Symphonic Excursions

Track Listings

1. Hesketh: Masque

2. Patterson: Symphonic Excursions

3. Welcher: Song Without Words

4. Akema: Sunset Jericho

5. Grainger: Lads of Waphray March

Tracks:

Adagio For Strings Op.11 - Leonard Slatkin
Overture, Op.5 - Leonard Slatkin
I. Allegro - Elmar Oliveira
II. Andante - Elmar Oliveira
III. Presto In Moto Perpetuo - Elmar Oliveira
Essay For Orchestra Op.12 - Leonard Slatkin
Second Essay For Orchestra Op.17 - Leonard Slatkin
Medea's Dance Of Vengeance Op.23a - Leonard Slatkin

Tracks:

I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo - Israela Margalit
II. Adagio-Presto - Israela Margalit
III. Alegro Appassionato - Israela Margalit
Canzone For Flute & Piano Op.38a - Israela Margalit
I. Un Poco Allegro - Israela Margalit
II. In Slow Blues Tempo - Israela Margalit
III. Allegretto - Israela Margalit
IV. Allegro Molto - Israela Margalit
Nocturne (Homage To John Field) Op.33 - Israela Margalit
Slow And Indolent - Stanley Drucker
Faster - Stanley Drucker
Lively, Still Faster - Stanley Drucker
With Motion, As Before - Stanley Drucker
Joyous And Flowing - Stanley Drucker
Tempo I - Stanley Drucker
Pas De Deux - Israela Margalit
Two-Step - Israela Margalit
Third Essay For Orchestra Op.47 - Leonard Slatkin

Customer Reviews:

Most valuable Barber set. .......2005-09-14

Having virtually all the shorter orchestral works plus some of the best chamber and instrumental music makes this set more than its weight in gold -- especially now that EMI has sensibly lowered the price even further by issuing it on its Gemini line. This set also fills a void as an adjunct to RCA France's two-disc release of the First Symphony and three concertos with Slatkin and the St. Louis Orchestra. (Or, if you don't want the symphony -- and which Barber lover wouldn't? -- RCA now has those concertos on one very full mid-price disc.) The only major work missing is Knoxville, which no one coming to Barber's music should be without. But, depending on what you want with that heavenly masterpiece, there are ways to easily solve that problem.

Of course, the fiercest competition to these recordings comes from Naxos through Marin Alsop and the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Both Alsop and Slatkin have Barber's music fully in their blood. They practically breathe and move by the pulse and cadence of the music, and they intuitively understand the yin and yang of its dramatic and the rhapsodic qualities.

Slatkin lingers more than Alsop in the quieter spots, and takes bigger risks, yet maintains greater control and tension in overall pacing. In The School for Scandal Overture, a wider ranging ride through the valleys and expertly picking up the pace through the dramatic peaks shows Slatkin at his best. He adopts takes an even broader pace than Alsop out of the gate in the Third Essay. Once past any thought of ponderousness, one hears how Slatkin links the notes like Alsop, phrasing the lines and even that percussion solo at the onset, taking more time than her in projecting the emotive weight and complexity, which is so easy to miss in this work. The results, as in Alsop's reading, are enormous, but richer and more rewarding.

The other way this set sweeps the field is through the impressive stable of chamber and instrumental works - nearly a full disc's worth. Each performance is very good to exceptional, and together yields a much wider (and welcome) range and variety in Barber's music than we are normally accorded. All of the players deserve special mention: cellist Alan Stepansky and pianist Isreala Margalit in the Cello Sonata; flautist Jeanne Baxtresser and Margalit in the Canzone for flute and piano; Margalit as soloist in Excursions, Nocturne in homage to John Field and two pieces arranged from the piano four-hands Souvenirs; and Baxtresser, Joseph Robinson, clarinetist Stanley Drucker, bassoonist Judith Le Clair and French hornist Philip Myers in Summer Music.

