Ruy Blas

Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the London Symphony Orchestra join forces once again in the latest instalment of their exploration of Mendelssohn’s symphonies. Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 5, commonly known as the ‘Reformation’ Symphony, was written in 1830 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Augsberg confession – a seminal event in the Protestant Reformation. Allusions to the symphony’s title and inspiration can be heard throughout the music itself; the Dresden Amen is cited by the strings in the first movement whilst the finale is based on Martin Luther’s well-known chorale Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (‘A Mighty Fortress is Our God’). Coupled with this are two of Mendelssohn’s overtures, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and Ruy Blas, both of which were inspired by literary works. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, based on two short poems by Goethe, depicts the journey of sailors at sea with a still adagio opening ultimately giving way to a triumphant homecoming. Completing the album, the overture Ruy Blas was commissioned by the Leipzig Theatre as an overture to Victor Hugo’s tragic drama of the same name.

Sony Classical is proud to announce an unparalleled reissue of Pierre Monteux’s RCA Victor recordings. They are being issued together for the first time in a single original jacket collection of 40 CDs.
Each and every recording in this new 40-CD set comes from the best source, including previous Living Stereo, SACD and XRCD reissues. Many others have been newly remastered from the original 78-rpm matrices or tapes.

Gathered here, the three discs with Felix Mendelssohn’s symphonies recorded in 2007 and 2008 by Andrew Litton and his Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra were warmly received by the reviewers when they were first released.

Sony Classical is proud to announce an unparalleled reissue of Pierre Monteux’s RCA Victor recordings. They are being issued together for the first time in a single original jacket collection of 40 CDs. Each and every recording in this new 40-CD set comes from the best source, including previous Living Stereo, SACD and XRCD reissues. Many others have been newly remastered from the original 78-rpm matrices or tapes.

Sir Neville Marriner founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 1958, and led the ensemble for over half a century. He became the face of recorded classical music for millions of listeners, as Toscanini, Bernstein and Karajan had been before. In later years, Capriccio stepped in when other labels showed no interest in recording the Academy in larger-scale, romantic repertoire, exemplified by the set of Tchaikovsky symphonies that are the focal point of this 14-CD collection. 'The members of the Academy, trained on quite different repertory, let their hair down in playing that is both crisp and alert, obviously enjoying their outing into this pop repertory' Edward Greenfield, Gramophone.

The symphonies are well-performed. 'Reformation' is an inspired live recording. The 12 string symphonies, written in Mendelssohn's youth, are also included. The concertos are exceptional - the violin concerto is as good as you'll find anywhere. The oratorios Elijah and Paulus are included, as well as the complete chamber works and a diverse assortment of choral works. The last few discs include the Lied ohne worte, the epic organ sonatas, and excellent renditions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Fingal's Cave. While there are a few sketchy performances in the choral and chamber works, the performances and recordings are generally very solid, and the body of work couldn't be better.

Schuricht subsumed his ego in favour of creating a coherent, clear-flowing narrative. The Decca Recordings affords us a fresh opportunity to rediscover this eloquent interpreter of the Austro-German greats in this 10-CD original jackets set featuring all his Decca recordings and the first international release on CD of his 6 albums from the 78rpm era.