Romantic Dynamics

Frederic Chopin: Waltzes (Jean-Marc Luisada)
Apple Lossless (XLD) | Cue + Log | Deutsche Grammophon 431 779-2 | 1 CD, 191 MB
Classical | Cover, no scans | Rapidshare

Though Luisada is by no means old, his playing takes us back to another age.
Arthur Rubinstein boasted that he changed the way Chopin was perceived, making him more masculine and straightforward than romantic players like de Pachmann and Paderewski did. Rubinstein's Chopin was in fact a reflection of his own more literal time – a time that also produced Backhaus and Toscanini – as well as Rubinstein's own love for the classiciam of Brahms which, under the influence of Joachim, pre-dated the Polish expatriate's love for Chopin.
Rubinstein clearly felt uncomfortable with the feminine, salon qualities that cannot be divorced from Chopin's sensibility. Descriptions of the composer's own playing make it clear that he was improvisatory, ethereal in his dynamics and that he reveled in rubato; Chopin was even accused of not being able to play in time. These qualities are rarely evident in modern players, who imagine they present a "greater" Chopin by robbing him of his true personality.
Luisada is not a modern player. His Chopin evokes memories of some of the greatest interpreters of earlier ages – especially de Pachmann and Maryla Jonas (whose rare recordings are available from Pearl). Luisada's rubato will seem willful and wayward to those raised to believe Rubinstein was the last word on Chopin, but it will delight those who would like to hear something closer to the first word.

–Amazon.com [5-star] review

Anton Bruckner - Sinfonie 0 "Annulierte" & 00 "Stundensinfonie"
Sinfonieorchester Aachen / Marcus Bosch
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,54 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,20 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Coviello Classics # COV 31315 | Country/Year: Germany 2013 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Early 20th Century

"…A box set of the entire cycle was issued at around the same time as this release. Although Bosch’s fast tempos might make some of the individual movements less attractive, I suspect that, in its entirety, the cycle will be well worthwhile, especially for the sheer drama he draws from this music, the quality of the orchestra, and of the recorded soundscape, both from the acoustic itself and the SACD engineering. Of the individual discs, the early symphonies deserve the highest recommendation, the Second Symphony in particular, but also this, although chiefly for the Zero Symphony, by far the finest of the two compositions on the disc." ~Fanfare

A great debut makes an impression that remains in your memory for a lifetime. But how often do you hear two amazing debuts in one performance? That’s what happened more than forty years ago when Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli made simultaneous Met debuts in Il Trovatore before a delirious public. A week later, the February 4, 1961, Saturday matinee Trovatore was broadcast live on the Texaco-Metropolitan Opera radio network. New York had been hit by a major snowstorm, but the house was packed with an enthusiastic audience, alerted by the reviews to the sensational new singers.

This is the latest release in the very successful Janowski Bruckner cycle. The previous releases have received rave reviews. Rob Cowan wrote in the Gramophone (Symphony No.7); “This is yet another significant step towards what I am convinced will eventually turn out to be one of the finest recorded Bruckner cycles of the 21st century.”

Franz Schmidt - Symphony No. 4 / Intermezzo from "Notre Dame"
Beethoven Orchester Bonn - Stefan Blunier
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 2,68 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 792 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "Live" # 937 1631-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2010
Genre: Classical | Style: Late Romantic

…MDG’s 5.1/stereo/2+2+2 recording, apparently the first in a new series of live recordings by these artists, is superb. It is spacious with a wide dynamic range. The sound reaches the listener from a midway position in the Beethovenhalle, Bonn, that in no way limits the impact of the massive tam-tam strokes and cymbals at the climaxes, yet allows the strings to exhibit a pleasing smoothness and bloom. There is no trace to be heard of an audience or applause at the end of a work that demands reflective silence following its conclusion.Those contemplating purchasing a recording of this supremely beautiful masterpiece should definitely add Blunier’s eloquent reading to their shortlist.