Eugene Oneguin

The third volume in John Zorn's "Olympiad" series is this solo performance in 2007 at the Kompo Cultural Center in Gyungee, Korea by Zorn associate and eccentrically eminent improviser Eugene Chadbourne, performing on electric and acoustic guitars as he interprets 15 compositions for improvisers from John Zorn's seminal 1976 series: The Book of Heads.

Carl August Nielsen (Danish: ; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish musician, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's greatest composer. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age. He initially played in a military band before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen from 1884 until December 1886. He premiered his Op. 1, Suite for Strings, in 1888, at the age of 23. The following year, Nielsen began a 16-year stint as a second violinist in the prestigious Royal Danish Orchestra under the conductor Johan Svendsen, during which he played in 's Falstaff and Otello at their Danish premieres. In 1916, he took a post teaching at the Royal Academy and continued to work there until his death.

Sony Classical announces another ten releases in its popular series of Classical Masters. This new batch of budget-priced sets contains major recording projects by some of the 20th centurys most celebrated musicians. Two boxes in this new batch of Original Masters feature Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The 4-album Richard Strauss set gathers together all of their early 1960s recordings of the famous tone poems along with Salomes Dance, the Rosenkavalier and Bürger als Edelmann suites, the Burleske with soloist Rudolf Serkin and the First Horn Concerto, featuring Philadelphia principal Mason Jones.

This compilation is excellent value. It's interesting how, as the major classical labels mine their back catalogues, once famous artists, not forgotten but perhaps somewhat sidelined by later arrivals, are being reappraised and brought back into favour. Eugene Ormandy is one such. Reissue of many of his recordings is richly deserved and hopefully will introduce a younger generation to his recorded legacy, the product of his legendary 44-year tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

This recording derives from a production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1974 conducted by Solti.The team of singers here is entirely strong and convincing . As Onegin, Bernd Weikl skillfully suggests a range of feeling: scorn, vindictiveness, regret and desolation. Teresa Kubiak is an endearing Tatyana, especially strong in the last scene. Stuart Burrows is unexcelled as Lenski. Almost stealing the show, is the Gremin of Nicolai Ghiaurov, whose solitary appearance in Act 3 is well worth the wait.

The six Sonatas for solo violin of Eugène Ysaÿe are essential works in his catalog, inspired by the sonatas and partitas of J.S. Bach, and composed as a tribute to the violinists Joseph Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crickboom, and Manuel Quiroga. These pieces suggest a Janus-like combination of retrospection and the avant-garde, hearkening to the past through allusive figurations and direct quotations (e.g., references in the Sonata No. 2 to Bach's Partita No. 3 and the Dies Irae), but looking to the future in the use of extended violin techniques and novel sonorities. Alina Ibragimova's 2015 release on Hyperion is an absorbing performance, concentrated in tone and accomplished in technique, yet wonderfully ambiguous in expression, in keeping with Ysaÿe's quirky mix of playfulness and high-minded seriousness. Recorded in the concert hall of Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, in May 2014, Ibragimova has great clarity and presence, and the acoustics provide enough resonance to soften the violin's sometimes overly rosinous sound.

In 1943, Orff followed up the overwhelming success of his Carmina Burana with Catulli Carmina, another staged choral work scored for percussion and pianos. The text of this parable of the power of Eros is drawn from poems by Catullus. The 1967 American Columbia recording, with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra and Temple University Choir and featuring soprano Judith Blegen and tenor Richard Kness “has plenty of vitality” (Gramophone). Its first appearance on CD is sure to be welcomed by the many devotees of Orff’s music.