Tag: London Symphony Orchestra
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Dvorák: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 – Davis, LSO
“This beautiful performance deserves to win many new friends for Dvořák’s most Brahmsian symphony. Davis’s love of this music shines out of every bar.” (Gramophone) “culminating in a towering account of the finale, which unlike many, here emerges as a fully satisfying conclusion” “More successfully than any other recording, Davis captures the slow movement’s elusive…
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Berlioz: Les Troyens – DeYoung, Heppner, Davis, LSO
“Davis … magnificently crowns his whole career as a Berlioz interpreter, generally outshining even his pioneer version of 30 years earlier…[Lang] is superb, firm, rich and intense, investing every phrase with emotional power, instantly establishing her dominance…Heppner excels himself” (Penguin Guide ROSETTE) Gramophone Awards’ Best Opera; Academie Charles Cros’ Grand Prix du Disc Opera News’…
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Elgar: Symphony No. 2 & Marches – Davis, Tuckwell, LSO
“The dynamic range is remarkable with whispered pianissimos of breath-taking gentleness set against glorious brass” (Penguin Guide) Sunday Times’ Best Classical Recordings 2002: The Guardian’s Best Classical CDs of 2002; “Larger than life, but capturing every mood with humanity and tenderness.” (BBC Radio 3 Building a Library top budget choice); “This is one of the…
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Mahler: Symphony No. 8 – Gergiev, LSO
“This is a great disc, and no mistake. It is the first to which I am glad to give the “IRR Outstanding” appellation. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.’ (International Record Review). “at once the most ambitious and the most impressive in Gergiev’s Mahler series…The atmosphere of a great occasion is caught admirably, with the…
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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 “Pastoral”
(4th) “complete confidence exists between the LSO, in magnificent form, and its conductor.This disc is a climax to the series” (BBC 5*) (6th) “For anyone who wants first-rate stereo sound and a broadly traditional reading, it is hard to imagine more profoundly satisfying accounts than these. The playing of the LSO is nowadays quite magnificent”…
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Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius – von Otter, Rendell, Davis, London Symphony Orchestra
“a deeply felt, thoughtful and, where needed, highly dramatic interpretation of an indisputable masterpiece.” (Gramophone) “orchestral textures were sensuously coloured, and the vast symphonic structure flawlessly paced and handled. The choral singing, thrilling in its immediacy and clarity, can only be described as electrifying from start to finish” (The Guardian) “For Davis Elgar is a…
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Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, Brahms: Haydn Variations – Davis, Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra
(Symphony 9) “’Davis offers a story and a sense of conviction that place his performance in a wholly different league.’ (BBC Music Magazine 5 stars) “Unmissable … Superb in all respects. Sound quality doesn’t come any better than this whatever the price. Don’t hesitate!” (Classic CD)
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Sibelius: Music for the Theatre
“no (others) are more idiomatic, and the programme here makes for an enjoyable and generous concert…. King Christian …with some particulary expressive string playing…and Karelia ..share of excitement…Vivid sound” (Penguin Guide) “Tjeknavorian is a serious and thoughtful [Sibelius] interpreter… we [do not] find him trying to score interpretative points or playing to the gallery” (Gramophone)
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 – Haitink, London Symphony Orchestra
“the slow third movement… moves along at a pace few conductors would have employed fifty years ago. Yet it never sounds hurried, and the dramatic brass interruptions towards its close have an appropriately apocalyptic ring. The extraordinarily vivid recording, in which the basses are caught to stupendous effect – especially in their passages of recitative…
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Movie Music: 20 Big Themes – Space – Action – Romance
Films are fantasy – and fantasy needs music’ (Jack L Warner / Warner Bros.)
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Berlioz: Harold in Italy; Overtures
“Yet again Sir Colin Davis demonstrates his supreme mastery as a Berlioz interpreter … especially fascinating is to compare this latest Harold en Italie with earlier versions – the biggest contrast is the extra tautness of Davis’s interpretation, with speeds consistently faster … the textures are sparer, sharper and lighter – bringing extra incisiveness all…
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Russia – Romance and Drama
“Ahronovitch is direct and exciting and the title is well borne out by the performances. The recording is brilliant without being aggressively so, and has plenty of weight (with splendid brass sonorities in Night on the Bare Mountain) plus an effective ambience. The Sabre Dance has great energy and the Prokofiev March from Love for…
