Off The Bookshelf UK - Music Search Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals; Symphony No 3 New & Used Search

Albéniz	Alkan	Arensky
Bellini	Berlioz	Berwald
Bizet	Borodin	Brahms
Bruch	Bruckner	Chabrier
Chausson	Chopin	Debussy
Delibes	Delius	Donizetti
Dvorák	Elgar	Fauré
Fibich	Franck	Gade
Giordano	Glazunov	Glinka
Gounod	Granados	Grieg
Janácek	Lalo	Leoncavallo
Liszt	Mahler	Mascagni
Massenet	Mendelssohn	Mussorgsky
Nielsen	Offenbach	Paganini
Parry	Pfitzner	Puccini
Rachmaninov	Reger	Respighi
Rodrigo	Rossini	Rubinstein
Saint-Saëns	Satie	Schumann
Scriabin	Sibelius	Smetana
Spohr	Stanford	Strauss, J
Strauss, R	Suk	Sullivan
Tchaikovsky	Verdi	Wagner
Weber	Widor	Wolf

1.Fauré; Debussy; Ravel - String Quartets by: Ébène Quartet October 06, 2008
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This has been eagerly awaited after hearing the Ebene perform the Debussy and the Ravel live at this summer's Salzburg Festival. They are a young group of musicians who also appear on the European jazz scene. This brings to their playing a buzz which may be linked to their ability to improvise freely. However, when playing these pieces there is a discipline evident in their interpretation as well. Hear also their interpretation of the first three Barok Quartets and subline live recordings of Haydn.

2.Saint-Saëns: The Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra from: Hyperion September 03, 2001
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It is hard to imagine a more sympathetic, nor indeed high spirited, homage to Saint-Saens than this marvellous recording. All five of the piano concertos have something to recommend them and I am glad that they are finally being appreciated on their own grounds. Long neglected, Concertos 1, 3, 4 and 5 are marvellous pieces, full of fun, elegance and poise. The recording itself is in a real class of its own, and this is a very worthy 'sister' of Hough's recent recording of Rachmaninoff's concertos. Also present here are some smaller pieces, a little like Mozart's one movement rondos. Here, as in the Concertos, Mozart's presence can be felt. However it is the synthesis of Mozart's light orchestration and masterful musical development ... Read More:

3.Elgar - Cello Concerto; Cockaigne; Sea Pictures from: EMI Classics August 02, 2004
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There are now many releases in the EMI 'Great Recordings of the Century' series, and this has to be one of the best I've heard. The three pieces on this CD date from the 1960's and all have benefited from recent remastering. The 'Cello Concerto' is a 1965 recording performed by Jacqueline du Pre (who else would you expect?) and remains today, more than 40 years on, the standard to which all other performances of this work are measured. I'm sure I am amongst many others who regret not having seen such a gifted musician play live. I've seen several performances of Elgar's cello concerto, and always find that the best are when the soloist totally immerses him/herself into the music and brings out the emotions from somewhere deep ... Read More:

4.Strauss, R.: Four Last Songs by: Renée Fleming Münchner Philharmoniker Christian Thielemann September 08, 2008
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Many people will be surprised by the negativity of the comments by bert1761, the first and previous reviewer of this disc on Amazon.com. First, let me say that I deplore the practice of some Amazon readers who give another reviewer a negative vote simply because they do not agree with the opinion expressed. I think "bert" writes honestly, more in sorrow than in anger, and that his is a thoughtful, intelligent, sincerely held opinion that deserves careful consideration. I know what he means by the overt expressiveness of Fleming's interpretation but I do not agree that it is obtrusive or excessive. The voice is in wonderful condition and she is able to sustain the line with apparently effortless ease - except when she clearly chooses to disrupt it deliberately for emotive effect. ... Read More:

5.Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites from: Universal Classics October 14, 1996
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One might have thought that the Ballet suites have been recorded too many times, for anyone to get excited about 'another' recording! In truth these are fabulous performances, with inner detail that I have to say I haven't heard in any other recordings! At an incredibly low price, I urge anyone thinking of buying a recording of the suites to look no further. A superb cellist and wonderful conductor, golly how we will miss him!

6.Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony by: Vasily Petrenko September 29, 2008
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Simply a marvellous performance and recording of Tchaikovsky's (slightly neglected) Manfred Symphony. The R.L.P.O play marvellously, with particularly characterful woodwinds, and Petrenko delivers a performance that has all the excitement of a live performance. The great melody in the strings in the final movement is delivered with a terrific sweep; this is a truly committed performance, and is very well recorded (much better than most record companies get in Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall). At this price it's an absolute bargain. Tchaikovsky lovers don't hesitate!

7.Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan (D'Oyly Carte Opera Company) by: Gilbert and Sullivan February 09, 2004
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I agree wholeheartedly with the review by J.J.Rhodes, but feel I should make the point that the whole set is recorded in full glorious MONO! Once you have got over the shock of the sound stage collapsing into a point source however, the music really is delightful, and takes me back to the days when I used to pay 9d to sit up in the gods at the Golders Green Hippodrome to hear the D'Oyly Carte company sing their way through all those charming numbers. This set has a distinctly dated feel about it, and makes one realise just how much performing styles, as well as recording techniques, have changed in half a century (and some of the artists were clearly chosen for their ability to act rather than their ability to sing!). But for all that, I'm glad I bought it. This is authentic G&S ... Read More:

8.Bizet: Carmen from: Universal Classics March 07, 2005
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Not too impressed with the quality of the recording... I was really hoping for something MUCH better than that. If someone could recommended a brilliant audio recording of Carmen that would be just fantastic. This one lets me down I think. The singing is "top-drawer" though.

9.Puccini: La Bohème from: Decca August 05, 1987
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In a recent BBC3 "CD Review" broadcast, Alexandra Wilson made a gallant attempt to achieve the impossible task of choosing amongst forty or so recordings of "La Boheme" - and while I agreed with her ultimate choice of the Beecham recording with Bjorling, Merrill and De Los Angeles, I have rather more regard for this discarded Karajan recording simply because Pavarotti's voice, in its prime, as she herself put it, "runs through the recording like a golden seam". The rest of the cast is wonderful, too, although Karajan's love for the score is manifested in a rather deliberately "beautiful" approach and thereby slightly undercuts the drama. I cannot be without either recording of this eternally youthful and moving opera, and although Freni was captured in slightly fresher, more limpid voice ... Read More:

10.Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals; Symphony No 3 from: Cfp February 05, 2007
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In a recent BBC3 "CD Review" broadcast, Alexandra Wilson made a gallant attempt to achieve the impossible task of choosing amongst forty or so recordings of "La Boheme" - and while I agreed with her ultimate choice of the Beecham recording with Bjorling, Merrill and De Los Angeles, I have rather more regard for this discarded Karajan recording simply because Pavarotti's voice, in its prime, as she herself put it, "runs through the recording like a golden seam". The rest of the cast is wonderful, too, although Karajan's love for the score is manifested in a rather deliberately "beautiful" approach and thereby slightly undercuts the drama. I cannot be without either recording of this eternally youthful and moving opera, and although Freni was captured in slightly fresher, more limpid voice ... Read More:

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