The Violin Concerto is the only also-ran, and not because it is a bad performance - just a less than fully persuasive one. Soloist Elmar Oliveira combines Isaac Stern's firm tone with some of the Kyoko Takezawa's rhapsodic approaches to the melodies. The key word here is "some." As good as Oliviera is - and he is very good - where he lacks is striding one leg on Stern's stay-on-the-rail firmness to the work's structure and the other on Takezawa wider-ranging, more mercurial jaunt around the course. He's astride two horses with very different temperaments and riding styles, not giving either mount his full attention but doing all he can just to keep them together. Slatkin gives this piece his all, but Oliviera holds him back. When you hear Slatkin and Takezawa, you hear how Slatkin and his team are willing to deliver a much more exciting a ride.

Barber: Adagio for Strings; Orchestral & Chamber Works

Average customer rating:

Very good Barber overview from the LP era

Barber: Adagio for Strings; Orchestral & Chamber Works

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915
Samuel Barber / Thomas Schippers
William Schuman: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 10
William Schuman: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9; Orchestra Song; Circus Overture
Belcea Quartet ~ Debussy · Dutilleux · Ravel

ASIN: B000AARL3Y
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Tracks:

Adagio For Strings, Op.11 - New York Philharmonic
Summer Music, Op.31 - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.1: Un Poco Allegro - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.2: In Slow Blues Tempo - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.3: Allegretto - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.4: Allegro Molto - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
Dover Beach For Voice And String Quartet, Op.3 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Molto Allegro E Appassionato - Beaux Arts String Quartet
Molto Adagio - Beaux Arts String Quartet
Molto Allegro - Beaux Arts String Quartet
Intermezzo - Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Toccata Festiva, Op.36 - The Philadelphia Orchestra

Customer Reviews:

Very good Barber overview from the LP era.......2007-01-08

Sony/BMG reached deep into their vaults to pull together this intriguing Barber overview, and as a bonus brought together an impressive collection of performers. In spite of the fact that these recordings are all about 40 years old, the sound has worn fairly well. The Schippers "Adagio for Strings" remains one of the most intense performances ever recorded. It's nice having the work's original version as the middle movement of the String Quartet available on the same disc, along with Schippers conducting the Intermezzo from "Vanessa." Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Juilliard String Quartet zero in on the dark depression in the setting of Arnold's "Dover Beach," and André Previn's jazz credentials are put to good use in "Four Excursions." When the "Toccata Festiva" first appeared on LP back in the 1960s, the recording already sounded too close and strident, but Eugene Ormandy and E. Power Biggs find in this celebratory piece touches of angst underplayed by later performers. At mid-price, this disc is very attractive.

Janácek: The Eternal Gospel; The Ballad of Blanik; etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

Janácek: The Eternal Gospel; The Ballad of Blanik; etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000A7XJMO
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

Con Moto: And So It Will Pass, As Written In The Scriptures! - - Adrian Thompson
Andante: See The Angel Flying, Silently Soaring - - Adrian Thompson
Con Moto: O Hearken, You Whose Heart Is Faint And Wilted! - Adrian Thompson
Andante: All This Angel Told Me At My Vigil - Adrian Thompson
The Ballad Of Blanik - Elizabeth Layton
The Fiddler's Child - Ballad For Solo Violin And Orchestra - Elizabeth Layton
Introduction: The Late Evening - Elizabeth Layton
Moon Waltz - Elizabeth Layton
Before Dawn - Elizabeth Layton
Song Of The Hussites - Elizabeth Layton
Procession Of The Victors - Elizabeth Layton

Average customer rating:

Symphonic Excursions

Symphonic Excursions
North Texas Wind Symphony , and Corporon
Manufacturer: Klavier
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Escapades
Recollections
Time Pieces
Sojourns
Convergence

ASIN: B00006IZXX
Release Date: 2002-09-02

Tracks:

Hesketh: Masque
Patterson: Symphonic Excursions
Welcher: Song Without Words
Akema: Sunset Jericho
Grainger: Lads of Waphray March

Customer Reviews:

Symphonic Excursions.......2004-08-14

Symphonic Excursions is one of the most mature CDs that has come out of the North Texas collection. Being a collector of the Klavier CDs, this is a "must have" of the collection. The brilliance of "Masque" to the beautiful tone quality of "Song Without Words" is unmatched in the band world.

