Your basket is empty

Categories:
Narrow my search:

Results 1 to 20 out of a total of 3665
From
CD$10.49

Campra: Idoménée (highlights)

Les Arts Florissants

Classical - Released July 11, 1994 | harmonia mundi

From
HI-RES$15.56
CD$12.45

Gloire Immortelle !

Hervé Niquet

Classical - Released November 17, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$30.99
CD$21.99

Salieri : Tarare

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released June 7, 2019 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - Gramophone Editor's Choice - Choc de Classica
While Mozart was largely overlooked in the French capital, Antonio Salieri took on the reigns of the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera), a fruitful collaboration that was completely broken up by the French Revolution. After the success of his work Les Danaïdes, composed for Paris in 1784, Salieri worked tirelessly with Beaumarchais, spurred on by the success and scandal of his Figaro, on a new project which would become Tarare. Beaumarchais moved himself shamelessly toward stardom, skillfully self-promoting and attending rehearsals so as to assure that the orchestra played pianissimo to emphasize the primacy of his verse during performances. Beaumarchais found that the music was too overwhelming to “embellish the lyrics”.Created one year after Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (which was relatively well-received in Vienna before triumphing in Prague), Tarare was an immense success in Paris maintaining the status of the composer’s repertoire despite the political turmoil of the time before disappearing from view around 1826, thereon ceasing to be played. Beaumarchais’ words were immediately adapted into Italian by Lorenzo Da Ponte to be performed and met with equal success in Vienna. Tarare is half lyrical tragedy, half comic opera with a hint of orientalism.After resuscitating Les Danaïdes and Les Horaces, Christophe Rousset finished off his series of recordings dedicated to Salieri’s French operas for the Parisian public. Tarare is very much of its time, that of the Lumières, and used the power of art to challenge despotism in all its forms. Thanks to Christophe Rousset’s excellent delivery and lively direction, this recording enables one to judge the merits of the composition and the chasm that separates an honest and talented musician from a solitary and impassioned one like Mozart. © François Hudry/Qobuz
From
CD$9.19

Carmen - L'Arlésienne

Marc Minkowski

Classical - Released March 17, 2008 | naïve classique

From
CD$11.85

Tchaïkovsky: Le Lac des Cygnes (Les Etoiles du Bolchoï)

L'Orchestre National du Bolchoï

Classical - Released November 21, 2005 | Via Classic

From
HI-RES$21.99
CD$15.49

Jean-Baptiste Lully : Phaéton

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released October 16, 2013 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Choc de Classica - Choc Classica de l'année
From
CD$19.99

Rameau: Castor & Pollux

Les Arts Florissants

Classical - Released March 8, 1993 | harmonia mundi

From
HI-RES$35.09
CD$30.09

Hamelin: New Piano Works

Marc-André Hamelin

Classical - Released February 2, 2024 | Hyperion

Hi-Res Booklet
Marc-André Hamelin, by general acclaim, one of the great virtuosos of the day, here attempts to recapture the compositional as well as technical spirit of the pianistic giants of the past. Liszt, of course, was a pianist-composer, but he was not the only one. Hamelin issued an album of his own etudes in 2010, but in these "New Piano Works," mostly composed during the 2010s, he is even more adventurous. Many of these works are variations of one kind or another, and Hamelin starts off with his own Variations on a Theme of Paganini, previously essayed by Liszt, Rachmaninov, and several others. These variations introduce not only the usual high level of virtuosity but also the eclectic range of references in most of these works; he quotes Rachmaninov's set and also alludes to Alkan, Chopin, Brahms, and others. The variation form is ideal for Hamelin's project, for he can drop in quotations and allusions the same as a 19th century virtuoso would. His Variations diabellique sur des thèmes de Beethoven is a wickedly humorous exegesis on Beethoven's Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120. There are hints of jazz in some of Hamelin's variations, and these flower fully in the Suite à l'ancienne, which annotator Francis Pott proposes as a tribute to the jazz-classical fusionist Nikolai Kapustin; he composed a similar Suite in the Old Style. Hamelin concludes with an explosive Toccata on l'Homme Armé, the medieval tune that served as the basis for numerous Renaissance masses. So Hamelin's range of references is wide, but it is never random, and the listener who missed the subtler allusions will still enjoy the music. This is a bold, highly entertaining re-creation of the role of the classic virtuoso, idiomatically and clearly recorded at London's Henry Wood Hall. This release made classical best-seller lists in early 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$24.70
CD$19.76

David & Jonathas

Gaétan Jarry

Classical - Released June 9, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$31.79
CD$24.59

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Céphale et Procris

Reinoud Van Mechelen

Classical - Released February 9, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
From
HI-RES$24.70
CD$19.76

Psyché

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$21.99
CD$16.99

Mr Charles the Hungarian. Handel's Rival in Dublin

Peter Whelan

Classical - Released June 9, 2023 | Linn Records

Hi-Res Booklet
The Mr Charles the Hungarian named in the title of this Linn release was probably Charles or Carlo Vernsberg, a hornist active in England from the 1730s onward. He must have had some connection to Hungary, but biographical details of his early years are scant. Mr Charles mounted a concert in Dublin in 1742, just as Handel was in town to perform Messiah. It is not at all clear that Mr Charles was "Handel's rival in Dublin," as he is here proclaimed to be. The Irish Baroque Orchestra and conductor Peter Whelan here offer a hypothetical loose reconstruction of Mr Charles' concert. Both this program and the original, insofar as it is known, include a lot of Handel, including excerpts from the ubiquitous Water Music; Handel ruled the roost, and it is doubtful whether Mr Charles was much of a rival. Reconstruction is made difficult by the fact that almost all of Mr Charles' own music has been lost; the Chasse movement here, an excerpt from a suite, is one of the few surviving pieces. Whelan compensates with some virtuoso solo pieces: a wind trio by Hasse, a concerto grosso by Handel with a lovely flute part, and a cello concerto by the obscure Lorenzo Bocchi. The idea of reconstructing a concert of Handel's day is a valuable one, and the performances here are uniformly strong. Even the well-trodden Water Music is distinctive, with a blistering Bourée. Handel aficionados and Baroque fans, in general, will welcome this release. © James Manheim /TiVo
From
HI-RES$24.71
CD$19.77

