The Music Pages | May 2007

Cat. No.: 475 8499
Barcode: 0028947584995
Label: Decca CD
Release Date: 19 May

VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY | Recital (1965) Chopin, Debussy, Ravel

ARTISTS

Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano

TRACK LISTING

CHOPIN: Scherzo N.4 in E major, Op.54

CHOPIN: Nocturne in B major, Op.62 No.1
DEBUSSY: L'isle joyeuse
RAVEL: Gaspard de la nuit

This recital by Vladimir Ashkenazy, recorded in July 1965, was his second solo piano recording for Decca. It drew very enthusiastic reviews from the outset and is reissued during this, Ashkenazy's 70th birthday year.

'Ashkenazy plays it marvellously well, and seems oblivious of the difficulties [Gaspard]. His soft playing is really soft, and yet always full of atmosphere and tension. He is lazily relaxed in 'Ondine', hushed and mesmeric in 'Le Gibet', and what one might call calmly brilliant in 'Scarbo'. It is this combination of brilliance and poetry that is so individual about his playing, and the combination is especially striking in the Chopin Scherzo in E major. This is an extremely difficult piece to bring off, because it is not enough for the pianist to be merely brilliant. Indeed it is all too easy to make it sound a rather feeble work. Ashkenazy makes it sound tremendously good. He takes it at a great speed, but his approach is fundamentally tender and lyrical. I have never enjoyed it so much. ...Debussy's L'Isle joyeuse is much more than that. For once it really does sound 'joyeuse', and the exhilaration of it is irresistible. In short, this is a splendid record, and the sound ... is all you could wish.'
Gramophone January 1966

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Cat. No.: 475 8501
Barcode: 0028947585015
Label: Decca CD
Release Date: 19 May

SIR GEORG SOLTI | MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'

ARTISTS

Heather Harper, soprano
Helen Watts, contralto
London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Sir Georg Solti

TRACK LISTING

MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'

The music of Mahler was a regular part of Solti's repertory both in the concert hall and in the recording studio. It was in the 1960s that he first began to record the symphonies. This account of the mighty Second Symphony was among the first. It is released here for the first time as a single CD.

'... the new Decca stereo recording has special points of excellence all its own. The most striking thing in the whole performance, for me, is the first movement, in which Solti penetrates to the inner significance of the unusual structure with an insight I have never encountered before. The short movement for contralto is treated sensitively. Helen Watts sings beautifully. The vast finale ... usually comes off almost automatically ... Solti builds it up impressively ... chorus, orchestra and soloists leave nothing to be desired ... the stereo recording is one of Decca's best... bringing off perfectly all the different perspectives of the off-stage brass. The early unison calls are certainly 'in the far distance'; the marching band music is indeed 'scarcely perceptible' and then 'getting nearer'; the later fanfares for the four trumpets are electrifyingly 'much nearer'; ... we have surely the sound Mahler must have imagined, according to his meticulous indications.'
Gramophone

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Cat. No.: 475 8502
Barcode: 0028947585022
Label: Decca CD
Release Date: 19 May

SIR GEORG SOLTI | WAGNER: Overtures & Preludes | Siegfried Idyll

ARTISTS

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti

TRACK LISTING

WAGNER: Overture ( Rienzi )
Overture ( Der fliegende Holländer )
Overture ( Tannhäuser )
Bacchanale ( Tannhäuser )
Siegfried Idyll

Solti and Wagner - the ultimate combination! Stunning new remasters of Solti's exciting readings of these overtures as well as what is generally considered the most beautiful recording of Siegfried Idyll.

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Cat. No.: 475 8508
Barcode: 002894758508
Label: Decca CD
Release Date: 19 May

ANTAL DORATI | TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture

ARTISTS

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
University of Minnesota Brass Band
London Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven)
Antal Dorati

TRACK LISTING

TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture
Capriccio italien
Wellington's Victory, Op.91

An undisputed classic, originally released on Mercury Living Presence, now given state-of-the-art remastering for its mid-price incarnation in Decca's hall of fame.

