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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Leonard Bernstein: Humor in Music
Leonard Bernstein talks, plays the piano, leads his New York Philharmonic and even sings to present his view of 'Humor in Music'. | 
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| |  | R. Strauss: Don Quixote & Till Eulenspiegel
Strauss’s ‘Fantastic variations on a theme of knightly character’, as Don Quixote is subtitled, is one of the composer’s most popular tone poems, principally because of the beautifully drawn central characters of the Don (performed by a solo cellist) and Sancho Panza (viola). These roles are luxuriously cast in this new recording, being taken by Hyperion artists Alban Gerhardt and Lawrence Power. The merry tale of Till Eulenspiegel completes this release. The Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, the very orchestra which gave the premieres of both works in the 1890s, is conducted by Markus Stenz, who has held the position of Principal Conductor since 2003. He visited China with the orchestra in early 2008 and conducted their first ever BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in August 2008. In September 2010 he returned to China with the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Opera of Cologne to conduct the first ever production of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ in Shanghai. Among other posts he is Chief Guest Conductor of the Hallé. “the playing here is first-rate, and Alban Gerhardt and Lawrence Power are vivid soloists.” Sunday Times, 7th April 2013 “Stenz gets the proportions exactly right. He plunges us into the delirium of the melancholy hero's addled brain with a clarity pointing forward to Schoenberg's First Chamber Symphony...Adventurous Alban Gerhardt is vivid as Quixote takes several tumbles...The peerless viola player Laurence Power is luxury casting as an equally human Sancho Panza. No stars needed to be drafted in for one of the best Till Eulenspiegels on disc...an irrepressible performance.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ***** “Gerhardt and Power convey the complex nature of the relationship between the two...Stenz's conducting is all about the cumulative impact of small gestures rather than grand statements. We're conscious throughout of the classical form at the work's heart, though Stenz is also marvellous when it comes to those astonishing moments when the Don's fantasies assume a transcendent reality greater than anything on earth. It's nigh-on perfect.” The Guardian, 11th April 2013 ***** “[Power and Gerhardt are] both magnificent, and neither distorts the work's shape with excessive ego displays. This is a sublime, idiomatically phrased performance, given by the very orchestra which premiered the work. So you’d expect something special. The moments of quiet rapture are divine...The high points are too numerous to list” The Arts Desk, 13th April 2013 “an excellent account of Don Quixote. The catalogue isn’t exactly short of fine recordings but this one competes with the best. Gerhardt and Power are marvellous principals but they manage to project their characters splendidly while giving us a sense also that they are primus inter pares, as Strauss intended.” MusicWeb International, 22nd April 2013 “pictorial points are in general well made; the scenes are colourfully set; and both Gerhardt and Power are such fine, sensitive and expressive musicians that they encapsulate the varied moods of their protagonists poignantly and purposefully. Markus Stenz attacks Till Eulenspiegel with vigour” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013  BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - May 2013 |
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| |  | Fritz Reiner: The Decca Orchestral Recordings
plus: DVOŘÁK: Five Slavonic Dances
Renowned for the precision of his execution, it was said that Reiner could ‘stand before an orchestra he has never seen before and conduct a new piece at first sight without verbal explanation, by means of manual technique alone’ (he later taught at the Curtis Institute, where he unsuccessful attempted to moderate the young Leonard Bernstein). His temper was equally legendary (he was once described as ‘A despot with a baton’), but his performances, perhaps because of his uncannily tiny beat, were models of clarity and precision, never losing sight of the longer line, and always renowned for their glittering vitality. The recordings here are the sum of his orchestral recordings made for the Decca Record Company. His Strauss is searing, and the thrill of the Brahms and Dvorak Dances has perhaps never been equaled – helped immeasurably, of course, by Decca’s state-of-the-art recording. “Inexplicably divided into two short discs (previously one long one), these are ideally stylish and warm-hearted performances. The Strauss tone poems are highly charismatic.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 **** “These are brilliant performances with every member of this great orchestra on his toes, and the 1961 recording wears remarkably well” Gramophone Magazine (Brahms, Dvorak) “I was bowled over by the splendour of the performances and gratified by the warmth and clarity of the recording … There is splendid ambience and range, a good stereo spread, clean definition and body. Both performances are immediately gripping: they are obviously of great distinction and I would go even further and say that they are inspired. Reiner was a Strauss conductor of quite exceptional insight and sympathy : his Tod und Verklärung seems to me the finest in the catalogue without exception and Till Eulenspiegel is certainly the equal of the finest both in terms of characterisation, orchestral playing and recording.” Gramophone Magazine (Strauss) |
