Perhaps the second best recordings of these works
359197
I enjoy these versions of the Brahms violin sonatas. They are played passionately, even with a touch of sentiment on Perlman's part, but always tasteful and musical. However, to my taste, the Suk-Katchen, which is still in print, provides us a more Brahmsian reading with more introspection and delicacy. The sound on both recordings is excellent. Since the musical effect of the two recordings is sufficiently distinct, perhaps get both?
3316600
This is an English recording from the early 90s of two major Mendelssohn chamber works which, though they were written at the two poles of his career (the Octet was from 1825 when he was 16 and the 2nd String Quintet from 1845, three years before his early death) share many traits: an ebullient spirit, many similar textures and exceptional scherzos typical of the composer.

This probably speaks more to my taste than anything else, but I've never heard the night-and-day divide in quality between the Octet and Mendelssohn's other chamber music for strings.  The Octet is a wonderful work, but so is the Quintet included here and certain of the string quartets, most prominently the e-minor quartet from the Op. 44 set.  So for me the two works here are about the same in quality level.

The Primavera ensemble delivers a lively and musical interpretation that I entirely recommend.  They play with enthusiasm when needed but deliver the sprite-like scherzi with elegance.  I did a direct compare of their 2nd quintet with that done by another English ensemble, the Raphael Ensemble, and liked both versions a lot.

The only thing I will criticize is a slightly coarse, abrasive sound quality, but the recording is OK and the music and performances make up for it.  A very good disc.
1188581
Both Mozart quartets receive fine interpretations.  As usual, the Emersons border on quickness in outer movements, but not excessively as in the Beethoven opus 18s. The slow movements are not rushed or superficial, receiving the analytic digging that they deserve.  I think that they fare better in the more ambivalent Dissonant Quartet than the sunnier Hunt, but both are energetic without missing profundity,
The Haydn opus 76/3 is even better, with a great, unrushed second movement and substantive outer movements with exposition movements observed. Their Haydn is wonderful and I would like more recordings  such as the 2 cd Haydn Project (see my review) which included, among others, a superb Haydn opus 76/2

Peers: Mozart -Amadeus, Italiano, Smetana
  Haydn-  Lindsays, Amadeus, Itakiano
201277
Let me second David Bryson's eloquent review. By following the link he provides, one can still buy the 1960 Brahms Second with Ormandy at a reasonable cost. Serkin's other Ormandy collaboration is in mono from 1956; his later stereo version is with Szell and the Clevelanders from 1966. In my experience this 1960 account is in excellent sound, with a full, ringing piano tone. It's miked so close that Serkin's part dominates the soundscape, and in the slow movement the first cello has been manipulated to sound just as loud.

I find it surprising that Ormandy is so strong, even aggressive throughout. This is quite helpful in the Adagio and finale, which suffer by losing their shape if treated too lovingly. The finale is by far the hardest movement to keep in scale with the rest of the concerto -- it seems to turn its back on the heroism and striving of the earlier movements in favor of sprightly geniality. Not here, however, Ormandy and Serkin successfully remove any hint of a falling off. It's quite revelatory, in fact, to hear Serkin transform a solo part that too often sounds tinkly and emotionally shallow in the hands of other pianists.

My own favorite among Serkins' three versions is probably the 1956 recording for its sheer abandon and fiery attack. But this is one instance where it seems reasonable to own all of Serkin's interpretations, given how authoritative and riveting they are.
1647249
As other reviewers have noted, this recording of Prokofiev's piano concerti and the First Violin Concerto have also been released as part of a six disc RCA-Sony collection of Erich Leinsdorf's Prokofiev recordings. I have listened to that set and the Testament and favor the re-master sound by Testament.  The distortion that I found, particularly in the first and third piano concerti, is much improved by Testament, and is the one I favor.

This set was the first time that all five of Sergei Prokofiev's piano concerti had been recorded, and remains the set to have.  The concerti are beautifully performed by John Browning.  The First is full of boyish energy; the Second fully has Prokofiev's sense of drama and satiric wit, and the Third is marvelously energetic and witty. The Fourth is elegantly performed and certainly among the very best performances. Likewise, the Fifth is a wonderful recording that rivals the highly regarded DG recording by Sviatoslav Richter.  William Kapell and Martha Argerich maybe more exhilarating and bold in the Prokofiev Third but John Browning is elegant and penetrating but not overtly emotional. Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony are wonderful Prokofiev interpreters.
The First Violin Concerto is beautifully performed by Erick Friedman, a student of Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein.  The music is expressive of the exotic and dream-like melodies of the concerto, and I can't think of a better played performance.

