So I figured I'd try and start a sister thread here. And as June's nearly over, I started it for July.

New today:

• Camille Saint-Saens: Symphony #3 "Organ" (CSO, Barenboim), Carnival of the Animals, and others - This is a 2CD set from Deutsche Grammophon's "Panorama" series. I've long wanted to hear the Organ symphony, and this is Gramophone's recommended recording, plus it was quite cheap (for a 2CD set) and includes Carnival, too (only had a cheap recording so far)

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
According to the liner notes, Saint-Saens even wrote film music. Who knew that?

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Many people knew I think.

quote:

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
According to the liner notes, Saint-Saens even wrote film music. Who knew that?

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"L'assassinat du Duc de Guise" in 1908, I
think the first score originally composed
for films.

quote:

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Originally posted by Dinko:
What I know about this is that it is the first score specifically composed for a film by an established composer.

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I have yet to see an earlier credit for ORIGINAL composition ...

Ususally film scores before that were adaptions

• Wojciech Kilar: Choral and Orchestral Works (Naxos) - includes Krzesany, Angelus, Exodus and Victoria (Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice), Antoni Wit)

I only now realized that orchestra and conductor are the same for Angelus and Exodus, but the Naxos recordings are much newer, and have great sound. Plus Krzesany is cool, and Victoria is wonderful.

• Japanese Orchestral Favourites - Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra/Ryusuke Numajiri.
  Listened only once, very quickly. Too early for meaningful comments, but I think the Akutagawa piece sounds best.

• Shostakovich: The Bolt + Jazz Suites - RSSO/Yablonski (Naxos)
  Don't like it. RSSO plays well. Recording is good, though balance/mixing needs to be improved, with slightly more emphasis on strings. There's nothing really bad with the CD, but there's a lot of unattained potential. And Yablonski screws up the best waltz in the set by speeding it up to Formula 1 levels, thus eliminating all the majestic flow of the waltz.
  

John Adams: Century Rolls / Lollapalooza / Slonimsky's Earbox
Nonesuch 79607-2. This was a great buy. Adams is a true genius. All three pieces are quite good. Century Rolls is an enjoyable and impressive piano concerto in three movement. The first movement is by far the best. Lollapalooza is fun, short little romp through the orchestra, and Slonimsky's Earbox is absolutely stunning. I would've paid full price just for this 13-minute piece. Hell, just for the last three minutes of it. Fantastic.

Kilar: Choral and Orchestral Works
What Marian said. This is a great CD. Angelus is my favorite.

Malcolm Arnold: Dances
Naxos 8.553526. I decided to get this after hearing the English Dances (Set 2) on the radio. Checked around and these recordings (Andrew Penny / Queensland Symphony Orchestar) have gotten good reviews. This is my first exposure to Arnold's concert work, and I'm floored. Next stop: the symphonies.

Best

Philipp

MGV is Nyman's masterpiece. Truly one of the most emotional, driving pieces of music in my collection. This is the type of thing music was invented for.

The Piano Concerto (based, in case you couldn'tfigure it out, on The Piano) I already have on Naxos, and I'm not sure yet whether I like this version or that one better. The acoustics on the Argo recording are infinitely superior, but the RLPO's entire wind and brass section seems lost and confused, while on the Naxos recording the wind and brass are great but the strings don't seem together (which may have been a reverb overkill problem).

Regardless of those shortcomings, this CD is worth seeking out just for MGV. If you've ever even remotely liked Nyman, you will love this piece.

quote:

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Originally posted by mgh:
Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies, Barshai

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oh yeah. now you talkin'.

quote:

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Originally posted by James:
Michael Nyman: The Piano Concerto / MGV

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quote:

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
Now do you have the album containing Double Concerto for Saxophone, Cello and Orchestra, Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings and Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (on EMI)? I like that one even more - my favourite Nyman disc.

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I don't have that one yet. After Extra Time was next on my Nyman list, but I'll move this one up to the top given your glowing recommendation.

it is outstanding.

• Bruckner: Mass #3 / Te Deum (LPO, Franz Welser-Möst)
  I think this has been out of print for months, possibly years. Not even EMI's website lists it, so I picked it up before it's too late. At least the Te Deum didn't sound like a very good recording though, at least not on the first listen. Perhaps it gets better.
  
• Adams: Harmonielehre / The Chairman Dances / Tromba Lontana / Short Ride in a Fast Machine (CBSO, Rattle)
  Heard Short Ride in a concert several months ago and liked it. Seems to have been an inspiration for Don Davis when he wrote his Matrix score. Rest is similar. Good.

But the "balance engineer" on Deutsche Grammophon is someone different. Apparently the DG bal.eng. is the one responsible for how the CD sounds, whereas the DG recording engineer basically appears to do whatever the balance engineer tells him to.

quote:

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Originally posted by JJH:
RVW 4, Hickox

it is outstanding.

and I even love the choral pieces, too.

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Indeed it is!

JJ, have you picked up Hickox's RVW # 2?

Believe me man, you need to, it's fabulous!

• Paul Hindemith - Mathis der Maler
  Wolfgang Sawallisch/The Philadelphia Orchestra (EMI Classics)
  

Had never heard anything by Hindemith.
Sounds good. Nicely pleasant and pastoral. A strange cross between Beethoven and 20th Century Brit music.
Philly Orch in top form. Sawallisch's account seems fluid and balletic. Can't compare with other versions though. John Kurlander's engineering favours the Philly strings a little too much, with some very bright & clear woodwind playing.
Overall a very nice CD.
Or as Doug Fake would put it: Bullseye.