Erich Kleiber - Kleiber - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The armonia ensemble, made from the ranks of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the MDR Symphony Orchestra wind sections, dishes up a veritable explosion of sound on their new GENUIN . At the heart of their exploration of Harmoniemusik, music for an ensemble of woodwinds, horns, and double bass, is Mozart's InchGran Partita,Inch the opus ultimum of the genre. In addition, the elite wind players allow us to discover three works by Salieri, whose material was crafted just for them An opera overture, an InchArmonia per un tempio della notte,Inch and a InchPiccola Serenata.Inch The armonia ensemble produces a dense, historically informed sound that beautifully showcases the splendor of these four extraordinary works.

Erich Kleiber - Kleiber Archives 1 [COMPACT DISCS] date 07/11/2006

Collected for the first time - Erich Kleiber's rare recordings with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker made for Polydor/Grammophon and newly remastered for this . Erich Kleiber's appointment to the musical directorship of the Staatsoper Berlin in 1923 proved to be the making of his career. Hired on the strength of a single Fidelio, he thrilled audiences and critics with performances of unparalleled vigour and intensity. He soon began recording for the short-lived Vox company (not to be confused with the later US tag) but in 1926 he agreed a contract with the Grammophon tag, building on his regular season of orchestral concerts which were interspersed with opera performances. Here, newly remastered by Mark Obert-Thorn and issued complete for the first time in any , is that Grammophon legacy of Kleiber's Berlin years with both the Staatskapelle and the celebrated Berliner Philharmoniker. Beginning modestly enough with four of Mozart's German dances - to fill two sides of a 78rpm record - the scope of the sessions expanded to take in complete symphonies by Beethoven (No. 2), Schubert (No. 8 'Unfinished') and Dvorák (No. 9 'From the New World') alongside much popular repertoire such as the incidental music to Rosamunde and A Midsummer Night's Dream and the overtures to William Tell and Die Fledermaus. Many of these recordings were not marketed or reviewed abroad despite their artistic excellence, but Kleiber's 1928 account of 'Vltava' from Má vlast soon gained classic status. No wonder, now, when listening again to the moonlit interlude and Kleiber's gently flowing pulse, his superb balancing of parts which transcends the limitations of the technology and makes a nonsense of his apparent reluctance to record. Alternative versions of 'Vltava', as well as the second take of a side from the 'New World' Symphony which became Kleiber's final Grammophon