Classical Music Reviews

Best Music Of:
2007, 2006, 2005,
2004, and 2002
Artist Vs.
Critic: A lively debate over how modern performers can best approach early music.
The mono maven explains why even fervent audiophiles should be grabbing up pre-stereo
records
The Mono Maven Considers More Great Westminster LPs
The Mono Maven Surveying RCA Mono LPs
The Mono Maven considers the first recording of Benjamin Britten's opera,
The Turn of the Screw, and compares it with a stereo LP, a recent CD, and two DVDs, no less.
The mono maven considers an alternative to an audiophile stereo favorite.
The Mono Maven highlights more gems from the Decca - London
catalog
The Mono Maven Recommends More Decca-London Mono
Treasures
The mono maven strides boldly into the stereo era, showcasing fine-sounding and affordable London Stereo Treasury LPs.
The Mono Maven Completes His Survey Of London Stereo Treasury Reissues On LP.
The Mono Maven Part 2 Of His Survey Of London Stereo Treasury Reissues On LP.
The Mono Maven Listens To Mercury Living Presence Vinyl LP Releases, Volume 1.
Late-Mono Gems From Lesser-Known Conductors
The Mono Maven begins a survey of Columbia sans Sony. Part 1
The Mono
Maven: Mercury Living Presence, Vol. 2 Howard Hanson
The Mono Maven returns to explicate some fine stereo recordings from Central
Europe.
The Mono (and Stereo too) Maven Describes More Excellent Recordings from the Hungaraton Label
The Mono Maven has returned to Enjoy the Music.com with the first of three surveys of Big Band
LPs.
African
Heritage Symphonic Series
American orchestral
pieces
An American Requiem
by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra
American Works for Organ and Orchestra
Martha Argerich Debut Recital
Assorted
DVD-Audio Reviews
Assorted
SACD Music Reviews
Dominick Argento Casa Guidi; Capriccio for Clarinet and Orchestra; In Praise of Music: Seven Songs for Orchestra
Johann Sebastian Bach Harpsichord Concertos
Johann Sebastian Bach The French Suites
Three Approaches To Bach's Problematic Art Of Fugue
Bach B-Minor Mass
Exciting period instrument performances of choral masterpieces by Bach
Bach Harpsichord Recital from Richard Egarr
Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Two Approaches To Bach's English Suites
Baroque Music for Brass and Organ
Baroque
Roundup: Harpsichordist David Cates Surveys A Handful Of Recent And Not-So-Recent Recordings Really Worth Your Attention.
Bartok Piano Concertos
Bartok and
Lutoslawski
From Arkiv Music, a valuable Bartok reissue featuring Riccardo Chailly conducting the Amsterdam Concertgebouw
Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven -
Nine Symphonies plus Coriolan, Egmont, and Prometheus Overtures
Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 "Choral"
Shallow Beethoven concertos in poor sound from virtuoso idol Lang Lang
Beethoven Sonatas in excellent sound from Angela
Hewitt
Beethoven Allegretto From Symphony
No. 7 Theme and Variations
Ludwig Van
Beethoven Egmont Overture, op. 84
Beethoven
Sonata Set
Orchestra performances of four Beethoven
symphonies
Complete Beethoven concertos showcasing a brilliant new Australian
piano
Beethoven from Arrau and
Klemperer
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonatas And Opus 106
Hammerklavier
Ludwig
van Beethoven Bruno Walter's Eroica Classic records Reissued
Tab Benoit The Sea Saint Sessions
Hector Berloiz Symphonie Fantastique Munch
Hector Berlioz (Various)
Hector Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 La Mort de Cleopatre - Scene Lyrique
Leonard Bernstein's first and last ballet
Vermeer Quartet
Plays Bliss
Cello Suites and Folk Pieces by Ernest Bloch
Brahms, Serkin And More!
