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Alphabetical Listing

PART 5
S-Z

Click for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part 5 S-Z]
[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part 7 Misc M-Z]
[last 5 days] [Recommended recordings]


Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) Symphony 3 Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869) Le Corsaire Overture Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907) An Old Norwegian Romance with Variations Vincent d’INDY (1851-1931) La Forêt Enchantée Denis Vaughan (organ) Royal PO, BBC SO/Sir Thomas Beecham rec. 1951-55 SOMM BEECHAM32 [76:11] [JW]

More riches from Somm’s Beecham archive, more novelties, more excitement, and more brio. 

Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757) Sonatas see Gilels

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quartet 10, Quartettsatz Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) String Quartet 2 Borodin Qt rec. 2010 ICA CLASSICS ICAD5044 [83:28] [JW]

Warm and malleable playing the sonority of which is loyally captured.

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Klavierstücke; Ländler and German Dances; Lieder transcriptions; Piano Sonata 21 Cyprien Katsaris (piano) rec. 1993 PIANO 21 P21 042-A [57:51 + 55:36] [JW]

Another mandatory acquisition for Katsaris collectors.

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) String Quartets 13-15 Artemis Qt rec. 2009 VIRGIN CLASSICS 6025122 [78:23 + 51:35] [MC]

Gripping and responsive. 

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1827) Piano Sonata 16, Moments musicaux, Impromptus Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Bagatelles Sviatoslav Richter (piano) rec. 1957-61 REGIS RRC1390 [72:01] [RMo]

An astounding range of moods and pianistic skills. 

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Symphony 5 see MOZART

Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Impromptus see BEETHOVEN

Erwin SCHULHOFF (1894-1942) String Quartet No. 1 see KAMINSKI

Ervin SCHULHOFF (1894-1942) Concerto doppio for Flute, Piano and Chamber Orchestra see Concertos

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Humoreske, Fantasiestucke Emanuel Ax (piano) rec. 1981 NEWTON CLASSICS 8802084 [55.29] [RBe]

Rewardingly excellent playing. 

Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Symphonies 1 & 3 Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Paavo Järvi SONY RCA RED SEAL 88697 96431 2 [62:31] [CH]

If you are uneasy with the idea that Schumann is a great composer, here’s a chance to discover his mediocrity. Poor Schumann ... poor us.


RECORDING OF THE MONTH

Robert SCHUMANN
(1810-1856) Piano Concerto see TCHAIKOVSKY

Ravi SHANKAR (b.1920) Symphony Anoushka Shankar (sitar) London SO/David Murphy rec. 2010 LPO-0060 [40:52] [DC]

Superb event, but the piece remains a conflict of confluences. 

Martin SHAW (1875-1958) The Airmen & other songs Sophie Bevan (soprano) Andrew Kennedy (tenor) Roderick Williams (baritone) Iain Burnside (piano) rec. 2011 DELPHIAN DCD34105 [77:35] [JQ]

This disc can be heartily recommended to all who love English song. 

Howard SHORE (b.1946) The Lord of the Rings Symphony Kaitlyn Lusk (vocalist)21st Century SO & Ch/Ludwig Wicki rec. 2011 HOWE RECORDS HWR 1005 [45.32 + 70:25][IL]

Powerful, colourful and noisy.

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) String Quartets 1, 3 & 8 Ludwig Qt rec. 2011 CALLIOPE CAL1102 [70:17] [OL]

Powerful and faithful performances. 

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1907-1975) Symphony 11 West German RSO Cologne/Semyon Bychkov rec. 2001 AVIE AV2062 [59:11] [DM]

A travesty; avoid.

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphony 10 Prague SO/Václav Smetáček rec. 1968 ORCHESTRAL CONCERT CDs CD14/2011 [47:23] [JQ]

A decent but not compelling account of Shostakovich’s masterpiece.

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphony 15 Royal Concertgebouw I/Bernard Haitink rec. 2010 RCO LIVE RCO11003 [47:11] [JQ]

Haitink offers a deep and impressive view of Shostakovich’s last symphony. 

