Classical music reviews

It is wonderful to have Ms. Demby move away from the atonal and morbid sounds of Attunement and Spirit Trance to the uplifting sounds she gave us in Novus Magnificat and Set Free. This is definitely one of her best works.

Constance Demby continues her trademark melodious symphonic space-music in this calming album. This time, she has infused chants and solo choir to give it a definite Christian flavour.

It becomes a struggle to stay stressed out while listening to this inspiring album and I've tried.

With this recording, Constance Demby, the undisputed founder of sacred symphonic space music, has created a musical stairway to the stars. In a word, 'Sanctum Sanctuorum' is remarkable. Not only musically sophisticated and gorgeously produced, the piece as a whole is a deepening of Demby's important work to new heights. At least initially, we could not help but to be reminded of the well-known Requiems by Faure and Durufle. But 'Sanctum' sets the standard for sacred symphonic space music for the new millennium reaching realms not possible prior to this work. Finally, electronic music technology has caught up with Demby's compositional genius to produce a benchmark that transcends the genre.

I've been listening to this recording for a month now with an eye to reviewing it. There was always something else to review first. In my book, if something stands up to a month of listening, it's pretty good.

Seascapes is one of Jones earlier albums. As Jones developed he became more melody oriented, but his earlier work has a lighter, almost jazzy touch. There is more experimentation and "going with the music" than what was to come. This isn't a criticism of what he became, but Seascapes offers a vision all its own.

Listen to Solitude, or Beyond the Dream. It sounds improvisational, even if it isn't. And the silences are just as important as the music. This a lot is more than just sophisticated elevator music, or New Age meditation music. Jones, and fellow pianist George Winston, is at the forefront of this kind of style, and well worth listening to. I know the titles are a bit pretentious, but the artistry is there never the less.

I have had this CD for 10 years, and it is still my favourite above all. The music enables you to shut your eyes to both remember the past and plan for the future. If you like quiet piano music, this CD is a must.

I love these piano compositions. They are distinguished from others of the New Age piano genre by their length and complexity--sounding almost like a symphonic tone poem for solo piano. Mr. Jones is an extremely talented composer and performer, and this CD is a real classic.

Andres Segovia, for my money, is the finest virtuoso guitarist who ever lived. Jimi Hendrix comes in at a close second because of his craftsmanship and highly innovative style. But there was something about Segovia that separated him from everyone else, regardless of genre.

The last review (from Mickey) reminded me there are more important elements to a musician than his or her technical skills. The "warmth and spirituality," as astutely noted by Mickey, are the seminal elements that make Segovia's playing so special. He brought Bach's compositions to life, and his interpretation of them here is compelling.

My music collection graces almost the entire gamut of music genres, from opera and classical guitar to hardcore and death metal. I'm proud to have Segovia's music in my collection. This is mandatory listening for anyone who cherishes quality music, especially those who are partial towards virtuoso guitar. I love it!

Perhaps some of today's best classical guitarists have surpassed Segovia's pure technical ability, but the warmth and spirituality that Segovia brings to his playing will forever remain unsurpassed. In this particular CD, Segovia(he was very much a Bach specialist) brings not only life but an almost spiritual warmth to these Bach pieces, originally for lute, cello, and violin. Segovia shows why he is the greatest of all classical guitarists, one of the greatest musicians of the century and one of the few truly great interpreters of Bach(along with fellow spaniard and cellist Pablo Casals, pianists Glenn Gould and Rosalyn Tureck, and violinist Rachel Podger). Get this if you love guitar, get this if you love music, and get this if you love Bach. This album truly has some of the greatest interpretations of Bach pieces on record.

Segovia's a genius! Being a violinist, I haven't been moved by any guitar renditions of violin works. Segovia's recording is an exception. His interpretation of the Bach Chaconne is as captivating as any violin recordings. It's masterful.

Dmitri Shostakovich's Thirteenth Symphony began as a cantata, growing from Yevgeny Yevtushenko's powerful poem Babi Yar (about the massacre of Jews outside of Kiev during the Second World War that the Soviet government had ignored) into a five movement work. The political controversy of Shostakovich's symphony is an interesting subject, particularly since Yevgeny Mravinsky (who had conducted just about all of the symphony premieres from the Fifth through the Twelveth) refused to take on the Thirteenth with its disapproving political message. Kiril Kondrashin took up the symphony and despite the first two basses pleading ill health and the pressure exerted from the Soviet government the Symphony was performed in December 1962 and had three performances. Subsequently Yevtushenko, under pressure from the government, altered Babi Yar to reflect the idea that more people than Jews where killed by the Nazi's requiring Shostakovich to make an alteration to his score.

