Forms and Genres


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Buy Now	Copland: Appalachian Spring; Rodeo; Fanfare for the Common Man (more) »rank: 17450 from: Telarc : :This sonically spectacular disc features three of Aaron Copland's most beloved Americana scores. Drawing on American folk themes, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring originated as ballet music, but they have found a larger life as light classic staples. They are briskly conducted by Louis Lane and played with élan by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. --Sarah Bryan Miller	Buy Now	Grieg, Chopin & Saint Saens Piano Concertos / Previn, Rubinstein, London Symphony Orchestra (more) »rank: 16351 starring: Artur Rubinstein, London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn : :This sonically spectacular disc features three of Aaron Copland's most beloved Americana scores. Drawing on American folk themes, Rodeo and Appalachian Spring originated as ballet music, but they have found a larger life as light classic staples. They are briskly conducted by Louis Lane and played with élan by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. --Sarah Bryan Miller
Buy Now	Shostakovich: Symphonies no 5 and 9 / Haitink (more) »rank: 29649 from: Decca : :Gorgeously recorded so that all of Shostakovich's eerieness of texture (and harps) can be heard, Haitink's performance of the Fifth symphony is pretty wonderful. The bare landscape of the first movement, with its lonely oboe solos, leads into the very Mahlerian, faux-fun second movement with creepy ease. The Largo is introverted but poignant, with handsome, sustained pianissimo playing, and the finale has great energy, but not quite enough of the grotesque--it's a bit too well-groomed. The Ninth, on the other hand, is ideal, with a finale to rollick over, and ...	Buy Now	Bach & Beyond - Gabriela Montero (more) »rank: 20988 from: EMI Classics : : Taking as her base 12 works of Bach, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero proceeds to play variations on each. The works are familiar and most Classical fans will recognize their melodies instantly. But Montero, who is closer to a jazz improvisationalist than a classical pianist merely embellishing, alters rhythm as well as melody, and the results are invariably both surprising and delightful. The Presto from the Italian Concerto is positively wacky, but 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' sticks to the piece's mood with truth and originality. Montero plays 'beyond' Bach ...
Buy Now	Symphonie Fantastique (more) »rank: 3219 from: EMI Classics : essential recording:Muti's perfectionism is everywhere clear in his stirring, crisp leadership of this many-layered, flavorful work. Some have argued that it's a bit over-the-top; we call that exciting. This is not to say that in the more elegant moments, we don't get some beautifully sculpted, feathery sounds. And clearly, each section of the orchestra was ideally rehearsed: the strings are lush, the winds reedy and spicy, and the brass wonderfully aggressive. Wow! --Robert Levine	Buy Now	Bach at Bedtime: Lullabies for the Still of the Night (more) »rank: 7358 from: Philips : essential recording:Muti's perfectionism is everywhere clear in his stirring, crisp leadership of this many-layered, flavorful work. Some have argued that it's a bit over-the-top; we call that exciting. This is not to say that in the more elegant moments, we don't get some beautifully sculpted, feathery sounds. And clearly, each section of the orchestra was ideally rehearsed: the strings are lush, the winds reedy and spicy, and the brass wonderfully aggressive. Wow! --Robert Levine
Buy Now	Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (more) »rank: 4200 by: Sarah Chang : :Vivaldi has been accused--rather unjustly--of writing the same violin concerto over and over, but no one can deny that the Four Seasons are quite different from the others. Described as the first examples of program music, they evoke the sounds of nature so realistically that one can hear the thunder, the wind, the rain, the singing of the birds, the murmuring of the brook, the barking of a dog. One also hears the sounds of humanity: bagpipes, hunting horns, harvest dances, even shepherds snoring. To 'better explain the music,' Vivaldi ...	Buy Now	Pictures at an Exhibition (more) »rank: 14040 from: Shout Factory : :Vivaldi has been accused--rather unjustly--of writing the same violin concerto over and over, but no one can deny that the Four Seasons are quite different from the others. Described as the first examples of program music, they evoke the sounds of nature so realistically that one can hear the thunder, the wind, the rain, the singing of the birds, the murmuring of the brook, the barking of a dog. One also hears the sounds of humanity: bagpipes, hunting horns, harvest dances, even shepherds snoring. To 'better explain the music,' Vivaldi ...
Buy Now	Chopin: The Complete Nocturnes And Impromptus (more) »rank: 3359 from: Philips : :Claudio Arrau considered the Nocturnes among Chopin's deepest, most searching works, rather than mere descriptive mood paintings, and he plays them that way. The same can be said vis-à-vis Arrau's Impromptus, with brooding textures and cosmic breadth that leave the drawing room behind. --Jed Distler	Buy Now	Stravinsky: Symphony Of Psalms/Symphony In C/Symphony In Three Movements (more) »rank: 48475 from: Emi Classics :Album Description:Simon Rattle conducts Stravinsky Recorded Live in September 2007. The album comprises three of the five works by Stravinsky which contain the word `symphony' in their titles, including the Symphony in C which Sir Simon has never before performed and which the BPO haven't played for over 20 years. EMI. 2008.