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Julia Fischer, Russian National Orchestra, Jakov Kreizberg – Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D, Op.35; Sérénade mélancolique Op.26; Valse-Scherzo Op.34; Souvenir d’un lieu cher (2006)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:08:23 minutes | 1,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
For a work so popular, and so highly favored by record companies, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto hasn’t been getting too much attention lately. In any case, great performances are few and far between, but this performer certainly belongs on anyone’s short list of truly outstanding versions. It has everything: transcendent virtuosity, tons of excitement in the finale, and perhaps most importantly of all, a soloist with both taste and a personal sound that allows her to make the music her own. Today’s violin soloists are so well trained that we tend to forget the difference between great technique and great timbre. Julia Fischer has both. Right from the opening of the first movement her sound positively glows.
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Russian National Orchestra, Paavo Berglund – Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 ‘Stalingrad’ (2006)
DSF Stereo DSD64, 1 bit/2,82 MHz | Time – 01:06:28 minutes | 2,62 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: nativeDSDmusic | Booklet, Front Cover | © Pentatone Music B.V.
Not until later on, in his posthumously published memoirs, did Shostakovich provide a personal insight into his Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65, which he completed on September 9, 1943 in only two months’ time, following a short, yet agonisingly dry creative period: “The Seventh and the Eighth are my ‘Requiem’.” At the time, his first comments on the new work were very different, and (as was usual during Stalin’s regime, one should add) meaningless: “This work mirrors my thoughts and feelings following the joyous reports on the first victories of the Red Army.” For sure … After all, it would be hard to come up with another 20th-century symphony that soundsas inscrutable and sadly fateful as Shostakovich’s Eighth.
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Russian National Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60 (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:59 minutes | 1,17 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pentatone
When Paavo Järvi’s Leningrad recording was first announced I really didn’t think it would be a contender. In the past this conductor has struck me as meticulous almost to a fault, and not the most communicative of baton wavers. That said, a Russian orchestra playing Shostakovich usually demands a listen. Factor in PentaTone’s reputation for fine recordings and it would seem this new album is a decent prospect. Even then I must admit to feeling somewhat blasé; with so many potent rivals what more could Järvi bring to the piece?
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Russian National Orchestra & Carlo Ponti – Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition – Night on the Bare Mountain (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:52 minutes | 1000 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
These well known pieces are presented in superb sound. Carlo Ponti Jr. is the son of Carlo Ponti Sr. and Sophia Loren and is a regular conductor of the Russian National Orchestra.
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Mikhail Pletnev and Russian National Orchestra – Rimsky-Korsakov: Orchestral Suites (2010)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:30 minutes | 1020 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
While the old saying “All that glitters is not gold” wasn’t coined with Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral works in mind, it might well have been. As shown by the three pieces here — the suites from the operas The Snow Maiden and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, Night on Mount Triglav, and from the ballet-opera Mlada — Rimsky-Korsakov was profligate in his use of glittering sounds: tinkling percussion, twittering winds, shimmering strings, and the occasional crashing cymbal. The Russian late Romantic master was adept at integrating such onomatopoetic sounds into his scores so that they come across less like sound effects than as unified parts of the whole. Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra are less successful at creating a unified whole out of any of these works. Though the musicians play brilliantly, with plenty of color and virtuosity, Pletnev sounds like more of a tourist than a native; he happily notes all the sights along the way, but seems to have little idea where he’s going and less idea of how to get there. If energy and beauty are your sole criteria, this spectacularly recorded PentaTone disc will be just the thing. If, however, form and content are more important, Evgeny Svetlanov’s recordings of these works are more effective. Though the sound is far less impressive, the performances are far more cogent and convincing.
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Mari Kodama, Russian National Orchestra, Kent Nagano – Chopin, Loewe: Piano Concertos No.2 (2003)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:05 minutes | 1014 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
Revered pianist Mari Kodama shows off her pianistic technique on this program of exciting piano concertos from heavyweight composers, Loewe and Chopin. The polished instrumentalist delivers renowned interpretations of Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F Minor and Loewe’s Piano Concert in A. With superb sonic clarity, this album rejuvenates these familiar works.
