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Conductor's Choice
Andrew Constantine has
selected his favorite recordings of works to be performed in
the RSO’s 2008-09 Season. Here’s your chance to listen in
advance. Remember, each purchase of a CD through this
website link will benefit the RSO!
Music of Concert One
Beethoven Coriolan Overture; my first choice for
these works has always been the classic set with
Kurt Masur from the 1970’s with the Leipzig Gewandhaus
available these days at bargain price.
As for the Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto my choices would be the recent Joshua Bell
with the Berlin Philharmonic or, even better,
ARKIV’S incredible $3.99 bargain of Nathan Milstein playing
both this and the Brahms Concerto.
The world is full of
recordings of all the works on this programme, many great,
but for Brahms’ Symphony No.2 Giulini was hugely
impressive.
His Los Angeles Phil recording is still available.
Music of Concert Two
If Michael Daugherty’s music is new to you then I’m sure
you’ll get quite a kick out of Hell’s Angels. The only
current recording is with
James de Priest conducting a selection of modern Americana
– thankfully it’s a very fine performance!
Ever one to seek out great bargains, I notice that ARKIV
have two great ones for this programme;
Karajan’s late 1950’s recording of Borodin’s Polovtsian
Dances ($7:99!)
and
David Zinman’s very fine account of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka
with the Baltimore Symphony.
Music of Concert Three
Having saved you money on the November CDs maybe you’d like
to spend a little more on a complete set of Mozart Piano
Concertos? $66.98 will get you the fine set from
Daniel Barenboim and the English Chamber Orchestra and
other sets from the amazing
Friedrich Gulda and
Murray Perahia are also there to be had. As for the
Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony, again
Masur and the Leipzig Orchestra are quite untouchable
for $7.99, whilst Naxos have a fine account of all the
CPE Bach Hamburg Symphonies for not much more.
Music of Concert Four
It’s hard to recommend a recording of something like
Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony when there are so, so
many.
However Haitink’s is one I can live with forever
while I’ve been fascinated to listen to the recent
recordings by the
Russian National Orchestra and Pletnev.
Ravel’s Tombeau has also faired well in recordings
and the version conducted by
Paul Paray is excellent.
With the Theofanidis work Rainbow Body there are fewer
problems though. This scintillating masterpiece is only on
offer from the
Atlanta Symphony and the terrific Robert Spano.
Music of Concert Five
For our Czech programme I’m going to invest myself in
recordings by on conductor, Vaclav Talich. These date from
the 1950’s but the playing is so idiomatic it’s hard to
resist –
ARKIV have several couplings which make this not too
expensive.
The Janacek was of course arranged
as a suite by Talich himself. If you need
something more modern, the
Simon Rattle recordings of the Dvorak tone poems are
very fine as are
Kubelik’s of the Smetana
and
Belohlavek’s of the Janacek.
Music of Concert Six
For our final concert of masterpieces by Orff and
Kodaly there are some clear favourites. Whilst ARKIV
carry 61 recordings of Carmina Burana they may as well only
carry two, those conducted by
Jochum (endorsed by Orff himself and with the incomparable
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing) and
Andre Previn.
As for Hary Janos, the playing of the
Budapest Festival Orchestra with Ivan Fischer is just
amazing!
All of the above-listed works are available directly
through ArkivMusic.com—just click on the links above and
you’ll be taken directly to the ArkivMusic web page with the
appropriate selection!
When you buy classical CDs and DVDs through the RSO website
ArkivMusic link, you not only get great prices and speedy
service—you also ensure that the RSO receives a percentage
from your purchase. Same low price for you—and welcome
support for the RSO! It’s an unbeatable combination.
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