Peter Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3; Violin Concerto in D major; Rococo Variations for Cello –
Garry Graffman, piano; David Oistrakh, violine; Leonard Rose, cello
Cleveland Orchestra; Philadelphia Orchestra; George Szell; Eugene Ormandy
Classical | 2 CD | EAC Rip | 661 MB | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS links
Publisher: CBS Masterwokrs | Recorded: Unknown date | Published: 1990

The orchestral playing and conducting totally sympathetic. From Ormandy (2 & 3) that's no surprise, but anyone who thinks of the late George Szell as a cold, calculating conductor is in for a shock: this first piano concerto is thrilling and as romantic as they come. If you are looking for a set of Tchaikovsky piano concertos, stop and look no further. There have been many recordings since these came out in LP, but none have been as great. (One cautionary note: the second movement of the 2nd concerto uses the Siloti edition, but I'll over look that.) I can still remember the critical quote on the original LP: "Stunning, pure gold!" It still it. - from Amazon.com

Radu Lupu recorded batches of Mozart and Schubert violin sonatas with the great violinist Szymon Goldberg (regrettably unavailable at present, but watch for them). This seems to be his only other recording of violin sonatas with someone else. Kyung Wha Chung is a powerful virtuoso who can play all the great showpieces, but she scales down her approach to express the muted beauty of the Debussy. Of course, she gives a powerful, extroverted reading to the Franck Sonata, which demands such an approach. Lupu collaborates all the way in both expressive worlds. The additional Debussy and Ravel, from a 1962 LP, are tasty bonuses.

BORN AGAIN is probably the most underrated album in the Sabbath catalog. Featuring the classic lineup with vocalist Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) standing in for Ozzy, BORN is a balls-to-the-wall metal album made in an era when Dexy's Midnight Runners and Debarge dominated the charts…

Its amazing to realize how diverse and varied music JS Bach wrote in his lifetime (1685-1750). Originally written for the gamba and harpischord, these compositions translate well to the modern cello and piano as their sunny, pleasant sonorites attest. The last sonata by Bach's most musically innovative son, CPE Bach, is an added treat.Having recorded all of the major keyboard works of Bach, Angela Hewitt now picks up these "minor" pieces with cellist Daniel Muller-Schott. The compositions are not necessarily "virtuostic" - like those of Beethoven - but they among the first to give more equal partnership of the keyboard beyond continuo. These sonatas brim forth with effortless melody and quality musical development that Bach was so marvelous in composing which gives them a universal appeal.

This collection of electro-acoustic music from the legendary studios of Cologne's electronic music features the works of some of the field's most seminal proponents, such as Herbert Eimert, whose "Glockenspiel" is here. Also here are early exploratory works by composers who scaled back their investigations in later years, like Gyorgy Ligeti, whose two monumental works from the '50s – "Glissandi" and "Articulation" – are included in the set. Also featured are Herbert Brun, Franco Evangelisti, and the obscure but no-less-important Bengt Hambrauuse and Karel Goeyvaerts. While these may be just names to others, these early pioneers using sine-wave generators; small, primitive sound oscillation systems; tape delay systems; and manual manipulation of speed, timbre, texture, and sonance offered the future something indispensable: they manipulated natural processes of auditory awareness and created a dimensionless area of exploration and discovery which goes on with far more elaborate technology and virtually reaches into the outer dimensions of space and back. This is one of the most important volumes in the series.