Romantic Dynamics

This is Volume 2 in our series of solo piano works by Chopin, played by the French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie. Recording exclusively for Chandos, Lortie is recognised as one of the finest interpreters of Chopin today. He first recorded Chopin’s Études for Chandos more than twenty years ago; the disc was named as one of the ‘50 great performances by superlative pianists’ by BBC Music.

Bruckner - 9 Symphonies - Eugen Jochum (2003) [9CD BoxSet] {Deutsche Grammophon Collectors Edition}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.65 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.28 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 74 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003 Deutsche Grammophon | 469 810 2
Classical / Symphony

The reappearance of this DG set means that once again both of Eugen Jochum’s Bruckner symphony cycles are available at the same price level. The EMI cycle was recorded in 1975-80 with the Dresden Staatskapelle, while DG’s was taped primarily in the 1960s with the Bavarian Radio Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic. There’s little to choose between the two interpretively, as Jochum pretty much maintained his individualistic approach to Bruckner throughout his career. So, take away the uniquely burnished tones of the Dresden brass and for the most part you’ve got two identical cycles (type Q2340 in Search Reviews for a detailed appraisal of the EMI set, as released by Musical Heritage Society).

Frederic Chopin - Evgeni Koroliov - Mazurkas
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 457 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Tacet # TACET 183 | Country/Year: Germany 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

…It was a pleasure to listen to all 25 at one sitting. (…) For warm-hearted performances that are more nostalgic than jaunty and more introspective than aggressive, Evgeni Koroliov is highly recommended. He is helped by a flattering acoustic in Tacet’s recording.

Frederic Chopin - Evgeni Koroliov - Mazurkas
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 457 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Tacet # TACET 183 | Country/Year: Germany 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

…It was a pleasure to listen to all 25 at one sitting. (…) For warm-hearted performances that are more nostalgic than jaunty and more introspective than aggressive, Evgeni Koroliov is highly recommended. He is helped by a flattering acoustic in Tacet’s recording.

The unjustly neglected piano quartet (J76) was completed in September of the year 1809, which the 22-year-old Weber spent in Stuttgart. It was originally offered to the publisher Hans Georg Nägeli, but he rejected it, advising the composer that it created wanton ‘confusion in the arrangement of its ideas’ and indeed too obviously imitated the ‘bizarreries’ of Beethoven. However, the work was issued a year later by the Bonn firm of Beethoven’s friend and admirer Nikolaus Simrock, whose ears were more receptive to the peculiarities of the score than Nägeli.

Miah Persson / Joseph Breinl - Portraits: Songs by Clara and Robert Schumann
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 221 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: BIS # BIS-SACD-1834 | Country/Year: Europe 2011
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

BIS engineers have produced a very naturalistic recording of piano and singer in the former Academy of Music hall in Stockholm. However, the large hall is very obviously empty, from its notable resonance, tending to reduce the perceived image of the players somewhat. These songs were meant for drawing rooms and salons, not large reverberant auditoriums, and personally, I felt that the essential intimacy of a lieder recital was somewhat lacking, and the 5.0 multichannel version rather emphasised this. The resonance does contribute to blurring the singer's diction and also tends to cloud some of the rapid piano figuration. These are minor points, and can be partly overcome by raising the playing volume level.

Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler already enjoyed a worldwide legendary standing during his lifetime he was considered the German conductor and performances were greeted with rapturous applause. Today, more than 50 years after his death, Wilhelm Furtwängler is still an icon and his work has become an integral part of the music scene.