Concert
Mahler Symphony No. 1 and Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 concert. Claudio Abbado conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2009. Yuja Wang is soloist. TV direction by Michael Beyer. Released 2010, music was recorded with 48 kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: C+ for the Prokofiev concerto and C- for the Mahler Symphony No. 1
Read MoreBruckner Symphony No. 4 (the "Romantic"). Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Cleveland Orchestra at the Stiftsbasilika Monastery in St. Florian, Austria in 2012. Produced by Herbert G. Kloiber and Felix Breisach; video director was Brian Large. Released 2013, music was recorded with 48 kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and the disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: A-
Read MoreBruckner Symphony No. 8. Franz Welser-Möst conducted the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall in 2010. Directed for TV and video by William Cosel; audio production by Elaine Martone and Robert Woods; audio recording and mixing by Michael Bishop and Thomas C. Moore; produced by Herbert G. Kloiber. Released 2012, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and the disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B+
Read MoreDes Knaben Wunderhorn concert. Pierre Boulez conducts the Cleveland Orchestra in 2010 at Severance Hall in Cleveland. Soloists Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher present the standard twelve songs from Mahler's Wunderhorn collection. The adagio from Mahler's Symphony No. 10 (unfinished) is also performed. This title, originating with Clasart Film und Fernsehproduktions GmbH, was produced by Herbert G. Kloiber and directed for TV and video by Wiliam Cosel. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C-
Read MoreBruckner Symphony No. 7. Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall in 2008. This title, originating with Clasart Film und Fernsehproduktions GmbH, was produced by Herbert G. Kloiber and directed for TV and video by William Cosel. Released 2011, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and the disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
Read MoreTchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique"). Seiji Ozawa conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin in a disc aimed at the Japanese market (there's a little English on the keep case and the disc menu). This title has not been distributed in Europe or the U.S. It's probably the first HDVD recordings made with 96 kHz/24 bit sound-sampling technology. Directed by Goro Kobayashi; produced by Setsu Mikumo; technical manager was Oleg Anton; video engineer was André Schumann; sound engineer was Felix Kundt, recording engineer was Rainer Höpfner. Released 2008, disc has 50 minutes of music and 5.0 PCM sound. Grade: A+
Read MoreLiszt Piano Concertos concert disc contains the following:
1. Wagner A Faust Overture
2. Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2
3. Wagner Siegfried Idyll
4. Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1
5. Liszt Consolation No. 3
6. Liszt Valse oubliée No. 1
This was performed 2011 at the Philharmonie Hall in Essen as part of the Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Daniel Barenboim is the pianist. Pierre Boulez conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin. Directed for TV by Enrique Sánchez Lansch; Director of Photography was Nyika Jancsó, Audio Producer was Georg Obermeyer; edited by Steffen Herrmann; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released in 2012, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: C-
Read MoreA Flight through the Orchestra: Brahms Symphony No. 2 concert. Performed June 2015 at the Rummelsburg Kraftwerk (Power Station) in Berlin. Tugan Sokhiev conducts the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester. Released 2015, music was recorded at 48kHz/24-bit sampling rate and the disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: D-
Read MoreMendelssohn & Beethoven: Violin Concertos concert. Ricardo Chailly conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Features violinist Nikolaj Znaider. The Beethoven concerto was directed for video by Michael Beyer in 2012, and the Mendelssohn was directed for video by Ute Feudel in 2014. Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Includes the following program:
1. Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major
2. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor
3. Bach Sarabande from Partita for solo violin No. 1 in B minor (encore)
4. Bach Sarabande from Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor (encore)
Bach Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) concert of 6 cantatas recorded 2012 in the Salle Henry Le Bœuf at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. Philippe Herreweghe conducts the Collegium Vocale Gent with soloists Dorothee Mields (soprano), Damien Guillon (countertenor or alto), Thomas Hobbs (tenor), and Peter Kooij (bass). Subtitles in English, German, French, and Japanese. Lighting by Johan de Vogelaere; sound by Walter de Niel, Lode Verschueren, and Johan Favoreel; vision mixer was Herwig Goorts; editing by Michel Vanderhaeghen. Directed for TV by Leonid Adamopoulos; produced by Els T'Seyen. Released 2013, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B+
Read MoreBeethoven Piano Sonatas Vol. 1 played by Rudolf Buchbinder in the Mozarteum Großer Saal at the 2014 Salzburg Festival. Here's the program:
Sonata No. 1 in F minor
Sonata No. 10 in G major
Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, “Sonata quasi una fantasia”
Sonata No. 17 in D minor, “The Tempest”
Sonata No. 18 in E flat major
Sonata No. 5 in C minor
Sonata No. 12 in A flat major
Sonata No. 22 in F major
Sonata No. 4 in E flat major
Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, “Moonlight”
Directed for video by Frédéric Delesque. Released 2015, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and disc has 4.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: D+
Read MoreBeethoven Piano Sonatas Vol. 2 played by Rudolf Buchbinder in the Mozarteum Großer Saal at the 2014 Salzburg Festival. Here's the program:
Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major
Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major
Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major
Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor
Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major
Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, "Les Adieux"
Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major "Hammerklavier"
Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major
Directed for video by Frédéric Delesque. Released 2016, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and disc has 4.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: D+
Read MoreBeethoven Piano Sonatas Vol. 3 played by Rudolf Buchbinder in the Mozarteum Großer Saal at the 2014 Salzburg Festival. Here's the program:
Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major
Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major
Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major "Pastorale"
Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor "Appassionata"
Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major
Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor "Pathetique"
Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major "Waldstein"
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor
Directed for video by Frédéric Delesque. Released 2016, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling and disc has 4.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. The back art on this package is strangely confused speaking of a "DVD 1" and "DVD 2" rather than a single Blu-ray disc. This is just another example of the slovenliness with which this series of 3 discs of Beethoven sonatas was produced and manufactured by C Major. Grade: D+
Read MoreJames Lancelot plays the following selections on the grand organ of the Durham Cathedral:
1. Whitlock "Paean"
2. J. S. Bach "Fantasia and Fugue" in G minor BWV 542
3. Stanley "Andante: Largo" from Trumpet Voluntary (Voluntary in D Op. 6 No.5)
4. F. J. Haydn "Three Pieces for Musical Clocks" Nos. 4, 13 and 25
5. Rheinberger "Sonata No. 7" in F minor Op. 127
6. Stanford "Prelude" Op. 101 No. 5 on St. Columba
7. Stanford "Prelude" Op. 101 No. 5 on Gartan
8. Frank "Piece Heroique"
9. Vierne "Intermezzo" (Symphony No. 3)
10. Dupre "Placare Christe Servulis" Op. 38 No. 16
11. Alain "Deux Dances a Agni Yavishta"
12. Alain "Litanies"
13. Hakim "Mariales"
14. Mulet "Carillon-Sortie"
Priory specializes in church and organ music. This package has a Blu-ray, a DVD, and a CD. Released 2014, recording specs are unclear, and the Blu-ray disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound output. Grade: A
Read More