Mikhail Pletnev and the newly formed Rachmaninoff International Orchestra (RIO) performed under the baton of Kent Nagano all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in October 2023.

This substantial 25CD set offers a fascinating journey through one century of Russian Chamber Music. All Russian composers were active in this genre and often composed their most profound, personal music for it.

There were occasions during the three decades when the LP record ruled supreme - from the 1950s to the 1970s - when the chemistry between an orchestra, its conductor and their record company combined to work a magic that the commitment of long-term recording contracts quite often made possible. Karajan and the Philharmonia; Ansermet and the Suisse Romande; Dorati and the Minneapolis; Münch and the Boston Symphony, Cluytens and the Paris Conservatoire and Previn and the London Symphony are all prime examples of such collaborations. All of these produced recorded performances that are as fine today as they ever were and are all well-represented in the current CD catalogues. Until now there has been one successful recording collaboration that seems almost to have slipped under the radar: the Pittsburgh Symphony, William Steinberg and the Capitol Records producer, Richard C. Jones.

In his liner notes, Yevgeny Sudbin remembers falling in love with Tchaikovsky’s music when he was introduced to classical music. On this album, the pianist presents a collection of piano pieces and arrangements for piano, solo and four hands, of orchestral works by the great Russian composer, preceding it with a curtain raiser much-loved by Tchaikovsky himself: Mikhail Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila. The piano pieces selected by Sudbin spans some twenty years of Tchaikovsky's career and takes in the ever-popular Barcarolle (June) and Troika (November) from The Seasons as well as three pieces from the composer's last work for piano, the 18 Pieces, Op. 72.

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was born on March 20, 1915 (Julian: March 7) in Zhitomir in present-day Ukraine. His father Teofil (Theophilus) came from a German commercial family. The famous Russian piano teacher Heinrich Neuhaus (of German origin) recognized his huge talent and enrol led him in his piano master cl ass at the Moscow Conservatory in 1 937. Profil Edition Gunter Hanssl er is progressively releasing all the recordings that the great Soviet virtuoso made between 1945 and 1963. Most of them were largely unknown in the West during the Cold War, as Richter could only perform til I 1960 behind the ""Iron Curtain"", that is to say, in the Soviet Union and the sate I lite states of Eastern Europe.

A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. The term nocturne (from French nocturne 'of the night', also named Notturno) was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemble piece in several movements, normally played for an evening occasion.

The Nocturne is a romantic piano piece in which a nocturnal, romantic atmosphere is expressed, where perfumed melodies float serenely over a calmly murmuring accompaniment.-Credit where credit is due: the inventor of the genre is the Irish composer John Field, who made fame as a pianist of his own works. It needed the genius of Chopin to perfect the genre to the highest artistic level: Chopin's Nocturnes are the archetypes of romantic piano music, and count among his best loved works.

Wieder einmal lässt Thomas Clamor seine Sächsische Bläserphilharmonie ein musikalisches Feuerwerk abbrennen: Auf ihrer neuen CD entführen die Musiker uns nach Russland und alle, die noch keine Fans dieses Klangkörpers sind, tun gut daran mitzureisen! Höhepunkte gibt es dabei mehr als genug wie z.B. das Märchenreich von Strawinskys Feuervogel oder Tschaikowskys schwungvolles Capriccio Italien.

These pre-Chicago recordings of Fritz Reiner with the Pittsburghers is a reminder of his greatness as a conductor. It also restores to the catalog his recordings of some composers he wasn't closely identified with. Shostakovitch, for example, wasn't a regular on Reiner's studio schedule, but should have been, for this Sixth bristles with sardonic wit and energy. The Kodaly Dances, of course, were right up Reiner's alley, and get a smashing performance. The shorter works too, are first class, especially the Bart243;k Hungarian Sketches and another Reiner calling card, Kabalevsky's Overture.

This is a fabulous disc: succulently beautiful music in strong, compelling performances, recorded in deep and detailed sound… Only the warmest of recommendations will do.

This compilation covers 20 years of live recordings made by conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky and the then-named Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra for Erato. Mravinsky led that orchestra for nearly 50 years, from 1938 until his death. His last recording was that of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12, made in 1984, found on Disc 3 here. His interpretations of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky were highly regarded, so it's not surprising that several of their symphonies are here. There are also symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven in this set; tone poems by Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky; and orchestral excerpts from operas by Wagner, Glinka, and Glazunov. The final disc contains a rare recording of a rehearsal led by Mravinsky, something few outsiders were ever allowed to witness. Even though he was an elder statesman of Russian music at the time of these recordings, there is still precision and energy in his interpretations.

For anyone interested in Glinka's Trio, choice here is simple. The new Borodin Trio performance is greatly superior to the Pavane version cited above, which is on the stiff side and not blessed with a very distinguished recording (it is coupled with Beethoven's Clarinet Trio). Not only is the sound far better on the new Chandos, but the playing has a sweep and eloquence, also a neat wit, of which the work stands in some need.

Elena Kelessidi is one of opera’s most touching and fiery artists and the most international Greek soprano of today. Here she makes her recital debut with this heartfelt programme of songs from a country whose language is natural to her.

'Some of the most joyously delightful music that you will ever hear’ (American Record Guide). ‘A most striking performance, beautifully modulated, elegantly phrased … very well recorded indeed’ (BBC Record Review)