The notes by Robert Layton are very detailed and make interesting reading, which is another plus over the Sony set which comes without a booklet
4199227
Santa Fe Listener, the first reviewer of this set, has got it absolutely right -- this is a splendid box in very good analogue sound, and while one might quibble at the margins, it contains sterling performances of a lot of different stuff.  To take Abbado's measure, just try the Mendelssohn disc and the Prokofiev disc.  It's hard to imagine more different sound worlds than those of these two composers, and yet clearly Abbado is alive to both.  Prokofiev's Third Symphony  (which I didn't know) receives a gripping performance -- all the sound and clatter, with an undertone of Russian melancholy (it was 1939) which is as un-Tchaikovskian as you can get.  And the high spirits of his First Symphony, the "Classical," which has fun with the very idea of "Classical," is well-worth comparing to Mendelssohn's very different appropriation of classical manners in his Third and Fourth symphonies.  Abbado recorded the Mendelssohn again later, for DG, and these later performances are very good, but I actually prefer the sound in the earlier ones -- Decca's 1960's analogue sound was something special in the Culshaw era.  Other items worth hearing are a Bruckner First and some Janacek and Hindemith -- adventurous programming in the '60's, and very well done.  The Beethoven is OK -- Eighth better than the Seventh, which lacks the first-movement repeat -- and the Verdi disc with Ghiaurov in extended scenes from some operas is good to have too.  To my ears, the "Nabucco" scenes don't come off as well as they should -- it's as if the chorus, the orchestra, and the singer aren't quite in the same "space,"  with the chorus not sufficiently foregrounded and Ghiaurov  sounding firm but not warm.  A pity, because the playing is good.  The "Macbeth" and "Boccanegra" scenes sound much better balanced, and Ghiaurov sounds marvelous.  A final impression -- after the voices stop in the "Boccanegra" scene, there's an orchestral passage that Abbado has the orchestra play with such beauty and with such aptness to the dramatic situation that it's almost worth the price of the box.  I recommend this box -- excellent value for money, and a fine tribute to a great conductor.
1274232
I won't say that the Gramophone's disparaging review of Kurt Masur's second live War Requiem impelled me to give it a try. Like heir reviewer, I had found his account with the NY Phil. from 1998 underpowered, no match for Britten's premiere recording or later memorable versions -- my two favorites are by Richard Hickox and Carlo Maria Giulini.  In tis case, however, the second try was the charm. Thanks to a remarkable recording job, all the more amazing given that the venue was Royal Festival Hall, we hear the spatial placement of the secondary chorus and chamber orchestra, and the poetry is clearer than in any other account I know. this gives the performance a very appealing immediacy. It also accentuates Masur's reflective, moving interpretation.

In accord with his quietism, the two male soloists are less theatrical than jerry Handley and Thomas Hampson in New York.  Every reviewer here, as well as the Gramophone writer, singles out the sensitive, inward singing of Gerald Finley, who captures the sorrowful beauty of Wilfred Own's doomed war poetry. Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey tends to spit out his words and offers to many aggressive attacks, but he fits well into the overall conception. Christine Brewer is isolated in her almost hysterical approach to the soprano solos, which have always been the weak point in various recordings of the War Requiem -- the vocal line apparently lies wrong for many voices. She certainly lunges too hard.

As for the choral forces and orchestra, they are vivid and vital; one gets a sense of urgency and immediacy throughout. thanks to the engineers, words come first in this recording, and therefore the duets between tenor and baritone are not swallowed by the accompaniments -- it may be somewhat artificial to hear every syllable, but I am grateful nonetheless. This is thrice-familiar music to those of us who have known it for nearly fifty years, but Masur has something new to say. I see why the London Phil's house label decided to choose it in the face of so many other excellent versions. If you aren't bothered by some lapses in the tenor and soprano, this is a five-star recording.
130387
This is a beautifully packaged and presented seven disc collection of Mendelssohn's five mature symphonies on three discs, all recorded in 1967 by Sawallisch with the excellent New Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, plus four discs containing all of the thirteen extant early string symphonies (no. 8 with winds, too). The latter are extraordinarily brilliant, precocious works, written when the composer was between eleven and fourteen years old, here played very neatly and expressively by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta directed by Lev Marke. I am familiar with neither the conductor nor the band, but they are well served by a warm, slightly bass-biased acoustic and play in a manner which acknowledges the requirements of period style - not much vibrato, no uneccessary lingering or swooping - and the music itself emerges as a charming and delightful, full of typically Mendelssohnian joie de vivre and lan, with occasional darker moments to counteract the danger of sentimentality. Inevitably they owe a great deal to Mozart but the composer's own voice clearly emerges, too.

