Joseph Haydn’s symphonic oeuvre forms the foundation on which the musical works of the Classical, Romantic and, ultimately, Modern periods stand: Many have failed to present this complex in its entirety. When the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra proudly presented Volume 1 of Haydn’s symphonies in 1999, the intention was to record and publish the complete orchestral oeuvre of this classic composer up to the 200th anniversary of his death in 2009. There were no recordings in the orchestra’s archive and little experience with this composer: a bold plan that ultimately took 25 years to realize. And yet it seemed a thoroughly realistic vision for the still young but independent orchestra, which was not bound by any municipal repertoire. After all, it also promised solid basic funding for the decade for musicians who had previously lived from hand to mouth.

The Vienna Philharmonic and Christian Thielemann present the new complete recording of all Bruckner symphonies for the anniversary year 2024 for Sony Classical.

Written during the final months of World War II, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 was described by the composer as “a symphony of the greatness of the human spirit, a song of praise of free and happy mankind.” While these words must be taken with a grain of salt — more likely to have been generated by an apparatchik than Prokofiev himself — melody,
rhythmic invention, and unfettered delight abound within this beloved work. The 1945 premiere, a runaway success, marked the highpoint of Prokofiev’s career in the Soviet Union.

This keenly anticipated album from Sinfonia of London and John Wilson features two of the greatest British works for string orchestra: Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and Sir Edward Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro. Elgar’s ground-breaking work, commissioned for the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra and premièred in 1905, is inspired by the baroque concerto grosso, and features a solo string quartet contrasted with the full symphonic string section.

Dieses Konzert wird Geschichte schreiben. Vielleicht als dasjenige, mit dem der Grundstein für eine neue Partnerschaft gelegt wurde, die man sich nie hätte träumen lassen.

Strauss wrote a total of nine tone poems — orchestral works that depict a storyline. Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks are among his earliest successes and became instant hits with audiences worldwide. These Cleveland Orchestra recordings were captured in September and October 2021 with live audiences in Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center in Cleveland. All three were featured in a series of donor appreciation concerts, while Macbeth was also included in the season's opening weekend, the Orchestra's first public indoor performances since the coronavirus shutdown in March 2020.

This 37-disc box set is the only brand new and fully digital recording of the complete symphonies of Haydn. Performed by the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester (Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra) and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, the recordings were done live in connection with concerts of the whole cycle. The series received fantastic reviews by the press, and The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra was awarded the European Chamber Music Prize in 2008.

This album includes a carefully curated selection of Renaissance and early Baroque gems. Lightly skirting the fluid boundaries between high art music and folk music in early modern Europe, much of the vocal music presented here demonstrates the grace and charm with which even the most erudite and famed composers applied their craft to popular song and dance. The instrumental music further reiterates the centrality of dance music in the 16th and 17th centuries, whether explicitly or as a rhythmic and formal underpinning. Above all, while skillfully composed by master musicians, the music is infused by musical cultures existing beyond the Church and court. At first glance unrelated, but a more discerning gaze will uncover the fine thread of cultural exchange between high art music and popular musical traditions running throughout the album.

Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony occupies a special position in Anton Bruckner's symphonic cycle. It heralds the cycle of his "mature" symphonies and with it the composer addressed his audience directly and wanted to be understood by them. He succeeded in this - today the “Romantic” is one of Bruckner's most popular symphonies. Still, he revised it time and again and today there are three versions of it.

The home of my mother – a pianist and singer herself – was where I first came in contact with Beethoven’s piano sonatas. Several of her piano students from Weimar Conservatory often came to take lessons or visit us in our apartment. Curiously, instead of popular sonatas such as the Pathétique or the Appassionata, we tended to hear other ones: I still vividly recall Sonata No. 30 in E Major op. 109, on which my mother was working with a student to whom I had taken a liking.

Pietro Torri's (1650-1737) life and work are closely connected with the Bavarian Elector Max Emanuel, whom he served for almost half a century. The monarch loved a pompous court with elaborately staged operas and festive cantatas. Torri provided the music, composing almost 20 operas and a large number of sacred and secular works for the Bavarian court, making Munich one of the great musical centers north of the Alps alongside Vienna. A special feature of Torri's oeuvre are his Trastulli (literally: time-wasting, playfulness) - a collection of 60 Italian arias with partly obligatory virtuoso instrumental interludes for evening entertainment in private court circles.
Daniela Dolci has compiled a selection of Trastulli into a pastiche and combined it with virtuoso opera arias by Torri. The program gives a wonderful insight into the work of the opera and vocal composer Pietro Torri.

For a production at the King's Theatre, Handel had created a mixed version of his Italian serenata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo HWV 72 and the English masque Acis and Galatea HWV 49a, which was performed semi-staged several times in 1732 with a star cast (including Senesino) to great acclaim. For today's ears, the musically attractive version HWV 49b suffers not least from the mixture of English and Italian text. In keeping with Handel's intentions, a purely Italian version was created here with additions from Italian works by the composer. The result is as convincing musically as it is scenically and would have deserved its own number in the catalogue of works.

Francesco Gasparini was held in high esteem by his contemporaries, as can be easily seen from his curriculum vitae: In Rome he was in the service of the great patrons of the arts Cardinal Pamphili, Marchese Ruspoli and the Borghese family, and in between he was music director at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice for twelve years, at the same time as Antonio Vivaldi. Gasparini wrote a total of almost 60 operas and nearly 30 oratorios, which were performed in many Italian cities. The countertenor Filippo Mineccia has cherry-picked the repertoire that suits his voice and presents a portrait of Gasparini's alto arias. He was very careful to select arias with different affects in order to present Gasparini's broad dramatic palette. Slow arias are interspersed with furioso pieces and contrapuntal pieces. Particularly brilliant are the rage arias, in which Mineccia is able to display all his vocal prowess. In the richly orchestrated and harmonically exciting arias from Gasparini's oratorios, the Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori Italiani can shine with its qualities.

Although Paderewski is more readily associated with his career as a legendary virtuoso pianist, his modest output of 70 orchestral, instrumental and vocal works deserves to be more widely known. Prominent among his vocal output is a series of early songs that reveal natural flowing patterns while exploring both melancholy and folk idioms. The Douze Mélodies, written at the end of his compositional career, is the most original and striking Polish set of songs of the period, notable for dissonance, chromaticism and a palette of rich and unusual musical colours, to which this orchestral arrangement adds a whole new dimension. Little known, the early Suite in G major offers youthful warmth and brio.

Nothing comes quite as close, musically speaking that is, to reaching at the core of America quite like the ballet Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (1900-1990). Despite having received his formal musical training in Paris under Nadia Boulanger and living in Brooklyn, he's the composer who captures best the "big sky country" spirit of America, especially in works like Billy the Kid, Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo and his score for Of Mice and Men. The "outdoorsy" and folksy feel of Appalachian Spring, typical of Copland's open intervals and harmonic structure, have caused it to become one of the best representations of American culture. Conductor David Bernard's relaxed tempo for the Introduction allows for the dawn's natural unfolding, before the full-blown awakening of nature which follows. The agrestic, corn-pone manner within the Revivalist and His Flock segment comes across well here, as well as the energetic, multi-layered rhythms of the Solo Dance of the Bride. The following Meno Mosso recapitulation of the opening sequence is highly expressive as well. The brisk tempo of the Variations on a Shaker Hymn (Simple Gifts) works very well here, and the Coda, as the sun sets in the west is heartfelt, warm and highly evocative.