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Julia Fischer, Russian National Orchestra, Yakov Kreizberg – Khachaturian, Prokofiev, Glazunov: Russian Violin Concertos (2004)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:22 minutes | 1,33 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
“A very generously filled CD with three appealing Russian violin concertos played by this month’s ’One to watch’, Julia Fischer. [The RNO] under Yakov Kreizberg accompany superbly and if, as the booklet implies, this CD was made in two days then the concentration level must have been immense!” –James Jolly, The Gramohone
“Julia Fischer stands out. What’s most impressive on this disc is [Julia Fischer’s] revitalization of the Khatchaturian Violin Concerto… Fischer makes it sound fresh again. In part, the bloom results from her burnished tone (sensuous but firmly focused) and her confident technique (note the rhythmic definition of her opening gestures); simply as virtuoso display, this is a charismatic performance. But there’s a lot more than surface appeal. Because of her unwavering concentration, she manages…to make each detail, each swing in mood, register clearly, and because of her unflagging sense of shape, she makes sure that each element contributes to a lucid unfolding of the overall structure…. a nobility unmatched by any other recording I know…urgently recommended.” –Peter J. Rabonowitz, International Record Review
Read more![Ivan Pochekin, Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev - Tchaikovsky & Glazunov: Violin Concertos (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/02/02/nx5cawv5lqfxb_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Ivan Pochekin, Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev – Tchaikovsky & Glazunov: Violin Concertos (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:00:26 minutes | 626 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Profil
This recording features the works of Russian composers who were outstanding personalities in the musical life of their country during their lifetime: The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, by Tchaikovsky and the Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82, by Glazunov.
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Paul Merkelo, Jae-hyuck Cho, Russian National Orchestra & Hans Graf – Arutiunian, Weinberg & Shostakovich: Trumpet Concertos (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:01:38 minutes | 2,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos
The trumpet has had many concertos written for it by composers from the Soviet era and beyond. Appealing in its unabashed melodies and colourfully nostalgic feel, Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto became popular in the West, while Weinberg’s emotive Trumpet Concerto in B flat major was summed up by Shostakovich as a ‘symphony for trumpet and orchestra’. Shostakovich’s own playful Concerto No. 1, Op. 35 is recorded here with Timofei Dokschizer’s extended trumpet part, bringing it closer to the Baroque ‘double concerto’ model that the composer may initially have intended. The three works featured on this recording each has a connection with virtuoso trumpeter Timofei Dokshizer, who commissioned and premiered a succession of such pieces. A major attraction for this release is Paul Merkelo playing Shostakovich’s extremely popular Piano Concerto No. 1 (which also features acclaimed pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho) in a version with archival cadenzas and ornamentation by Timofei Dokschizer.
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Oleg Tsibulko, The Choir of the Popov Academy of Choral Art, Russian National Orchestra & Kirill Karabits – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 113 “Babi Yar” (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 58:11 minutes | 926 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
The Russian National Orchestra continues its Shostakovich cycle with Symphony No. 13, “Babi Yar”, together with bass Oleg Tsibulko, the Popov Academy of Choral Arts Choir, the Kozhevnikov choir and maestro Kirill Karabits. Inspired by Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s poem Babi Yar about a Nazi massacre of Jews just outside Kiev in 1941, Shostakovich based the Symphony on five of the author’s poems. The texts reflect on the peculiarities of daily existence in Stalinist Russia, providing a deep insight into life under Soviet reign. After the sombre, impressive opening movement, Shostakovich alternates between a satirical stance, humour, and portraying the hardships of the Stalinist reality, leading up to the innocent beauty of the symphony’s finale. One special aspect of this recording is the Russian National Orchestra’s collaboration with an Ukrainian bass soloist and conductor, underlining the shared cultural and political heritage of both countries.
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