![Nektar - Remember The Future (Deluxe Edition) (1973/2023) [High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-Ray Disc]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2024/05/01/NjktMTk3MS5qcGVn.jpg)
NDR Chor, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet & Philipp Ahmann – Nine(Birds)Here [Works for Choir and Saxophone Quartet] (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 56:30 minutes | 480 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Es-Dur
In its versatility and smoothness of expression, the saxophone is closest to the human voice: this is the proof of this Album, which the NDR choir has recorded together with the Raschèr Saxophone quartet.
in addition to several A cappella pieces, nine(birds)here combines works for choir and saxophone, all of which were first published by composers Ian Wilson and Ivan Moody. Both born in 1964, they compose stylistically in very different ways. While Wilson was primarily inspired in his work by the music and art of the modern age, Moody’s works are characterized by his belonging to the Orthodox Church and his preference for religious, mystical themes.
Read more
NDR Sinfonieorchester, Krzysztof Urbański – Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra & Symphony No. 4 (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 55:47 minutes | 511 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
Since 2015, Krzysztof Urbanski has been principal guest conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, one of the leading German orchestras. They are currently preparing together the inauguration in January 2017 of Hamburg’s new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie, a major musical event in Germany with which Alpha Classics will be associated. Krzysztof Urbanski is also music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. A resolutely international career for a young conductor who recently earned praise from the Chicago Tribune for his keen musical instincts and vigorous way of translating his ideas into orchestral sound that has both shape and meaning.For this first recording, he was keen to celebrate a great composer, one of the most eminent of the twentieth century and a Pole like himself, who, like Stravinsky, Bartók, Berg, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, gloried in the sound material of the orchestra and displayed boundless imagination. Though less well known than his illustrious colleagues for the moment, Lutoslawski amply deserves to meet a wider public, for his music can speak as directly to connoisseurs as to simple music-lovers. We hope that this programme will help to further his reputation.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie, NDR Chor & Lawrence Foster – Strauss II: Die Fledermaus (Live) (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:56:06 minutes | 2,02 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
Die Fledermaus (1874) is the ultimate Viennese operetta, composed by Johann Strauss Jr., the most famous member of the Strauss Waltz Dynasty. Once conceived as an attempt to creatively outgrow the dance-hall, the operetta was a huge success from the outset and still enchants audiences today with its unmistakably Viennese mix of comedy and sophistication and its uplifting waltz rhythms. This live recording is imbued with a specifically Viennese charm thanks to the inclusion of dialogues written by tenor Nikolai Schukoff, who also sings the role of Eisenstein.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie & Andrew Manze – Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 40 & 41 (Live) (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:14:47 minutes | 745 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
Considered to be the highest triumph of instrumental composition in his own day, Mozart’s final symphonies continue to sweep audiences away. From the famous G-minor opening movement of the 40th symphony that cuts straight to the chase to the unprecedented complexity of the 41st symphony’s majestic finale, Mozart displays his vivid melodic invention as well as the maturity of his “old” musical soul. Even if his untimely death came unexpectedly, these two symphonies fill the listener with a sense of culmination, and may be seen as a sublime conclusion of both Mozart’s musical development and of the eighteenth-century symphony in general.
