The Music Pages | April 2009


	Cat. No.: 480 1388 Barcode: 0028948013883 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Neville Marriner \| HANDEL: Concertos and Ballet Music ARTISTS Roger Lord, oboe Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Sir Neville Marriner TRACK LISTING G.F.HANDEL CD 1 Oboe Concerto No. 1 in B flat major, HWV 301 Oboe Concerto No. 2a in B flat major, HWV 302a Oboe Concerto No. 3 in G minor, HWV 387 Largo in F major (Fragment from Oboe Concerto Op. 3 No. 2b) Alcina: Overture and Ballet Music Ariodante: Overture and Ballet Music Il pastor fido: Pour les Chasseurs I & II CD 2 Berenice: Overture, Menuet, Gigue Solomon: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba Concerto a due cori No. 1, HWV 332 Concerto a due cori No. 2, HWV 333 Concerto a due cori No. 3, HWV 334 Overture in D, HWV 337/338 Concerto grosso in C, HWV 318 ‘Alexander’s Feast’ While Handel’s Concerti Grossi are much performed and recorded, the exquisite Oboe Concertos and the grand Concerti a due cori are unfairly neglected. Bringing together both these sets of concerti, this generous 2CD set presents Sir Neville Marriner’s Decca recordings of the former (one of his first) and Philips recordings of the latter. Included too are the Overture in D and the Concerto Grosso in C which acts as a curtain-raiser to Alexander’s Feast. Other curtain-raisers are the ubiquitous ‘Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ and the tri-partite ‘Berenice’ overture. But of immense interest to the collector will be Marriner’s Argo disc of ‘ballet music’ – overtures and orchestral interludes from Alcina, Ariodante and Il pastor fido, appearing complete for the first time on CD. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 2089 Barcode: 0028948020898 Label: Decca CD Release Date: April			Frederick Fennell \| LINCONSHIRE POSY: Works for Wind Ensemble ARTISTS Eastman Wind Ensemble Frederick Fennell TRACK LISTING GRAINGER Lincolnshire Posy GRAINGER Hill Song No. 2 PERSICHETTI (Symphony for Band (Symphony No. 6) KHACHATURIAN Two Armenian Dances HARTLEY Concerto for 23 Winds ROGERS Three Japanese Dances Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, were one of the pioneering ensembles, inextricably associated with Mercury Living Presence, and boasting some of the finest wind players in the United States. This rare recording – which includes the much-requested Lincolnshire Posy, features seminal 20th-century music for this ensemble, not easily found elsewhere. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0813 Barcode: 0028948008131 Label: Decca CD Release Date: April			Zubin Mehta; Christoph von Dohnanyi MENDELSSOHN: Octet. BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 (orch. versions) ARTISTS Strings of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra / Zubin Mehta (Mendelssohn) Wiener Philharmoniker / Christoph von Dohnányi TRACK LISTING MENDELSSOHN: Octet in E flat, Op. 20 (Orchestral version by the composer) BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 ‘Serioso’ (Orchestral version by Gustav Mahler) While Mozart is regularly touted as a teenage wonder, experts say there’s nothing he wrote as a teenager that could rival Mendelssohn’s Octet – a work beloved of audiences and ensembles alike. One of Decca’s earliest digital recordings was of the string orchestra version of this piece by the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. Lusciously played and brilliantly engineered, it makes its first international release for CD on this compilation. It is paired with yet another chamber work arranged for full orchestra, this time Mahler’s arrangement of Beethoven’s so-called ‘Serioso’ Quartet. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0083 Barcode: 0028948000838 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet DELIBES: Coppelia; Sylvia - Suite. RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No. 2 ARTISTS L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING DELIBES: Coppélia DELIBES:Sylvia – Suite RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé: Suite No. 2 Making its first international appearance on CD, is Ansermet’s complete recording of a favourite ballet score – Coppélia. Its especially its toy-box effects are deliciously captured by Ansermet and the Suisse Romande. Ansermet only recorded selections from Sylvia and they appear here, together with the rare 1960 recording of the second Daphnis et Chloé suite, which, for sheer amplitude and sweep rival even Ansermet’s two recordings of the complete ballet score. The finale is a glorious example of how Ansermet could generate terrific excitement while never losing a grip on the structure and shape of the music. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0560 Barcode: 0028948005604 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet \| TCHAIKOVSKY: The Sleeping Beauty ARTISTS L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING TCHAIKOVSKY: The Sleeping Beauty RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0557 Barcode: 0028948005574 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker; Suite No. 3; Suite No. 4 'Mozartiana' ARTISTS L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING TCHAIKOVSKY CD 1 The Nutcracker Suite for Orchestra No. 3 in G, Op. 55 Suite for Orchestra No. 4 in G, Op. 61 ‘Mozartiana’ RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0563 Barcode: 0028948005635 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet; Maurice Gendron TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake; Rococo Variations; Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique' ARTISTS Maurice Gendron, cello (Variations on a Rococo Theme) L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ‘Pathétique’ The three 2CD Tchaikovsky/Ansermet sets represent his complete Tchaikovsky recordings for Decca. For many, Ansermet’s recording of The Nutcracker is in a league of its own, and many will find fascinating his own sequencing of numbers from Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. Refined, yet passionate, many of the pieces on these recordings make their first international appearance on CD. RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0830 Barcode: 0028948008308 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet; The Prodigal Son; Cinderella; Scythian Suite; Love of Three Oranges - March & Scherzo ARTISTS L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet: Ballet Suite The Prodigal Son: Symphonic Suite, Op. 46b Cinderella: Ballet Suite Scythian Suite, Op. 20 ‘Ala and Lolly’ The Love for Three Oranges: March & Scherzo RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0834 Barcode: 0028948008346 Label: Decca 2CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet \| PROKOFIEV: Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 6 ARTISTS Paris Conservatoire Orchestra (Symphony No. 1) L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING PROKOFIEV CD 1 Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25 ‘Classical’ [Paris Conservatoire and Suisse Romande recordings] Symphony No. 6 in E flat, Op. 111 Symphony No. 5 in B flat, Op. 100 RETURN TO THE TOP

	Cat. No.: 480 0837 Barcode: 0028948008377 Label: Decca CD Release Date: April			Ernest Ansermet; Ruggiero Ricci; Julius Katchen PROKOFIEV: Violin Concertos 1 & 2; Piano Concerto 3 ARTISTS Ruggiero Ricci, violin Julius Katchen, piano L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet TRACK LISTING PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19 Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 These three 2CD sets represent all of Ansermet’s Prokofiev recordings for Decca (with the exception of a mono recording of the March and Scherzo from The Love for Three Oranges – the stereo version appears here). Both, the Paris Conservatoire and the Suisse Romande versions of the ‘Classical’ Symphony are included, and Ruggiero Ricci and Julius Katchen are sterling soloists in the concertos. This is Katchen’s first of two Decca recordings of the Prokofiev Third. RETURN TO THE TOP