Olga Kern tackles Brahms's demanding solo piano sets of Variations
Brahms First
Brahms Symphony Number 1 in C Minor, Op. 68
Johannes Brahms piano concertos
Bernard Haitink's
Brahms On LSO Live
Arthur Rubinstein's Brahms Solo Piano Music
Vermeer Quartet
Plays Britten
Benjamin Britten Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Britannia SACD
Bruckner
Conductors Goodall and
Sanderling
Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 7 In E Major
Historic Bruckner from Rafael Kubelik
Carlo Maria Guilini's Special Way with Bruckner
Buju Banton 'Till Shiloh
Capitol FDS
Recordings Volume 1
Capitol Recordings
Volume 2
Carmen Suite; Concerto for Orchestra No. 1
Naughty Limericks; Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 The Chimes
George W. Chadwick Orchestral Works from an Early Master
Chicago Pro Musica The Medinah Sessions
Classical CD Reissue
Music (15 Reviews)
Chopin Sontat No. 3 Op. 58 In B Minor
Frederic Chopin Solo Piano Works
Three Different Approaches To Chopin
Rubinstein's Chopin
Scherzos
Rubenstein's Definitive Chopin Sonatas In Brilliant Sound
The enterprising Cedille label presents chamber music fron five active composers.
Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra performs
Coplan Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring Suite
Aaron Copland Symphony No. 3
Billy the Kid (Suite)
Copland Via Harmonia
Mundi Release
François Couperin
Keyboard Music (volume 2)
Interpretations of Francois
Couperin
Tenor Ian Bostridge and Friends Explore the Songs of Noel Coward
Max Westler examines Claude Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun on EMI and
Philips
Declarations:
Music Between the Wars
Dervish Decade and Midsummer's Night
Die Röhre - The Tube Glowing Baroque
Ernst von Dohnamyi Variations on a Nursery Tune
Dracula
Brilliant Martinu and Engaging Dvorak Symphonies from Telarc
Antonin Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95
From the New World; Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88.
Orchestral Favorites From Dvorak And Smetana, Arranged For Piano Duet
DVD-Audio
Reviews (Thirteen Total)
Antonin Dvorak Cello Concerto In B minor, Op. 104
Antonin Dvorak Symphony No. 7 in D minor, op. 70; Paul Hindemith: Concert Music for String Orchestra and Brass, op.
50
Dvorak Quartet Death And The Maiden And Also American
Judith Edelman Drama
Queen
Eduardo Eguez The Lute Music of J.S.
Bach
Engaging Contemporary Chamber Music from Chicago
Conductor Eugene Ormandy Humor
Fiddlers 4 Bruce Molsky, Michael Doucet, Darol
Anger...
First Impressions
Music: Jazz at the Pawnshop, Hush! The Angels are Singing, and Patricia Barber Companion
Ethan Frome: A Lyric Opera In Three Acts
Cesar Franck And Johannes
Brahms
George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra; Prelude No. 2 for Piano
American pianist Simone Dinnerstein delivers a beautifully conceived and played piano version of Bach's
Goldbergs.
Grimaud and Zinman give us cultivated Gershwin and Ravel
concertos
EMI Celebrates the Great '70s collaboration of Carlo Maria Giulini and the Chicago Symphony-and at Bargain
Price
Giulini And The Philharmonia Orchestra In Treasurable Concert Performances
Giulini
Video
Giulini does Brahams and Mozart
Reinhold Gliere Symphony No. 3, Op. 42
"Ilya Murometz"
Reinhold Gliere:
The Many Manifestations Of Ilya Mourometz
Jerry Goldsmith Christus Apollo,
Music for Orchestra and Fireworks
Interview with Bobby Gordon
Got Swing! Erich Kunzel & The Cincinnati Pops
Getting A Handle On Handel
John Harbison And Stephen Hartke
Heifetz Playing the Rozsa Concerto for Violin and
Orchestra
Heifetz Playing the Bruch Concerto in G
Minor
Jennifer Higdonrom
Orchestral Showpieces
High
Resolution Multi-Channel Digital Audio Music Reviews (26 total)
From Cedille, a fine collection of Paul Hindemith's chamber music for
clarinet
Various Ho Ho Ho Spice
