Rarities For Double Bass

As a musician, as a man of ideals, and as a true world citizen, Yehudi Menuhin made an extraordinary mark on his era. The Menuhin Century commemorates the 100th anniversary of his birth on 22 April 1916. Focusing on material completely new to the catalogue, or new to CD, Unpublished Recordings and Rarities spans more than five decades, and includes Menuhin's first European recordings, made in 1929.

The fourth of Motorpsycho’s expanded archival sets revisits 1997’s Angels and Daemons at Play – a chronological and developmental follow-on from the earlier Blissard set…

Bachiana: Music by the Bach family - Double Concertos
Musica Antiqua Köln / Reinhard Goebel
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 414 MB | Full Artwork: 107 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Archiv Produktion, DeutschlandRadio # 471 579-2 AH | Country/Year: Germany 2002
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Classicism

"…Musica Antiqua convey equal vitality and character to the two most striking rarities here. JCF Bach’s double concerto for fortepiano and viola appears as a prototype symphony with important solo interjections. Melodically unexceptional, it is nevertheless stylish in a jejune way. CPE Bach – the most iconoclastic of the sons – successfully combines the prevailing keyboard instruments of the day, harpsichord and fortepiano. Fingers fly with aplomb – and no little mischief – as one is left to ponder the impact of this last Bach generation on Mozart and Beethoven, with whom there were (and are) of course many significant connections. Goebel provides a historical wake-up call." ~Gramophone

2010 stand-alone single disc release that contains all the bonus tracks featured on the second disc of the Deluxe Edition release of this album (ie: does nOT contain the original album, only the rarities associated with that release). Perfect for collectors who may have missed the double disc version or for those who are in search of all the great tracks that were initially exclusive to the Deluxe Edition.

This 40th anniversary box set, lavishly illustrated and exhaustively annotated, features the best of their album tracks, singles and b-sides. All newly re-mastered, achieving the best sound to date - alongside no less than 30 previously unreleased live, broadcast and studio tracks. Among these lost gems are: their very first recording session from 1967; outtakes from The Pentangle (1968) and Reflection (1971); three 1968 BBC radio session tracks newly in stereo; live concert and television tracks spanning 1968- 73; and rare film soundtrack contributions.

This is the sixth set in this comprehensive and excellent Handel edition from Warner. This volume deals with an important oratorio in the shape of "Saul" as well as the "Utrecht Te Deum" and the famous "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" and "Alexander's Feast", another splendid cantata. The recordings date from the early 1970's to 1990 and come from the prolific Teldec stable under the indefatigable Nikolaus Harnoncourt who conducts in his exemplary no nonsense fashion. "Saul' is a fine interpretation although I still feel that John Eliot Gardiner comes to the core of the work better. "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day' is also given a pomp and circumstance treatment whilst the Utrecht Te Deum is winningly done. The team of soloists is also very good and the recordings are fine and well balanced in proper Teldec tradition.

Soon after his return from America, at the height of the war in 1943, Britten wrote incidental music for a radio play by Edward Sackville-West on the Homeric subject of Odysseus’s return to Penelope. Drawn from the complete score with barely any amendment of the original, and compressed into a 36-minute cantata, with Chris de Souza tailoring the text and Colin Matthews, Britten’s last amanuensis, most tactfully editing the music, the result is extraordinarily powerful. The most important role is that of the narrator, here masterfully taken by Dame Janet Baker who brings the story vividly to life despite the stylized classical language (e.g. “Odysseus, Lord of sea-girt Ithaca” or “His fair wife, white-armed Penelope”). Rather confusingly Athene also appears as a soprano, with the radiant Alison Hagley sounding totally unlike Dame Janet. She is one of a godly quartet of singers who contribute Greek-style commentaries – vocal passages which regularly add to the atmospheric beauty of the piece.

Beethoven’s monumental contribution to Western classical music is celebrated here in this definitive collection marking the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Surveying the totality of his career and achievement, the Complete Edition spans orchestral, concerto, keyboard, chamber, music for the stage, choral and vocal works, encompassing his most familiar and iconic masterpieces, alongside rarities and recently reconstructed fragments and sketches in world premiere recordings. The roster of artists and ensembles includes some of Beethoven’s greatest contemporary exponents, in performances that have won critical acclaim worldwide.