Mdg

Gideon Klein - Ensemble Villa Musica - Chamber Music
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 250 MB | Full Artwork: 92 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" / "Anthologie Deutscher Musik im Osten" # 304 0618-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1995
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Chamber Music

“It’s good to have a disc devoted to Klein’s music in the superb performances and lifelike sonics we’ve come to expect from Ensemble Villa Musica and MDG.“ (American Record Guide)

Ernst Krenek - Sonare-Quartett - Complete String Quartet
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 1,26 GB | Partial Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG # L 4280 | Country/Year: Germany 1992
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

”… an outstanding project of landmark proportions…MDG has produced an excellent warm, intimate, life-sized recording. The composer provides his customarily thorough and enlightening notes … Highly recommended.” (Fanfare)

George Frideric Handel - Saul [HWV 53] (3xCD)
Kölner Kammerchor / Collegium Cartusianum / Peter Neumann
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 955 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 332 0801-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1998
Genre: Classical | Hoster: Style: Oratorio

…Against the competition, this new German recording rates very high. It is certainly superior to Harnoncourt's heavily cut and somewhat mannered Teldec reissue.

George Frideric Handel - Belshazzar [HWV 61] (3xCD)
Kölner Kammerchor / Collegium Cartusianum / Peter Neumann
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 1,06 GB | MP3 CBR 320: 404 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold" # 332 1079-2 | Country/Year: Germany 2001
Genre: Classical | Hoster: Style: Baroque, Oratorio

From bar one, I felt an assurance and naturalness about the rhythms, a clarity and tonal richness in the orchestral and vocal texture, a stylishness of phrasing and embellishment, and a sheer zest and power of dramatic presentation that add up to a totally convincing and gripping whole. […] Neumann and his team have excelled themselves, and so has Handel, and anyone who thinks 18th-century music wanting in musico-dramatic force is urged to acquire this magnificent set without delay.

Adolph Henselt - Piano Trio, Duo, Variations
Claudius Tanski / Benjamin Schmid / Clemens Hagen / Vincent Levesque
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 331 MB | Full Artwork: 134 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Gold, Edition IME" # 312 1022-2 | Country/Year: Germany 2000
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Piano

…Tanski’s talent makes the Variations de Concert an enjoyable closer. In this, the aria “Io son ricco e tu sei bella” from Donizetti’s Elisire d’Amore is given the usual 19th century virtuoso treatment by Henselt, but Tanski never gives in to flash. He evokes a broad range of emotions, always managing to keep things from becoming kitsch. By himself, Tanski is worthy of a warm recommendation…

Morton Feldman - Steffen Schleiermacher - The Late Piano Works Vol. 3
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 109 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Scene" # 613 1523-2 | Country/Year: Germany 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary, Avant-Garde

…Thanks to the unprocessed and fully natural audio signal, all of the nuances of Schleiermacher's touch are captured, yet there is also a slight background sound that apparently comes from the performance space, not from any defect in the all-digital recording. Listeners may find that this is only a mild distraction and easy to get past once the music takes hold. This important series is recommended for all Feldman aficionados and anyone interested in the sublime expressions of his late period.

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy - Elias: Oratorio on words of the Old Testament op. 70
Das Neue Orchester / Chorus Musicus Köln / Christoph Spering
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 556 MB | Full Artwork: 203 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Live" # 602 1656-2 | Country/Year: Germany 2010
Genre: Classical | Style: Oratorio, Sacred, Romantic

…And, in fact, Elias has rarely been performed with greater respect for the original than it is here under the conductor Christoph Spering, who has recorded this “sacred opera” with his New Orchestra and the Chorus Musicus Köln in Essen’s Philharmonic Hall with the composer’s “dramatic ideal” fully in mind and heart. (…) The result was in fact an oratorio in opera form and a wealth of dramaturgical elements that absolutely enthralled the public. Fresh Interpretation Just as the composer would have wanted it, Christoph Spering has selected a full chorus and a magnificently dimensioned orchestra for this recording. The New Orchestra performs on historical instruments and in the two years since its founding has gained renown as an outstanding interpreter of the music of the romantic era. (…) Brisk tempos, sharp delineation, powerful expression, and interpretive freshness are the hallmarks of this new discovery for the MDG Live label.

Darius Milhaud - Ensemble Villa Musica - Kammer-Symphonien No. 1-6 / Suite D'Après Corrette / Les Rêves De Jacob
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 233 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG # L 3449 | Country/Year: Germany 1992
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary

Milhaud’s six little symphonies are brief, lighthearted experiments in sound combinations, and they are also very charming. These performances are delightful … precise, spirited, brilliant …
I don’t see how anyone could go wrong with these performances, which MDG captures in bright, characterful sound.