that they seem to hang in the air.”–All Music Guide
Joshua Bell: At Home With Friends
Posted in Solo Violin, Vocal Pop on Feb 23rd, 2010
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Joshua Bell, the Grammy-winning violinist, fulfills a life-long dream of recording a CD of instrumental and vocal duets with a colorful roster of musicians, including Josh Groban, Sting, Kristin Chenoweth, Regina Spektor, and Chris Botti, among others.
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“The transforming power of imagination is rarely shown so clearly…. From the very first bars it feels that something special among Bartoli’s many fine recordings have come into being here with these two distinguished artists in association.”–Gramophone
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Posted in Classical, Symphonies on Oct 27th, 2009
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“This 2009 release of Anton Bruckner’s “Symphony No. 5 in B flat major”…delivers a remarkably clear and cogent reading of Bruckner’s most skillfully wrought symphony, along with a moving account of how Zander came to conduct this work so late in his career. Zander’s grasp of the music is secure throughout, and this [...]