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Cat. No.: 475 8490
Barcode: 0028947584902
Label: Decca 2CD
Release Date: 19 May

ISTVAN KERTESZ | DONIZETTI: Don Pasquale

ARTISTS

Fernando Corena | Don Pasquale
Juan Oncina | Ernesto
Graziella Sciutti | Norina
Tom Krause | Dottor Malatesta
Angelo Mercuriali | Un notaro
Wiener Staatsopernchor und Orchester
István Kertész
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden*
Argeo Quadri*

TRACK LISTING

DONIZETTI: Don Pasquale
CIMAROSA: Il maestro di cappella*

Donizetti's opera buffo masterpiece in three acts is here coupled with Cimarosa's short intermezzo giocoso for bass-baritone and orchestra, Il maestro di cappella.

'Under Kertész, Corena is an attractive buffo ... and Krause makes an incisive Malatesta. Graziella Sciutti is charming from beginning to end, bright-toned and vivacious, and remarkably agile in the most difficult passages. The 1964 Decca recording is excellent, with plenty of atmosphere as well as sparkle.'
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 8496
Barcode: 0028947584964
Label: Decca 2CD
Release Date: 19 May

CABALLÉ | PAVAROTTI | MAAG | VERDI: Luisa Miller

ARTISTS

TRACK LISTING

VERDI: Luisa Miller

'Caballé gives a splendidly dramatic portrait of the heroine and Pavarotti's performance is full of creative, detailed imagination. Maag's sympathetic reading, by underlining the light and shade, consistently brings out the atmospheric qualities of Verdi's conception ... brilliantly played and vividly recorded.'
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 8503
Barcode: 0028947585039
Label: Philips 3CD
Release Date: 19 May

QUARTETTO ITALIANO | BEETHOVEN: Middle String Quartets

ARTISTS

Quartetto Italiano

TRACK LISTING

BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No.7 in F major, Op.59 No.1 'Rasumovsky No.1'
String Quartet No.8 in E minor, Op.59 No.2 'Rasumovsky No.2'
String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.95 'Serioso'
String Quartet No.9 in C major, Op.59 No.3 'Rasumovsky No.3'
String Quartet No.10 in E flat, op.74 "Harp"

The Quartetto Italiano's set of the Early Quartets has already been released in 'Originals' [475 8252] and the release of the complete cycle continues with the second volume, devoted to the Middle Quartets.

'The remastered Italian set still sounds well: their superiority in terms of sheer quartet playing is still striking: purity of intonation, perfectly blended tone and superb ensemble and attack. Their tempi are perfectly judged and every phrase is sensitively shaped, and these performances remain very recommendable at mid-price.'
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 8743
Barcode: 0028947587439
Label: Decca 2CD
Release Date: 19 May

DAME JOAN SUTHERLAND | Romantic French Arias

ARTISTS

Dame Joan Sutherland, soprano
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Richard Bonynge

TRACK LISTING

OFFENBACH: Conduisez-moi vers celui que j'adore ( Robinson Crusoé )
MEYERBEER: Bellah! ma chèvre chérie! ... Dors, petite ( Dinorah )
CHARPENTIER: Depuis le jour ( Louise )
OFFENBACH: Dites-lui qu'on l'a remarqué ( La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein )
AUBER: C'est l'histoire amoureuse ( Manon Lescaut )
AUBER: Non temete, milord ... Or son sola ( Fra Diavolo )
BIZET: Me voilà seule ... Comme autrefois dans la nuit sombre ( Les Pêcheurs de perles )
OFFENBACH: Les oiseaux dans la charmille ( Les Contes d'Hoffmann )
MASSENET: Ah! que mes soeurs sont heureuses ... Reste au foyer, petit grillon ( Cendrillon )
GOUNOD: O légère hirondelle ( Mireille )