Oddly, the sound-picture of the 1967 Sawallisch recordings is quite the reverse of the string symphonies: it is clean and treble-biased, such that occasionally the lower lines are obscured, but not damagingly so. Perhaps the most successful interpretation is the Second, "Lobgesang", which really packs a punch at the great climactic outburst "Die Nacht is vergangen". Waldemar Kmentt is a very committed tenor soloist, and despite some scooping he is demonstrably superior to the rather underpowered tenor soloist (Frieder Lang) in my other favourite version of this work,  played on period instruments with Christoph Spering and the Chorus Musicus Das Neue Orchester on Opus. This recording also has the advantage of the lovely, silvery tones of soprano Soile Isokoski - although Helen Donath for Sawallisch is also excellent. The comparative disappointment in this Brilliant set comes with the slightly perfunctory account of the "Scottish" symphony; Sawallisch can be a little brisk and inattentive to the shaping this music requires but he generally moves things along unpretentiously and I like the scurrying momentum he brings to the opening of the "Italian". The New Philharmonia Orchestra were clearly in top form: the strings sing, the brass is sonorous and the woodwind plangently characterful. I am very fond of Claus Peter Flor's affectionate recording of the "Italian" and the "Scottish" on a bargain RCA twofer with the "Midsummer Night's Dream" incidental music and various overtures, nor would I part with John Eliot Gardiner's account of both versions (1833 and 1834) of the "Italian" and the live recording of the "Reformation", with the Vienna Philharmonic, but this box set remains a very economical and satisfying way to obtain Mendelssohn's symphonic works.
1019493
This is a really nice selection of 19 overtures from various composers on 2 discs.  Four are from Suppe, two from Wagner, two from Beethoven and 1 from 11 other composers.

The recordings are from 1959 to 1994, 4 from 1959, 3 from 1966, 6 from 1971-73, 4 from 1975-78, 1 from 1981 and 1 from 1994.

There is considerable variation in sound quality.  I can really tell a difference in the low end as time progresses.  The 1959 (all of the Suppe pieces) and 1966 recordings have very little low end.  You can hear an improvement in this in the 1971-72 pieces, especially on the Egmont by Beethoven, but what I would call a true low end really kicks in with the 1975 recording of Carmen.  The most glaring contrast related to this is on CD2 when track 3 Borodin Prince Igor, recorded in 1966, grades to track 4 Bizet's Carmen, recorded in 1975.

The playing is bright, enthusiastic and powerful and really these interpretations could be considered as definitive.  My favorite of the group is the Egmont which is the best Egmont I have heard among about 10 I have listened to.  I'm not much into the Suppe overtures and don't care for having 4 on this set that all sound a bit thin and blaring.  One that is missing that I would like to have had on here is The Hebrides by Mendelssohn.

