Boris Berezovskij

There's a tendency on the part of some performers to play Beethoven's First and Second Piano Concertos as if they were really by Mozart–all elegance, poise, and refinement. Happily, Boris Berezovsky finds the Beethovenian fire burning beneath the Mozartian surface. Right from his vibrant entrance in Concerto No. 1, Berezovsky plays with fierce energy (despite his generally light touch) and a clearly discernible enjoyment. This is matched Thomas Dausgaard's equally electric reading of the orchestral part, which in many ways reminds me of the classic Szell/Fleisher recording. Of course the small-scale sound of the 38-member Swedish Chamber Orchestra cannot possibly equal the full sonority of the Cleveland Orchestra in its heyday, but it's remarkable how Szell's clear textures and crisp articulation match Dausgaard's, who, by the way, is using the new Barenreiter editions. Berezovsky seems to be of like mind with Fleisher, at least terms of his singing tone and mercurial style.

One of the founders of the Swiss synth pop band Yello, Boris Blank empties his solo vaults on Electrified, an archival set that came into being with some help from online crowd-funding. The 40 tracks here are mostly instrumental, some of them simple sketches, while others sound complete. Blank's trademarks gurgling synths, deep bass, Latin rhythms are all present, and while this quirky, infectious set will likely please all as cheeky audio wallpaper, Yello fans will get the most out of all these peeks behind the curtain. Ambitious fans who missed the boat might seek out the original, crowd-funded special edition which adds more music and artwork.

Universally acknowledged as the greatest of all Russian operas, this is a faithful and often dazzling production of the standard Rimsky-Korsakov version taped ³live² at the Bolshoi in 1978. As Boris, the renowned Yevgeni Nesterenko is as justifiably identified with the role in his generation as Chaliapin, London and Kipness were in theirs. Nesterenko gives a remarkably vivid, human portrait of the tormented half-crazed Tsar, and is supported by a first rate ensemble in a richly designed and costumed production that represents opera at its grandest.

This 10CD box covers the entire range of the repertoire with which Boris Christoff took the world by storm; from his first opera role in La Boheme over the important Verdi roles and his devilish portrayal of Mephisto to the major roles in Russian operas; Christoff took part in no less than 600 performances of Boris Godunov.

The place of Domenico Scarlatti in the history of 18th century music is certainly exceptional. This exquisite and imaginative group of works is included in the fourteenth volume of Scarlatti’s manuscript sonatas preserved in the Marciana Library in Venice. Although known as keyboard sonatas, research reveals that they were very likely to have been conceived for performance on the violin – multi-movement works, often showing the presence of figured bass accompaniment, rapid changes of register and numerous passages better suited to a violin than a keyboard instrument all support the theory. This is flashy and virtuosic writing for violin at its finest.