The Thirteenth is a deeply felt work that still has a visceral impact more than forty years after it was written. To celebrate the Shostakovich Centennial the Thirteenth was performed at Ravinia in July 2006 to great acclaim. Filling in for the bass was a baritone, and while the performance was excellent, sung with great feeling for the text, lacking was the deep sonorous sounds of a bass. This is what I feel is also missing from this recording. Sergei Leiferkus is one of my favorite singers, who I have enjoyed in concert performances and from recordings, but lacking is the deep bass sound from singers like Vitaly Gromadsky (who performed at the premiere). I also found the first movement underpowered, as if the player were afraid of revealing the darkness of the music.

The outstanding performance of Babi Yar, for me, remains the recording of the second performance (recorded on December 20, 1962 and issued on Russian Disc) of the symphony by Kiril Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic. The New York Philharmonic and Kurt Mazur simply cannot equal the power of this performance. This is a performance that is worth listening to for the excellence of Sergei Leiferkus and the chorus but is not my first choice in conveying the power of Babi Yar.

Other reviewers have described this CD at length. I wish I could concur that birnging together two artistic dissidents (Shostakovich and Yevtushenko) and an anti-Communist champion of freedom (Kurt Masur) resulted in a great event. It's just short of that. Musically, the standout is Sergei Leiferkus, whose agile, insinuating baritone gets much more rage out of the poetry, and more biting wit as well, than the usual heavy bass-baritone.

The recording is excellent, the male chrous does well (though its Russian is enunciated syllable by syllable), yet Masur reins things in too much for maximum impact. For anyone who finds the Shostakovich Thriteenth too morbidly dark, this is a lean, propulsive reaidng that never lingers in the shadows. And the NY Phil. meets the technical deamdns of the work with energetic virtuosity. Fortunately, Leiferkus can carry the composer's heartfelt outcry by himself.

If you want to hear him in the context of a savage orchestral reading, try a little-known BBC Proms recording conducted by Vassily Sinaisky. It has raw power and genuine anger at the horrors of the Babi Yar massacre. Masur's approach seems to be more about making this a showpiece.

Odd, that despite the paucity of actual performances of this, Shostakovich's intensely felt Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar", there are close to fifty recordings in the literature. This is a work that is difficult to 'get wrong' as the music is straight forward, immensely accessible, and seethingly melodic despite the, at times, fragile topics it surveys. Though this 'live performance reording' with Kurt Mazur conducting the New York Philharmonic and the Men of the New York Choral Artists is not the most triumphant in many ways, it does register as one of the more important available, due to the presence of poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko reciting the title poem before the symphony begins and concluding the performance with another reading of a poem not included in the symphony, 'The Lost', at the end. His resonant voice and sincerity of reading add majesty to the performance.

Shostakovich wrote this work in 1962, under the influence of Yevtushenko's newly published poem 'Babi Yar', a work that sought to awaken the Russian people (and government!) to the quasi-secret horror of 1941 when 33,000 Jews were slaughtered and buried in a mass grave in the ravine known as Babi Yar. Shostakovich was so moved by this poem that he immediately set it to music without Yevtushenko's permission, but when asked ex post facto the poet of course complied. What followed was a collaborative venture with Shostakovich selecting three other poems of the poet ad the poet writing a new poem ('Fear') expressly for the song cycle which was then to become Shostakovich's 13th Symphony. The work met resistance from the Soviet powers, nearly missing a premiere, but the 1962 performance met with passionate embrace by the audience only to have the symphony then silent for decades. It has since become a standard in the plight of Russian history and the dissolution of Communism.

The work is written for Bass soloist and Men's Chorus and a massive orchestra. Here the soloist is Sergei Leiferkus and his dark ominous voice lends itself well to the tenor of the work. The Choral parts are well sung and the overall sweep of the work flows well. If the quiet moments lack subtlety it may be Mazur's vision as he certainly attacks the big moments with gusto.

In a work that should stand alone this listener prefers the omission of the 'pre and post recitation' as the Symphony works its wonders without the addition of what seems to have been an audience-pleasing ploy. This may be one of Shostakovich's lesser-performed works but it is surely one his finest. Thinking that the symphony must always feature the Russian sound of a Russian bass as soloist is unjustified: at a recent performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic guest conducted by James Conlon the scheduled requisite Russian bass fell ill and allowed American bass baritone Nmon Ford to offer a sensitive interpretation of the poetry and a richly warm and senusuously delivered performance. In other words, the symphony stands on its own, and in the wondrous acoustic of Disney Hall the impact of this long but majestic work was overwhelming! Grady Harp, January 06

