Wagner

Der Ring Des Nibelungen

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
James Levine, conducting
DG

$40 !

Ok.....I really wanted the Solti/WP set, but I just couldn't pass this up at this price. Only includes an act by act synopis. No libretto, unfortunately.

A DG set of the Ring for $40??? Sign me up!

Speaking of bargains... I just bought this box (EMI France - really good musicians; can't find the image online, though...) of Ravel's complete orchestral works, 5 discs, including concerti and Daphnis et Chloe (with the voices!) - all for US$12. Amazing stuff... can't wait to listen to it!

(Oh, and of course Bolero is the first track of the first disc... grrr... why???)

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"Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n
wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!"
-Gustav Mahler

It's funny that this was recently mentioned (by jhar26) in the "listening" thread:


because my most recent acquisition is:


I figured I'd better pick it up while I can... it's a Warner label recording.

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The hardest knife ill us'd doth lose his edge. Shakespeare- Sonnet 95

I purchased this after my Leonard Bernstein recording, which I found out after purchasing this one, was flawed. iTunes apparently got the end of the second and beginning of the third movements messed up. I wondered why Frere Jacques kept coming in before the Jewish music! Anyways, Gergiev's recording only cost 8$ on iTunes and it's a good recording. He is a little reserved in the first 3 movements (I can barely hear the first few minutes of the third movement) but in the 4th movement he conveys the hell to heaven part to perfection. This is my second favorite Mahler symphony behind Resurrection and Gergiev does it justice.

I also found a site last night that sold full scores of all of the works and this one was like 7.99$. I believe the scores are very tiny, but I assume that wouldn't matter. Google books houses some of this score: http://books.google.com/books?id=_kO...um=4&ct=result

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Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend. -- Beethoven

Dover scores has the Mahler symphonies in score, and they're very good and inexpensive. The first and second symphonies are grouped together in one book and sold for about $15-20... can't quite remember.

Then there's always the IMSLP for some of the symphonies (not the whole set, mind). 1 is there, I think, and 2 is not. But there are also 5, 6, and 8 at least, plus Das Lied, Kindertotenlieder, etc. Very nice site for Mahler scores.

__________________
"Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n
wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!"
-Gustav Mahler

I wasn't even aware that IMSLP had reopened.

Yes, it reopened at the beginning of the month.

A little change of pace this time. Apocalyptica; a heavy metal band that plays their music on a drum set and four cello's. Several covers (most famous for their covers of metallica) and some original stuff that is great. If, by chance you haven't heard of them and like both classical and heavy metal - definately check them out.

Apocalyptica: Amplified, a Decade of Reinventing the Cello:



Apocalyptica: Worlds Collide

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Remember the 3 SW's: Some Will, Some Won't, So What!

I'm always afraid they're going to break the cello by the end of the piece.

I only managed to see Resurrection at the Barbican hall during LSO/Gergiev’s Mahler cycle. Though not as good as my favourite recording of Solti/CSO, Gergiev and LSO conjured great intensity and clarity. The tempi are brisk(too much so in the 3rd movt) and all in all a powerful rendition. The alto is nowhere near Mira Zakai but the soprano is pretty good. After all, a live is a live, especially with Resurrection, guaranteed to raise plenty goose bumps and make your eyes misty! The effect of the offstage horns/trumpets and the brilliant LSO chorus are just breathtaking. If you ever get Gergiev’s 2nd, let us know what you think. I’m curious to hear Gergiev/LSO’s 5th and 6th. My favourite recordings of these two are still Karajan/Berliner’s.

Just bought a DVD: Gustav Mahler: Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch With the World (2005)

Oh I envy you! When I went to London the only things they were playing at Barbican hall were Shostakovich's 14th Symphony and Schubert's 9th Symphony so I decided just to not go. I would absolutely love to see Mahler's Resurrection Symphony live under any conductor. I absolutely agree with you that Solti's Mahler is the best. I have purchased the 6th under Solti as well and it's my favorite recording. I only sort of stopped buying from his complete series after a ton of negative comments on Amazon. I had no clue Karajan did any Mahler other than the 9th! I'll have to look that up. I get all of my music off iTunes so sometimes I don't see everything that comes out. Currently they have in Gergiev's Mahler series: 1st, 6th, and 7th, but not the 2nd. I'll look it up on iTunes and purchase it if its there. Thanks.

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Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend. -- Beethoven

You'll have to envy me doubly Rachovsky, because they played it twice and I went both concerts! The Karajan's 5th & 6th are of DG: http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphon...7844013&sr=8-3 .

Solti/CSO's 5th used to be my #1 but when I got the Karajan recording I found the Berliner's Adagietto is the best I'd ever heard, in fact I think it's unsurpassable. Also the sound quality is better. In my book the Berliner has always been the finest, most virtuoso and desciplined orchestra. Sometimes I fancy what if an orchestra made of CSO's brass and Berliner's strings with a conductor of Karajan-Bernstein-Solti 3 in 1? Wouldn't that be what the great Mahler deserves??

Thanks for the iTunes info, I've never bought anything from there, will check it out.

Ok I'll definitely take a look at all of Karajan's recordings. One day I'll travel to Berlin just to see Simon Rattle perform Mahler's 2nd, mark my word. I forgot to mention that I also obviously have Solti's 8th, which is said to be the premier recording of Mahler's 8th. I agree, conjoin the CSO and BPO and Solti and Karajan and they would be a powerhouse, haha. I also wonder how Mahler conducted during his days. I wish there were some recordings of his own interpretations. I've not even purchased Mahler's 3rd, 4th, and 7th, so that's on the list, then I'll start on books, haha. Mahler's output was low, yet absolutely magnificent.

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Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend. -- Beethoven

A documentary build around a (extremely) rare interview with the piano playing icon with lots of concert footage from throughout the lady's career as well. Very interesting - especially for Martha fans.


Super cheap 4-disc box set of Telemann's most famous work(s).