Willem Mengelberg, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major (Remastered 2024) (1939/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:32 minutes | 444 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Archipel Records
The Symphony No. 4 in G major by Gustav Mahler was composed from 1899 to 1900, though it incorporates a song originally written in 1892. That song, “Das himmlische Leben” (“The Heavenly Life”), presents a child’s vision of heaven and is sung by a soprano in the symphony’s Finale. Both smaller in orchestration and shorter in length than Mahler’s earlier symphonies, the Fourth Symphony was initially planned to be in six movements, alternating between three instrumental and three vocal movements. The symphony’s final form—begun in July 1899 at Bad Aussee and completed in August 1900 at Maiernigg—retains only one vocal movement (the Finale) and is in four movements: Bedächtig, nicht eilen (sonata form); In gemächlicher Bewegung, ohne Hast (scherzo and trio); Ruhevoll, poco adagio (double theme and variations); and Sehr behaglich (strophic variations).
Read more
Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & London Philharmonic Orchestra – Shostakovich: Symphony No.5 & 9 (1981,1982/2021)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:15:43 minutes | 2,99 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: SACD | Artwork: Front cover | © Decca / Esoteric
https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/essd-90247/top
Read more
Eugen Jochum & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels, Don Juan, Der Rosenkavalier by Eugen Jochum (1960/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 49:49 minutes | 954 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alexandre Bak – Classical Music Reference Recording
Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28, is a tone poem written in 1894–95 by Richard Strauss. It chronicles the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero Till Eulenspiegel, who is represented by two themes. The first, played by the horn, is a lilting melody that reaches a peak, falls downward, and ends in three long, loud notes, each progressively lower. The second, for D clarinet, is crafty and wheedling, suggesting a trickster doing what he does best. (Till Eulenspiegel is a well-known Schnickelfritz.)
Read more
Arthur Grumiaux, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink – Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto; Saint-Saens: Havanaise; Lalo: Symphonie espagnole (2011)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:09:07 minutes | 2,73 GB | Genre: Classical
Source: SACD | Artwork: Front cover | © Decca / Esoteric
George Szell & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 by George Szell (1964/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 41:46 minutes | 760 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alexandre Bak – Classical Music Reference Recording
The Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43, is a four-movement work for orchestra written from 1901 to 1902 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. He began writing the symphony in winter 1901 in Rapallo, Italy, shortly after the successful premiere of the popular Finlandia. Sibelius said, “My second symphony is a confession of the soul.”
Read more
Alexei Ogrintchouk, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Andris Nelsons – Strauss: Oboe Concerto, Wind Serenade, Wind Sonatina No. 2 (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:12 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS
Despite his advanced age and the chaos surrounding him, Richard Strauss remained highly productive well into the 1940s. As the Second World War was coming to an end in 1944-45, the eighty-year-old composer was working on his Oboe Concerto and Sonatina No. 2 for winds, as well as the Metamorphosen for strings. While the latter work was an explicit response to the destruction Strauss was witnessing, in the Concerto and the Sonatina the composer seemed to be turning his mind away from the events surrounding him. There is a pastoral quality to the oboe concerto, with a highly tuneful solo part and more than occasional touches of nostalgia for the 18th century. Similarly, Strauss headed the score of the sonatina with a dedication ‘to the spirit of the immortal Mozart at the end of a life full of thankfulness’.
To an extent, one might say that Strauss at the end of his life returned to the musical models of his youth. It is therefore fitting that these two works frame the Serenade in E flat major for wind ensemble, composed more than sixty years earlier in the tradition of entertainment music by Schubert and Mendelssohn. Alexei Ogrintchouk, one of today’s leading oboists, has proven himself in previous recordings for BIS ranging from Bach to Nikos Skalkottas and Antal Dorti. With sterling support from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons, he here makes light of the considerable difficulties of the solo part of the oboe concerto, and also directs his colleagues from the orchestra’s wind section in the works for wind ensemble.
Read more
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stéphane Denève – Honegger : Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:16 minutes | 1,31 GB | Genre: Sacred Oratorios
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher is one of the most inventive oratorios ever composed, constantly flitting between styles and colours. It follows the historic French heroine in the hours leading up to her execution. Indeed, the run-up to her death sentence is reconstructed as if in a crime novel. Paul Claudel’s lively libretto contrasts Jeanne with an assorted lot of strange and wonderful characters. More than enough reason for Honegger to open up a colourful paintbox: the work features a succession of choral passages infused with spirituality, cubist-like blocks of sound and even bits of material reminiscent of the music hall. This is grist to conductor Stéphane Denève’s mill, who is a leading authority on French music and a regular guest with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; together with two choirs and a variety of soloists and actors, he realized a compelling and moving Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher.