OFFENBACH: Vous aimez le danger ... Ah! que j'aime les militaires! ( La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein )
MEYERBEER: C'est bien lui ... La, la, la, air chéri ( L'Etoile du Nord )
GOUNOD: Ce Sarrasin disait ( Le Tribut de Zamora )
MEYERBEER: En vain j'espère ... Idole de ma vie ( Robert le Diable )
LECOCQ: Un soir Perez le capitaine ( Le Coeur et la main )
MASSÉ: Au bord de chemin ... Cette nuit, sur ma croisée ( Les Noces de Jeannette )
GOUNOD: Si le bonheur ( Faust )
BIZET: La marguerite a fermé sa corolle ... Ouvre ton coeur ( Vasco da Gama )
MEYERBEER: Veille sur eux ... Vaisseau que le flot balance ( L'Etoile du Nord )

A collection of French rarities and a truly sensational coloratura display from La Stupenda.

Throughout her career Joan Sutherland explored many of the byways of nineteenth-century vocal repertory both in the opera house and on disc and this collection of French arias, recorded in September 1969, is indeed a collection of operatic rarities by composers both little-known and well-known.

This is just one in a series of recital programmes that Joan Sutherland recorded for Decca during her 30-year association with the label - a series that began with what has remained one of her most celebrated recordings of all, The Art of the Prima Donna (recorded in 1960).

'Who would have thought that Offenbach's Robinson Crusoe had such a glorious waltz song as the first item in this brilliant collection of twenty French arias? A coloratura bombshell ... the lyrical numbers cover a wide range, and it is good to hear the expansion of Sutherland's voice in such an aria as Louise's 'Depuis le jour'. It is good too to have favourites like that put among the many rarities ... as well as the Robinson Crusoe aria you have a stunning Auber song rather like French-styled Gilbert and Sillivan, astonishingly enough a laughing song for the heroine from his setting of Manon Lescaut . I also enjoyed enormously the rather vulgar Boléro of Lecocq ... good accompaniment and outstanding recording quality. It is good that Sutherland and her husband are prepared to use personal popularity in promoting music that would otherwise be buried ... these treasure are not all diamonds musically, but they certainly sparkle.'
Gramophone

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Cat. No.: 475 8520
Barcode: 0028947585206
Label: Philips CD
Release Date: 19 May

MARTHA ARGERICH | NELSON FREIRE
RACHMANINOV: Suite No. 2 | RAVEL: La Valse | LUTOSLAWSKI: Paganini Variations

ARTISTS

Martha Argerich | Nelson Freire, pianos

TRACK LISTING

RACHMANINOV: Suite No.2 for 2 pianos, Op.17
RAVEL: La Valse transcription for two pianos
LUTOSLAWSKI: Variations on a Theme by Paganini for two pianos

A stunning programme of music for two pianos with two virtuoso pianists on top form.

'Brilliant, atmospheric playing and good recording [Ravel] ... exhilirating and played with great virtuosity [Lutoslawski] ... Argerich and Freire give a dazzling virtuoso account ... and their performance is thoroughly exhilirating [Rachmaninov].'
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 8507
Barcode: 0028947585077
Label: Philips CD
Release Date: 19 May

JESSYE NORMAN | R. STRAUSS: Four Last Songs | Lieder

ARTISTS

Jessye Norman, soprano
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Kurt Masur

TRACK LISTING

R. STRAUSS: Vier letzte Lieder
Cäcilie, Op.27 No.2

Morgen, Op.27 No.4

Wiegenlied, Op.41 No.1

Ruhe, meine Seele, Op.27 No.1

Meinem Kinde, Op.37 No.3

Zueignung, Op.10 No.1 (orch. Robert Hegel)

['Norman is] grand, impassioned, noble, dignified, unmannered in this unforgettable interpretation.'
Gramophone

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