Rachmaninoff Ashkenazy Box Set
Live from the acclaimed 2007 Rachmaninov Festival, this milestone boxed set is Sydney Symphony’s first commercial recording with Vladimir Ashkenazy, one of the world’s foremost Rachmaninov specialists. Its release celebrates Ashkenazy’s official appointment as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of Sydney Symphony.
Symphonies Nos 1-3, Vocalise, Symphonic Dances, Fantasy ‘The Rock’, Symphonic Poem ‘Prince Rostislav’, Youth Symphony in D minor, Caprice Bohemien, Suite From Aleko, 5 Etudes Tableaux orchestrated by Respighi, Scherzo in D minorSpecially imported from Japanese label Exton, the 5-CD set also includes never-before-heard session recordings that offer new musical insights for listeners reliving the concert experience. Exton is renowned for its high-quality sound engineering techniques, and will record the 2008 Elgar Festival as part of an ongoing series chronicling Sydney Symphony’s brilliant partnership with Maestro Ashkenazy.‘It's wonderful to hear how well the Sydney Symphony plays when Ashkenazy is at the helm.’ – The Australian
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$138.00
Rare Rachmaninoff
The Sydney Symphony is proud to release a disc of rare Rachmaninoff chamber works, featuring performances by Vladimir Ashkenazy on piano, our concertmaster Dene Olding and English soprano Joan Rodgers, as well as the Goldner String Quartet.
Ashkenazy says: “The disc offers a rare glimpse into a relatively unknown side of one of the great musicians of the 20th century. Chamber music was not Rachmaninoff’s main preoccupation and most of the pieces on this disc are early works, but they are informative and illuminating.“His talent was great and he expressed something that no other composer did. This recording is part of a tribute: my goal to record everything by Rachmaninoff that’s possible to record in one’s lifetime. I have a great respect and tremendous affection for Rachmaninoff’s music and with these recordings I hope to add as full a picture as possible to his legacy.”SERGEI RACHMANINOFFRomance in A minorString Quartet No.1Morceaux de Salon, Op.6 (Romance and Hungarian Dance)String Quartet No.2Vocalise, Op.34 No.14 (arr. for violin and piano by Michel Press) Two Sacred Songs (Prayer and All nature sings)Hopak from Mussorgsky’s Sorochintsky Fair (arr. for violin and piano)Vladimir Ashkenazy piano | Dene Olding violinJoan Rodgers soprano | Goldner String Quartet(Dene Olding, Dimity Hall violin, Irina Morozova viola, Julian Smiles cello)
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$24.00
Burt Bacharach CD
In 2008 Burt Bacharach performed in the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, one of the great highlights of his extraordinary career. This double-CD features dozens of his most memorable melodies.
The first CD consists of 3 medleys and the second CD features his most famous movie tunes. The vocalists are Josie James, John Pagano and Donna Taylor. This Australian edition commemorating his performances with the Sydney Symphony has 8 additional tracks to the international release of this CD.“The performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra were magic. One of the biggest thrills in my life was walking onto that stage. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us and now we have a CD to commemorate it.” Burt Bacharach
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$14.00
Songs of Life
Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti conducts the Sydney Symphony in this recording of his new composition, Song of Life (Cantata della vita).
Described by Maestro Gelmetti as a ‘large fresco of the human voyage’ the new section included in this recording was inspired by the birth of his daughter and dedicated to the Sydney Symphony. Song of Life takes its texts from sources as diverse as the Song of Songs and 16th-century French poetry and features a prominent part for the Sydney Symphony’s brilliant oboe section as well as solo voices and choir.Reviews of the performance: ‘Stark and spare, Gelmetti’s cantata is a work of profound intelligence and sombre magnitude’ SMH, Graeme Skinner‘Gelmetti’s orchestration is sophisticated and imaginative, with evocative woodwind and brass and vivid percussive effects’ Australian, Murray Black
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$20.00
Strauss & Schubert
Gianluigi Gelmetti conductorRicarda Merbeth soprano [1]–[4]Sydney Symphony
Four Last Songs 00:00[1] Frühling 00:00[2] September 00:00[3] Beim Schlafengehen 00:00[4] Im Abendrot 00:00 Franz SchubertSymphony No.8 in B minor (Unfinished) 00:00[5] Allegro moderato 00:00[6] Andante con moto 00:00 Johann Strauss II[7] On the Beautiful Blue Danube – Waltz 00:00
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$20.00
Sir Charles Mackerras and the Sydney Symphony
The Sydney Symphony are proud to release a 2-disc CD celebrating Sir Charles Mackerras’ return to the Orchestra he once called his own. The recording, released on the Sydney Symphony Live label, features music by Dvorák, Smetana, Janácek, and Richard Strauss all recorded live in October 2007 as part of the Sydney Symphony’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
Relive these acclaimed performances, including a thrilling interpretation of Janácek’s Sinfonietta which delighted the audience and critics alike: “The famous brass fanfares were glowingly well blended and, in the finale, conductor and orchestra generated an irresistible undercurrent of surging excitement ending in a climax of awe-inspiring magnificence.” (The Australian, October 2007).MACKERRAS CD TRACK LISTINGCD1Antonín Dvorák (1841–1904)Symphony No.7 in D minor, B141 (Op.70)Allegro maestosoPoco adagioScherzo (Vivace) – Trio (Poco meno mosso)Finale (Allegro)Bedrich Smetana (1824–1884)Vltava (The Moldau)from Má vlast (My Country)Leoš Janácek (1854–1928)SinfoniettaAllegrettoAndanteModeratoAllegrettoAndante con motoCD 2Richard Strauss (1864–1949)Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30Introduction: SunriseOf the Backworldsmen Of the Great LongingOf Joys and PassionsSong of the GraveOf ScienceThe ConvalescentDance SongNight Wanderer’s Song
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$30.00
Walton Cello Concerto
The Walton Cello Concerto was recorded in the Sydney Opera House in August of 2007. Originally commissioned in the fifties by Gregor Piatigorsky, Peter Wispelwey describes the concerto as a “ravishing score by Walton.“
“In the concerts Tate, as a superior symphonic Ischian gardener, created an atmosphere in which melodies could blossom, while in the Scherzo he was the cheerful captain on a sailing trip with all the elements of ocean water sprays, blazing sunshine, waves and acrobatics of seagulls and dolphins.”Released to fine reviews on Onyx Classics early in 2009, this is not only a must for anyone who loves Walton, but for all who love fine music.“...addictive listening.” - Janet Banks, The Strad, July 2009Sydney Symphony Jeffrey Tate, conductor Pieter Wispelwey, celloAlso features solo cello works by Bloch, Ligeti, Britten and WaltonPrice $34 including packaging and GST and $4 shipping and handling fee.
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$34.00