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphonies 2 & 15 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic O & Ch/Vasily Petrenko rec. 2010/11 NAXOS 8.572708 [67:03] [WK]

Another fine entry in the new Naxos Shostakovich cycle with an especially good performance of the Fifteenth Symphony.

Dmitry SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) Symphony 9 see Kubelík

Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924) Clarinet sonata see British Clarinet Sonatas Vol. 1

Max STEINER (1888-1971) Adventures of Don Juan (orch. Murray Cutter) (1948) [81:21] Arsenic and Old Lace (orch. Hugo Friedhofer) (1941/44) [30:53] Moscow Symphony Orchestra/William Stromberg rec.2011. TRIBUTE TFC-1009 [59:57 + 52:17][IL]

Two memorable scores - a generous double treat for Max Steiner fans

Karlheinz STOCKHAUSEN (1928-2007) Tierkreis; With interpolation of material by Machaut, des Molins, Ciconia, Pykini, da Bologna, de Cluny and anonymous composers Capilla Flamenca; Het Collectief rec. 2010 ETCETERA KTC 4042 [76:11] [Byz]

While questions linger this is atmospheric music.

Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899) La Chauve-souris (ballet after Die Fledermaus) Choreography by Roland Petit Allesandra Ferri, Massimo Murru, Ballet & O Teatro alla Scala/Kevin Rhodes rec. 2003 ARTHAUS MUSIK 107 265 [93:00] [RMay]

Minor Petit, then: Petit-lite. 

Alexandre TANSMAN (1897-1986) Concertino, Stele in memoriam Igor Stravinsky, Pièce Concertante, Élégie to the memory of Darius Milhaud Christian Seibert (piano) Brandenburg State O/Howard Griffiths rec. 2009 CPO 777 449-2 [53:22] [JW]

Fine performances and recordings ensure considerable pleasure.

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Piano Concerto 1 Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Piano Concerto Van Cliburn (piano) RCA SO/Kyrill Kondrashin, Chicago SO/Fritz Reiner rec. 1958/60 REGIS RRC1391 [65:27] [SA]

This is a brilliant historical record of Van Cliburn’s prowess and one to be treasured. 

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Symphony 6 Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937) Pavane pour une Infante Défunte Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868) La Gazza Ladra - Overture Philharmonia O/Guido Cantelli rec. 1952 PRISTINE AUDIO PASC269 [58:13] [JQ]

A wonderful collection of performances by a great conductor. 

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Romeo and Juliet, Symphony 5 Philharmonia O, Teatro alla Scala O/Guido Cantelli rec. 1951 PRISTINE AUDIO PASC316 [62:32] [JQ]

Self-recommending to all admirers of Guido Cantelli. 

Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767) Sonatas see HÄNDEL

Barbara THOMPSON (b.1944) Perpetual Motion Apollo Saxophone Orchestra
rec. 3-5 January 2012, Royal Northern College of Music. DDD NIMBUS ALLIANCE NI6200 [52:06] [OL]

The Apollo Saxophone Orchestra demonstrates the great diversity of saxophone sound in these original and attractive works.

Michael TIPPETT (1905-1998) Fantasia concertante on a theme of Corelli, Little music for strings see BERKELEY


RECORDING OF THE MONTH

Joan TOWER
(b.1938) Rising see American Flute Quintets

Viktor ULLMAN (1898-1944) String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46 see KAMINSKI

Anton URSPRUCH (1850-1907), Ludwig THUILLE (1861-1907) & Erich J.WOLFF (1874-1913) Songs Rebecca Broberg (soprano) Ulrich Urban (piano) rec. 2010 THOROFON CTH2585 [74:25] [JW]

Three Austro-German contemporaries share a recital.

Peteris VASKS (b. 1946) Plainscapes Latvian Radio Choir/Sigvards Klava rec. 2011 ONDINE ODE 1194-2 [71:28] [DM]

Low-key writing of substance and strength; superbly sung.

