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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Erich Kleiber
Beethoven: | Fidelio Overture Op. 72c Recording: Funkhaus, Saal 1, WDR Cologne, 7 January 1956 | Berg: | 3 Wozzeck-Fragments Recording: Funkhaus, Saal 1, WDR Cologne, 23 November 1953 Annelies Kupper (soprano) | Schubert: | Symphony No. 9 in C major, D944 'The Great' Recording: Funkhaus, Saal 1, WDR Cologne, 7 January 1956 |
Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Erich Kleiber This is the fourth Erich Kleiber (1890-1965) release on the Medici label and includes two rarities - Beethoven's Fidelio Overture and Berg's Three Scenes from Wozzeck with Annelies Kupper (soprano) taken from the extensive Erich Kleiber archive in the WDR in Cologne where he was particularly active after the War having returned from exile in 1948. The Fidelio Overture from 1956 has been 'lifted' from Kleiber's complete recording of his WDR broadcast of the opera and is powerfully projected in excellent sound. There is no other performance of the Fidelio Overture available with Kleiber. Berg's Three Scenes from the opera Wozzeck date from 1953 and have only been available before on a pirate LP. Kleiber was a friend of the composer and was a major pioneer of Berg's music in the 1930's despite the Nazi's hostility to atonal music. His son Carlos Kleiber continued the tradition of programming these 'fragments' as well as Lulu and Wozzeck. The famous live performance of Schubert's Symphony No.9 from 1953 (the same concert as the Berg) has been available before but from poorer second generation sounding tapes. As with other Kleiber releases, the WDR sound from the original master tapes is superb. “Erich Kleiber conducted the world premiere of Berg's Wozzeck in 1925, so the release of his 1953 Cologne Radio performance of the concert Fragments is of immeasurable importance, historically as well as artistically. It is supreme in its compassion and rage, though in some respects it stands apart from other Berg interpretations of its time. Sopranos at the time tended to play Marie unsympathetically, but Annelies Kupper invests her with tremendous tragic dignity, and sings her music with a psychological veracity that is second to none.” The Guardian, 8th August 2008 ***** | 
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| |  | Berg - Complete Chamber Music
Pierre Woudenberg (clarinet), Bob Zimmerman (harmonium) & Sepp Grotenhuis (piano) Schoenberg Quartet This disc of Berg’s complete output for chamber music was originally issued by Chandos in 2001, as part of the Schoenberg Quartet’s traversal of all the chamber music written by the Second Viennese School. It included many rarities and arrangements – here, for instance, is the only currently available recording of Berg’s own transcription of the last of his early and passionate Altenberg-Lieder for a quartet of piano, harmonium, violin and cello, made for performance at an influential private musical society, established by Schoenberg in 1900 in order to play and promote the revolutionary music of himself, his friends and associates, away from the catcalls of the conservative Viennese public. This disc contains some of the most heartfelt and openly passionate music from a musical school often regarded as forbidding and abstract. “The Lyric Suite is among the crowning works of modern quartet literature, and the Schoenberg Quartet has the measure of its diverse moods and twin-track trajectory of increasing dynamism and emotional intensity.” Gramophone Magazine |
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| |  | The Alban Berg Quartet - The Teldec Recordings (1971-79)
Berg: | String Quartet, Op. 3 Lyric Suite - String Quartet (1926) | Brahms: | String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2 String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67 | Dvorak: | String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106 (B192) | Haydn: | String Quartet, Op. 74 No. 3 in G minor 'The Rider' String Quartet, Op. 76 No. 3 in C major 'Emperor' | Mozart: | Six Quartets dedicated to Haydn (Quartets 14-19) String Quartet No. 20 in D major, K499 'Hoffmeister' String Quartet No. 21 in D major, K575 'Prussian No. 1' String Quartet No. 22 in B flat major, K589 'Prussian No. 2' String Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K590 'Prussian No. 3' | Schubert: | String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D804 'Rosamunde' String Quartet No. 9 in G minor, D173 | Urbanner: | String Quartet No. 3 | Webern: | Five movements for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909) Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913) String Quartet, Op. 28 (1937-38) |
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| |  | Schoenberg - Complete String QuartetsRecorded 1950-1952
Founded by the composer Robert Mann following the
inspiration of William Schuman, the Juilliard Quartet, made up
entirely of professors from the renowned New York school, was
to take centre stage in the history of 20th century musical
creativity.The first concert was given on 10th December 1946 before an audience that included Yehudi
Menuhin and Zoltán Kodály.The level of excellence and insatiable curiosity of the group soon became
something of a legend.The first American versions of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15 and Ainsi la Nuit by
Henri Dutilleux are also owed to the Juilliard Quartet, as well as world premières of over 60 other American
composers including Elliott Carter.
In 1950, the Juilliard Quartet performed Schoenberg's String Quartets in the presence of the composer himself.
"Our interpretation was wilder than Schoenberg had expected", explained Mann "and when we played
the first quartet for him he declared that it was a way of interpreting it that he had not imagined.We were
stunned. Schoenberg burst out laughing and added: 'But play it that way, it's good!'". “The performances date from 1950 to 1952, so the performers are the original Juilliard members. The recorded sound is not of the most refined, but the febrile passion and intelligence of the playing carry all before them. Schoenberg’s amazing, 42-minute, single-span Quartet No 1 is launched with a fury, and this opening theme is rarely absent from the texture; No 2 brings the still staggering textural surprise of a soprano (the limpid Uta Graf) in two of the movements; No 4 has a bizarre 12-tone catchiness.” Sunday Times, 25th May 2008 *** |
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| |  | Vladimir Jurowski - Live from the Royal Festival Hall
Marisol Montalvo, Hedwig Fassbender, Michael Hendrick & Anthony Michaels-Moore London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Vladimir Jurowski Recorded live at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall,
London, 19 September 2007 “The cogently-planned programme works magnificently in execution. Jurowski is thoughtful and unegotistical in the 50-minute accompanying interview, and you can watch him closely in the second DVD which places the 'conductor camera' in a box in the corner of the screen.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 ***** “Pulling off such a programme demands absolute conviction in the moment of performance, and this concert had it in spades. If this is a sign of things to come, the Jurowski/LPO partnership will set a standard by which all other London orchestras are judged.” Financial Times  BBC Music Magazine
DVD Choice - July 2008 |
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Theo Adam, Reiner Goldberg, Helmuth Klotz, Horst Hiestermann, Konrad Rupf, Gisela Schroter, Gisela Pohl Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Leipzig, Herbert Kegel | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Patricia Wise, Wolfgang Schöne, Peter Straka, Brigitte Fassbaender, Graham Clark French National Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Franz Hawlata, Angela Denoke, Reiner Goldberg, Vivian Tierney, Johann Tilli, Hubert Delamboye & David Kuebler Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu & Vivaldi Chorus – IPSI – Petits Cantors de Catalunya, Sebastian Weigle Recorded live at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona in January 2006 ‘The quite sensational Chorus and Orchestra, revealed a worldclass theatre company, with a conductor London should book soon. Sebastian Weigle read the score with suavity, so that it seemed as if Wozzeck was more than a little influenced by Mahler; and how thankful I felt for that ingratiating, mellow and fierce sound!’ Musical Opinion | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Schoenberg, Berg & Webern - String Quartets
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| |  | Christianne Stotijn - Debut
Christianne Stotijn (mezzo-Soprano) & Joseph Breinl (piano) “a really exciting event” Gramophone Magazine  CD Review
Critics Disc of the Year - December 2006 |
BBC Music Magazine Choral & Song Choice - April 2006 |
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