Cat. No.: 476 8482
Barcode: 0028947684824
Label:
Philips Eloquence CD
Release Date: 5 August

HEINRICH SCHIFF · ANTAL DORATI | DVORÁK: Symphony No. 9 · Cello Concerto

ARTISTS

Heinrich Schiff, cello

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

TRACK LISTING

DVORÁK : Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

This coupling presents Heinrich Schiff and Colin Davis' mellow reading of Dvorák's Cello Concerto, recorded in 1980, with Dorati's earlier 1959 Concertgebouw traversal of the 'New World' Symphony - a veritable fire and brimstone reading of this popular work. Both works were recorded in the fabled Concertgebouw's main hall.

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Cat. No.: 442 8221
Barcode: 0028944282214
Label:
Decca Eloquence CD
Release Date: 5 August

SIR GEORG SOLTI · MELOS QUARTETT | MOZART: Piano Quartets 1 & 2

ARTISTS

Sir Georg Solti, piano

Melos Quartett:

Wilhelm Melcher, violin

Hermann Voss, viola (No. 1)

Gerhard Voss, viola (No. 2)

TRACK LISTING

MOZART: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, KV 478

Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat major, KV 493

Rich and ripe readings of Mozart's two piano quartets from Georg Solti and the Melos Quartett, in which the conductor takes time off from his podium duties to return to the keyboard - where, in fact, his whole career began. Recorded a year apart, these readings have both thrust and warmth and are made available at budget price for the first time, and after a long period of absence from the Decca catalogue.

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Cat. No.: 476 9766
Barcode: 0028947697664
Label:
Decca Eloquence CD
Release Date: 5 August

LAMBERTO GARDELLI · LASZLO HELTAY · I MUSICI
PIZZETTI: La Pisanella - Suite · Concerto de l'estate · RESPIGHI: Three Botticelli Pictures · ROTA: Concerto for strings

ARTISTS

I Musici (Rota)

L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Lamberto Gardelli (Pizzetti)

TRACK LISTING

PIZZETTI: La Pisanella - Suite

PIZZETTI: Concerto de l'estate

RESPIGHI: Trittico Botticelliano

ROTA: Concerto for strings

Appearing on CD for the first time, Lamberto Gardelli's Pizzetti recording has been one of the most venerated in the Decca catalogue, not only because the music is comparatively rare, but because the recording is true state-of-the-art. The music has Gallic charm and a Stravinskian sense of razor-sharp wit, not to mention a fascinating storyline in which the heroine in the incidental music for La Pisanella, Sainte Alétis (a courtesan) is killed at the end of the play by being smothered by a downpour of rose petals! The couplings return to the catalogue two other Italian orchestral works, Heltay's energetic Botticelli Pictures and the little-known and utterly charming Concerto for Strings by a composer otherwise exclusively known for his soundtracks to films, Nino Rota.

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Cat. No.: 442 8196
Barcode: 0028944281965
Label:
Decca Eloquence CD
Release Date: 5 August

SIR NEVILLE MARRINER | Scandinavian Serenade

ARTISTS

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

TRACK LISTING

GRIEG: Holberg Suite, Op. 40

GRIEG: Elegiac melodies, Op. 34

SIBELIUS: Valse Triste, Op. 44

NIELSEN: Little Suite, Op. 1

WIRÉN: Serenade, Op. 11

Returning to the catalogue, at budget price for the first time, is the delicious recording by Marriner and the Academy of Scandinavian works. The Holberg Suite was recorded in 1970, whereas the rest of the program was taped seven years later. All of the recordings were made in the stunning Kingsway Hall acoustic.

'This programme of Scandinavian pieces, slight though the items may be, is all popular in the most attractive way; and shows the particular qualities of both Sir Neville and his Academy at their best - the playing always alert, yet with feeling in the more deeply expressed pieces like Grieg's Elegiac Melodies ... The sound of the CD is absolutely first rate and the disc is highly recommended ... Playing and recording, in fact, could hardly be better.' The Gramophone

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Cat. No.: 476 7415
Barcode: 0028947674153
Label:
Decca Eloquence CD
Release Date: 5 August

VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY | TCHAIKOVSKY: Manfred Symphony · Elegie for Strings

ARTISTS

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra*

Philharmonia Orchestra

TRACK LISTING

TCHAIKOVSKY: Élégie in G for strings*  

Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58

Following many requests for a reissue of Ashkenazy's Philharmonia recording of Tchaikovsky's programmatic Manfred Symphony, many listeners will be delighted to have his searing portrayal available again. It is coupled with the little-known Élégie which was incorporated into Tchaikovsky's incidental music for Hamlet.

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Cat. No.: 442 8298
Barcode: 0028944282986
Label:
Philips Eloquence CD
Release Date: 12 August

KURT MASUR| BRAHMS : Serenades Nos. 1 & 2

ARTISTS

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

Kurt Masur

TRACK LISTING

BRAHMS: Serenades Nos. 1 & 2

Perhaps no recording of the two gorgeous Serenades has been suffused with such warmth and glow as Masur's little-known recordings with the Gewandhausorchester. The First has never been issued on CD, and, it appears, the Second has not even had an LP release! This now makes available through Australian Eloquence all of Kurt Masur's Brahms recordings on Philips - the symphonies, overtures and Hungarian Dances having been recently issued.

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Cat. No.: 442 8288
Barcode: 0028944282887
Label:
Decca Eloquence CD
Release Date: 12 August

SIR GEORG SOLTI | WAGNER: Tristan und Isolde (highlights)

Sir Georg Solti's reading of Tristan und Isolde , is one of the most thrilling experiences of this opera on record, moving from becalmed to frenzied. The prominence of the orchestral playing - and what playing from the Vienna Philharmonic - is explained by producer John Culshaw as being very clearly indicated in the score by Wagner, when he wanted the orchestra to engulf the voices. The substantial scenes from all three acts - here expertly extracted from an opera that is hard to 'excerpt' at the best of times - are bonused with two brief rehearsal extracts from the recording.

'Nilsson's gleaming voice was in its prime in 1960 and she sings Isolde with tireless concentration and an appreciable feeling for the various aspects of the part--frustration and revenge in Act 1, love's delirium in Act 2 and the elevation of the Liebestod' Gramophone

'knife-edged dramatic tension ... Birgit Nilsson responds superbly to Solti's direction ... Fritz Uhl is a really musical Heldentenor... the Kurwenal of Tom Krause and the King Marke of Arnold van Mill are both excellent ... The production has the usual Decca/Culshaw imaginative touch, and the recording matches brilliance and clarity with satisfying coordination and richness' *** The   Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Discs

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