Jansons Its Last Concert

It's a tall order to compile the best classical music of the twentieth century, but EMI has selected its top 100 classics for this six-disc set, and it's difficult to argue with most of the choices. Without taking sides in the great ideological debates of the modern era – traditionalist vs. avant-garde, tonal vs. atonal, styles vs. schools, and so on – the label has picked the composers whose reputations seem most secure at the turn of the twenty-first century and has chosen representative excerpts of their music. Certainly, the titans of modernism are here, such as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Béla Bartók, Dmitry Shostakovich, Sergey Prokofiev, Claude Debussy, and Benjamin Britten, to name just a few masters, but they don't cast such a large shadow that they eclipse either their more backward-looking predecessors or their more experimental successors.

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies: Symphonies 14 & 15
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Dmitrij Kitajenko
2xSACD | SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 2,79 & 2,69 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 841 & 976 MB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Capriccio # SACD71-039/40 | Country/Year: Germany 2005 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

"Symp 15: Very good performance. A lot of character in I, darkness in II. III is devilish. IV is very powerful, with chilling final percussion chatterings. Sanderling's stereo SA-CD is very good, but the sound isn't as good; Fedoseev's SA-CD has character, but Kitajenko has better sound and performance." ~sa-cd.net

The last recording of conductor Lorin Maazel. World-famous conductor Lorin Maazel was chief conductor of the Münchner Philharmoniker until shortly before his death in July 2014 at the age of 84. This live recording, which happened in February 2014, is probably the last recording of Maazel. It documents an acclaimed and moving concert in the Munich Philharmonie with Lorin Maazel and the Münchner Philharmoniker and their choir per-forming Verdi’s famous requiem. The excellent soloists were Anja Harteros (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano), Wookyung Kim (tenor) and Georg Zeppenfeld (bass).

Following the success of her discs of Romantic and Late Romantic repertoire, Vilde Frang has recorded Mozart’s Concertos Nos. 1 and 5 ‘Turkish’ and the Sinfonia Concertante K364, enabling music lovers to hear the Norwegian violinist perform Classical repertoire on disc for the first time. The impetus for this album was a 2012 orchestral tour of Asia conducted by Jonathan Cohen in which Vilde performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5. The vibrancy of their musical collaboration was something both artists were keen to repeat and commit to disc. Jonathan’s Cohen’s chamber orchestra, Arcangelo, proved the ideal partner, joined by violist Maxim Rysanov in the Sinfonia Concertante.

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies: Symphony 13
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Dmitrij Kitajenko
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,55 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,01 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Capriccio # SACD71-038 | Country/Year: Germany 2005 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

"Moving, intelligent, and sometimes powerful singing by the bass soloist throughout. Good chorus. Chimes are chillingly reproduced, as are some of the other percussion effects (for instance the woodblock in "In the Store"). Excellent tuba playing in "Fears"." ~sa-cd.net

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies: Symphony 11
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Dmitrij Kitajenko
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,62 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,07 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Capriccio # SACD71-036 | Country/Year: Germany 2005 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

"Beautiful, full rich string sound, and great sound overall. I is fantastic. II is slightly slower than I prefer (about 4'30"), but Kitajenko does very well with it, sustaining tension throughout. III is terrific; you can hear and feel the soft percussion toward the end. IV again has a slightly slower basic tempo than usual, but tension is sustained throughout, and the playing responsive." ~sa-cd.net

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies: Symphony 12
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Dmitrij Kitajenko
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 2,32 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 703 MB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Capriccio # SACD71-037 | Country/Year: Germany 2005 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

"Full and rich start. Slight transient noise from left front in first movement, about 3 minutes in. Horns at start of IV lack a little nobility, but otherwise performance is excellent throughout; timpani in IV, starting about 6'20", are thunderous." ~sa-cd.net

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies: Symphony 8
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Dmitrij Kitajenko
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 4,00 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,08 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Capriccio # SACD71-013 | Country/Year: Germany 2004 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

"Icy cold I. II and III are powerful. Rostropovich's recording also has great sound, and perhaps a little more character. Sanderling's stereo SA-CD is a very good performance but no competition sonically." ~SA-CD.net

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Symphonies: Symphony 10
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Dmitrij Kitajenko
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,23 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 985 MB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Capriccio # SACD71-035 | Country/Year: Germany 2005 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century, Contemporary

"Beautiful, full rich string sound, and great sound overall. I is fantastic. II is slightly slower than I prefer (about 4'30"), but Kitajenko does very well with it, sustaining tension throughout. III is terrific; you can hear and feel the soft percussion toward the end. IV again has a slightly slower basic tempo than usual, but tension is sustained throughout, and the playing responsive." ~SA-CD.net

Andris Nelsons is one of the most sought-after young conductors on the international scene today and once again served notice of his extraordinary talent in Summer 2011 when he conducted two concerts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam at the prestigious Lucerne Festival.