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Symphonie n° 5

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Classical - Released September 21, 2016 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

Booklet Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography
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Alkan Grande Sonate, "Les Quatre Ages", Symphonie Pour Piano Solo

Vincenzo Maltempo

Classical - Released May 2, 2012 | Piano Classics

Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason
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Antonín Dvořák: Symphonie du nouveau monde

Philippe Fournier

Classical - Released October 7, 2000 | iMD-ORCHESTRE-CONFLUENCES

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Bruckner: The Symphonies

Bernard Haitink

Symphonies - Released March 1, 2019 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Classical - Released January 1, 1974 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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Admirers of Colin Davis' legendary Berlioz performances know that his 1974 recording of Symphonie fantastique was an outstanding LP in the Philips catalog, and that it has been reissued several times since on CD, each time to renewed praise. Davis is almost ideal for this work, which is precariously balanced on the knife edge between Classicism and Romanticism; few other conductors have the intellect and temperament to control the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses in Berlioz, and the sympathy for both the elegant and grotesque aspects so evident in this revolutionary masterpiece. This performance is a classic rendition that will satisfy both casual listeners and connoisseurs: there are no controversial choices made here (e.g., in the manner of Roger Norrington's period instrument recording, or dubious decisions, as in Paavo Järvi's wildly Romantic but distorted reading). Instead, Davis takes the Concertgebouw Orchestra through all the intense passions and hallucinations of Berlioz' over-the-top program, yet at the same time observes all the formal aspects of the work, preserving its shape and trajectory. Handled this way, Symphonie fantastique is compelling as a story of love, death, and the supernatural, and also fully convincing as a symphony, albeit one extended beyond the conventions of its time and filled with many innovations. This reissue is highly recommended.© TiVo
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Lalo: Symphonie espagnole - Bruch: Violin Concerto

Renaud Capuçon

Classical - Released January 22, 2016 | Erato - Warner Classics

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason
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Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye, Tombeau de Couperin, Shéhérazade

Les Siècles

Symphonic Music - Released April 13, 2018 | harmonia mundi

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
Recording Ravel's music on period instruments is the kind of thing that might raise a smile... until you realise just how much the production of instruments has changed in less than a hundred years: it's the return of catgut strings, skin drum heads, the French basson (and not the German system bassoon which is used across all the world's orchestras today), shaper tips, trumpets and trombones of French manufacture. At the head of his orchestra Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth gives a new, orthodox, historically-informed version of Ma Mère l’oye (complete ballet), the Tombeau de Couperin and Shéhérazade, the long-neglected "ouverture de féérie" [Fairy Overture] which is pure Ravel. This return to the roots is clearly easier and more straightforwardly authentic for this period of music history, because, unlike earlier works, we possess recordings which date back to the 1920s, and even earlier, which can tell us about the style, the colours, the phrasing and the tempo. But it isn't enough just to have all this historical information to hand to make something interesting. What makes this record thrilling is that all the musicians in the Siècles are excellent, and François-Xavier Roth is a talented artist himself, who knows this music inside out. At which point, his complete recording of Stravinsky's Firebird has already struck us with its quality. This rediscovery of Ravel resounds with clarity and finesse; it is a feast of well-defined timbres which cuts against the "beautiful sound" which prevails in orchestras around the world today. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Bartók : Violin Concerto No. 1 - Enescu : Octet

Vilde Frang

Violin Concertos - Released August 10, 2018 | Warner Classics

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or - 4F de Télérama - Gramophone Editor's Choice - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
As a concerto soloist and chamber musician, Vilde Frang explores what might be considered public and private aspects of her art, though in both pursuits, her expressive and deeply internalized playing belies any simplistic division between the two. In this 2018 Warner Classics release of Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 1 and George Enescu's Octet for strings in C major, Op. 7, Frang meets all expectations of a virtuoso soloist in the former work and takes a more collaborative approach in the latter, yet between them there is an overlapping of musical aims. Introspection is the dominant mood in the first movement of Bartók's youthful concerto, and Frang maintains a controlled lyricism that is both melancholy and ardent, only to be dispelled by the brusque second movement, which calls for flashiness and extroversion. However, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France is held in check by conductor Mikko Franck, so Frang's moody solos are never overwhelmed by the accompaniment, which sometimes is quite loud. The string octet in Enescu's work is surprisingly full-sounding and resembles a string orchestra in its volume and richness, though Frang's distinctive sound is never lost in the mix. Yet for all the rustic hubbub of this energetic music, Frang conveys a pensiveness in the intimate third movement that reminds the listener that this is still chamber music, not a concerto. Warner's recorded sound seems a bit manipulated to even out the wide dynamics in the Bartók and the booming acoustics in the Enescu, which contribute to the octet's unnaturally big sound.© TiVo
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Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1-9

Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Classical - Released April 5, 2019 | BR-Klassik

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d'Indy: Jour d'été à la montagne, La Forêt enchantée & Souvenirs

Rumon Gamba

Symphonies - Released April 1, 2008 | Chandos

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One often reads that Vincent d'Indy was an influential teacher who left a mark in the careers of composers as diverse as Albert Roussel, Erik Satie, Isaac Albéniz, Joseph Canteloube, Darius Milhaud, and Arthur Honegger, to name just a few. Yet his own music has not thrived as well as his students' works, and recordings have been rather spotty for a composer of his reputation. To remedy this, Chandos has initiated a series of d'Indy's orchestral works, and this first volume features three scarce offerings -- Jour d'été à la montagne, Op. 61; La Forêt enchantée, Op. 8; and Souvenirs, Op. 62 -- in sympathetic performances by Rumon Gamba and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. D'Indy's style was in part an outgrowth of Wagnerism, as channeled through César Franck, so the music in these tone poems has a rich, Romantic feeling that clearly derives from those sources. It's possible, too, to hear a little of Debussy's influence in Jour d'été à la montagne and Souvenirs, and the fairy tale appeal of La Forêt enchantée seems traceable to Weber and Berlioz, so there's a lot more to d'Indy's stylistic range than is usually supposed. But to hear in them only these influences is to miss much of d'Indy's originality, especially his impressionistic orchestration and his atmospheric use of melody and unusual harmonies. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra delivers these scores with radiant warmth and shimmering colors, and Gamba inspires the ensemble to play with delicacy and tenderness, emphasizing the magical qualities of these picturesque works. The sound of these recordings is a bit hazy and soft-edged, and the performances have a dreamy ambience due to resonant acoustics and the comparative lack of sharp attacks.© TiVo
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Lekeu: Complete Piano Works

Jacopo Salvatori

Classical - Released November 27, 2023 | Piano Classics

Booklet
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Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1 & Symphony No. 1 - Gounod: Petite Symphonie

François Leleux

Classical - Released March 13, 2020 | Linn Records

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Le Concert des Oiseaux. Vincent Bouchot: Le Carnaval des animaux en péril

La Rêveuse

Classical - Released February 10, 2023 | harmonia mundi

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Several famous pieces of music based on birdsong appeared in the 19th and 20th centuries; those by Saint-Saëns, Britten, and Ravel are here, although Messiaen is not. However, the affinity between music and birdsong had been explored for centuries before that, and the early music group La Rêveuse here provides some delightful examples. The always pictorial François Couperin is represented, as is Rameau, but other composers are less familiar but no less charming. Sample the works by Theodor Schwartzkopff, Michel Blavet, and especially Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (1667-1737), whose "Les Ramages" ("The Songs") names a group of birds and then illustrates their songs. Then there are historical-instrument versions of Saint-Saëns, Britten, and Ravel. One may accept this idea or not, but even in the latter case, they don't do much to dent the charm of the whole. The program ends with a work by contemporary composer Vincent Bouchot, Le Carnaval des animaux en péril, a kind of a take-off on Saint-Saëns for the Anthropocene era that also calls forth a striking variety of instruments from La Rêveuse. Another questionable idea is that, in keeping with the practices of this group, recorded birdsong is heard between some of the tracks. Whatever aspects of this release might be doubtful, it rarely fails to bring a smile. © James Manheim /TiVo
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Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Varujan Kojian

Classical - Released January 1, 1982 | Reference Recordings CD

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Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 9

Claudio Abbado

Classical - Released September 6, 2019 | Accentus Music

Hi-Res Booklet
In 2003, following a delicate operation for stomach cancer which won him a long remission, Claudio Abbado was able to realise his last dream, the creation of a "super-orchestra" made up of the greatest musicians of Old Europe. For ten years, that great Italian conductor would lead the Lucerne Festival Orchestra every summer, giving audiences some lovingly recorded and published performances that memorably included cycles of Bruckner and Mahler which have now entered into legend. We know how Abbado's illness allowed him to open the door of the great mystery of death, rendering his musical vision profoundly human, at once intimate and metaphysical. Published by the Lucerne Festival in a sober and stripped-down format, this edition offers the Alpha and Omega of Anton Bruckner's works. This is a way for Abbado to close his own story, because Bruckner's First Symphony was his very first collaboration with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969. Taking inspiration from the founding idea of Ernest Ansermet, who wanted, in 1938, to create a temporary orchestra in Lucerne in order to provide summer work for musicians from the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, Abbado created a veritable musical utopia by bringing together musicians who were completely devoted to the pleasure of making music, with no hierarchy or frippery. The result was this miracle that we can see and hear today. This performance of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony was recorded on 23 August 2013: the last concert conducted by Abbado. Although much weakened, he seems to want to stretch out time to infinity, as if to stave off the fatal moment which would come just a few months after this farewell concert. This is a serene treatment, possessed of a great calm and inner peace that has nothing to do with religion, but rather with pure music. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Le roi Lear

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Classical - Released June 1, 2010 | PentaTone

Hi-Res Booklet
Even though Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique is one of the most familiar classical works, performances are often surprising for the variety of sonorities that can still be found in it and for the exciting ways it can be interpreted. Berlioz was the Romantic showman par excellence, and he made this piece a showcase for what the modern orchestra could do, from conventional playing to special innovative effects. These include the famous timpani chords at the end of the "Scène aux champs," the grotesque brass pedal tones in the "Marche au supplice," and the eerie use of col legno battuto in the "Songe d'une nuit de sabbat," among many others. Of course, the novel aspects of Berlioz's orchestration come off best in live performance, but the next best thing is this hybrid super-audio CD from PentaTone that captures Symphonie fantastique in all its hallucinatory strangeness and vividness. Marek Janowski and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra present the symphony and the King Lear Overture with exquisite polish, and the marvelous audio production practically gets inside the ensemble and allows each part to have its distinctive -- and sometimes disturbing -- place in the mix. Beyond the fabulous sound, this is also an incredibly gripping interpretation because Janowski conveys all the passion and impulsiveness of the drug-addled artist in the work's program. Indeed, the music is as hot-headed and deranged as the composer intended, and listeners will feel compelled to listen to the whole SACD in one sitting, so riveting is this live performance for its high energy and seemingly endless array of skillfully crafted sounds. Highly recommended.© TiVo

Prokofiev : Pierre et le loup - Symphonie Classique - Marche Op.99 - Overture Op.34

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Symphonic Music - Released January 1, 1990 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Bruckner: Symphony No.8

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Classical - Released January 1, 1989 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)