At the ripe old age of 19 Mozart wrote five violin concertos, and they represent his coming of age as a composer of orchestral music. From here on, it's basically one masterpiece after another. Though not difficult works, technically speaking, they partake in full measure of Mozart's uniquely sensual brand of melody. That means that successful performances must know how to spin out a singing ...
Manufacturer: Philips
This is one of the problem operas of Puccini's maturity, something he began writing while under the spell of Lehar's The Merry Widow that never quite came together as a piece of theater. But the score contains some of Puccini's most congenial music and attractive scoring. An alert, resourceful new presence on the opera scene, conductor Antonio Pappano is just the one to make the best ...
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
It's rather amazing today, when recordings of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier practically fall of the shelves, to recall just how unusual it was back in the 1960s for a pianist to undertake to record this amazing work. It's probably fair to say that until Glenn Gould got his fingers around it, Bach's music was used for teaching purposes more than anything else. What Gould proves in this ...
Manufacturer: Sony
Arthur Grumiaux was among the most elegant and refined violinists who ever recorded. This doesn't preclude his playing the famous Chaconne with lots of power, which he does. But it means hearing Bach with all technical difficulties minimized to give you a clear view of the music. Sometimes, as in Joseph Szigeti's late recordings (Vanguard Classics OVC 8021/2), there is a sense of ...
Manufacturer: RCA
These performances mount the only serious competition as a complete set to the Leon Fleisher/George Szell versions on Sony Classical. Emil Gilels was an extraordinary virtuoso who decided to place his technical wizardry in the service of the most disciplined and demanding classical masterpieces. No piano concertos live up to this description more than the two by Brahms. Himself a pianist, ...
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
Glenn Gould's Bach is by now so ingrained in the 20th-century musical consciousness that it's almost hard to remember just how unusual his devotion to this composer was back in the 1950s and '60s when he first started making records. That his Bach recordings are still the standard by which all others are measured is a tribute to his self-awareness as an artist. If you are looking for the essential ...
The best Traviata on disc? If not, it's within hailing distance. No true Verdian would want to be without Callas's 1955 live recording, and it's hard not to love those starring Moffo, Caballe, Scotto, Sutherland, and de los Angeles among others. But this set offers the best all-round combination of excellent sound, fine singing, and dynamic conducting. Ileana Cotrubas is a ...
Manufacturer: Sony Bmg Europe