All in all a very nice set especially for the very low price.
4162252
About a dozen recordings exist of Wilhelm Furtwngler (1886-1954) conducting the C-Minor Symphony (No. 1 [1876]) by Johannes Brahms.  Consensus confers the highest marks, both for interpretation and sound, on the performance with the Symphony Orchestra of North German Radio, Hamburg, from 1951.  Many incarnations of this item exist - a single CD from Tahra, as part of a boxed set of WF's Brahms from Music and Arts.  Yet it would be difficult to discount any of WF's "takes" in the Brahms First, excepting perhaps an account with an unprepared Venezuelan orchestra from 1954.  Testament offers WF's studio performance of the symphony, recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic for HMV over four days in November 1947, on wax discs, and released in 1948 on eleven 78-rpm sides, with two of Brahms' Hungarian Dances taking up the twelfth side.  This playback version differs from the legendary Hamburg recording in not being an uninterrupted performance captured on tape, and the last degree of inner logic which informs the 1951 is perhaps absent here; nor is the sound so good (but in Hamburg, engineer Friedrich Schnapp used magnetic tape).  Even so, the characteristic marks of the Furtwnglerian Brahms makes themselves felt: The opening becomes eruptive under WF's baton; he underlines the rhythms prodigiously during the development.  One recalls Brahms' own reminiscence about the origins of the symphony, that it came to him while he made a walking tour alone around the island of Rgen in the Baltic Sea amidst the starkness of its insular and storm-tossed geography.  In the Second Movement (Andante), WF finds great tenderness, but also, in the duet between clarinet and oboe, a certain concealed tenseness.  In the Third Movement (Un Poco Allegretto), he succeeds in reminding us of the tumult of the First Movement; he does so by bringing out the combativeness of the Schumannesque second subject.  In the multi-section Finale, WF observes his usual pattern of stepping up the tension grade by grade.  The pizzicato passages for low strings in the movement's first section are especially impressive.  The entrance of the horn, with its Alpine theme, is not so dramatically effective as in the Hamburg performance, but is still quite galvanizing.  The "Haydn Variations" have become the standard companion of the First Symphony on record and Testament holds to the custom with a Viennese performance from 1952, also done in studio for HMV.  Good accompanying notes and fine production overall.  Listeners feeling eager about WF and Brahms are urged to seek out the 1945 recording of the Finale of the C-Minor, as well as the Lucerne Festival (1947) performance of the whole.  (And don't forget Hamburg, 1951!)
2771592
One Of The Best Works By These 2 Composers That Leonard Bernstein Recorded With in New York In The late 50s
1884502
These two ambitious sonatas by Respighi and Pizzetti are really magnificent works that deserve a firm place in the repertoire. The Respighi dates from 1916-17 and is an opulently late-romantic work that looks to German contemporaries - Richard Strauss in particular - and his typical fondness for archaic styles is primarily hinted at in some of the harmonies. It is a thoroughly beautiful work, though, full of drama and contrast, and with a particularly haunting second movement.

Pizzetti's sonata was written at the same time (1918-19), and just like Respighi Pizzetti was deeply influenced by the music of the past, including Gregorian Chant and Renaissance polyphony. Yet his sonata is markedly different in style - the modes and melodies of the past is incorporated into a post-romantic, somewhat impressionistic style. The first movement is stormy and dramatic and the slow movement passionately elegiac; the generally dark atmosphere is only lifted in the magnificent finale, where at least some rays of optimism and hope draws the music to a powerful close. I would deem it a near-masterpiece.

Elmar Oliveira is of course to be trusted in this music, and his playing is magnificent throughout - a marvelous legato, a shimmering, glittering tone, plenty of fervor and drama and an impressive array of colors. He is well supported by Robert Koenig. But here is the major catch: the piano sound is horrible, and the balance between the violinist and pianist as bad as they come. Not only is the piano moved to the distant background, the sound itself is constricted and narrow - apparently this was recorded in 1998, but it could easily pass as a rather artificial restoration of a mono recording from the 30s (and the balance and piano sound would still be objectionable). A pity, but the sound is too poor for the disc to warrant a top rating - it is still impossible not to recommend it with some enthusiasm, however.
2081512
I suppose I can't agree with most of the critics regarding the differences between Karajan's first and second recordings of Mahler's extraordinary 9th symphony. I hear greater depth of detail and a darker sound stage here than in the later live recording. There is a mind meld between the composer and the conductor in this performance that is missing the second recording. The only unfortunate thing about this issue (the only incarnation that is currently available of this recording) is the fact that it duplicates the vocal program with Christa Ludwig found on Karajan's reading of the 6th symphony. I wouldn't be without Ludwig's wonderful performances, but I don't need two copies of them - DG could have been a little more imaginative with this reissue; nonetheless, an indispensible acquisition.
1240894
These three Haydn quartets (0pu3/5, 33/2, and 76/2) also appear in the excellent Janacek Quartet collection  (7 cds) on DG,with an added Haydn (the "Bird", opus 33/3), quartets by Mozart, Dvorak (four of them), Janacek and the Brahms Piano Quintet with Eva Bernathova .  The Janaceks were one of the best, if not the best Czech Quartet, at least matching the Smetana and Panocha Quartets at their respective peaks. The Haydn here derives from a Decca LP with excellent sound and flawless playing akin to Hans Rosbaud's conducting in his Haydn 92 and 104 with the Berlin Philharmonic.

The early op 3 Quartet/Serenade is light and lyrical.  The "Joke" is from the six opus 33 quartets-Haydn second mature group ( the first were the opus 20s).  These six quartets are quite sunny but never superficial. My favorite opus 33 is the third- "The Bird", which is the fourth Haydn  quartet included in the DG anthology. "The Joke" is nearly as good, and fautlessly performed.  The greatest Haydn work here is opus 76/2 a darker, stormier, more ambivalent work from Haydn's greatest set.  It receives full due from the Janaceks. They recorded too little, but are greater than many well known, more prolifically recorded groups.
1011727
Anton Arensky's First Piano Trio, Op. 32, is perhaps his best-known work and is frequently performed. His much less known Second Piano Trio, Op. 73 has been perhaps unfairly neglected. I've never heard it in concert. But because Arensky wrote only two trios and they fit nicely on a CD, the Second has been recorded a number of times along with the First by high-powered groups, most impressive of which are the Borodin Trio&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Arensky-Piano-Trios-Nos-1-2/dp/B0001IXRT2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Arensky: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2</a>&nbsp;and the Beaux Arts Trio&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Piano-Trios/dp/B00000418O/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Piano Trios</a>. Both those sets are still available and are more appealing then the performances by the Rachmaninov Trio Moscow on this Tudor CD. That is not to say that these aren't good performances. They are. But they lack the last bit of nuance and &eacute;lan that the others possess. Indeed, it struck me that these performances are a little overripe, largely due to the enthusiastic vibrato used by violinist Mikhail Tsinman and cellist Natalia Savinova. Certainly there will be those who, given this trio's Russianness, will feel that their approach is appropriate, even necessary. So my complaint can probably be considered idiosyncratic rather than objective. (Of course, what review is ever objective?)

I would like to make a plea, on the basis of listening to this and the Borodins and the Beaux Arts CDs, that those who love the First Trio become familiar with the Second. It is worth it. As the booklet notes indicate, the Second's neglect is inexplicable as it is 'the equal of the First in every way.' Perhaps more dramatic than the first, it is nonetheless quite as melodic and engaging as the First. The Scherzo in particular is scintillating with its expert and charming writing for the piano. The Romance gives the strings a chance to sing to their hearts' content. The fourth movement reminds one of the second movement of Tchaikovsky's single piano trio. Lovely.

Scott Morrison
2185775
Both the Brahms (1954) and the Schubert (1952) on this disc are recorded live with the BPO, and both are wonderful performances. In fact, this may be my favorite "Unfinished", although I wouldn't want to be without Beecham's or Szell's either. Furtwangler's reading of Brahms' third is equally impressive. The sound on both is quite good, with an occasional cough thrown in.
821547
For some reason, the only Joshua Bell album I owned before I bought this set was his Beethoven symphonies (4 and 7) with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. I didn't own any of his violin recordings, and when this showed up at a very reasonable price for a 3-disc set, I thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did. It features two concertos, the Brahms and the Mozart 5th, that receive very lovely performances in very good sound (early 1990s), with two excellent conductors, Maag for Mozart and Dohnanyi for Brahms. The balance of soloist to orchestra is also excellent, so that one of the qualities that I like in the Brahms -- the almost chamber-music interplay of soloist and orchestra in many of the passages -- comes across very well. The quality of the Cleveland players' contributions to this is first rate, as is Dohnanyi's pacing and his handling of the transitions in the first movement especially. Bell shows in his handling of the different stylistic requirements of the Brahms and the Mozart that he's more than just a virtuoso -- he has excellent musical instincts too.

In some ways, though, maybe the best reason to by this set is for disc 2, the chamber music disc. Here we don't have the expected standards, like the Brahms, Beethoven, Dvorak, or Schubert Violin Sonatas and Trios. Instead, we have the Faure No. 1 (with Thibaudet), the Prokofiev No. 2 (with Mustonen) and the Shostakovich Trio Op. 67, with Mustonen and Isserlis. These aren't rare pieces, but they are relatively adventurous for for a retrospective reissue like this. Again, the sound is fine, and the performances are first-rate. Disc 3 is a collection of bonbons and encores, again very well done, mixing some old favorites (Massenet's "Meditation" and some Kreisler) with less familiar pieces -- the Wieniawski Variations and a Novacek "Perpetuum Mobile." They are all done with great spirit.

Of the pieces on discs 1 and 2, there are other excellent recordings, of course, but if they are new to you, or if, like me, you wanted to find out if Bell was as good as he is reputed to be, then this set will give you a lot of pleasure -- and the price is right.