These extraordinary works are performed here by the NDR Radiophilharmonie and Andrew Manze, and will be followed by a recording of Mozart’s 38th and 39th symphonies. With their first Mozart album, conductor and orchestra extend their successful PENTATONE discography that already contains the complete symphonies of Mendelssohn, crowned with a 2017 Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie & Andrew Manze – Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 38 & 39 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:11:19 minutes | 705 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
The NDR Philharmonie and Andrew Manze continue their exploration of Mozart’s late orchestral works with a recording of the composers 38th and 39th symphonies. Nicknamed after Prague, where it was first performed in 1787, the 38th shares with its successor a solemn, “Romantic” slow introduction to the first movement, followed by lighter music that shares a kinship with the playful arias and ensembles of Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, composed in the same period. By playing all repeats, Manze underlines the ambitious, expansive character of these works, but the NDR Radiophilharmonie never drags, offering the same energy and sense of urgency as in their acclaimed interpretation of Mozart’s 40th and 41st symphonies, released in 2019.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Andrew Manze, Anna Lucia Richter, Robin Tritschler – Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 52, MWV A18 “Lobgesang” (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:03:41 minutes | 628 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
With its combination of three instrumental movements, followed by a cantata with three soloists and chorus, Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony “Lobgesang [Hymn of Praise]” is highly original from a conceptual point of view. The piece is a milestone in the history of the symphonic form, stretching the seams of the symphony genre even further than Beethoven had dared with his “Choral” Ninth. In his Lobgesang, Mendelssohn achieved nothing less than the artistic destruction of the conceptual opposition of vocal and instrumental music. Here they enter into a relationship of constructive, mutual support in the service of music. Moreover, the Biblical lyrics express Mendelssohn’s deeply-felt religiosity. This album completes Pentatone’s Mendelssohn Symphonies series with the NDR Radiophilharmonie and conductor Andrew Manze. After winning the Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2017 for their recording of Symphonies 1 & 3 and the positive reception of Symphonies 4 & 5, expectations are high for this final piece of the puzzle. On this album, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and Andrew Manze join forces with the NDR Chor and WDR Rundfunkchor, as well as with an excellent cast of soloists: sopranos Anna Lucia Richter and Esther Dierkes and tenor Robin Tritschler.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie & Andrew Manze – Mendelssohn: The 5 Symphonies (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 03:18:05 minutes | 1,92 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pentatone
Felix Mendelssohn’s 5 symphonies demonstrate the composer’s extraordinary melodic gift, but also his adventurous spirit. While the First symphony – composed when he was only 15 years old – still reveals the influences of Viennese Classicism, he realized the sound of national landscapes with ground-breaking orchestral effects and harmonies in his Third (Scottish) and Fourth (Italian). The Second (Lobgesang) and Fifth, on the contrary, were inspired by Mendelssohn’s Christian faith, and the former uses choral forces and vocal soloists, stretching the boundaries of symphonic form even further than Beethoven had dared in his “Choral” Ninth. The 5 symphonies are presented chronologically, performed by the NDR Radiophilharmonie and conductor Andrew Manze, who won a Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2017 for their recording of the First and Third symphony.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie & Andrew Manze – Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:14:10 minutes | 733 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
After their prize-winning Mendelssohn symphonies cycle and acclaimed Mozart symphonies album, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and its chief conductor Andrew Manze now present Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh symphonies. While Beethoven’s Fifth is arguably the most famous symphony in the history of music, the Seventh counts as one of the most rhythmically-advanced pieces of nineteenth-century music; an “apotheosis of dance”, to quote Richard Wagner. Both works display Beethoven’s mastery of and audacious approach to musical form as well as the richness of his melodic invention, and are generally praised as paragons of symphonic composition. Andrew Manze brings his experience in the field of historically informed performance to the polished symphonic sound of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, providing an ambience that fits these early nineteenth-century works like a glove.
Read more
NDR Radiophilharmonie – Epic Orchestra – New Sound of Classical (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 52:47 minutes | 601 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
The most famous works of the greatest living composers for the first time in their entire acoustic wealth and as an epic journey of sound with orchestra and outstanding soloists “Epic Orchestra – New Sound of Classical” is an epic sound journey with orchestra. The NDR Radiophilharmonie has combined some of the most famous works of the greatest living composers in a coherent sound journey. In an extremely elaborate production with outstanding soloists, choir and every conceivable extension of the orchestra, the masterpieces of these composers appear for the first time in their entire acoustic wealth. With over 90 microphones, “Epic Orchestra” explores the possibilities of acoustic orchestral sound – without any midi or synthesizer support whatsoever – and creates a kaleidoscope of sounds, from intimate chamber ensembles, as in “Mishima – Closing”, to the gigantic orchestral structure with several organ and piano voices in “Interstellar”.
Read more
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra & Krzysztof Urbański – Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 36:05 minutes | 348 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
One of the big events of 2017 was the opening of the Hamburg Philharmonie. Krzysztof Urbański and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra gave inaugural concerts there that made a lasting impact on audiences and critics alike. On this occasion, the Polish conductor chose to record one of the works closest to his heart, The Rite of Spring: “Stravinsky invented a new language. For me, The Rite is not a score, but a painting: on each page, I see Matisse, Gauguin, the Fauve painters . . . It’s an explosion of colours, emotions, and surprises too: if you don’t know the piece, you never know what’s going to happen. It’s so suggestive that you don’t need to do all that much with the orchestra, the magic is written into the music. . . . When I conduct The Rite, I don’t think: the music penetrates your backbone, it’s inside you . . . It’s a ballet, and perhaps it’s because I was a dancer when I was younger that I can’t control my body when I hear and conduct this piece. It’s a mystical experience for me!”.