Janácek: The Eternal Gospel; The Ballad of Blaník; The Fiddler's Child; The Excursions of Mr. Broucek

Average customer rating:

Janácek: The Eternal Gospel; The Ballad of Blaník; The Fiddler's Child; The Excursions of Mr. Broucek

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Karlowicz: Returning Waves; A Sorrowful Tale; Episode at a Masquerade
Sibelius: Song of the Earth

ASIN: B000ANPX3G
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Tracks:

Con Moto And So It Will Pass, As Writeen In The Scriptures - Adrian Thompson
Andante - Adrian Thompson
Con Moto - Adrian Thompson
Andante - Adrian Thompson
The Ballad Of Blanik - Elizabeth Layton
The Fiddler's Child - Elizabeth Layton
Introduction: The Late Evening - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Introduction: The Late Evening - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Moon Waltz - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Song Of the Hussites - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Procession Of The Victors - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Average customer rating:

An overgrown path to the opera suites
An overgrown path to the opera suites

Janácek: Opera Suites

Manufacturer: Supraphon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Czech | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00001QEFT
Release Date: 1999-10-01

Customer Reviews:

An overgrown path to the opera suites.......2001-02-28

Janacek opera suites present an unexplored new era because actually Janacek never have considered to write orchestral suites even to one of his seven operae

Janacek used to regard his operae as entities with a whole content of their own who did'nt need any refinement for orchestral listeners .

Idiosincrastic and Whimsical are only few titles which tried to depict Janacek music. Dvorak did'nt even try to disclose his sheer detest of what he heard in it.

We need however to admit that Janacek had managed to plant in our minds the seeds of affection and wonder eventhough from the first glimpse his music is not easy to digest.

The opera suites emerged to the concert halls thanks to the courtesy of the famous Czech conductors Tallich, Jilek and Smolka who skillfuly arranged all these almost forgotten treasures which probably would have been lost in provincial Czech Opera casts without their fertile work. .

An overgrown path to the opera suites.......2001-02-28

Janacek opera suites present an unexplored new era because actually Janacek never have considered to write orchestral suites even to one of his seven operae

Janacek used to regard his operae as entities with a whole content of their own who did'nt need any refinement for orchestral listeners .

Idiosincrastic and Whimsical are only few titles which tried to depict Janacek music. Dvorak did'nt even try to disclose his sheer detest of what he heard in it.

We need however to admit that Janacek had managed to plant in our minds the seeds of affection and wonder eventhough from the first glimpse his music is not easy to digest.

Tracks:

Adagio, Op.11 - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Statkin
The School For Scandal - Ov, Op.5 - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Statkin
Vn Con, Op.14: I. Allegro - Elmar Oliveira
Vn Con, Op.14: II. Andante - Elmar Oliveira
Vn Con, Op.14: III. Presto In Moto Perpetuo - Elmar Oliveira
Essay, Op.12 - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Statkin
Second Essay, Op.17 - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Statkin
Medea's Dance Of Vengeance, Op.23a - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Statkin

Tracks:

Vc Son, Op.6: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo - Alan Stepansky/Israela Margalit
Vc Son, Op.6: II. Adagio - Presto - Alan Stepansky/Israela Margalit
Vc Son, Op.6: III. Allegro Appassionato - Alan Stepansky/Israela Margalit
Canzone, Op.38a - Jeanne Baxtresser/Israela Margalit
Excursion, Op.20: I. Un Poco Allegro - Israela Margalit
Excursion, Op.20: II. In Slow Blues Tempo - Israela Margalit
Excursion, Op.20: III. Allegretto - Israela Margalit
Excursion, Op.20: IV. Allegro Molto - Israela Margalit
Nocturne (Homage To John Field), Op.33 - Israela Margalit
Summer Music, Op.31: Slow And Indolent - Jeanne Baxtresser/Joseph Robinson/Stanley Drucker/Judith Le Clair/Philip Myers
Summer Music, Op.31: Faster - - Jeanne Baxtresser/Joseph Robinson/Stanley Drucker/Judith Le Clair/Philip Myers
Summer Music, Op.31: Lively, Still Faster - Jeanne Baxtresser/Joseph Robinson/Stanley Drucker/Judith Le Clair/Philip Myers
Summer Music, Op.31: With Motion, As Before - - Jeanne Baxtresser/Joseph Robinson/Stanley Drucker/Judith Le Clair/Philip Myers
Summer Music, Op.31: Joyous And Flowing - - Jeanne Baxtresser/Joseph Robinson/Stanley Drucker/Judith Le Clair/Philip Myers
Summer Music, Op.31: Tempo I. - Jeanne Baxtresser/Joseph Robinson/Stanley Drucker/Judith Le Clair/Philip Myers
Souvenirs, Op.28: Pas De Deux - Israela Margalit
Souvenirs, Op.28: Two-step - Israela Margalit
Third Essay, Op.47 - Saint Louis SO/Leonard Statkin

Customer Reviews:

A mini-survey of Barber in run-of-the-mill performances.......2006-06-13

Leoonard Slatkin became EMI's house conductor of American music in the Eighties when he and the St. Louis Sym. were riding high, a native son reviving the fortunes of an underdog but pourd Midwest orchestra. The recordings they made of Copland and Barber are still more or less the only ones EMI has, and now the latter are reissued on this bargain two-fer. Everything here is pleasant, but it's the survey that's appealing more than Slatkin's ho-hum readings.

Elmar Oliveira gives a nicely shaped but emotionally tepid, not very rhythmic account of the popular Violin Concerto, with nothign special happening in Slatkin's accompaniment. Foursquare rhythm also keeps the Essay for Orchestra and Medea's Dance of Vengeance eathbound. Even the famous Adagio for Strings, despite the lovely tone of the St. Louis violins, lacks intensity. But that was Slatkin's way with most music. He seems wildly overpraised twenty years later. The unusual pieces here, such as the brief Canzone for Flute and Piano and the jaunty Excursions for solo piano demonstrate Barber's sweet melodic gift, which never deserted him even if the mainstream of modernism did.

Mist Valued and Varied Barber Collection.......2005-09-14

(If this set is unavailable, don't fret. EMI has sensibly reissued the same collection in its Gemeni series at a lower cost than this one originally was. This is practically the same review you'll see there.)

Having virtually all the shorter orchestral works plus some of the best chamber and instrumental music makes this set more than its weight in gold. This set also fills a void as an adjunct to RCA France's two-disc release of the First Symphony and three concertos with Slatkin and the St. Louis Orchestra. (Or, if you don't want the symphony -- and which Barber lover wouldn't? -- RCA now has those concertos on one very full mid-price disc.) The only major work missing is Knoxville, which no one coming to Barber's music should be without. But, depending on what you want with that heavenly masterpiece, there are ways to easily solve that problem.

Of course, the fiercest competition to these recordings comes from Naxos through Marin Alsop and the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Both Alsop and Slatkin have Barber's music fully in their blood. They practically breathe and move by the pulse and cadence of the music, and they intuitively understand the yin and yang of its dramatic and the rhapsodic qualities.

Slatkin lingers more than Alsop in the quieter spots, and takes bigger risks, yet maintains greater control and tension in overall pacing. In The School for Scandal Overture, a wider ranging ride through the valleys and expertly picking up the pace through the dramatic peaks shows Slatkin at his best. He adopts takes an even broader pace than Alsop out of the gate in the Third Essay. Once past any thought of ponderousness, one hears how Slatkin links the notes like Alsop, phrasing the lines and even that percussion solo at the onset, taking more time than her in projecting the emotive weight and complexity, which is so easy to miss in this work. The results, as in Alsop's reading, are enormous, but richer and more rewarding.