RECORDING OF THE MONTH Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) Requiem Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868) Overtures Galina Vishnevskaya, Nina Isakova, Vladimir Ivanovsky, Ivan Petrov, State Acad Ch, Moscow PO, Ntl O de l’ORTF/Igor Markevitch rec. 1957-60 ICA CLASSICS ICAC5068 [65:51 + 70:18] [JS]

This set was a real discovery for me.

Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) Falstaff Zürich Opera Ch & O/Daniele Gatti rec. 2011 UNITEL CLASSICA/C MAJOR 711204 [126:00] [RJF]

As so often these days, a well-sung performance is marred by idiosyncrasies, even confusion, in sets, costume and production.

Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) La forza del destino Galina Gorchakova, Gregam Grigorian, Nikolai Putilin, The Kirov Chorus and Orchestra/Valery Gergiev rec. 1998 ARTHAUS MUSIK 100079 [160:00] [RJF]

Despite minor limitations this production and performance should have a place in every Verdi collection.

Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) Joanna d'Arc Nikolay Dorozhkin (tenor) Anna Lichorowicz (soprano) Marek Pasko (bass) Ch & O Wroclaw Opera/Ewa Michnik rec. 2011 DUX 0846-7 [63.16 + 41.09] [RJF]

Idiomatic conducting, but mediocre soloists. This live performance only fills the gap of a modern recording for enthusiasts. 

Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) Aida see BIZET

Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Die Walküre The Hallé/Sir Mark Elder rec. 2011 HALLÉ CDHLD7531 [5 CDs: 247:57] [DH]

... is this super-special for posterity?

Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Götterdämmerung, Siegfried, Die Walkure (excerpts) see BRUCKNER

Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826) Clarinet quintet, Aufforderung zum Tanze, Flute trio Van Swieten Society rec. 2008 QUINTONE Q09001 [60:50] [JV]

This disc deserves an enthusiastic welcome.  

Karl WEIGL (1881-1949) Fantasies, Isle of the Dead, Pictures and Tales, Dance of the Furies Joseph Banowetz (piano) rec. 2009 NAXOS 8.572423 [78.49] [EM-L]

Disappointing: some colourful and really lovely piano works let down by performances that lack conviction, imagination and passion.

Mieczyslaw WEINBERG (1919-1996) String Quartets Vol. 6 Quartets 2, 12 & 17 Quatuor Danel rec. 2008-9 CPO 777 587-2 [74:51] [SA]

Clearly, committing his music to disc is a continual source of joy.

László WEINER (1916-1944) Concerto for Flute, Viola, Piano and String Orchestra see Concertos

Christian WESTERHOFF (1763-1806) Clarinet Concerto, Concerto for Clarinet & Bassoon, Symphony Sebastian Manz (clarinet) Albrecht Holder (bassoon) Osnabrück SO/Hermann Bäumer rec. 2010 CPO 777 598-2 [63:09] [BR]

An easy choice for anybody who likes music from the era of Weber and young Schubert.

Henryk WIENIAWSKI (1835-1880) Violin Concerto 2 see MENDELSSOHN

Hye-jin YOON (b.?1971) Thinking Being Irresistibly Burnt Jeong Ga Ak Hoe (Hyun Soo Kim (daegeum); Seung Ah Lee (gayageum); Chae Young Son (geomungo); Seung Hee Lee (haegeum); Gyung Tae Do (janggu); Hyang Hee Lee (piri); Gang Sam Lee and Ji Eun Kim (vocals); Sun Young Hwang (yanggeum) rec. 2008. DDD AKDANGEBAN (Korea) ADCD 606 [76:49] [Byz]

Real Korean music at no risk to sanity and very little expense.

Antonio ZACARA da Teramo (c1350/60-1413 or later) Spinato intorno al cor Currentes/Jostein Gundersen rec. 2010 LAWO CLASSICS LWC 1026 [54:10] [JV]

Captivating performances of music by one of the most intriguing composers of around 1400.   


Click for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part 1 New] [Part 2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part 5 S-Z]
[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part 7 Misc M-Z]
[last 5 days] [Recommended recordings]




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