Aug 12 2007
Review: Some Recently Bought CDs
Our local classical music station, King.org, has a penchant of playing off-the-beaten-path works. It really help me to expand my collection. Recently, I bought several CDs after heard them first online.
1. “New Year’s Eve with the Berlin Symphony“, RCA, 1990. Mainly after Franz Liszt’s “Les Préludes”. One of the better renditions I have heard for a while: rich, colorful and Wagnerian.
2. “Itzhak Perlman – Greatest Hits”, Deutsche Grammophon, 1993. Never a fan of I.P. but really liked Saint-Saens’ Havanaise. Need to caliberate out some of the sentimentality typical of Perlman.
3. “Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (solo piano by Fazil Say)”, Elektra, 2001. Rite of Spring is a forever favorite. Two years ago, listened to a two-piano performance by Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman in Chicago and it was just awe-inspiring. Since then I have been looking for a surrogate. My first preference would be a two-piano version and tried samples from another CD. In the end, I liked Say’s performance better. I also listened to a Bernstein’s Deutsche Grammophon edition–it is God-awful.
4. “La Clarinette Francaise” , Asv Living Era, 1993. Mainly after Milhaud’s Scaramouche (3), Brazileira. Also compared to another CD, but decided Emma Johnson’s play was superior. I guess I must have listened to the samples too many times that sometimes this delightful piece becomes as a jingle in my mind.
5. “Fauré: Orchestral Music”, Naxos, 1998. Finally got a copy of the Dolly Suite.