The other way this set sweeps the field is through the impressive stable of chamber and instrumental works - nearly a full disc's worth. Each performance is very good to exceptional, and together yields a much wider (and welcome) range and variety in Barber's music than we are normally accorded. All of the players deserve special mention: cellist Alan Stepansky and pianist Isreala Margalit in the Cello Sonata; flautist Jeanne Baxtresser and Margalit in the Canzone for flute and piano; Margalit as soloist in Excursions, Nocturne in homage to John Field and two pieces arranged from the piano four-hands Souvenirs; and Baxtresser, Joseph Robinson, clarinetist Stanley Drucker, bassoonist Judith Le Clair and French hornist Philip Myers in Summer Music.

The Violin Concerto is the only also-ran, and not because it is a bad performance - just a less than fully persuasive one. Soloist Elmar Oliveira combines Isaac Stern's firm tone with some of the Kyoko Takezawa's rhapsodic approaches to the melodies. The key word here is "some." As good as Oliviera is - and he is very good - where he lacks is striding one leg on Stern's stay-on-the-rail firmness to the work's structure and the other on Takezawa wider-ranging, more mercurial jaunt around the course. He's astride two horses with very different temperaments and riding styles, not giving either mount his full attention but doing all he can just to keep them together. Slatkin gives this piece his all, but Oliviera holds him back. When you hear Slatkin and Takezawa, you hear how Slatkin and his team are willing to deliver a much more exciting a ride.

Virtuoso Romantic Masterpieces for Piano

Average customer rating:

Virtuoso Romantic Masterpieces for Piano

Manufacturer: Doremi Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00079W8QS
Release Date: 2005-02-15

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Prelude #7: Ce Qu'a Vu Le Vent D'ouest.
Nocturne In C Sharp Minor, Op.27 No.1
The Streets Of Laredo, Excursions Op.20/3
Forest Murmurs
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Farewell To Earth
Scherzo
Au Bord D'une Source
Prelude, Op.28 No.24 In D Minor
Etude Op.25 No.11
Shaker Hymn: Simple Gifts
Finlandia
Blues Of The Prairies
Improvisations On Impressions Of Pueblo Songs
Dance Of The Gnomes
La Cathedrale Engloutie, Prelude No.10
Le Petit Ane Blanc
The Flight Of The Bumblebee
Improvisations On Ol' Man River

Average customer rating:

Gay pride taken to absurdity

Gay American Composers-Volume 2

Manufacturer: Composers Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Gay American Composers

ASIN: B000005TYR
Release Date: 1997-05-20

Tracks:

Aeolian Harp
The Banshee
The Lilt Of The Reel
Ulysses At The Edge Of The World
Excursions For Piano: Un Poco Allegro
Excursions For Piano: In Slow Blues Tempo
Excursions For Piano: Allegretto
Excursions For Piano: Allegro Molto
Concerto For Piano & Orchestra: Moderato Molto
Sonata For Violin & Piano: Moderate Tempo
Symphony No. 3: Allegro Moderato
Symphony No. 3: Tempo Di Valzer
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 35 (1951)
Ryoanji
Electronic Dance Music: Frail Demons: Dance 1
Electronic Dance Music: Tribe: Dance 2
Sonatas & Interludes For Prepared Piano: Sonata XIII

Customer Reviews:

Gay pride taken to absurdity.......2001-09-26

A compilation with no purpose, pasted together (tastefully) from slices of other great CRI releases. Is this supposed to have educational value? Shock value? Wouldn't you rather hear Cowell paired with, say, an openly hetero Charles Ives? Or a complete epic Partch work? Or an entire CD of Cage's Sonatas & Interludes? None of these composers made being gay central to their musical identities. I doubt if they would have done so even in the present era. What next? The Greatest Throbbing Hits of Tchaikovsky? The secret gay composer, artist or poet was no secret to his patrons, friends & most dedicated fans. He even enjoyed certain advantages,

At least the "lesbian" series showcases lesser known women composers who would never have gotten past the hunky bouncer at a Virgil Thomson tea party in 1950.

Music Review: