Mozart Symphony No. 19

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss' birth, DG gives us this collection featuring the composer as conductor. While on the surface this would seem a wonderful opportunity to hear his music as Strauss intended it, this set winds up being something else: an examination of what happened when 19th century conducting styles met 20th century technology. For while Strauss is regularly feted as being one of the great conductors of his era, those who know also emphasize the fact that he didn't like recording all that much. Thus, this Strauss set is fascinating evidence of how recording technology can alter our perceptions of music.

Musicology is alive and well!« Those who have followed the release history of our edition of the symphonies of Michael Haydn will necessarily have to come to this same conclusion. Whenever another one of his forty-one symphonies that was thought to be lost was found, it was immediately slated for production – and this took its time. During this period the artistic constellations, by which we mean the orchestras and conductors, underwent modification. But now we are on the homestretch: Frank Beermann and the German Chamber Academy of Neuss (continuity!) have produced a splendid recording of the nine »missing« symphonies. These works offer an overview of the entire creative career of Joseph Haydn's younger brother and once again reveal to us a highly imaginative artist who delighted in experimentation and abounded in musical humor. It is thus hardly surprising that the young Mozart repeatedly followed his lead and took him as his model.

Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 1 in C minor Vienna Version 1890/91
Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester / Günter Wand
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 200 MB | Full Artwork: 93 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Victor "Gold Seal" # GD 60076 | Country/Year: Germany 1989, 1982
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

…In his late years, Wand restricted his repertoire almost exclusively to the symphonies of Anton Bruckner (which he had never conducted until he was over 60), Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart. Wand regarded Bruckner as the "most important symphonist after Beethoven". Wand's biographer Wolfgang Seifert believes that "it is no exaggeration to say that Günter Wand has made an indispensable contribution toward the understanding of Bruckner in our time."

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s revelatory interpretation of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall (30/31 May & 2 June 2019) will be released in June 2021. Their new album documents a landmark performance that brought the LA Philharmonic’s centennial season to a triumphant conclusion in 2019. Mahler’s extraordinary ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ spans a universe of emotions, channeled through everything from passages of intimate reflection to overwhelming outbursts of choral and orchestral sound.