Category Archives: CD

New wine in old vodka bottles? Così fan tutte from Perm

Mozart: Così fan tutte (Sony) This is the second issue in the Mozart/ Da Ponte opera cycle from Perm, home to Europe’s easternmost opera house, and once again, Sony gives it the red carpet treatment.  A hardback case, with glossy cobalt jacket, … Continue reading

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A beguiling Scheherazade from Istanbul

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade Sascha Goetzel/ Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (Onyx) Peter Oundjian/ Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Chandos) Full of Eastern promise, Scheherazade weaves her sinuous way into my affections once again, with new recordings from Istanbul and Toronto. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Arabian Nights-inspired orchestral … Continue reading

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An essential “Babi Yar” from Kirill Kondrashin on Praga

Shostakovich: Symphony No.13 ‘Babi Yar’; Prokofiev: October Kirill Kondrashin/Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (Praga) Even for Dmitri Shostakovich, few works had such a controversial genesis as his Thirteenth Symphony, “Babi Yar”. It was originally intended as a one movement cantata, based on … Continue reading

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A superb live Don Carlo from Karajan in Vienna

Verdi: Don Carlo Herbert von Karajan/Wiener Staatsoper (Orfeo) When comparing all the interpretations of Verdi’s Don Carlo(s) on disc (November 2011), I awarded Herbert von Karajan’s 1978 EMI set the title ‘most frustrating studio account’. Wonderfully cast, it suffered at … Continue reading

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A brace of ghost ships

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer/ Dietsch: Le vaisseau fantôme (Naïve) *** One of the more enterprising celebrations to mark Wagner’s bicentenary last year now arrives on disc courtesy of Naïve. Conductor Marc Minkowski had been considering recording Die Feen, but opted … Continue reading

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