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Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C

Simon O´Neill

Opera - Released September 22, 2023 | BR-Klassik

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Taken from several live performances at the Gasteig in Munich in early 2023, this recording of Wagner's Siegfried made classical best-seller charts later that year. It is part of a series that began in 2016, intending to record the entire Ring Cycle live. The recordings have all been successful, and this is testimony to the skills of conductor Simon Rattle. There are conductors' Wagner performances, and there are singers' Wagner performances. This is the former. The Bavarian Radio Symphony seizes the listener's attention from the opening bell, and the energy never flags. There is nothing objectionable about the singers, but few of them will stick in one's head. The exception, perhaps, is soprano Anja Kampe as Brunnhilde (and Danae Kontora as the Voice of the Forest Bird); Kampe, of course, doesn't enter until the end, but at that point, everything comes together for a really thrilling conclusion of "radiant love, laughing death." Although these were live performances, they might just as well have been made in a studio; Bavarian Radio's engineering in its hometown is superbly detailed, and the audience discipline is awesome (no applause or other crowd noise of any kind is retained). There is a liveliness to Rattle's Wagner that sets it apart from performances in the German tradition, and it is fully on display in this recording.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Made In Germany 1995 - 2011

Rammstein

Metal - Released November 22, 2011 | Vertigo Berlin

With a title that sums up their admirable refusal to pander to English-speaking audiences, MADE IN GERMANY: 1995-2011 celebrates the 16-year career of Neue Deutsche Härte outfit Rammstein, one of the few European rock bands to make any impression in both the U.K. and U.S. Spanning their six studio albums, from the synth-heavy theatrics of "Du Riechst So Gut" (from 1995 debut HERZELEID) to the glam-tinged vaudeville of "Haifisch" (from 2009's LIEBE IST FÜR ALLE DA ), alongside a brand new recording ("Mein Land"), the 16-track collection certainly justifies their rather provocative reputation. "Links 2-3-4" is an aggressive statement of defiance against the allegations of fascism and Nazism that had followed them around ever since they burst onto the scene, the brooding symphonics of "Mutter" soundtracks a dark tale of a neglected son murdering his mother, while the suitably unsettling "Mein Teil" is inspired by the disturbing true story of a cannibal victim that made headlines across the band's homeland in the early noughties. However, with only the satirical take on U.S. culture of "Amerika" and their sole German number one single, the sexually charged "Pussy," making any allowances for those unfamiliar with their native tongue, the band's unique brand of industrial metal has obviously still managed to translate to audiences worldwide without relying on the shock factor. Elsewhere, the Brothers Grimm-inspired grunge of "Rosenrot," the anthemic "Sonne" (originally penned as the entrance music for boxer Vitali Klitschko), and the proggy "Keine Lust" all help to satisfy the mosh pit-inducing quota, but as evident on the Italo house leanings of "Du Hast," the Rage Against the Machine-goes-pop of "Engel," and the string-soaked power ballad "Ohne Dich," the band has never been afraid to court a more mainstream following either. The bulk of MADE IN GERMANY is undoubtedly still an acquired taste, but as an overview of the country's biggest rock export, it's a fairly representative collection and showcases them at their best.© Jon O'Brien /TiVo
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Schütz: Schwanengesang, Op. 13

La Capella Ducale

Classical - Released October 28, 2023 | CPO

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Paris

Rammstein

Metal - Released May 19, 2017 | Vertigo Berlin

Paris documents a 2012 Rammstein show performed during their Made in Germany 1995-2011 tour. The 22-track collection features some of the band's biggest hits including "Du Hast," "Sonne," and "AMERIKA."© Rich Wilson /TiVo
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Schütz: Opus ultimum

Philippe Herreweghe

Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released August 15, 2007 | harmonia mundi

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Mahler : Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen & Kindertotenlieder - Wolf : Lieder (Diapason n°586)

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Released November 28, 2009 | Les Indispensables de Diapason

Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
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Mit Ketchup und Pommes Frites (Blues, Rock, Boogie, Rag, Jazz und Gospel)

Marko Simsa

Children - Released July 24, 2014 | JUMBO Neue Medien und Verlag GmbH (ohne Sync)

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Wagner: Götterdämmerung

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Classical - Released June 30, 2023 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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For Clara: Works by Schumann & Brahms

Hélène Grimaud

Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Robert Schumann was never more purely Romantic than in his set of piano pieces Kreisleriana, Op. 16. The set is of extramusical, literary inspiration, taking its name from a character in stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and it features the explosive imagination of the young Schumann at its best. Schumann announced the work, which he apparently wrote in four days, rather breathlessly to his inamorata, Clara, and more than almost any other work of his, it seems to spill over the boundaries of the short piano piece. Hélène Grimaud has recorded the work before, but she seems to have added intensity this time around. She is nervously excited in the faster virtuosic numbers, but sample No. 4 to hear her marvelous control over the tonal instability that appears in many of these pieces. The Brahms Intermezzi, Op. 117, were also "For Clara," sent to Clara Schumann toward the end of his life; the two had remained friends, and here, in Grimaud's evocation of tempestuous old-school pianism, one is stirred to wonder what Clara sounded like playing this music. The connection of the nine Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 32, of Brahms to Clara is less clear, and the set, with baritone Konstantin Krimmel on the vocals, may seem like an afterthought; the three performances on the album were all made at different places and times. However, taken on its own terms, it is a fine performance of this set, consisting entirely of settings of texts by Eastern poets. Krimmel catches the rather mystical nature of the songs, and Grimaud, with whom he has worked in the past, is effective as an accompanist. This is an important entry in Grimaud's catalog, with a Kreisleriana that is as fine as any.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Wagner: Siegfried

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Classical - Released January 1, 1984 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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Wagner: Das Rheingold

Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra

Classical - Released October 14, 1997 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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Wagner: Die Walküre

Georg Solti

Classical - Released October 14, 1997 | Decca Music Group Ltd.

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Mir ist so nach dir

Max Raabe

Pop - Released September 29, 2023 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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Der ferne Klang... Orchestral Works & Songs by Franz Schreker

Konzerthausorchester Berlin

Classical - Released March 17, 2023 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

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In the early '20s, Franz Schreker was one of the best-known composers in the world. His music was suppressed by the Nazis because he was Jewish, and due to the High Modernism of the postwar period, a second totalitarianism, his reputation did not recover. This was a shame, for Schreker was anything but a conservative, and it is good to see that he is finally getting his due. What he needed at this point was a high-profile recording with top soloists, and that is exactly what he gets here from Christoph Eschenbach and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, with soprano Chen Reiss and baritone Matthias Goerne. Deutsche Grammophon's PR text refers to "Schreker's sumptuous, hyper-Romantic music," but this is not quite right. Schreker could sometimes be that, as in the Romantische Suite that closes the album, but Straussian late Romanticism was only one of his influences. In terms of using tone color as a structural element, Schreker was in every way a contemporary of Schoenberg (his close friend) and Webern. Eschenbach's generous selection of orchestral songs here provides a good way to appreciate this quality; sample Die Dunkelheit sinkt schwer wie Blei from the Fünf Gesänge, with its mysterious strumming-like sounds. The text of that song is from a German translation of the Thousand and One Nights anthology, and Reiss sounds great in the Zwei lyrische Gesänge to texts (in German) by, of all people, Walt Whitman. Schreker could be neoclassic (in the economical Kleine Suite); he could be Impressionist-tinged; he mastered a full Expressionist idiom in the opera that gives the album its title, represented here by a substantial instrumental excerpt. This double-album release conveys the breadth of Schreker's musical language, but he is never blankly eclectic. A wonderful album that will help to rewrite the 20th century canon.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Da Pacem

