Stravinsky Suita Italian

Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin was born on March 6, 1914, in Russia. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1936, and worked as conductor at the Maly Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Leningrad from 1936-1943. He moved to Moscow in 1943 and worked as the conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre for 16 years. In 1960 Kondrashin was appointed the Artistic Director of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. He conducted the premiere of the Symphony No. 13 "Baby Yar" by Dmitri Shostakovich and Yevgeniy Yevtushenko in 1961. He left the Soviet Union in 1975 and took a post of principal conductor of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1979. Kondrashin is known for his numerous recordings of the music of Soviet composers for Melodiya label during the 60's and 70's.

This twenty-year-old release comes from a time when Myung-whun Chung, a surprise appointment to the new Opera Bastille, suddenly emerged on DG as their leading French conductor. He comes from Korea's first family of classical music and was a gifted, prize-winning pianist before taking to the podium. It's very worthwhile to backtrack and find his early CDs - they are often of very high quality even if they have more or less sliped through the cracks.

Taken as a sampler of the witty aspect of Stravinsky this CD is quite good. Esa-Pekka Salonen has been a champion of Stravinsky's entire output for years now and even in this recording dating back to 1990 his affinity for Stravinsky's idiom is secure. The 'Ragtime' is especially droll and the "Renard the Fox" (called a burlesque tale in song and dance) is taken seriously enough for the comedy to come forth. The 'Octet' for wind instruments is given an excellent reading.

The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time. Concerts (five out of ten are first-time releases): with Abbado, Bernstein, B hm, Boulez, Karajan, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Solti. Soloists include Anne-Sophie Mutter and Jessye Norman.

Ikon by Harry Christophers and the Sixteen is a marvelous offering of sacred choral gems, the group's second collection on Decca following the successful 2005 release Renaissance: Music for Inner Peace. A perfect disc to introduce this well-established vocal ensemble to newcomers, Ikon consists of 16 works that are evenly matched in their sublime moods and understated delivery; listeners who might enjoy an hour-long disc of uninterrupted "chill-out" bliss are likely to find it here, while others who relish gorgeous tone quality and rich divisi harmonies will be delighted with the warm, resonant performances.

The symphonies presented on this CD are all quite different in their compositional intentions and basic stylistic traits, but they do evidence certain parallels in their formal design (two works in one movement, two times three movements), their origins and in several other aspects.

With neo-classical works such as those on this disc, Stravinsky showed that great music could still be composed with the simplest of means, recalling Beethoven’s achievement yet using his own thoroughly modern rhythmic vitality, grace and refinement. The Robert Craft Collection has been acclaimed as “one of the more adventurous and interesting recording projects by Naxos”, with individual titles receiving the highest praise: “an almost unsurpassable choice” (8.557501), “as with all the releases in this magnificent series, the performances are excellent” (8.557502), “a disc of major importance” (8.557508).

This Collector's Edition CD should be an essential item for classical music lovers. I also think that it's most important for people to know that Benny Goodman was recognized not only for his brilliant work as a jazz clarinetist,but also for classical works which were written for and dedicated to him by leading composers of the 2oth century such as Bela Bartok and Aaron Copland. This is an excellent recording that I would highly recommend.

The seventh album by Lucas and Arthur Jussen at Deutsche Grammophon presents music for two pianos by Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Arensky. 'It's like driving a few BMWs', remarked conductor Michael Schønwandt after conducting Dutch brothers Lucas (26) and Arthur Jussen (22). Despite their young age, they have been part of the international concert world for years and are praised by both the press and the public. Not only did their albums have received platinum and gold status, they won several Edison Klassiesek Audience Awards, among others. With the album, the long-planned project to record an album with a beautiful, powerful and technically demanding Russian repertoire is now coming true.

This opera is a masterpiece. The music is some of Stravinsky's finest work and the libretto is brilliant. Based on Hogarth's satirical etchings, this is an ironic look at the nature of love and ambition. Auden and Kallman developed a libretto which is the perfect complement to Stravinsky's neoclassical style. This is probably the finest English language opera and while there isn't much competition for that title, this work is a masterpiece by any standard. This recording is a fine production with excellent singing and orchestral work.