Vladimir Horowitz
Rediscovered: Carnegie Hall Recital November 16, 1975
Hush! The Angels are
Singing
The Film Music of Gerry Goldsmith
Ofra Haza Greatest Hits
Gustav Holst's The Planets
Heifetz Playing Bruch's Scottish
Fantasy
Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Shostakovich from fast-rising conductor Vladimir Jurowski
JVC XRCD Revisited for the
First Time
New
JVC XRCD Music Reviews (6 total)
Hyperion Knight Plays The NYC Primedia Show 2002
Italian Baroque violin
sonatas
Paavo Järvi And Explore Stravinsky's More Intimate Side On PentaTone Classics
Leon
Kirchner (Various)
Yolanda Kondonassis The Romantic Harp
Lagwagon Double Plaidinum
Lindberg Violin Concertos
Liszt Piano Sonata In B
Minor
Living Presence
20th-Century Music
LP
Reviews (Assorted)
JVC XRCD's Fritz Reiner and Chicago Symphony and Reference Recording's Eiji Oue and Minesota Orchestra by Gigi Krop
Magnolia - Music From The Motion Picture
Mahler's First And Sixth Symphonies
Gustave Mahler
Symphony No. 2 Resurrection
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 2 Resurrection
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 4 In G Major
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 3 In D Minor
Winning Mahler From Daniel Harding And Jonathan Knott
Mahler Second
Symphony
Mahler
Cycle
The best Mahler Second of the digital
era.
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 7 in E minor, San Francisco Symphony
Telarc offers classic and modern Hollywood scores from seafaring films.
The Complete Baroque Musician, Part 1
The Complete Baroque Musician, Part
2
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4
Mega Movies
Warning - Mega Sound Effects
Mendelssohn Concerto for Piano No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25
American Music For Piano Duo
French Songs by Soprano Patrice Michael
Milstein's Dvorak &
Glazunov
Modeste Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Various Operas From Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart's
The Marriage of Figaro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem, K. 626
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The Piano Concertos
Testament Presents The Young Amadeus Quartet Playing
Mozart
Mozart and Witt Vinyl Goodies From Cisco Music
A definitive set of Carl Nielsen's symphonies
A Well Chosen Program Of Late Eighteenth-Century Opera Arias
Andreas Staier Plays Mozart On The Fortepiano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Abduction from the Seraglio
Charles Munch Conducting The Boston
Symphony: RCA Living Stereos On XRCD2
Munch
Video
Russian Audiophile Favorites From The '70s, Reissued In
SACD
Ocean Au pied, la mer
Opera Orgy in Eastern Europe
French Late-Romantic Composer Gabriel Pierné
Engaging, offbeat chamber music from
Cedille
The First Symphony of obscure Russian composer Gavriil Popov, and Brahmsian juvenilia from
Shostakovich
Portraits: Jennifer Koh (violin) with Carlos Kalmar conducting the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra Review By Joe Milicia
André Previn and His Pals
West Side Story
Prokofieff Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
From Telarc,
good-sounding prokofieff disc of Russian symphonic warhorses.
Prokofiev Symphonic Suite of Waltzes
Prokofiev
Cinderella
Prokofiev Peter And The Wolf
Russian Ballet Suites by Prokofiev, Khachaturian and
Shostakovich
Pro Piano Records
Guilty Pleasures From Astor Piazzola
Giacomo Puccini Tosca
Purcell's Masterwork Dido and Aeneas
Rachmaninoff Symphony No.
2
Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2; Scherzo; Dances from Aleko
Lang Lang Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 3
Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Vocalise and Etudes-Tableaux
Tharaud Plays Ravel's Complete Piano Music
Grimaud and Zinman give us cultivated Gershwin and Ravel concertos.
