Gounod String Quartet

Never mind the Symphonie espagnole and Le roi d’Ys, Edouard Lalo is the last of the great unknowns in 19th-century French music. His mature instrumental works combine the wisdom drawn from his professional playing experience with the familiar flair for rhythm and colour. They are likely to transform any opinion you may hold: it isn’t often that the inspiration of Beethoven was so well digested in France. The first two trios don’t really count as mature, and although they contain fine things, especially in the scherzos, their characteristic soul, sweep and dash are often clumsily handled. With No. 3, form and feeling are as one, the first movement’s surges integral to its progress to a hushed end, while the slow movement builds a powerful span from a sustained melody. Between them comes the irresistible piece better known in Lalo’s later arrangement as a Scherzo for orchestra. These performances have the necessary robustness without stinting on delicacy.

‘A dancer’s blood runs in my veins’ announces the heroine of Léhar’s Giuditta in the beguiling bolero-cum-waltz ‘Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß!’ which blazes into life around fifteen minutes into today’s Recording of the Week from Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and special guests including lutenist David Bergmüller, Quinteto Ángel and the vision string quartet.

On the occasion of the bicentenary of Charles Gounod’s birth, this first complete string quartet (including two unpublished ones) on period instruments reveals an unknown part of his production, dominated by vocal music. Composer of the very end of the 19th century, Gounod and his five quartets are the worthy heir of the Viennese classicism tradition. The lyrical accents of the Quartet in G minor or the airy lightness of the Scherzo of the Petit Quatuor evoke nothing less than the names of Schubert and Mendelssohn. The musicians of the Quatuor Cambini-Paris (Julien Chauvin, Karine Crocquenoy, Pierre-Éric Nimylowycz and Atsushi Sakaï) gracefully reproduce these pages, full of gravity and sweetness.

If your ideal vocal recording places the performer next to your seat and your ideal vocal performance has the performer singing directly into your ear, this disc by mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená will be just about ideal. No matter what the repertoire – and Kozená performs everything from Bach to Gounod to Shostakovich – and no matter what the context – and Kozená takes on everything from song to opera to oratorio – Kozená is right next to the listener, singing straight into his/her ear. Given her exceedingly warm tone, her extremely rich delivery, and her extraordinarily sibilant pronunciation, Kozená's intimate delivery may be too much for those with heart conditions or those all too easily affected by singers. But for those made of sterner stuff, Kozená's performances here will be the stuff dreams are made of.

The Masterworks Heritage series, issued in the mid-90s, received outstanding critical acclaim for the choice of repertoire and recordings, for the editorial /packaging and the splendid remastering of early mono and stereo tape masters, This 28-CD-box set contains 20 of the best Masterworks Heritage releases. The CDs are in paper-sleeves with the original artwork of the former CD/LP. The booklet with tracklisting and the original liner notes in in English, all presented in special 2-part-box with slider.

Never aging and always giving peace and pleasure … A magical combination of notes, Great sorcerers … Here is the music that sounds in this release, presented to us by Madacy Special Mkts, giving you the opportunity to once again join with a beautiful, in a kind of selection, seemed to have long been familiar to all of us, works …

Various Artists - 101 Relaxing Classics (2016) {6CD Box Set Decca 478 5074 rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.81 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.06 Gb
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© 2013, 2016 Decca Music | 478 5074
Classical

With the stresses and strains of modern life to contend with, many turn to classical music for solace and this varied collection of over seven and a half hours of relaxing favorites is the perfect antidote to the pressures of modern life. The set is themed and starts with two CDs of choral music, many of which are vocal arrangements of familiar favorites. These are followed by CDs devoted respectfully to flute and harp, the classical guitar, piano and orchestral music. Those who enjoyed the 101 Adagios set will find much to enjoy here, and can be reassured that any duplication is kept to an absolute minimum and where it does occur, is in strikingly different arrangements. The artists at the helm of this relaxing journey include the choirs of King s College Cambridge and the New College Oxford, flautist William Bennett and harpist Marisa Robles, Pepe Romero, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert von Karajan and Sir Georg Solti.