Ricercar Consort

Classical - Released March 8, 2024 | Mirare

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Director Philippe Pierlot and the Ricercar Consort here set Heinrich Schütz's music against the background of the Thirty Years' War that raged over much of his career, suggesting that "[Schütz's] music conveyed people's hopes for a fair and lasting peace that can still resonate in our ears today." It is not crystal clear that Schütz's hearers would have understood the pieces this way, but it is possible, and it is worth accepting for the sake of argument as the Schütz portion of the program begins with the motet Da pacem. Pierlot and company use one person per part throughout, draining energy from the Geistliche Chormusik and Cantiones Sacrae pieces but working well enough in the simple short motets that are at the heart of this program. One might reflect that there was a war on, and even if Schütz's music was performed this way, that might not have been what he would have wanted. Nevertheless, this is a matter of listener choice; the small motets are quite powerful, and each set of Schütz pieces is elegantly introduced by a five-part instrumental work of Johann Schein. Mirare's sound from the Abbaye de La Lucerne gives the whole a luminous quality. Listeners who like the madrigalistic, more delicate type of one-per-part release will be delighted with this release, which inarguably does its bit for world peace.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Telemann: A Christmas Oratorio

Kleine Konzert, Das

Classical - Released November 11, 2023 | CPO

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Georg Philipp Telemann never wrote a Christmas oratorio, but that hasn't stopped performers from assembling them out of holiday-season cantatas. The one here by veteran choral conductor Hermann Max and his instrumental group Das Kleine Konzert isn't the first one. It is not even the first one on the CPO label. There is no basis for objecting to this kind of creative repertory expansion, for Bach's Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, was put together in basically the same way. Telemann isn't Bach, though most listeners will find satisfying listening here for the holiday season or any other time, and this album, in fact, made classical best-seller lists in early 2024. Max and company program five Telemann cantatas, unfailingly tuneful and well-made in the composer's characteristic way. One striking thing is that there are two quite late works from the 1750s and 1760s; the others are from earlier in Telemann's career, yet the style remains consistent. In some genres, Telemann caught on to the emerging light styles coming from Italy, but in church cantatas, he seems to have played it straighter. Max is not known as an adherent of the one-voice-per-part philosophy, yet here, his choruses are taken by the four soloists from his fine Rheinische Kantorei choir; there is no chorus. This is less than ideal. From what we know of Telemann's late occasional works, they were big, festive affairs. However, the decision was likely the result of COVID-era restrictions (the album was recorded in December of 2020), and in the airy acoustic of Cologne's Trinitatiskirche, one doesn't miss the choir much. Moreover, the choruses are mostly not simply chorales but are more complex polyphonic pieces; one quotes the old In dulci jubilo hymn, a pure Telemann move. The interpretations generally have Max's characteristic warmth, and the soloists (in the solos) are idiomatic and direct. Telemann lovers will enjoy this release.© James Manheim /TiVo
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F & M

Lindemann

Rock - Released November 22, 2019 | Vertigo Berlin

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Four years since the release of Skills in Pills, Lindemann are back with F&M. The many fans of Till Lindemann (Rammstein) and Peter Tagtgren (Pain) were eager for new music and they certainly got what they asked for! The album is divided into two main parts. The first part, comprising of five tracks, is a new take on the tale of Hansel & Gretel composed in close collaboration with the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg. The second part is made up of six other tracks that were especially written to complete the album. Once again produced by Peter Tagtgren, the whole ensemble is still very homogeneous despite the disparities between each track. The combo manages to alternate seamlessly between high-energy moments and darker, more malevolent moments, particularly as a result of Till Lindemann’s vocals which are as brilliant as ever. Having a wide range of musical influences can often lead to an erratic album, but this is not the case with F&M. The album alternates between moments of pop, rap and even folk music, but it all seems to make sense. It’s a real pleasure to hear these two artists venture into unexpected territory and do it so successfully. No doubt this album will leave its mark and be played on repeat. A real musical gem! © Maxime Archambaud/Qobuz
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Wagner: Parsifal by Hans Knappertsbusch

Hans Knappertsbusch

Opera - Released February 8, 2023 | Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording

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Trinitatis: Bach Cantatas

Damien Guillon

Classical - Released March 31, 2023 | Alpha Classics

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Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B (Live)

Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Opera - Released April 3, 2020 | BR-Klassik

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