Jerry Hadley

I am not an automatic fan of composer-led recordings, even when the composer is as great a conductor as Leonard Bernstein. However, after living with this newcomer for a while, I have to confess that it doesn’t quite match that classic version, even though it does a few things even better. On the plus side, there’s Kent Nagano’s swift and perky direction of some of the music-theater numbers, such as “God Said”, “World Without End”, and in general all of the music in and around the Gloria. But this can be a two-edged sword: The mechanized Credo has less impact than it could; a very quick tempo at the opening of the Agnus Dei prevents the chorus from ever sounding really angry and demanding; and the calamitous Dona Nobis Pacem simply lacks the bluesy sleaze that Bernstein himself wrings out of it. A slower tempo also would have allowed the music’s many layers to register with greater clarity.

The Second Volume of Leonard Bernsteins complete recorded legacy on Deutsche Grammophon: an original jackets collection in an LP-size box with deluxe book, taking in some of his most famous and celebrated recordings. The set comprises Bernsteins complete recordings of composers from Mahler (19 CDs) to Wagner. Includes all of Bernsteins recordings of Mendelssohn, Mozart, Puccini, Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Strauss, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. This repertoire is supplemented by the five American Decca CDs, with performances and analyses of Beethovens Erocia, Schumanns Second, Dvoraks New World, Brahmss Fourth and Tchaikovskys Pathetique.

This is a worthy reading of one of Massenet's best scores, thoughtfully conducted by Kent Nagano. Anne Sofie von Otter combines intelligence and a beautiful voice with passion and conviction in the complicated character of Charlotte. Tenor Jerry Hadley is occasionally afflicted by a musical-theater tendency to croon but expresses most of the torments of the title role, while Dawn Upshaw makes a better-rounded character of Sophie than the average soubrette.

This recording of Così fan tutte was made when the cast was preparing for performances at the 1993 Edinburgh Festival, so the cast had the advantage of enough rehearsal time together to relax into the opera's humor. Their easy rapport is most evident in the spirited recitatives, which sparkle with spontaneity and wit. The fact that the principals are talented comedians makes their unforced interactions genuinely fun, and they sound like they are thoroughly enjoying themselves. Although they are not all international superstars, the performances are stellar. The soloists bring out the humanity and complexity of the opera, and artfully convey their characters' emotional development.

The Requiem in D minor, K. 626, is a requiem mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart composed part of the Requiem in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December the same year…

Sir Neville Marriner conducts this 250th Anniversary performance. Soloists include Sylvia McNair, Anne Sofie Van Otter. The performance is supported by an informative background film "For Ever and Ever", explaining the circumstances behind the compositi.

This is the second fine Don Giovanni we have had within the past year. Like Gardiner (Archiv), Mackerras includes every note Mozart wrote for both the original Prague version and the Viennese revival. Moreover, it is easier than ever for listeners to ‘programme in’ their preferred version: all Prague die-hards have to do is to bypass Don Ottavio’s ‘Dalla sua pace’ in Act I – a beautiful aria, in all conscience, though it holds up the dramatic action at a crucial stage. By coaxing a modern orchestra into a real awareness of period style, Mackerras seems to have the best of both worlds: the playing has admirable liveliness and intensity, and there are none of the intonation problems that so often plague actual period instruments.