BBC Radio 3: CD Review for Saturday 25th February 2012

[Seán]

9.05am

BRAHMS: Ave Maria Op 12; Begrabnisgesang Op 13; Alto Rhapsody Op 53; Schicksalslied Op 54; Nanie Op 82; Gesang der Parzen Op 89 Ewa Wolak (contralto); Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra; Antoni Wit (conductor) NAXOS 8572694 (CD, budget)


BRAHMS: Alto Rhapsody Op. 53; Symphony No. 2 in D major Op.73
SCHUBERT: Gesang der Geister uber den Wassern D714 SCHUBERT arr. BRAHMS: Gruppe aus dem Tartarus; An Schwager Kronos Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto), Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG703 (CD)


Brahms - Works for chorus and orchestra
BRAHMS: Schicksalslied Op. 54; Alto Rhapsody Op. 53; Warum ist das Licht gegeben Op. 74 no. 1; Begrabnisgesang Op. 13; Gesang der Parzen Op. 89 Ann Hallenberg (alto), Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, Philippe Herreweghe (conductor) PHI LPH003 (CD)


BRAHMS: Ein deutsches Requiem Op.45
SCHUTZ: Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen; Selig sind die Toten Katharine Fuge (soprano), Matthew Brook (baritone), Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) SOLI DEO GLORIA SDG706 (CD)


9.30am Building a Library

Geoffrey Smith surveys recordings of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto and makes a recommendation


10.20am New Releases

STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird Suite; Scherzo a la Russe - Symphonic Version; Tango No. 72 - Orchestral Version Felix Guenther Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer (conductor) CHANNEL CLASSICS CCSSA32112 (Hybrid SACD)


Stravinsky conducts Stravinsky - 1940 and 1946 Recordings
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird - suite; The Rite of Spring; Petrushka - suite Philharmonic-Symphony of New York, Igor Stravinsky (conductor) NAXOS 8112070 (CD, budget)


ARENSKY, GLAZUNOV, GRIEG and SINDING: Les Orientales
STRAVINSKY: L’Oiseau de feu
Les Siecles, Francois-Xavier Roth (conductor) ACTES SUD MUSICALES ASM06 (CD)


STRAVINSKY: L’Oiseau de feu - The Firebird (1910 Ballet Score); Greeting Prelude for the 80th Birthday of Pierre Monteux Stravinsky’s orchestrations and arrangements of:
TCHAIKOVSKY: Pas-de-deux (L’Oiseau bleu – Bluebird)
SIBELIUS: Canzonetta, Op.62a
CHOPIN: Nocturne in A flat major Op.32 No.1;Grande Valse Brillante Op.18 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton (conductor) BIS BISSACD1874 (Hybrid SACD)


11:00am

Rob Cowan joins Andrew to discuss some recent releases:

BEETHOVEN: Missa solemnis in D major Op. 123 Heather Harper (soprano), Julia Hamari (contralto), Sven Olof Eliasson (tenor), Peter Meven (bass), Wolfram Gehring (organ), Wolfgang Marschner (violin), Kolner Rundfunkchor, Kolner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, William Steinberg (conductor) ICA CLASSICS ICAC5054 (CD, mid-price)


SCHUBERT: Impromptu in B flat major D935 no.3
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No.6 in F major op.10 no.2; Piano Sonata No.29 in B flat major op.106 ‘Hammerklavier’ Wilhelm Backhaus (piano) ICA CLASSICS ICAC5055 (CD, mid-price)


HOLST: The Planets Suite Op. 32
BRITTEN: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell – A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Ladies of the BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (conductor) ICA CLASSICS ICAC5053 (CD, mid-price)


HAYDN: String Quartet in C major ‘Emperor’
MOZART: String Quartet in C major K465; String Quartet in E flat major K428
Amadeus Quartet: Norbert Brainin and Siegmund Nissel (violins); Peter Schidlof (viola); Martin Lovett (cello)
ICA CLASSICS ICAD5056 (DVD)


BEETHOVEN: Egmont Overture Op.84
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No.5 in E minor Op.64
MOZART: Minuet No.1 from Serenade No.9 in D major K320 ‘Posthorn’
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf (conductor)
ICA CLASSICS ICAD5059 (DVD)


HANDEL arr. HARTY: Suite from Water Music
MOZART: Symphony No.36 ‘Linz’; Symphony No.38 ‘Prague’
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch (conductor)
ICA CLASSICS ICAD5057 (DVD)


11.45am Disc of the Week

Denes Varjon - Precipitando
BERG: Sonata op. 1
JANACEK: V mlhach (In the mists)
LISZT: Sonata in B minor
Denes Varjon (piano)
ECM New Series 4764585 (CD)

[Seán]

Next week's BAL nomination, on the 3rd March, will be Nielsen's Fourth Symphony.