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RECORD KEEPING | Alexei Ogrintchouk Provides A Convincing Argument For Late...
This new recording with Alexei Ogrintchouk, principal oboist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, accompanied by colleagues from the RCO and conducted by Andris Nelsons. offers a detailed and intense...
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RECORD KEEPING | 85 Hours Of Rafael Kubelík Should Keep You Busy For A Good...
At last, Deutsche Grammophon has done the right thing and released a box-set of complete recordings dedicated to Rafael Kubelik, one of the greatest Czech conductors of all time.
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RECORD KEEPING | OSM Releases Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, But Will It Win New...
Marking Bernstein 100th-anniversary year, the Montréal Symphony's new recording of A Quiet Place is played with care and authority, but its structural problems are difficult to surpass.
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RECORD KEEPING | TSO’s Triumphant Vaughan Williams Album Is First-Class Music...
This notable release, not least of all because it is Peter Oundjian’s last recording as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, is a real triumph.
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RECORD KEEPING | Boston Symphony Hits The Shostakovich Bullseye (Again)
Just when you thought you've heard the best, the Boston Symphony may have just set a new standard for Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4.
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RECORD KEEPING | Giovanna d’Arco With Anna Netrebko Explains Why The Best...
Riccardo Chailly combined with the artistry of Netrebko, saves this La Scala production of Verdi's Giovanna d’Arco from over-the-top silliness.
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RECORD KEEPING | Even Yannick Nézet-Séguin Can’t Make Us Love Mozart’s La...
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Rolando Villazón, and Joyce DiDonato do their best to convince us that La Clemenza di Tito is a masterpiece.
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RECORD KEEPING | Christina Petrowska Quilico Revisits Ann Southam With...
Christina Petrowska Quilico latest look at the solo piano music of the late Ann Southam, serves as more of a historical record than something to savour.
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RECORD KEEPING | Pemi Paull’s Musicum Umbrarum Puts The Viola In Its Dark Place
What it lacks in hits, Pemi Paull's Musicum Umbrarum makes up for as a treasure trove of intimate portraits played by the moody middling member of the illustrious string family.
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RECORD KEEPING | Stewart Goodyear Offers Pristine Technique And Sensitive...
Stewart Goodyear has always worn his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Beethoven, and his love of the material emerges as a technically polished and musically graceful interpretation of all five...
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RECORD KEEPING | Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 Is Making A Comeback For 2018
"This is music of tremendous intensity." The latest from Philharmonia Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy has got our attention this week.
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RECORD KEEPING | Jane Coop Handles Prokofiev With Ease In Re-Issue With The...
Given the diminished state of the classical recording business today, even the most distinguished artists have a tough time putting out concerto recordings. Jane Coop has done the next best thing in...
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RECORD KEEPING | The Amici Chamber Ensemble Capture The Spirit Of Canada
Despite its shortcomings, this new album by Toronto's Amici Chamber Ensemble is an imaginative contribution to the celebration of Canada.
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RECORD KEEPING | One Orchestra, Two Very Different Conductors
Two resurrected favourites emerge this week, with Guido Cantelli and Herbert von Karajan both heading the Philharmonia Orchestra.
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RECORD KEEPING | A Top Shelf Nielsen From Dausgaard And The Seattle Symphony
While there have been other fine recorded performances of Nielsen’s Fourth, Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony, combining virtuosic playing with the flying by the seat of your pants abandon of a live...
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RECORD KEEPING | Two New Albums That Remind Us There’s More To Sibelius
Two new albums from Gerald Finley and Anne Sofie von Otter offer are a stark reminder of how much repertoire from Sibelius is still waiting to be re-discovered.
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RECORD KEEPING | Lawrence Wiliford’s Pitch-Perfect ‘O Gladsome Light’ Shines...
One could hardly imagine a better performance than the one on this album, with Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford offering pitch-perfect intonation and beautiful tone.
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RECORD KEEPING | Bruckner Lovers Would Do Well To Spend Time With The Study...
It may not be one of Bruckner’s “greatest” compositions, but done well, it is certainly worth a listen. Sadly, this one misses the mark.
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RECORD KEEPING | NAC Orchestra Encounters Bad Program Notes But Good Music
"This kind of bafflegab was of no use to me before I heard the piece and after listening to it, I still haven’t the faintest idea what she is talking about."
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RECORD KEEPING | Martha Argerich And Ruggiero Ricci’s Historic 1961 Leningrad...
A second release in the Legendary Treasures Leningrad concerts performed by two outstanding musicians – Ruggiero Ricci and Martha Argerich. These recordings are available for the first time.
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RECORD KEEPING | James Ehnes Returns To Bartók And Reveals Even More
James Ehnes gives us fine renderings of Bartók’s modernist transformation of gypsy style with conductor Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
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RECORD KEEPING | Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony With Passion And Intensity...
New RCO recording of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony featuring soprano Annette Dasch and mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill is passion and intensity from beginning to end.
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RECORD KEEPING | Jaap van Zweden And The New York Phil Offer A Taste Of...
Jaap van Zweden doesn’t officially take over as music director of the New York Philharmonic until September 2018, but their new album hints at the possibilities.
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RECORD KEEPING | Why We Can’t Stop Listening To Pianist Stewart Goodyear’s...
"For Glenn Gould" provides his own clear-headed renderings that make as much sense as the original, yet sound only like Goodyear.
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RECORD KEEPING | Batiashvili And Nézet-Séguin Carry Over For Another Album
Batiashvili and Nézet-Séguin team up again for some essential works for violin solo and chamber orchestra from Prokofiev.
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RECORD KEEPING | Toronto Based Composer An-Lun Huang’s New Album Is Required...
An-lun Huang's work deserveS to be better-known. And thanks to Toccata Classics, this album is a good place to start.
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RECORD KEEPING | Canada Gets Snubbed In “Music Of The Americas”
One of these days some record company will issue a CD under the title “Music of the Americas” and actually include some Canadian music.
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RECORD KEEPING | Rachmaninov’s Edgar Allen Poe Inspired Bells Is Deliciously...
To the average concertgoer, Rachmaninov is probably best known for writing lush, romantic melodies and music of great passion; that said, he was also a man with an appreciation for the darker side of...
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RECORD KEEPING | Nézet-Séguin’s Bernstein Mass Is An Electric Journey Into...
Under the baton of Nézet-Séguin, Bernstein’s Mass is a remarkable amalgam of religious ritual and Broadway theatrics with a universal message.
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RECORD KEEPING | New Biography From Bernstein’s Valet Casts Light On His Hard...
"Please look after my music" — Leonard Bernstein last words to his long-time assistant Charlie Harmon, who has finally broken his silence in a tell-all biography extolling the challenges of living with...
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