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| |  | Pierre Monteux conducts Beethoven, Strauss, Saint-Saens and StravinskyRecorded live at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin, October 1960
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| |  | R. Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan & Till Eulenspiegel
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| |  | Strauss: Tone Poems
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| |  | Beecham conducts Handel, Ravel & Strauss
These recordings were taken from live performances at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday 18th and Thursday 20th January 1955. Wilhelm Furtwängler was to have conducted these concerts, but sadly died in November 1954. Sir Thomas willingly conducted instead and the performances were given as a tribute to the great conductor and in memory of the friendship between Beecham and Furtwängler. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mahler: Symphony No. 1
This series of DVDs will make the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era available for the first time since they were broadcast. This rare material represents some of the earliest televised concerts with the Boston Symphony and Erich Leinsdorf, and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques. It is of exceptional musical interest and historic value. The BSO’s Music Director for seven seasons, Leinsdorf had a long and distinguished career, having worked with Toscanini and Walter, conducting at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in addition to his tenure at the BSO. Born in Mahler’s city, just over eight months after the composer’s death, Leinsdorf began his career as assistant to Mahler’s own assistant and protégé, Bruno Walter. He played an important role in building an audience for Mahler’s symphonies during his tenure at the BSO, which came just before the Mahler boom in the 1960s. Leinsdorf recorded all of Mahler’s symphonies apart from the Fourth for RCA Victor; recordings which became the benchmark both for sound and performance quality. Intense, warm and expressive, his performance of Mahler’s First Symphony is an intensely personal account whilst Till Eulenspiegel – which was a party piece for the BSO during his tenure - is performed with great precision and finesse. Two of ICA’s BSO DVDs featuring Charles Munch as conductor, have been awarded the Diapason d’Or in France’s Diapason magazine. 1DVD Sound format: LPCM Mono Picture format: 4:3 Running time: 78’ Subtitles: n/a Menu languages: English Booklet languages: E/F/G Region code: 0 Territory Restrictions: None “Leinsdorf is efficient in Mahler's First Symphony and Till Eulenspiegel” BBC Music Magazine, January 2012 *** “it is possible to see how Leinsdorf offers a supple approach to tempo, which offers appropriately spacious phrasing throughout. His cues give a sense of the style that he wanted from the players, and the result is evident in the performance...Part of the success of the interpretation comes from Leinsdorf’s decision not to use the baton, and so his hands offer a clue to the ways in which he made this performance expressive.” MusicWeb International, December 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | R. Strauss: Oboe Concerto & Till Eulenspeigel
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| |  | Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel & Ein Heldenleben
Michael Tilson Thomas is a truly exceptional artist – Music Director of the San Francisco and the New World Symphony Orchestras, Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and winner of ten Grammy Awards, he is dynamic, stimulating and innovative. He is the recipient of the National Arts Medal, America’s highest honour for artistic excellence, and a member of the Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France. Tilson Thomas’s 1989 recording of Heldenleben with the LSO on the CBS Masterworks series was hailed as outstanding: ‘This is the most emotionally sumptuous Heldenleben I have encountered since Barbirolli's with the same orchestra 20 years ago.’ The CD was coupled with a ‘witty and sparkling account’ of Till Eulenspiegel. (Gramophone Magazine 1989). Since 2004, Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra have worked on Keeping Score, a media project including television, web sites, radio programmes and programmes in schools. Tilson Thomas is well known for his ability to make music accessible and appealing to wide audiences, and these two exciting performances with extensive rehearsal footage and educational insight from such an expert communicator make for a valuable 2-DVD set. This is the first DVD release. Sound format: LPCM stereo/ Ambient Mastering Picture format: 4:3 Running time: 143’ Subtitles: F/G Menu languages: English Booklet languages: E/F/G Region code: 0 Territory Restrictions: None “At his finest, in Till Eulenspiegel, Michael Tilson Thomas proves an ideal narrator...This is no merely an intellectual analysis but a gripping exposition of how a masterpiece can satisfyingly engage the listener using a constantly evolving texture of simple musical ideas....[Ein Heldenleben] is gloriously played by the LSO, with Alexander Barantschik's violin portrayal of Strauss's wife wonderfully sympathetic.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011 “Tilson Thomas’s manner is perfect – he’s engaging, knowledgeable, and never seems to be talking down to his audience...it’s a treat to see the LSO displaying such effortless corporate virtuosity. As you’d expect from Humphrey Burton, the direction and production are exemplary, combined with clear images and good sound.” Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 18th June 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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