Read more
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Mariss Jansons – Stravinsky: Petrushka & Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances (Live) (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:09:21 minutes | | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Stravinsky’s Petrushka was performed to great public acclaim and recorded in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on 29 and 31 October 2004, whilst Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances were recorded later that same year on 22, 23 and 25 December.
From the clear and transparent orchestral sound in Stravinsky’s Petrushka to the full glory of the symphony orchestra in the Rachmaninoff, Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra demonstrate once again the immense artistic heights attained by this unique collaboration between conductor and orchestra.
Read more![Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Eugen Jochum - Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, Te Deum (First Part) (2017/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/05/13/bk23e7rp50tpc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Eugen Jochum – Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 5, Te Deum (First Part) (2017/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:19:56 minutes | 853 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Praga Digitals
Eugen Jochum conducts the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in Bruckner’s Symphony No.5, a gigantic musical cathedral and a masterpiece of counterpoint. Everything is prayer, everything is contemplation, everything is a state of grace. With this concert performance on May 30, 1964, Jochum set the bar for this ”Katholische Sinfonie.” The recoding also includes his reading of the composer’s Te Deum, leading the Berlin Philharmonic.
(more…)
Mariss Jansons & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony No. 7 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:19:53 minutes | 2,47 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons’s international reputation as a Mahler conductor is indisputable. During his tenure as chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Jansons did not record a full cycle of Mahler symphonies. With this new 2016 recording that project is now nearing completion. Mahler himself led the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Dutch premiere of the Seventh in October 1909. How must the audience in the Main Hall have reacted to this whimsical work with its night-time atmosphere and eerie sounds? Although this vast symphony, featuring a number of unconventional instruments like the mandolin and guitar, did not catch on right away, it would slowly but surely win the hearts of music lovers everywhere.
Read more
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons – Dvořák: Symphony No.9 Op.95 “From The New World” (2004)
SACD ISO: 2,55 GB (Stereo + MCH DSD) | FLAC @ 24bit/88.2kHz: 707 MB | Full Artwork | 3% Rec. Info
Label/Cat#: RCO Live # RCO 04002 | Country/Year: Netherlands 2004
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic
Superb orchestra playing, hear these woodwinds. Conductor and orchestra seems to be very happy with each other. There are a lot of “New World” recordings but Jansons is surely competitive with the great ones with Fischer, Kondrasjin, Harnoncourt en Kubelik. This CD is a jewel both in the freshness of the playing and in the clearness of the recording. My favorite! sa-cd.net
Read more
Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 (2016)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 55:50 minutes | Scans NOT included | 2,56 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans NOT included | 963 MB
The RCO’s performance history of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony is strangely uneven. Already three years after its completion the symphony was performed by Willem Mengelberg in a program that also boasted the composer as soloist in his own Piano Concerto No. 3. After that the symphony was on the program once more in 1921 and then there’s a gap of 59 years. From 1980 on no less than ten conductors (including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kirill Kondrashin and Kurt Sanderling) put it on the RCO’s music stands. The latest RCO incarnation proved to be an ideal performance. With Mariss Jansons at the helm, mind and heart of this piece are totally balanced and the opulence of the RCO’s sound at the Concertgebouw iss perfectly suited to Rachmaninoff’s most beloved symphony.
Read more
Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition (2009)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 33:35 minutes | Scans included | 1,72 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Scans included | 1,39 GB
or FLAC 2.0 (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Scans included | 719 MB
DSD Recording | Featues Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | RCO Live # 09004
Recorded live at the legendary Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 2008, Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra present Mussorgsky’s much beloved and much recorded Pictures at an Exhibition in the orchestrated version by Maurice Ravel. This performance underlines the orchestra’s magnificent form and wonderful range of sonic colours and imagery.
Read more
Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dorothea Roschmann – Mahler: Symphony No.4 (2015)
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 55:58 minutes | Digital Booklet | 2,51 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Digital Booklet | 957 MB
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has enjoyed a very special relationship with Gustav Mahler; with this live release, recorded in February 2015, Mariss Jansons and the RCO add an impressive chapter to their recorded history of Mahler symphonies. Acclaimed German soprano Dorothea Röschmann joins the RCO on the work’s fourth movement.
Read more
Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mahler: Symphony No.1 (2007)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 54:36 minutes | Digital Booklet | 2,56 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Digital Booklet | 987 MB
Chief conductor Mariss Jansons leads his Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on this live performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, recorded in Amsterdam in 2006. This album has earned Jansons and the RCO great praise for a skillful, energetic and evocative interpretation, called “as good as live performance can get” by BBC Music Magazine.
Read more