Tag: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4, Music for Hamlet
Two bold scores by Dmitri Shostakovich are offered together for the first time. The symphonic suite of music written for Nikolai Akimov’s avant-garde staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a reflection of the producer’s outlandish “funhouse mirror” version of the tragic tale. Shostakovich himself suppressed his Fourth Symphony for nearly three decades in the wake of…
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Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante K. 364, Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
Ukraine-born virtuoso David Oistrakh was one of the greatest violinist of all times, and a growing number of listeners are discovering his dazzling artistry. Oistrakh was particularly praised for his Mozart recordings – full-blooded, grand performances which nevertheless reveal the legendary Viennese composer’s charm and wit. Alto Records is pleased to release three of Oistrakh’s…
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Mieczysław Weinberg: Piano Quintet, Violin Concerto & Moldavian Rhapsody
Mieczyslaw Weinberg has emerged at last as one of the leading Soviet composers of the post-Shostakovich generation, following decades of almost scandalous neglect in the music world. This prolific composer’s works retain the unabashed post-romantic candor of Shostakovich, but evolved in a unique and inimitable style as his career progressed. For the first time, three…
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David Oistrakh – Violin Masterclass
10CD deluxe clamshell box including 24 Concertos, two Sonatas (Devil’s Trill etc), Scottish Fantasia, and many short Encores
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Shostakovich: The Complete Symphonies by Great Russian Conductors
Alto has gathered fifteen critically acclaimed, Russian-led recordings of all of Shostakovich’s symphonies – including such landmarks as Kiril Kondrashin’s legendary premiere performance of the Thirteenth Symphony, Evgeny Mravinsky’s blistering live recording of the Eighth Symphony, and Mstislav Rostropovich’s uncompromising live recording of the Eleventh, along with a “Who’s Who” of other Russian maestros including…
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Shostakovich Symphony No. 13, King Lear – Kondrashin, Serov
“Most important, historically, is the Moscow recording of the original 1962 version of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 using Yevtushenko’s [pre-censored] text commemorating the massacre of Jews at Babi Yar. … Yevtushenko’s original ‘I feel myself a Jew’ was what the anti-Semitic Soviet government would have no truck with. So it’s significant this is once again…
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Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 9 & 15
“(9th) They capture not only the joyful irreverence but the sense of danger lurking beneath … solo wind playing is excellent throughout…brilliantly played and vividly recorded” (CD Review) (15th) “with a superbly vivid Fifteenth, generally hard-driven à la Mravinsky but far more convincingly poised … first movement goes at a frightening lick, deserting the toy…
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Aleko (Complete Opera, One Act)
“first performance arranged at the prestigious Bolshoi, where it shared a double bill with Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta (at his insistence). The composition was highly esteemed by the examiners’ board which included Taneyev and Arensky. Rachmaninov got the highest mark, and was awarded the gold medal. In 1897, Aleko premiered in St Petersburg, the title role taken…
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Prokofiev: Violin Concertos 1 & 2; Five Pieces from Cinderella
“Oistrakh’s (2nd) has never been surpassed … a beautifully balanced reading which lays stress on the lyricism; the orchestral support could hardly be improved upon.” (Penguin Guide) “a modern classic now available in a splendidly vivid stereo performance: Prokofiev’s G minor Violin Concerto, with David Oistrakh as soloist and the PhiIharmonia at its best.” “The…
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Richter Rarities with Orchestra
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Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3; Two Preludes
(No.1) “On the occasion of the first Western-engineered recordings made in the USSR, soloist and orchestra plainly challenged each other to the limit and (the producers) brilliantly captured the warmly romantic and chimerical interpretation which resulted. Solo playing…scintillating..” (No.3) “the simple opening benefits from the extra warmth, and Janis lets the theme unwind with appealing…
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Shostakovich: The Great Symphonies