Ravel
Ma Mere L'Oye
Ravel's Daphnis
And Chloe Ballet
Excellent Mid-70s Ravel Reissued On
SACD
More Fine Ravel Reissued On
SACD
RCA Mono LPs
Steve Reich's Challenging Commentary in Words, Music and Video
Respighi Belkis, Queen of Sheba -
Suite
Reiner - Chicago Symphony
- Overtures and Dances
Reveries - Eiji Oue
Conductor
JVC XRCD
Richter-Munch Beethoven First Piano Concerto
Sviatoslav Richter's Legendary
Pictures at an Exhibition
Howard Hanson Symphony No. 2, Op. 30, "Romantic" & Others by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Ned Rorem Eleven Studies For Eleven Players
Rossini Famous Overtures
Albert
Roussel
Colorful Concert Showpieces From Film Composer Miklós Rózsa
Charles Sawtelle Music from Rancho DeVille
Scary Music From Scary (Horror) Movies And Elsewhere
Bracing Schubert symphonies from conductor Jonathan
Nott
Robert Schumann Das Paradies Und Die Peri, op.
50
Rosalyra Quartet Shostakovich
String Quartets Nos. 2 And 8
Powerful Shostakovich Symphonies from Oleg Caetani
Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartets 1-13
Shostakovich
Via Harmonia Mundi Release
Brilliant Shostakovich and Shchedrin Concertos from Marc-André Hamelin
Schubert Quartet
Schubert Ninth, Max Westler bids a not-so-fond farewell to the recordings of Sir Simon Rattle
Testament Presents The Young Amadeus Quartet Playing Schubert
Schubert Symphony Number Nine in C Major
Alexander Scriabin The Poem of Ecstasy
Robert Schumann Symphonies and Genoveva
Overture
Serkin, Brahms And More!
Short Music For Short People
Dmitri Shostakovitch On SACD and Naxos CD
Sibelius
Symphonies
Sibelius and Lindberg Violin Concertos
Sibelius Symphony No. 2, Tubin Symphony No. 5
Jarvi
Sir Colin Davis Continues His LSO Live Sibelius Cycle
Serious Bass - An Interview with Mary Scully
Symphonic Star-Trek
Conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Showcases Composer Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Mary
Stopler Flute Music
Richard Strauss
Stravinsky The Rite of
Spring
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring SACD
Strong
Poetic
Super
Audio CD (SACD) Classical Music Reviews
Super
Audio CD (SACD) Jazz Music Reviews
Super Bass 2
Symphony No. 2, 3, and 4
Daniele Gatti Conducts Two Tchaikowsky Warhorses
Tchaikovsky chamber music from an intriguing small
label
Tchaikovsky,
Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique"
The Ten Tenors
Here's To The Heroes
Twilight Of The Romantics by the Orion Ensemble
The Mono Maven on
Dorati's Definitive Swan Lake
The Mono Maven Surveys Complete Recordings Of Tchaikovsky's
Nutcracker And Sleeping Beauty Ballets
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 Romeo and Juliet Overture
Great Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky from conductor Ferenc
Fricsay
Tchaikovsky Concerto for Piano No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23
Taby Church Chamber Choir Hush! The Angels Are Singing
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Ballet
Excerpts
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture DVD-Audio
Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture SACD
Tchaikovsky
From Telarc,
good-sounding Tchaikovsky disc of Russian symphonic warhorses.
Testament
Reissues (Assorted)
Traditional
worldwide music from the Chicago Symphony
Traversata Italian Music in America
Mark Twain Original Soundtrack Recording
Jesus Lopez-Cobos Music of Turina and Debussy
Various
DVD-Audio And SACD Discs
Various XRCD CD Discs
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel
Viennafest
Violin
Fantasies: a stimulating variety of works under the "fantasy" banner
Performing Vivaldi- Re-Creation And Desecration
JVC XRCD's Fritz Reiner and Chicago Symphony and Reference Recording's Eiji Oue and Minesota Orchestra
Sir Adrian & The Symphonies of Vaughan Williams
Exciting period instrument performances of choral masterpieces
Vivaldi
Excellent CDs From Dorian And Testament Celebrate
15th, 16th And 17th-Century Music
A great-sounding recording of a symphony composed by legendary conductor Felix
Weingartner
Benjamin Zander's Vibrant Mahler First Symphony & Songs of a Wayfarer
Laurel Zucker & Mark Shapiro
The Dark Side of the Flute
Laurel Zucker & Sara Andon
The Complete W.F. Bach Flute Duos
Laurel Zucker & Mark Shapiro Master Music for Flute & Piano
First Edition Reissues Music Of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich