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Topic: Music and Arts of America Catalog update

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Posted by Romy the Cat on 02-22-2006

 NEW! CD-1180(4) Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier    Evelyne Crochet, piano
CD 1 : Book 1 - Preludes and Fugues I to XV (Total time: 65:45) CD 2: Book 1 - Preludes and Fugues XVI to XXIV Book 2 - Preludes and Fugues I to IV (Total time: 67:03) CD 3: Book 2 - Preludes and Fugues V to XIV (Total time: 63:49) CD 4: Book 2 - Preludes and Fugues XV to XXIV (Total time: 62:59)  DDD. UPC# 017685-11802-9 
Special! 4 CDs priced as 3

Bach wrote many works for the keyboard—French and English Suites, Toccatas, Partitas, Inventions and Sinfonias, the Goldberg Variations, Fantasies etc., and, of course, numerous works for the organ. Yet in none of these magnificent works does one sense the intimate nature, the transcendent message of The Well-Tempered-Clavier. It stands as a profound expression of spirituality, of humanity, and one cannot help but think that this huge work represents a very personal account of the composer’s philosophy, perhaps a look back on his own life journey. With its absence of theatricality, with its depth and straightforward simplicity, the The Well-Tempered-Clavier takes us beyond the instrumental brilliance of Bach’s other keyboard pieces (not to diminish their own depth and greatness) as we sense its authentic meaning.

Evelyne Crochet's repertoire covers a wide scope, spanning over all periods in music. She performed Bach’s whole Well-Tempered Clavier, Debussy’s complete piano works, and music up to our present time. Her early recordings in Russia, Mozart’s Sonata K 310 and Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 110 were followed by the first complete recording of Gabriel Fauré’s piano works. This extensive project was received with unanimous international acclaim (the New York Times described it as “a labor of love”). For Philips Records, she recorded the world premiere of newly discovered works by Erik Satie, albums of Bach Transcriptions and Schubert’s music and, with Alfred Brendel, she recorded Schubert’s four-hand piano duets. A native of France, she lives and teaches in New York.

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CD-1161 ZOLTÁN SZÉKELY and the Hungarian String Quartet  Special Price - 8 CD set: $89.90 - 8 CD's for the price of 6 CD's
Historical recordings and previously unissued public performances, 1937-1968. CD 1: MOZART: Quartet K 456 ("Dissonant") (*Menton Festival, 13 July 1958)[2]. SCHUBERT: Quartet No. 14 in D minor ("Death and the Maiden") (*Menton Festival, 22 July 1958) [2]. HAYDN: Quartet in C major Op 74 No 1 (*University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 5 July 1950) [1]. CD 2: SCHUBERT: Quartet No. 15 in G Major, Op. 161 (*Menton Festival, 22 July 1958)[2]; Quartet No. 14 in D minor ("Death and the Maiden") (Chamber Music Society LP CM-17, rec. 1952) [3]. CD 3: BEETHOVEN: Quartet in C, Op. 59 No. 3 (*Menton Festival, 21 July 1961) [4]; Quartet in C# minor, Op. 131 (*Menton Festival, 21 July 1961) [4]. KODÁLY: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (Concert Hall Soc. LP CHS-1157, rec. 1952) [3]. CD 4: BARTÓK: 5th String Quartet (*Menton Festival, July 1961) [4]; 6th String Quartet (*Menton Festival, July 1961) [4]. HAYDN: Quartet in D Major Op 64 No. 5 (*University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1951) [1]. CD 5: BEETHOVEN: Quartet in F Op. 59 No. 1 (*Budapest, Academy of Music. 20 Dec. 1968) [4]. BARTÓK: 3rd String Quartet (*Budapest, Academy of Music. 20 Dec. 1968) [4]. HAYDN: Quartet in D Major Op 64 No. 5 (from 78s) (Rec. for HMV in London, 1946) [1]. CD 6: BRAHMS: Quartet in A minor Op. 51 No. 2 (Budapest, Academy of Music. 20 Dec. 1968) [4]. MOZART: Quartet in D minor K 421 (Rec. for HMV in London, 1946) [1]. PORPORA: Sonata II in G (from Sonate XII di Violino e Basso (osia di Cimbalo e violoncello)) (Amer. Decca 78 G-25877). Zoltán Székely with Géza Fried, piano. CD 7: TCHAIKOVSKY: Quartet in D Major, Op. 11 (Concert Hall Soc. LP CHS-1183, rec. 1952) [3]. DVORÁK: Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 ("American") (Concert Hall Soc. LP CHS-1157, rec. 1952) [3]. GLAZUNOV: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82 (Dutch Decca 78 set X-10110, rec. 1942). Székely, with Hague Residentia Orch., cond. Willem van Otterloo Lalo, Guitarre (Dutch Decca 78 set X-10110, rec. 1942) Székely with Jean Antonietti, piano. CD 8: GLAZUNOV: Cinq Novellettes pour Quatuor d'archets, Op. 15 (Concert Hall Soc. LP CHS-1183, rec. 1952) [3]. SCHUMANN: Quartet in A minor, Op. 41 No. 1 (*University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1 July 1951) [1]. DEBUSSY: Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (*University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1 Aug. 1951) [1]. ([1] Székely--Moskowsky-Koromzay-Palotai. [2] Székely-Moszkowsky-Koromzay-Magyar. [3] Székely-Moskowsky-Halleux-Palotai. [4] Székely-Kuttner-Koromzay-Magyar. * Public performances. Technical reconstruction (2004) by Maggi Payne. Issued with the kind cooperation of Prof. Gabriel Magyar and the Székely Estate. Picked as Classic Record Collector's 2005 "Best Chamber Music Release"     Total time: 9 hrs. 50 min. [DDD] UPC # 017685-11612-4.        

CD-1167(1) Oskar Fried: A Forgotten Conductor: 1871-1941)
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826): Oberon Overture (1826) Berlin State Opera Orch., 1924. [2] Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921): Fantasy on themes from Hänsel und Gretel (arr.: Oskar Fried) Berlin PO 1928. [3] Richard Wagner (1813-1883): Eine Faust-Ouvertüre WWV 59 (1855) Berlin State Opera Orch., 1928. [4] Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Eine Alpensinfonie Op. 64 (1915) Berlin State Opera Orch., 1925. All from Grammophon 78s. Digital sound restoration: Gert Fischer; notes in English and German by the Fried authority Wolfgang Georgy; includes complete discography of Fried.   Winner of Best Historic Release prize, German Record Critics' Association, 4th Quarter, 2005    AAD. Total Time: 78:03. UPC# 0-17685-11672-8. 

CD-1169(2) Béla Bartók: Complete String Quartets.  The Végh Quartet
The long unavailable 1954 Paris mono cycle. Végh Quartet: Sándor Végh, Violin I; Sándor Zöldy, Violin II; Georges Janzer, Viola; Paul Szabó, Cello.Sound restoration (2005): Maggi Payne. Notes: Abram Loft    AAD   UPC # 0 17685-11692 6

This 1954 cycle originally appeared on three French Columbia LPs (in the U.S., on the Angel label). As such, it wasamong the first Bartók quartet cycles available to LP collectors. Since then, there have been dozens of other versions,including a 1972 stereo remake from the Véghs themselves, with the same membership, on the French Astrée label.Nevertheless Music & Arts has chosen to release this earlier set  because of its unique artistry.

The Végh Quartet’s most important studio recordings, besides their Bartók, comprise two Beethoven cycles, the first a mono version for Les Discophiles Français (Paris) in 1952, the second a stereo remake for Auvidis/Valois in 1972/74. Of the former, reissued by Music & Arts on a Diapason award-winning CD set, critic Ray Tuttle wrote: “Although the Véghs played in what was a modern style—more concerned with technique and with a smooth blending of the four instruments than earlier quartets were—performance traits from earlier in the twentieth century persisted in a vestigial form. The Véghs generally used less vibrato and more portamento than quartets that ascended in the 1950s and 60s. The resulting tendency towards tonal sentimentality was more than counteracted by the toughness of the Végh Quartet’s interpretations.” Végh knew Bartók and as a member of the New Hungarian Quartet, which specialized in its early years in contemporary music, often performed his works. (It was this ensemble that gave the Hungarian premiere of the Fifth Quartet in 1936 and was the foremost exponent of Bartók’s earlier Quartets in Hungary during the late 1930s). And after he founded his own Quartet in 1940 (the year Bartók emigrated to the U.S.), Végh continued to pioneer the Bartók pieces. Numerous critics contend that the present recording presents one of the most convincing interpretations of these 20th-century masterpieces.      

CD-1173(4) Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. CD premières of their rarest 78 rpm recordings.
CD 1 (58:42): VIVALDI (arr. Stokowski): Concerto Grosso in D minor (from “L’estro armonico,” Op. 3, No. 11) [1934]; PALESTRINA (orch. Stokowski): Adoramus te [1934]; FRESCOBALDI (orch. Stokowski): Gagliarda [1934]; LULLY(arr. Stokowski): Le Triomphe de l’Amour – Nocturne, Alceste—Prelude, Thesée [1930]; BYRD (orch. Stokowski): Pavane and Gigue [1937]; HANDEL (arr. Stokowski): Overture in D minor (Chandos Anthem No. 2) [1935]; Messiah—Pastoral Symphony - March [1930]; Music – Suite [1934]. CD 2 (75:54): BACH (orch. Stokowski): Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV565 [1934];Ich ruf ’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (Chorale Prelude, BWV639); Es ist Vollbracht (from the St. John Passion, BWV245) [1934]; Ein’ feste Burg (from Cantata No. 80, BWV80) [1933]; Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV582 [1929]; BOCCHERINI (arr. Stokowski): Minuet (from Quartet in E major, Op. 13, No. 5) [1929]; HAYDN (orch. Stokowski): Andante cantabile (from String Quartet in E major, Op. 3, No. 4) [1929]; BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 [1931]. CD 3(73:27): Outline of Themes for the Franck Symphony [1927]; FRANCK: Symphony in D minor [1927]; DEBUSSY: Nocturnes [1928, 1929, 1927]; Clair de lune (from Suite Bergamasque) (orch. Stokowski) [1937]; Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun [1940]. CD 4(74:52): WEBER(orch. Berlioz/Stokowski): Invitation to the Dance [1937]; BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 in e, Op. 98 [1931]; Hungarian Dance No. 1 (orch. Stokowski) [1934]; STRAUSS II: Blue Danube—Waltz, Op. 314 ; Vienna Woods—Waltz, Op. 325 [1939]; STRAUSS: Salome—Dance of the Seven Veils [1929]; SOUSA: El Capitan—March [1929]; The Stars and Stripes Forever—March [1929]. Restoration engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn. Extensive notes by Richard Freed. UPC# 17685-11732

CD-1175 (5) Artur Schnabel: The Complete Schubert Recordings, 1932 – 1950
CD 1 (65:10): Impromptus, Op. 90, D.899 (1950); Impromptus, Op. posth. 142, D.935(1950); Allegretto in C minor, D.915 (1939), March in E, D.606 (1939). CD 2 (62:19): Moments musicaux, Op. 94, D.780 (1937); Piano Sonata No. 18 in D, Op. 53, D.850 (1939). CD 3 (71:42): Piano Sonata No. 21 in A, D.959 (1937); Piano Sonata No. 22 in B flat, D.960 (1939). CD 4 (71:30): Piano Quintet in A, Op. posth. 114, D.667 (‘Trout’) (1935) (with Pro Arte Qt. Members, C. Hobday, double bass) Lieder (with Theresa Behr-Schnabel, contralto) (1932); Marches Militaires, Op. 51, D.733 (1937) (with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, piano). CD 5 (74:29): Divertissement à la Hongroise in G minor, Op. 54, D.818 (1937); March in G minor, Op. 40, D.819 No. 2 (1937); March in B minor, Op. 40, D.819 No. 3 (1937); Andantino varié in B minor, Op. 84, D.823 (1937); Allegro in A minor (“Lebensstürme”), Op. posth. 144, D.947 (1937); Rondo in A, Op. 107, D.951 (1937)(with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, piano). Restoration engineer: Mark Obert-Thorn. Extensive notes by Harris Goldsmith. UPC # 17685-11752. 
 


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