Brainwave Symphony CD 4

Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 "Italian" & Symphony No. 5 "Reformation"
Boston Symphony Orchestra / Charles Munch (conductor)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 2,37 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,04 GB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Red Seal "Living Stereo" # 82876-71616-2 | Country/Year: US 2006 (1957, 1958, 1960)
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

"…The sound has remarkable little tape hiss, and is typical of the Boston recordings from this source. The strings are warm and solid, the brass not as piercing and obviously virtuostic as at Chicago, the stereo spread rather wide but without a hole in the middle, the orchestra bathed in a lush but not overresonant acoustic." ~sa-cd.net

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major – Kathleen Battle, sporano; Wiener Philharmoniker; Lorin Maazel
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 236 Mb | FLAC+LOG+M3U | No Cue | Full scans | 3 RS links
Publisher: Sony Classical

One of the best performances of Mahler's Fourth Symphony

The musical reconstructions industry keeps gathering pace, but few works have attracted as much attention as Mahler's 10th Symphony. Joe Wheeler (who died in 1977) was a brass-playing British civil servant with a passion for Mahler. This completion (itself in an edition by the conductor here, Robert Olson) uses the leaner orchestration of the composer's later years. But does it sound Mahlerian? Certainly more so than Remo Mazzetti's 1997 version, but neither caps Deryck Cooke's acute sense of authentic detail and color in his legendary edition.

That these symphonies are not more famous than they are simply amazes me. Prokofiev understood the nature of symphonic writing, and after the dainty cuteness of Symphony 1, he was ready to make his own mark. The Symphony 3 (1929) begins with a brash sense of alarm, then becomes quieter, more operatic in nature. And the composer's weird clashing harmonies are throughout the piece. Two versions of the Symphony 4 (1940) exist. This is the original version, which is shorter than the latter 1940 version. Neeme Järvi and the SNO have recorded the entire series for Chandos, and these are the ones to have.

Symphony No.12 "Lodger" represents the conclusion of a thirty year artistic collaboration for Philip Glass using elements of music and texts by David Bowie and Brian Eno. It premiered in January 2019 with vocalist Angélique Kidjo, organist James McVinnie and John Adams conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Philip Glass began his path as a composer of symphonies in 1992 at age of 55 with "Low Symphony" based on music by Bowie and Eno. It was followed in 1995 by Symphony No.4 "Heroes" also based solely on the music of Bowie and Eno. Over two decades later, after Bowie's death in 2016, Glass returned to the idea of concluding the trilogy by approaching the album Lodger as a symphonic subject. This world-premiere recording from Filharmonie Brno and conductor Dennis Russell Davies features Angélique Kidjo and organist Christian Schmitt.

Alfred Schnittke - Symphony No. 4 & Requiem (1990) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-497} (Item #7)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 234 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 186 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 54 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1990 Grammofon AB BIS | BIS-CD-497
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Symphony

Two large scale Schnittke works featuring choir. The Symphony No. 4 is brittle, frequently dissonant and abstract, but not wholly inaccessible; not a piece to immediately grab at a listener. While demanding, the work has sections of alien beauty, such as before and after the entrance of "Ave Maria". Unfortunately the entire piece is relegated to a single track on the CD. The Requiem is more immediately approachable. Eerie and gothic, I'm surprised that it hasn't shown up in a soundtrack. The rock drumming near the end seems a little shocking but is surprisingly effective without seeming a pandering fusion piece.

Commissioned to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution in 1932, Orango tells the fantastical story of a human-ape hybrid, who, through a combination of sleazy journalism, stock-exchange swindles and blackmail, rises to become a ruthless newspaper baron.

Johannes Brahms: Variation on a Theme by Joseph Haydn op. 56a; Nänie op. 82; Symphony No. 4 in E minor op. 98 -
Rundfunkchor Berlin; Berliner Philharmoniker; Claudio Abbado
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 374 MB | FLAC+LOG+M3U+Cue | Complete scans | FP & RS links
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon | Recorded: 1989 | Published: 1998

This last installment in Claudio Abbado's fine Brahms cycle has the same virtues as the previous recordings: excellent playing, fine recording, and an intensely lyrical response to the music that never precludes a healthy dose of energy where required. The high point of the cycle is the Third Symphony, followed by the Second. If you have those and wish to collect the others, they are not far behind in quality and you can buy this disc (and the one with the First Symphony) with complete confidence. The couplings are also very well done. –David Hurwitz