TCHAIKOVSKY, P.I.: Swan Lake [Ballet] (Russian National Orchestra, Pletnev)

Russian National Orchestra

Ballets - Released February 23, 2010 | Ondine

Hi-Res Booklet
This 2010 recording of Tchaikovsky's eternally popular Swan Lake ballet, with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra might be ideal for dancing, but it is less ideal purely as a listening experience. On the whole, and in most of its parts, theirs is a highly dramatic and very fast-paced performance, filled with plenty of vigor, energy, color, and contrast. The score requires more pathos and bathos than depth and profundity, and Pletnev elicits from the Russian musicians a sweetly soulful and wholly polished performance. But this version misses the lightness and buoyancy of Gennady Rozhdestvensky's classic account of the work, a performance that sacrifices none of the work's drama, and allowing it space to dance. Pletnev's recording has many virtues, though, and the listener may find a place on the shelf for both his and Rozhdestvensky's versions. Ondine's sound is clean and lush, with plenty of detail. © TiVo
From
HI-RES$18.09
CD$15.69

Verissimo

Vittorio Grigolo

Classical - Released April 5, 2024 | Sony Classical

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$35.99
CD$26.99

Herbert von Karajan - The Early Lucerne Years

Robert Casadesus

Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | audite Musikproduktion

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$14.99
CD$9.99

Antonio Salieri : Les Horaces

Christophe Rousset

Full Operas - Released August 31, 2018 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik - Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
Ever since Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus and the subsequent film by Milos Forman, the operas of Mozart's rival Antonio Salieri have enjoyed a revival: historians determined that not only did Salieri not poison Mozart, he admired him, and Mozart at least respected the older Italian. Indeed, Les Horaces (1786) represents several accomplishments that were not on Mozart's résumé: it is a full-scale French opera, and its recitatives are orchestrally accompanied and contribute elegantly to the action. Berlioz, always an astute critic, numbered himself among the admirers of Salieri's French operas of the 1780s; this one was not as successful as the others, but that could have been due to any number of factors. The plot deals with a woman, Camille, whose romantic life is caught between factions in a war in early Roman times, and Rousset's live reading here benefits from a strong soprano lead, Dutch singer and French Baroque specialist Judith van Wanroij. Other singers likewise step up, but the real credit goes to Rousset, who gets the strengths of Salieri's score: the grand intermèdes, and the exciting finale of Act 1, where the joining-together of action and music is in Mozart's league even if the tunes are not. Also praiseworthy is the engineering work of the curiously named Little Tribeca team, who obtain the best possible sound from none other than Versailles. Highly recommended to those who have dismissed Salieri: this is a sympathetic and enthusiastic performance of his music. © TiVo
From
HI-RES$28.49
CD$19.99

Jean-Baptiste Lully : Amadis

Christophe Rousset

Opera - Released September 22, 2014 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Diamant d'Opéra - Choc de Classica - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
From
HI-RES$17.49
CD$13.99

Chabrier: Orchestral Works

Neeme Järvi

Symphonies - Released April 18, 2013 | Chandos

Hi-Res Booklet
From
HI-RES$31.79
CD$24.59

Maurice Yvain: Yes!

Les Frivolités Parisiennes

Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Alpha Classics

Hi-Res Booklet
From
CD$5.09

Stravinsky: Les Noces, Cantata & Mass

Karel Ancerl

Classical - Released May 31, 1994 | Supraphon a.s.

A huge record! A must! This is a merger of two Supraphon LPs which were released in the 1960s. Boasting a dazzling cast, with four of the greatest singers of the Czech national scene (Libuše Domanínská, Marie Mrázová, Ivo Žídek, Dalibor Jedlička!), Les Noces was recorded between the 28th and 30th of May 1964 in the Rudolfinum Studio in Prague, while the Cantata and the Mass were recorded three years later in the Domovina Studio - on the 3rd and 4th of April, and the 20th of June 1967 for the Cantata, and on the 28th and 29th of March for the Mass.Karel Ančerl's Les Noces are unforgettable in more ways than one: the rhythmic acuity and vocal and instrumental precision never obscure the very authentic, often mischievous tone of these strange 'Russian choreographic scenes'. Karel Ančerl achieves heights of poetic intensity in the final passage, in which the gamelan melody gradually encroaches upon the musical space, before triumphing immediately after Jedlička's sublime story is concluded.The other side of this 2004 reissue is no less vital. In comparison to the very fine version by Colin Davis (1964), in Karel Ančerl's hands the Cantata becomes a marvel of fluidity; the woodwinds of the Czech Philharmonic shine in the 'verses'. And the two singers, both the marvellous Barbara Robotham with her incredibly luscious tone in Ricercar I and Gerald English, perfect in style, spirit and singing (especially the high notes!), in his long and very difficult narrative segment in Ricercar II, are absolutely unmatched by any other recording of this material. This is pure poetry. A more difficult score, the Mass displays all the spirit of its darker side (Gloria), and its powerful harmonies. Once again, the Czech Philharmonic provides great moments of musical beauty. These are impressive recordings, without a doubt. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz