A Portrait of the Viola

Track Listings

1. Clarke: Viola Sonata: Impetuoso

2. Clarke: Viola Sonata: Vivace

3. Clarke: Viola Sonata: Adagio-allegro

4. Clarke: Morpheus

5. Clarke: Lullaby

6. Clarke: Lullaby

7. Swain: English Reel

8. Clarke: I'll Bid My Heart Still

9. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Moderato

10. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Vivace leggiero

11. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Andante affectuoso

12. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Presto

13. Gould: Oh Can Ye Sew Cushions

A Portrait of the Viola, Music, Helen Callus, Rebecca Clarke, Freda Swain, Pamela Harrison, Janetta Gould, Robert McDonald, Chamber, Chamber Music, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Artists, Classical Music, Viola with Keyboard

Average customer rating:

if you own 1 viola cd

Absolutely Stunning!

A Portrait of the Viola

Manufacturer: Asv Living Era
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
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Six Cello Suites performed on viola

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Helen Callus performs Walton, Vaughan Williams, Howells & Bowen

ASIN: B0000666B8
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Tracks:

Clarke: Viola Sonata: Impetuoso
Clarke: Viola Sonata: Vivace
Clarke: Viola Sonata: Adagio-allegro
Clarke: Morpheus
Clarke: Lullaby
Clarke: Lullaby
Swain: English Reel
Clarke: I'll Bid My Heart Still
Harrison: Viola Sonata: Moderato
Harrison: Viola Sonata: Vivace leggiero
Harrison: Viola Sonata: Andante affectuoso
Harrison: Viola Sonata: Presto
Gould: Oh Can Ye Sew Cushions

Customer Reviews:

if you own 1 viola cd.......2002-06-30

I agree completely with the review above. I am familar with several of these selections, however they sound completely flat compared to these wonderful recording. Tender yet not hesterical. I also had the pleasure of hearing some of this live recently and lived up to the recording and beyond. If you own 1 viola cd this should be it.

Absolutely Stunning!.......2002-06-26

This CD is beyond words. The playing is spectacular. Helen Callus sounds like no other viola player I've ever heard. She has a gorgeously rich, warm sound that is breathtaking. Her playing is both incrediby touching and human, as well as seeming to come from the heavens. Robert McDonald (who often plays with Midori and the late Isaac Stern) is phenomenal. Although the focus of the CD is on the viola, there is some virtuosic piano writing especially in the Clarke Sonata and these brilliant passages in the 2nd mvt of the Harrison Sonata.

The music is all great. Extremely listenable. It's all from the 20th-century but it all sounds like Vaughn-Williams or Holst, great, lush English music from the period when they knew how to win over the audience.

Finally, the sound quality is amazing. But you wouldn't expect less from engineer Max Wilcox and the fantastic sound in the Academy of Arts in Manhattan.

Customer Reviews:

Not the best performances, but still a pretty good collection.......2007-04-20

Naxos has never provided the best performances of the music of Arvo Part--the long line of ECM recordings were made under the composer's supervision and thus may be seen as definitive--but the collection ARVO PART: A PORTRAIT is a nice effort indeed. Issued in 2005, the year of the Estonian composer's 70th birthday, this package features selections from nearly his entire career over two discs, in recordings drawn from the Naxos, BIS, and Nimbus labels, and also contains a 78-page booklet with Nick Kimberley's essay "Arvo Part: A Musical Journey".

Arvo Part came to worldwide attention through the minimalistic and overtly spiritual music he began composing in the mid-1970s, but ARVO PART: A Portrait features some music from his early career as well. Part was something of an enfant terrible in the Soviet music world, and in the 1960s he infuriated the socialist realist musical establishment by producing dodecaphonic and collage works through the 1960s. From this era we get the second movement of the Symphony No. 1, the "Collage ueber B-A-C-H", and the cello concerto "Pro et Contra". One does regret, however, that his important piece "Credo", discussed at some length in Kimberley's piece, is not featured here, but perhaps Naxos could not find a recording that could be licensed for inclusion here.

The bulk of the collection, however, is dedicated to Part's "holy minimalism" output, a style which he calls "tintinnabuli" for its bell-like tones. Two selections from his hour-long masterpiece "Passio" are included here, one begin four minutes long and the other twelve. Of the "Berliner Messe" we have the Kyrie and Credo, and the other late pieces here are included full-length.

"Fur Alina", the exceedingly simple piano piece he wrote in 1976, breaking a silence of nearly a decade, is featured here in its scored form in performance by Alexei Lubimov. The ECM recording of this piece is a much longer improvisation by Alexander Malter, so this Naxos collection (or the BIS disc the selection was drawn from) is a good way to hear the piece at its most simple.

Over the last decade or so, Part has began reconciling his tintinnabuli style to the more fiery spirit of his youth. However, none of those pieces, such as "Como cieva sedienta" are represented here, which is regrettable.

While the Naxos performances of Part's music are not the best available, only the Naxos recording of "Tabula Rasa" by the Ulster Orchestra and Takuo Yuasa is outright unlistenable. The rest are acceptable, and this collection makes a more more economical introduction to Part's career than the many full-price ECM discs. And for established Part fans, the included essay by Nick Kimberley is interesting reading, especially when the only other major English-language coverage of Part, Paul Hillier's Arvo Part (Oxford Studies of Composers), is difficult to find.

A Written and Sound Portrait of One of Our Most Important Composers.......2005-07-13

"Contemporary classical music which genuinely touches people is rare, but the rapt, contemplative music of Arvo Pärt communicates readily, and without pandering to the demands of a mass audience." -- Nick Kimberley

"It is enough when a single note is beautifully played." -- Arvo Pärt

These two comments shed light on Arvo Pärt, both the music and the man. An intensely private man who came of age in repressive Stalinist Soviet Estonia but who always maintained his stalwart religious beliefs, against all fashion, and who, though he started out as an avant-gardist, became the prophet of what has been called 'the new simplicity,' Arvo Pärt is perhaps the most beloved composer of classical music in the world. His music is known by people who have almost no interest otherwise in classical music, largely because of the effect it has on even the casual listener, as reflected in Nick Kimberley's comment above. It also has devoted followers among the musical cognoscenti. His piece 'Fratres,' in its myriad forms, is his most widely performed work, but it is probably his ecstatic 'Passio' that has created the most devoted following, particularly following its first recording by the Hilliard Ensemble on the ECM label.

This release has two CDs chockfull of unfailingly beautiful performances of Pärt's music, generally in complete movements taken from releases by Naxos and other labels. Such disparate works as his spare piano piece, 'Für Alina,' movements of his Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, the 'Berliner Messe,' the 'Magnificat,' 'Collage über B-A-C-H,' 'Spiegel im Spiegel,' and 'Triodion,' are represented here. Two versions of 'Fratres' are included, one for cello and piano, the other for percussion and strings. His cello and orchestra work, 'Pro et Contra,' is performed by Frans Helmerson and the Bamberg Symphony under Neeme Järvi. Excerpts from 'Passio' ('Passion According to the Gospel of St. John') from the recording by Antony Pitts, Pärt expert and a composer in his own right, and his choral group Tonus Peregrinus are particularly haunting. Celebrated organist Kevin Bowyer is heard playing Pärt's 'Annum per annum.'

The illuminating accompanying essay, 70 pages long, is by Nick Kimberley, a noted British arts critic. All of this is in a glossy booklet enclosed in a cardboard box, typical of Naxos's classy presentation of both recorded music and booklet notes.

This release is for all those who are already devotees of Pärt's music and for those who are just coming to admire his music. The budget price makes it all the more attractive.

2 CDs TT=164mins

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

A Portrait of Britten

Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000JCAX
Release Date: 1999-06-15

Tracks:

Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Intro And Theme - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Adagio - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: March - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Romance - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Aria Italiana - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Bourree Classique - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Wiener Walzer - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Moto Perpetuo - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Funeral March - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Chant - Roger Best
Vars On A Theme Of Frank Bridge, Op.10: Fugue And Finale - Roger Best
Simple Sym, Op.4: Boisterous Bourree - Roger Best
Simple Sym, Op.4: Playful Pizzicato - Roger Best
Simple Sym, Op.4: Sentimental Saraband - Roger Best
Simple Sym, Op.4: Frolicsome Finale - Roger Best
Lachrymae-Reflections On A Song Of Dowland: Lento-Allegretto, Andante Molto-Animato-Tranquillo... - Roger Best
Plrd And Fugue, Op.29: Prld: Grave - Roger Best
Plrd And Fugue, Op.29: Fugue: Allegro Energico - Roger Best

Tracks:

Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op.33a: I. Dawn - Michael Bochmann
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op.33a: II. Sunday Morning - Michael Bochmann
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op.33a: III. Moonlight - Michael Bochmann
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op.33a: IV. Storm - Michael Bochmann
Ste On English Folk Tunes 'A Time There Was...', Op.90: I. Cakes And Ale - Michael Bochmann
Ste On English Folk Tunes 'A Time There Was...', Op.90: II. Bitter Withy - Michael Bochmann
Ste On English Folk Tunes 'A Time There Was...', Op.90: III. Hankin Booby - Michael Bochmann
Ste On English Folk Tunes 'A Time There Was...', Op.90: IV. Hunt The Squirrel - Michael Bochmann
Ste On English Folk Tunes 'A Time There Was...', Op.90: V. Lord Melbourne - Michael Bochmann
Gloriana: The Courtly Dances, Op.53a - Michael Bochmann
The Young Person's Guide To The Orch, Op.34: Vars And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell - Michael Bochmann

Tracks:

Les Illuminations, Op.18: Fanfare - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Villes - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Phrase - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Antique - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Royaute - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Marine - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Interlude - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Being Beauteous - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Parade - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Les Illuminations, Op.18: Depart - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Prologue - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Pastoral - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Nocturne - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Elegy - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Dirge - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Hymn - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Sonnet - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Ser, Op.31: Epilogue - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead
Nocturne, Op.60 - Jerry Hadley/Anthony Halstead/Michael Hirst/Paul Arden Taylor/David Campbell/Keith Rubach...

Average customer rating:

Great Introduction

Artist Portrait: Susan Graham

Manufacturer: Warner Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Poèmes de l'Amour

ASIN: B00008KA5L
Release Date: 2004-08-10

Tracks:

Voi Che Sapete
Non So Piu Cosa Son, Cosa Faccio
Di Te Mi Rido
Mi Lusinga Il Dolce Affetto
Mio Bel Tesoro
Verdi Prati
O Malheureuse Iphigenie!
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Early In The Morning
The Wintry Mind
O You Whom I Often And Silently Come
Comment Le Dedain Pourrait-Il Mourir?
Dieu! Que Viens-Je Entendre?
This Journey To Christ
Who Will Walk With Me?
Dead Man Walking!
He Will Gather Us Around
C'est Ca La Vie, C'est Ca L'amour
Yes
Les Hommes Sont Bien Tous Les Memes

Customer Reviews:

Great Introduction.......2004-08-25

This is a great introduction at a very reasonable price to Susan Graham's lovely mezzo voice, with selections from several CDs. Be warned, however - this will only whet your appetite for the full albums (for example, her incredible live performance as Ruggiero in Handel's "Alcina" with Renee Fleming and Natalie Dessay and with William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants - surely one of the most stupendous opera recordings ever made).

Average customer rating:

Fantastic throughout

A Portrait of Bach

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

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ASIN: B00004YRAQ
Release Date: 2000-01-01

Tracks:

Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G - Tafelmusik
I. Adagio - Anner Bylsma
II. Allegro Ma Non Tanto - Anner Bylsma
Lute Suite In E Major: I. Prelude - Lutz Kirchhof
Concerto For Violin, Strings And Basso Continuo In A Minor - Tafelmusik
Lute Suite In E Major: V. Bourree - Lutz Kirchhof
Concerto For Two Violins, Strings And Basso Continuo In D Minor: I. Vivace - Linda Melsted
'Singet Dem Herrn Ein Neues Lied' Motet: I. Chorus: 'Singet Dem Herrn' - Barockorchester Stuttgart
Cello Suite No.1 In G Major: Prelude - Anner Bylsma
'Auf, Schmetternde Tone Der Muntern Trompeten', Cantata: Chorus: 'Auf, Schmetternde Tone' - Concerto Koln
'Auf, Schmetternde Tone Der Muntern Trompeten', Cantata: Duetto: Mich Kann Die Susse Ruhe Laben - Concerto Koln
Preludium In C Minor: Preludium - Lutz Kirchhof
Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D Major: III. Allegro - Jeanne Lamon
Cello Suite No.3 in C Major: V. Bourree I/II - Anner Bylsma
'O Ewiges Feuer, O Ursprung Der Liebe', Cantata: 5. Coro 'Friede Uber Israel' - Gustav Leonhardt
Brandenburg Concerto No.2 In F Major: III. Allegro Assai - Crispian Steele-Perkins

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic throughout.......2006-10-15

This selection is created to be an introduction to Bach music. However, it is the best of Bach, featuring movements taken from the most popular concertos, suites and sonatas. Orchestras and musicians chosen are really stars, Tafelmusic, Concerto Koln, Lutz Kirchhof- lute, Janne Lemon- violin, Marten Root- t. flute, Charlotte Nediger- harpsichord, and many more. However the most impressive is Anner Bylsma- cello.

What is interesting, for me, that Bach music, largely created for scholars and all kinds of students for practicing musicality and techniques, has never been attractive enough to buy a CD and listen to it at home. Even the best musicianship of Casals and Yo- Yo Ma wasn't that good until I heard this Bach, of Anner Bylsma. He differs from others in essential approach to this music. In suites he plays dances as it is: No. 3 Burree is light, intense and playful. Other than authentic, an instrument and most likely tempo, there are amazing moments that he accomplishes by using a variety of strokes and makes the play unique and sparkling throughout. In sonata his musicianship comes to climax giving the organ the equal role particularly in dialogues. It is expressive and for the most part, very involving. Bravo!

Two cantatas are highly attractive and for one that is not familiar with theorbo, a forgotten baroque string instrument, Lutz Kirchhof plays lovely preludium on it. Awesome! For all this and for many more brilliant reasons, I recommend this CD as a mast for any kinds of an aueience.
Mirro

Average customer rating:

A Portrait
Gavin Bryars , Julian Lloyd Weber , Valerie Anderson , Tom Waits , Nexus Precussion Enasemble , Gavin Bryars Ensemble , and English Chamber Orchestra
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
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Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

ASIN: B00007J4WD
Release Date: 2003-01-14

Tracks:

Cello Concerto (Farewell To Philosophy) - Julian Lloyd Webber
Piu Mosso - Julian Lloyd Webber
Cello Concerto (Farewell To Philosophy) - Julian Lloyd Webber
Cello Concerto (Farewell To Philosophy) - Julian Lloyd Webber
('The Philosopher') - Julian Lloyd Webber
Poco Meno Mosso - Julian Lloyd Webber
('Farewell') A Tempo - Julian Lloyd Webber
Lento - Nexus
Piu Mosso - Nexus
Coda - Nexus
Les Fiancailles - Gavin Bryars
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (Single) - Tom Waits

Tracks:

The Green Ray - John Harle
Song I - Valerie Anderson
Song II - Valerie Anderson
Song III - Valerie Anderson
Song IV - Valerie Anderson
Song V - Valerie Anderson
Song VI - Valerie Anderson
Song VII - Valerie Anderson
Song VIII - Valerie Anderson
Titanic Lament (Radio Edit) - Gavin Bryars Ensemble
The North Shore - Gavin Bryars
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (Single Remix) - Tom Waits

Amazon.com

Philips's collection of major works that have propelled Gavin Bryars to New Music stardom is an effective overview of his music. The longest work is his Cello Concerto, handsomely played by Julian Lloyd Webber with a big, colorful tone and sustained intensity throughout its contemplative half-hour. A comparable mood pervades the bright tintinnabulating textures of the whimsically titled One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing. Similar as well, in their attractive serenity and suppressed sadness, are many of the other works here, prime among them the viola concerto in all but name, The North Shore, a tone painting of the rugged cliffs of northeast England. Adnan Songbook, settings of six poems by Lebanese poet Etel Adnan, are beautifully sung by soprano Valerie Anderson and delicately scored for a small ensemble. Bryars's biggest hits, The Sinking of the Titanic and Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, have inspired him to numerous reworkings and capsuled fragments. They're represented by Titanic Lament, depicting a hymn tune dissolving into gray, watery textures, and two very different four-minute versions of Jesus' Blood, both with Tom Waits. Some will find Bryars's brand of minimalism veering too closely to New Age music, but others will immerse themselves in a sound world of originality and refined beauties. --Dan Davis

Average customer rating:

Excellent Extended Booklet Notes, Mostly Fine Performances
An Excellent 'Portrait' of Shostakovich!!!

Dmitry Shostakovich: A Portrait

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Fugues | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000E8ZLU2
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Tracks:

Prelude And Fugue In C Major, Op.87 No.1 - Dmitry Shostakovich
Fantastic Dance In C Major, Op.5 No.3 - Konstantin Scherbakov
Movement I: Allegretto - Slovak Philharmonic Chorus
No.2: Adagio - New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
No.8: General Dance Of Enthusiasm And Apotheosis - Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Prelude In E Flat Minor, Op.34 No.14 - Konstantin Scherbakov
Movement 2: Moderato Con Moto - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Movement 4: Allegro Non Troppo - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Movement 3: Scherzo - Vermeer Quartet
Movement 3: Allegro Non Troppo - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Movement 2: Allegro Non Troppo - Stockholm Arts Trio
Movement I: Allegro - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Movement 3: Passacaglia - Ilya Kaler
Excerpt From A Radio Address By Shostakovich - Dmitry Shostakovich

Tracks:

Prelude In F Sharp Major, Op.97 No.13a - Konstantin Scherbakov
Movement 4: Andante-Allegro - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Movement 3: National Holiday - Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra
Movement 2: Andante - Michael Houstoun
Movement 5: Largo - Eder Quartet
Movement 2: Humour - Peter Mikulas
Movement 4: Largo - Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
Movement I: Moderato-Allegretto - Eder Quartet
Movement 9: O Delvig, Delvig! - Peter Mikulas
Movement I: Allegretto - Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Movement I: Moderato - Julius Drake
Fugue In D Minor, Op.87 No.24b - Dmitry Shostakovich

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Extended Booklet Notes, Mostly Fine Performances.......2006-04-29

Presumably the purpose of this two CD set (at a marvelous budget price) is to acquaint those unfamiliar with Shostakovich's music with as broad a range of his output as possible. The excerpts are all full movements and they are presented in chronological order with some minor exceptions. The booklet text, very clearly written by Richard Whitehouse, is not only informative, it is even-handed in the way it lays out some of the controversies surrounding Shostakovich's life and works. He not only makes comments about and sets out the historical context of the works presented, but also mentions others that are not included, so that one gets rather a fuller picture of his oeuvre than the music tracks would suggest.

Included are movements from nine of his fifteen symphones -- Nos. 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14 & 15; nothing from No. 7, the 'Leningrad' is included. Several of his piano preludes and fugues are presented, including the opening track which is from Shostakovich's own recording of No. 1 in C. Konstantin Scherbakov is heard in the others, plus a piece I don't recall hearing before, the brief, humorous 'Fantastic Dance in C, Op. 5, No. 3.' Several movements from ballet/movie suites are here -- from 'The Golden Age', 'The Bolt', 'The Gadfly', and 'Hamlet.' Only two string quartet movements are included, not enough in my opinion as his string quartets are among the glories of twentieth-century music, even though he came to the form rather late. We hear excerpts from the Piano Quintet in G Minor and the Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67 (not the Adagio, but the second movement Allegro). Ilya Kaler plays an incandescent Passacaglia from the First Violin Concerto, Annette Bartholdy plays the first movement of the Viola Sonata beautifully, and Michael Houstoun equally so in the Andante from the Second Piano Concerto (the one Shostakovich wrote for his son Maksim).

Quality of the performances varies a bit. I've never been terribly fond of the complete symphonies as recorded by Slovak Radio Symphony under Ladislav Slovak -- let's face it, this is not a top-tier orchestra. But the movie/film excerpts, played by other east European orchestras, are fine. As for the chamber works and piano works, they are excellent. Konstantin Scherbakov, a really fine pianist, is heard in several of the preludes and fugues, and another excellent Russian pianist, Boris Berman, is heard with the Vermeer Quartet in the Piano Quintet excerpt. The Stockholm Arts Trio is slightly less fine in the Op. 67 piano trio excerpt. The string quartet excerpts (from Nos. 8 and 12) are played wonderfully by the Eder Quartet.

For lagniappe there is a brief 1941 recording of Shostakovich making a radio address -- in Russian, of course, but with an English translation in the booklet.

I would go so far as to suggest that Richard Whitehouse's 92-page booklet is very nearly worth the price of the two-CD set, particularly for those who have not read much about the composer previously.

Scott Morrison

An Excellent 'Portrait' of Shostakovich!!!.......2006-03-22

I've been waiting for a release of this nature for a long time - a near-definitive collection that captures the very essence of the great Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75). With 2006 being the 100th anniversary year of the composer's birth, what better time to release a collection like this than now.
The "Portrait" collection is packed to its limits with defining musical moments from Shostakovich's repertoire. Excerpts from his famous "24 Preludes and Fugues", his epic symphonies, string quartets and violin concerto are all included here in uncut movements. Of special interest is the Preludes and Fugues that bookend the set because these were performed by Shostakovich himself from recordings made in the early 1950s. Also of interest is a short extract from a radio address in 1941 that features Shostakovich announcing (in Russian) work on his monumental Seventh Symphony (aka the "Leningrad Symphony").
The 100-page booklet that accompanies the CD-set features an excellent detailed essay on Shostakovich that gives an in-depth look at the composer's life and music as well as historic photos.
The only real downfall to the collection is the fact that excerpts from some of Shostakovich's best known works are missing here. There isn't any music from his famous "Leningrad" Seventh Symphony nor is there any from the equally famous Eleventh ("The Year 1905"). Also missing is music from the Cello Concerto and the famous "Festive Overture". Of course to include these pieces would have meant to extend from double-CD to a triple set. Since both CDs in this set are filled to their limits at 79 minutes each, I guess the omission of the above important works can be accepted. Besides what we do have here is some excellent music to begin with.
With this said, "A Portrait" of Dmitri Shostakovich is an excellent beginners guide to this dynamic yet controversial composer. I personally cannot think of a better introduction to his music than this.
Bravo to Naxos for this excellent release and a happy 100th to this great Russian musical genius.

Average customer rating:

A Portrait

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004Y6RG
Release Date: 2000-10-24

Tracks:

Italian Con, BWV 971: I. Allegro - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Pno Con No.20 in d, K 466: I. Allegro - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Pno Con No.20 in d, K 466: II. Romanze - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Pno Con No.20 in d, K 466: III. Allegro Assai - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Hungarian Rhap No.13 - New York Phil/Efrem Kurtz
Pno Con No.2 in c, Op.18: II. Adagio Sostenuto - New York Phil/Efrem Kurtz
Pno Son: I. Allegro Con Moto - Teresa Sterne
Pno Son: II. Adagietto - Teresa Sterne
Pno Son: III. Allegro Vivo - Teresa Sterne
Pno Son: IV. Allegro - Teresa Sterne

Tracks:

Ov To An English Opr, Hob 1A-3 - The Little Orch Of London/Leslie Jones
Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen - Paul Jacobs
Herzlich Thut Mich Verlangen - Paul Jacobs
Etude, Book II - Paul Jacobs
Five Pno Pieces, Op.23: II Sehr Rasch - Paul Jacobs
Ionisation - The New Jersey Perc Ens/Raymond DesRoches
The Ragtime Dance - Joshua Rifkin
Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair - Jan DeGaetani/Gilbert Kalish
Blondel Zu Marien, D 626 - Jan DeGaetani/Gilbert Kalish
Double Con: Intro - Paul Jacobs/Gilbert Kalish
Pno Son No.2, 'Concord, Mass': III. The Alcotts - Gilbert Kalish
Wait 'Till The Sun Shines, Nellie - Joan Morris/William Bolcom
Graceful Ghost - William Bolcom
Ancient Voices Of Children: III. De Donde Vienes, Amor, Mi Nino?/IV. Todas Las Tardes En Granada... - Jan DeGaetani/Michael Dash
Nyamamusango (Meat In The Forest) - Hakurotwi Mude/Cosmas Magaya/Ephat Mujuri
Vetar Vee - Vasilka Andonova/Kremena Stancheva
Ta Shto Mi E Miloj, Mamo - Nadezhda Georgieva Klicherova/Gena Ivanova Bodenova/Nadezhda Georgieva Paleastova
Ketjak Dance - Teresa Sterne
I Big You Goodnight - Edith Pinder/Geneva Pinder/Raymond Pinder/Joseph Spence
Oyun Havasi - Teresa Sterne
Ketawang Puspawarna - Teresa Sterne

Amazon.com

The life of Teresa Sterne is as noteworthy as the label she once presided over (Nonesuch). As a child prodigy, she successfully filled world-class auditoriums in the 1940s with audiences eager to hear her piano playing. Then, inexplicably, Sterne abandoned her concert career only to resurface as the leader behind Nonesuch Records in the late 1960s, turning the budget classical label into one of the more adventurous and consistently rewarding labels around (and generally keeping quiet about her earlier fame). Half of this double-CD tribute collects recordings of a teenage Sterne at the keyboard; the second disc is devoted to some of the finest recordings from her Nonesuch tenure (1965-1979)--both are engrossing.

Tracks:

In Alium - Eileen Hulse
To A Child Dancing In The Wind - Heidi Grant Murphy
The Lamb - Choir Of St. John's College, Cambridge
The Tyger - Choir Of St. John's College, Cambridge
Movement 1: Fos I, Doxa - The Sixteen
Movement 2: Piu Intensita - The Sixteen
Mandelion For Organ (Extract) - Kevin Bowyer
Chant For Guitar (Extract) - Jonathan Richards
Ikon Of Saint Cuthbert Of Lindisfatne - Ian Shaw
The Protecting Veil For Cello And Orchestra - Maria Kliegel
Mary Of Egypt - Stephen Varcoe
Akhmatova Songs For Soprano And String Quartet - Patricia Rozario
Solemn - The Vanbrugh Quartet
[Rehearsal Letter I] - The Vanbrugh Quartet
Song For Athene - Choir Of St John's College, Cambridge

Tracks:

Zodiacs For Piano - Thalia Myers
Prayer Of The Heart - Brodsky Quartet
Movement 2: Eros - Jorja Fleezanis
Mother And Child - Nigel Short
'My Earliest Musical Memories...' - John Tavener
'I Saw In The Russian Orthodox Churck...' - John Tavener
'I Think The Protecting Veil...' - John Tavener
'The Icelandic Pop Singer Bjork...' - John Tavener
'The Fact That I've Been Given...' - John Tavener
'When My Publishers Ring...' - John Tavener
'The Only Goal...' - John Tavener

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Alfred Deller - Portrait of a Legend

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Anthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0001L1B7Y
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Music Review:

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Nothing Can Stop Us [Original recording remastered]

Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben & Don Juan

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex [Import]

Live in Amsterdam [Live]

Today's Top Hits

Sweet Vendetta [Import]

Recorriendo el Pais [Import]

Straight Outta Rehab [Explicit Lyrics]

All That Falls Away

Hemispheres

1. Clarke: Viola Sonata: Impetuoso
2. Clarke: Viola Sonata: Vivace
3. Clarke: Viola Sonata: Adagio-allegro
4. Clarke: Morpheus
5. Clarke: Lullaby
6. Clarke: Lullaby
7. Swain: English Reel
8. Clarke: I'll Bid My Heart Still
9. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Moderato
10. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Vivace leggiero
11. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Andante affectuoso
12. Harrison: Viola Sonata: Presto
13. Gould: Oh Can Ye Sew Cushions