Read more
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra & Krzysztof Urbański – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 46:57 minutes | 436 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
“Shostakovich’s Fifth is without doubt one of the greatest symphonies ever written, and it is also one of my personal favorites. This genuine masterpiece represents a mirror image of the world around Shostakovich: in it he depicted in music the reality of life in Leningrad in 1937 from his own perspective. For him this was the ‘worst of times’. After the premiere of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and the official denunciation of the opera prompted by Stalin’s stormy reaction to the work, the composer was closely watched by the Party.
(…) This sense of threat however did not silence his need to compose. He had to find a way to cope with the sense of pressure, and to create new music which would please the authorities and keep the danger of public criticism at a safe distance. His Fourth Symphony had been denounced for its dissonances, its bleak atmosphere, and its ending, fading away into silence. So for his Fifth Symphony the composer deliberately simplified his musical language in order to produce a work that might be considered ‘accessible’ by the Party: one that would be perceived as full of positive spirit, with a resoundingly triumphant conclusion.
One might imagine that such dubious circumstances could have destroyed the talented young composer, and turned him into a Soviet propagandist. For on the surface, the piece appears to be full of orchestral bravura, optimistic, ‘happy’. On the contrary, I believe the symphony to be actually extremely tragic…” Krzysztof Urbański
Read more
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański – Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the New World” & A Hero’s Song, Op. 111 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:01:29 minutes | 552 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
Following on from his critically acclaimed Lutosławski programme, the conductor Krzysztof Urbański pursues his collaboration with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester et Alpha. The New World Symphony is a work that has always fascinated Krzysztof Urbański: ‘It was only when I studied Dvořák’s other symphonies that I came to understand the principal characteristic and strength of the Ninth: simplicity. I wanted to dig deeper, and so I examined the manuscript and parts used for the New York premiere. There I discovered things that changed my view of it, like the fact that the first four bars of the third movement shouldn’t be played on the repeat. That gives them a completely different meaning when they recur at the da capo… The coupling, the rare Hero’s Song, shows an entirely different side of Dvořák. The way he transforms the initial four-note motif to evoke so many varied feelings, from joy to tragedy, shows his immense compositional mastery.’ This new album will be released to coincide with the opening of the ElbPhilharmonie hall in Hamburg, where Urbański will be one of the leading figures.
Read more
Alan Gilbert & NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester – Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:06:26 minutes | 653 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
Austrian symphonist Bruckner was long denied the recognition that he deserved – which was a situation that almost endured until towards the end of his life. However, he owed his significant breakthrough as a composer to the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in Leipzig in 1884. With the famous Adagio, this work was an enormous success during Bruckner’s lifetime and is still considered one of the most famous and beautiful works of romantic symphonic repertoire. Even Johann Strauss, Jr. was amazed by the symphony: “Am deeply moved. It was the musical experience of my life.” For the present album, this deeply moving symphony is recently recorded in one of the most famous concert halls in the world, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, by its Orchestra in Residence NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under their new Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. With this recording, one will experience Bruckner’s breathtaking Seventh Symphony in the spectacular big concert hall of Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
Read moreNBC Symphony Orchestra – Elgar from America, Vol. 2 (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]
NBC Symphony Orchestra – Elgar from America, Vol. 2 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:09:27 minutes | 416 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SOMM Recordings
SOMM RECORDINGS is delighted to announce Elgar from America, Volume II: the first commercial release of three historic performances from 1940s’ New York featuring legendary Elgarian interpreters including violinist Yehudi Menuhin and conductors Malcolm Sargent and Arturo Toscanini at the helm of the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
Read more
Nazrin Rashidova & Stanislav Hvartchilkov – Dreams (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:01 minutes | 1,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © First Hand Records
This album showcases a flamboyant collection of 20th-century Azerbaijani popular song classics, fusing Western traditions, Azerbaijani folk music, and American jazz. The popular and classical oriental and Western themes and approaches in these new transcriptions and arrangements aim to capture the rich harmonies, lyricism and nostalgic intensity of the songs to perfection, while bringing out an equally virtuosic dialogue between the violin and guitar.
Read more