Karajan with a top-tuned ensemble
586578
No doubt this is best recording of this famous opera. Tebaldi in her glorious prime gives a most impressive performance. Now I know why Toscanini called her voce di angelo (angel's voice). The most perfect  Amneris of this century and perhaps the best Verdi-mezzo (with Barbieri)is  Simionato. She too is in her prime (pity that there are only pirate  recordings of her glorious partnership with Callas). Bergonzi lives up to  his usual standard and Radames was a favourite of his. However, "la  vedette" of this recording is Karajan and the splendide Vienna  Philharmonic. The latter is maybe not the Verdi orchestra "par  excellence" but luckily the former was the best Verdi conductor of his  generation and maybe the best Verdi conductor the world has ever seen.  After all it was from his performances that we learned that Verdi's music  was as well orchestrated as Wagner's. Listen to the Triumph March and you  will know what I am talking about.
3162323
Szell recorded Op. 88 four times. It must have been a favourite work of his. But I'm only familiar with his two Cleveland recordings - one for CBS and the other for EMI. Judging by these performances, he was consistent in his approach. You can hardly spot a moment where he significantly changes his manner. The EMI sounds is a marginal improvement on the older recording, but nothing that would tilt a choice decisively in its favour.
Karajan recorded the work twice. For comparison, I choose the earlier one, for Decca, where he is at the helm of the Vienna Philharmonic, which was recorded in roughly the same time bracket as this earlier Szell offering.
The contrasts reveal an unexpected side of Szell's music making. The Karajan reading is highly spirited and colourful in the fast movements, and has a beautifully devotional slow movement, Szell brings a completely emphasis into play, which is so uncharacteristic that special attention must be drawn to it. For him this is a lyrical, reflective work, the tensions are reduced, the colouration dampened, the speeds reduced - an amazing foil of gentleness compared to the almost brutal noisiness of the New World Symphony on CBS.
It is a vision very unlike that of practically every other conductor. Although I would not cavil with it and feel it is a valid approach, there is an unexpected victim. The most notable feature of Karajan's reading is the prominence of those glorious Viennese horns, an absolute delight and made to contribute their bronzed sheen in most other recordings as well. Not here, however: Szell positively discourages them, and even when they play forte, they are half the time covered by the strings. You only need to listen to their outburst at 1'20: it's just not there, they sound as if muffled (or muzzled)! And likewise throughout. Very puzzling, as if (if you'll excuse the comparison) a prize fighter had one hand tied behind his back. An essential component of Dvorak's brilliant scoring is suppressed, and I for one cannot see any good reason for it.
I feel this comparison leads to a clear preference. You might audition e.g. Kertesz, Kubelik, Neumann, Pesek or Blomstedt and find there is a kind of "standard" approach within reasonably wide margins of individuality, which is also reflected in Karajan's reading. Szell departs from it, and not (to my mind) with advantage. The wonderful orchestration of this work loses much of its overtly splendid colouring and ends up sounding less splendid than one would wish.
Not the least consideration might be that the Karajan disc is augmented with no less than a superb account of Brahms' Symphony No. 3.
2785425
The Gramophone anointed this performance of the Bruckner Fourth in a long, pompous review (the sonority of the Vienna Phil. was referred to as "autochthonous"), but I'm not so sure. One cannot fault the orchestral playing, which is on a par with Karajan's two recordings of the work with the Berlin Phil. The smoothness of tone over a vast dynamic range, without the slightest harshness in the brass, is extraordinary. But Abbado tends to homogenize textures, and the effect is magnified by 1990 recorded sound that is congested at forte and above - on my system it's also dull unless the volume is turned up considerably. In concert the effect of Vienna's golden throat fully open is astonishing; here it's a little caramelized compared to the touches of grit and bite that bring Bruckner alive.

Abbado applies suchcare to detail that it tends to put each bar under a microscope at the expense of momentum. This is especially evident in the studied slow movement, but my attention was already wandering halfway through the first movement. Abbado finally lets himself go in the Scherzo, just in time. Bruckner's major symphonies are so expansive that it takes a strong-minded conductor to pull them into shape by force. Klemperer was great at that; so were Karajan, Tennstedt, Furtwangler, and (sometimes) Celibidache. For me, Abbado doesn't belong in that select group, much as I admire his musicianship. My chief reason for keeping this fourth is because the other prominent modern recording with the VPO, under Karl bohm on Decca, doesn't appeal to me as much as to its many admirers.
1170405
A unique piece of mixed classic/jazzy music which matches wonderfully in my collection. It is trully remarkable to discover the full classical music-education of these performers, which brings them to make this wonderful CD of high-standard music.
2840026
This Karajan disc is a nice introduction to Baroque music. Karajan records some of the better known Baroque compositions, and the results are very pleasing. The sound is full without sounding sappy or syrupy.
Since this disc is ADD (and recorded in the early 1970's), there's some background hiss, but it's only noticeable between tracks. The remastering has also somewhat dampened the overall sound (which is characteristic of Deutsche Grammophon's analog-to-digital transfers, versus Philips or Sony remasterings).
Nevertheless, Karajan leads the Berliner Philharmoniker through nice interpretations of pieces composed by the likes of Albinoni and Vivaldi. True, there are better, DDD recordings of these same pieces available, but Karajan offers a large orchestral interpretation that serves as a nice alternative to recordings by smaller, 'period-piece' ensembles . . . and that's not such a bad thing.
The price of this disc is nice, and the music wonderful.
216615
The Steve Treseler Group -- a flexible quintet/sextet with a revolving cast of musicians -- is a showcase for Treseler's arsenal of reeds and the marvelous trumpet playing of the criminally under-recorded Ingrid Jensen. Their music comes in four flavors: freely improvised miniatures, through-composed art songs (including "Days Were Golden" by the '90s emo band Sunny Day Real Estate), modal workouts (including Jensen's Woody Shaw-like "Center Song"), and more traditional jazz tunes, including a blazing version of "Kary's Trance" (Lee Konitz) and "Cold Hammered," a hard bop piece that I thought had been lifted from a '50s Blue Note album 'til I saw that Treseler had written it. All over the musical map, then, but still a very good album worthy of your time as a listener.
4962339
This compilation of Melos Ensemble's chamber repertoire going back over fifty-five years is outstanding in its range and its artistry. A superb British collection of top musicians coming together in multiple combinations exceeds all expectations and surely must be considered at the top of its field.
3702205
Japanese UCCI-9208 SHM edition. A really clean and clear recording. Great dynamic range, frequency response and no detectable noise.
Really creative playing by the musicians. Incredible sparkling percussion. Fantastic and musically harmonious piano by McCoy Tyner. Pharoah Sanders really works out with John Coltrane. Elvin Jones is brilliant as always. Jimmy Garrison puts the deep bass notes into this piece. Seven virtuoso musicians play here. I consider myself fortunate to have found this CD through a Japan CD store associated with Amazon Marketplace.
Unfortunately, the performance is less than 30 minutes. I believe the recording is mastered in the 24 bit 96 kHz system, as the "Best 50" series all were.
4961218
This is an excellent recording of Brahms's Piano Quintet - one of his finest chamber works - and a string quartet which is also good but perhaps not in the same league.  I tried it on the strength of the performers as I sometimes struggle with Brahms and thought it might be a good way into these pieces for me.  It was.

Both the Takacs Quartet and Stephen Hough are now regarded as among the world's best (quite rightly in my view) and they show why here.  The intelligence, thoughtfulness and empathy they bring to these works is quite remarkable.  The very opening of the Quintet with its sweeping melodic lines sounds almost like a concerto and in other places there is a wonderful delicacy and a deep understanding between the players which makes it chamber playing of the highest order.  In particular they play with a directness and wonderful lyricism which is a delightful contrast to some rather glutinous and stodgy recordings which exist.  I have never got on very well with Brahms's String Quartets (a failing in me rather than in Brahms, of course) but I very much enjoy this performance, which seems to let in the light and air to bring it alive.

As always from Hyperion the recorded sound is excellent (the cello sounds simply fabulous), the notes very good and the presentation very attractive.  It is an excellent disc all round and very warmly recommended.
85497
This is probably the highlight of Karajan's 1984 Beethoven set. The general consensus is that the 1963 set is the best and as a whole I would agree with this but for the 8th I'd make an exception and say this one is better. The first movement is the movement Karajan handles best, particularly the development section which is powerful and dramatic. Modernists need not bother with this though, as this is very much Beethoven at its most Wagnerian, with thick textures and a heavy brass section, grandly sounded.
2305982
This is a world class jazz group and the selections on this CD represent some of the best from their repertoire.  Each member of the Project makes his own unique contribution and they complement each other very well.  Some of the selections are very subtle and have an almost haunting quality - all have great rhythms.  This is a "must-have" CD for any collection!
1647045
It's always fascinating to hear new interpretations of classic material, especially when performed by a variety of highly skilled musicians.

The performances are of very high caliber, without exception, and even if they do not bring anything new to the fusion genre, they help to see the music of Coltrane as a kind of precursor to fusion. I've always associated Coltrane with the fusion movement, because two of its most highy regarded disciples, John MacLaughlin and Carlos Santana, were directly inpired by it (strange that no music from them is included).

The music on this CD may not have the spiritual intensity or the esoteric leanings of the classic 70's fusion or Coltrane's music, but it acknowledges that Coltrane is at very the heart of fusion. The CD sounds modern rather than anachronistic, but that is not a bad thing, given the quality of the playing, and also shows that John Coltrane's music is truly timeless. Some reviewers complain that the CD sounds like a jam, but in my opinion that's OK because jazz is more about improvization, rather than intricate arrangements. Coltrane's own music was more improvized than composed.

If you like fusion or guitar music in general, you'll enjoy this collection, as long as you don't expect faithful reproduction of the 70's or 60's sound, or are a jazz purist. This music is as much about rock as it is about jazz.
2614529
So many other conductors and orchestras are marvelous in this music---I have 4 performances by Karajan, 3 by Bernstein, plus Szell, Walter, Klemperer, Toscannini, Abbado, Jochum, Solti, Bohm, Haitink, but it is this performance I keep returning to---Klemperer had been first in my affection (and it IS a terrific performance) but Furtwangler turns in a performance (especially of the first movement) for the ages.  Get past the 1951 sonics---to my ears, this is endlessly rewarding.
2719571
Innovative jazz renditions of the music of J. S. Bach.  M Herskowitz is a first class pianist and arranger.  The violinist is a,so first rate.  These pieces are hauntingly beautiful.
3104346
Karajan recorded this cycle in the early 70's when he was at the peak of his conducting career. It is widely considered to be one of his best recordings of this period.
The whole recording sounds surprisingly  fresh. The Hymn of Praise brings a captivating, completely full sound...  The choral singing is remarkable in its vividness. Both the Scottish  Symphony and the Italian one demonstrates why the Berliner Philarmoniker  was king of the hill at that point in time: superb playing with displays of  geniality that would put a smile on Mendelssohn's face. A must have!
805580
This interesting fusion album blends Pakistani, klezmer, and Middle Eastern musics in a Brooklyn pot. Pakistani vocalist Zeeb Bangash is featured, and the clarinet of Michael Winograd provides the European Jewish connection. Richie Barshay's drums and percussion develops the enticing rhythms. Others in the ensemble are Eylem Basaldi, violin, David Lizmi, bass, Yoshie Fructer playing oud and guitar, and Patrick Farrell on accordion and keyboard. The electronic keyboard in the second track is in organ mode when a harmonium sound is needed to dampen the irritating "oriental" phrasing. The brief, some 30-minute debut suggests the potential of this band, which at times has a rock jam flavor; yet, the third piece is strongly propulsive and well-developed and ends with a clarinet solo that leads immediately to the fourth piece and an lyrical oud introduction. This folk-like ballad, with snare drum waltz beat, alternates with a Balkan bounce. A Sindh dance married with Turkish clarinet swirling closes the album. The overall sound works well and has some exciting elements, some haunting, penetrating harmonies. I look forward to their longer second opus.
4866546
This recording is really, really well done! The ensemble consists of harp, 2 violins, french horn, contra bass and occasional glockenspiel (used with an amazing effect on the song "Sounds of silence".) The harp re-captures Paul's guitar, sometimes note for note (and in the case of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" that glorious gospel-like piano intro and accompaniment). The arrangements are superb, tasteful, creative, sometimes lush, such as in "Old Friends" where the harp and strings and horn re-captures the original orchestration. Sometimes other S&G songs are quoted, such as the weaving in of "The Boxer" within the opening piece, "The Dangling conversation." I was surprised by the inclusion of "Peggy-O" and "Benidictus," which are not exactly Simon and Garfunkel originals (they appeared on their earliest album "Wednesday Morning 3 AM") but musically they somehow work and blend nicely with the overall recording. But the real surprise was "Mrs. Robinson" an amazing arrangement with much of the funk of the original. They really did an excellent job. Highly recommended.