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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Balbulus: Liber ymnorum Schola Antiqua of Chicago, Michael Alan Anderson [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Mar/2025 ] Notker Balbulus, also known as Notker of St Gall or Notker the Stammerer, was a renowned Benedictine monk at the Abbey of St Gall in Switzerland who made substantial contributions to both the music and literature of his time. |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 13 & 15 (with Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death) Sergei Aleksashkin (bass) Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus / Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2007 ] Solti came late in life to the music of Shostakovich, and in his introduction to the recording of the Thirteenth Symphony (reprinted in the booklet) explains the music's effect on him. These rare recordings have long been out of the catalogue, and... |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
Donizetti: The Three Queens Sondra Radvanovsky (soprano) / Lyric Opera of Chicago, Riccardo Frizza [ Pentatone / 2 CD - released 4/Mar/2022 ] "She is at her best as Maria Stuarda with a fine version of Mary's prayer soaring over the chorus." BBC Music |
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BARTOK
The Three Piano Concertos / The Two Violin Concertos / Two Portraits Pascal Roge (piano) Kyung Wha Chung, Iona Brown, Chantal Juillet (violins) / Chicago Symphony / Philharmonia Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra [ Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2010 ] "Iona Brown gives a clean-cut and stylish performance, superbly recorded" Penguin Guide |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Richter plays Brahms: Piano Concerto no.2, Piano Sonata no.2, etc Sviatoslav Richter (piano) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf [ Alto / CD - released 6/Jun/2025 ] "Richter's performance has all the intensity of a live occasion and finds him in splendid form. ... the basic structure is always kept in sight: there is impressive weight and authority as well as a warm Brahmsian feeling and it is far more dashing... |
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BRAHMS
Piano Concerto No. 2 / Violin Sonata No. 1 Sviatoslav Richter (piano) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra [ Alto / CD - released 27/Jun/2014 ] |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 / 5 Intermezzi Van Cliburn (piano) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner [ RCA Victor Van Cliburn Collectation / CD - released 20/May/1988 ] "Van Cliburn's triumph at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 and his unprecedented ticker-tape welcome home was a story that made front pages worldwide. What other pianist has inspired that kind of coverage?" Gramophone |
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SCHUMANN / BRAHMS
Piano Concertos (recorded 1960) Van Cliburn (piano) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner [ Testament / 2 CD - released 20/Mar/2011 ] The origins of these live 1960 performances lie inevitably in Van Cliburn's legendary triumph in Moscow's inaugural Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1958, a time when competitions still mattered. |
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BEETHOVEN / BERLIOZ / SOUSA / STRAUSS / FUCIK / VERDI / etc
Famous Marches Philip Jones Ensemble, Elgar Howarth / Chicago Symphony, Georg Solti / The Band Of The Grenadier Guards, Rodney Bashford / Vienna Philharmonic, Willi [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] From 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' to 'Entry Of The Gladiators' here is a feast to get those marching toes tapping! |
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BARKER / BOYSEN / NELSON / TULL
Fanfare, Capriccio and Rhapsody Vince DiMartino (trumpet) / Chicago Saxophone Quartet, Indiana State University Faculty Winds, Indiana State University Wind Orchestra / John Boyd [ Naxos Wind Band Classics / CD - released 30/Jun/2011 ] Fanfare, Capriccio and Rhapsody embraces an extraordinary range of musical styles from a wide variety of sources. The Medieval Suite pays homage to Léonin, Pérotin and Machaut, three master-composers from the Middle Ages, while the Sketches on a... |
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CHARLES-MARIE WIDOR
Widor: Organ Symphonies (Complete), Vol. 1 - Nos. 1 & 2 Wolfgang Rubsam (Chicago University's four-manual Skinner Organ) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2020 ] During his unprecedented 64 years as organist at Saint-Sulpice in Paris, Charles-Marie Widor developed a powerfully symphonic approach to music for the organ, finding new combinations of colour, sonority and texture. |
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BLOCH / HARRISON / PROKOFIEV / SHARAV
Traditions & Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Wu Man (pipa) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Silk Road Ensemble / Miguel Harth-Bedoya & Alan Gilbert [ CSO Resound / CD - released 10/Apr/2008 ] "How far the Silk Road project has really succeeded - with anything like consistency - in uniting disparate musical traditions is a matter for debate. What is surely undeniable is that all their recordings have, at the very least, been stimulating,... |