Lied

Lieder ohne Worte – Songs without Words – seems to be a description invented by Mendelssohn himself for these short, lyrical and descriptive piano pieces which he composed so prolifically. Indeed, it is arguable that these works define his pianistic output in the same way that the Mazurka defines Chopin’s. Publishing them in sets of six, Mendelssohn composed Lieder ohne Worte throughout his career – they proved a type of composition to which he had a lifetime attraction. For the first volume, rather than approaching them chronologically or as complete sets, Peter Donohoe selected pieces to build a satisfying programme.

“O sing unto the Lord a new song.” What a beginning for a piece of choral music! If you’re a composer, it draws you like a magnet. And so it has proven throughout the centuries. Who knows, maybe you’ll write the definitive version. And, until someone figures out a way to copyright the Bible, it’s free! Putting together a compilation of settings by great composers was a natural idea, and here it is. But—beware! Everything is not as it seems.

Gustav Mahler - Nine Symphonies, Orchestral Songs, etc. - Sinopoli (2015) {17CDs Deutsche Grammophon}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.88 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 214 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Deutsche Grammophon
Classical / Romantic / Symphonic

My first reaction was to wonder whether we had not passed saturation-point for recordings of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Over a dozen are currently available, of which any one of those mentioned above should satisfy the needs of even an insatiable Mahlerian. All are performances on insight, executed in majestic style, and several are available on CD. Now comes Sinopoli to add to the pile. Remembering colleagues' reviews of his London performances of Mahler, I put this recording on the turntable with misgivings. But I have to report that I now gladly make room for this remarkable performance alongside my other favourites. It does not displace them, but it complements them.
Part of the art of conducting seems to me to lie in the ability to make the listener attend afresh to familiar music, to reveal new or different facets. This is what Sinopoli does here, and whatever may go on in the concert hall (I have not heard him there), in the recording studio, judging by this release, the most certainly does not miss or misjudge the spirit of the music.

Haitink's Mahler interpretations offer a combination of objectivity and distance, emotional reflection and release, continuity and tradition. Under Haitink, the Concertgebouw secured its reputation as one of the world's great Mahler orchestras and their cycle of the composer's symphonies and orchestral songs stands as witness to the orchestra's feeling for its deep history and to the enduring artistry of its conductor.

The Flemish composer-organist Flor Peeters was celebrated in his lifetime with a concert career that took him all around Europe, as well as to America, South Africa and Australia, while remaining the organist of St Rombout’s Cathedral in Mechelen. He was trained as a Catholic church musician and Gregorian chant and the medieval modes remained a lifelong inspiration for his music.