This 1973 recording is blessed with the supreme talents of conductor Karl Bohm and his Vienna forces and the soprano portraying a sensational Salome - Leonie Rysanek. Her performance as Salome prompted Richard Strauss' son to remark that her voice was the voice of her father's dreams. She is quite possibly the greatest Salome of 20th century opera, despite many contenders including Ljuba Wellitsch and Birgit Nilsson. While many adore Wellitsch and Nilsson, I find both singers to miss the point of Salome. Salome, more than sounding like a ditzy teenager who is thoughtless to the point of being a kind of wicked pawn of her equally wicked mother the Queen Herodias, should be potrayed as a sexually mature but disturbed woman. At the heart of Salome is, quite frankly, necrophilia spurred by rejection. Salome is rejected by the God-fearing prophet John the Baptist whom she is attracted to for being an exotic stranger. As he is so devoted to a life of chastity and as he has an enemy in the Queen, he becomes a victim in a kind of game to both women. Herodias has a bone to pick with him. He constantly criticized and condemned her marriage to Herod, who was her first husband's brother. Salome is driven to necrophilia and madness because John the Baptist refuses to even kiss her. Salome, the powerful and beautiful "daughter of sin", princess of a Roman-occupied Jerusalem, has NEVER been rejected. She gets her vengeance and her kiss through the decapitation of the prophet. All this is great drama on film and fine film versions of the opera include those of soprano Catherine Malfitano, Teresa Stratas and Maria Ewing.

On this recording though, Leonie Rysanek uses a variety of colors in her voice and she cuts through the orchestra in thunderous fortissimi. She is a perfect Salome, combining the malice with the girlish naivete. Listen to her chilling Final Scene. This is a classic recording and should be on everyone's list. Yes, Wellitsch and Nilsson are terrific in their versions but Rysanek somehow makes Salome a lot more grand and a lot more deeper in meaning. It's a character study opera. Salome, Jochanan and Herodias are the characters we should look at when listening to this opera in order to understand it. It's still a chilling and electrifying opera if the soprano has the voice to carry it out. Leonie Rysanek is one of the greater singers of her time and she essayed the dramatic roles with aplomb- Medea, Sieglende, Lady Macbeth and various other big roles. While she was very comfortable singing in German or German-sung versions of Italian operas, her voice is still a powerful revelation in music. This record should never go out of print or opera lovers will miss out on a Salome of epic proportions. Bohm knew the score well, and he is still a god among German conductors having held the post of conductor at Bayreuth for years. He "made" the careers of Birgit Nilsson and Leonye Rysanek, virtually and his Vienna/German musicians are a force to be reckoned with.

Leonie Rysanek was the dramatic soprano to whom Richard Strauss' son said, "Your voice was the voice that my father dreamed of." Indeed, Rysanek's Salome is simply thrilling. She is vocally at ease in one of the most demanding dramatic soprano roles in the operatic repertoire. She surmounts the relentlessly high tessitura of the role with consummate ease. Rysanek was famous for her top register - powerful and taking more sheen the higher she goes. Here, preserved in superb stereo sound, was her performance at the Vienna Stata opera in 1972. You must listen to the voice that Richard Strauss dreamt of. It is an utterly beguiling performance.

This RCA version is the 1972 Klimt-inspired staging that was lauded to the skies when it was produced. Listening to it, I can understand why. The whole cast is inspired. Bohm is inspired in his conducting. Leonie Rysanek is super as Salome. All the rest of the cast is superb - from Hopf's Herod, Grace Hoffman's Herodias to Wachter's Jochanaan. If you want only one version of Salome, this version will work. The recording is live but in excellent stereo. However, there is an even more expensive set under Golden Melodram, which I think is worth the extra dollars. My review of that set is below and I give my reasons why the other set is worthwhile acquiring.We are fortunate to have two preservations of Leonie Rysanek's Salome (and one preservation of Jon Vicker's Herod). I have both and I am so much richer for that.

The following is my review for Salome conducted by Kempe under Golden Melodram:

This is a miraculous performance of Salome. Leonie Rysanek is simply superb in the name-part. Her big dramatic voice rich and ringing out thrillingly and gloriously at the climaxes. She stands alongside legends Ljuba Welitsch and Birgit Nilsson as the top interpreters of this role. The good thing is that this recording is in outstanding stereo. Everything is clear and you can hear the singers acting naturally and moving around on the stage in a 'live' performance. Leonie Rysanek is also outstanding as Salome in the RCA version under Karl Bohm at the Vienna State opera. That was one of the first few times she performed the part and it is a fabulous and famous performance, lauded to the skies. Here, she is even more experienced and even more dramatic. The RCA version is cheaper than this Melodram and also in excellent stereo. I don't advise buying budget label versions which have bad sound - go for the RCA which is more expensive but has significantly better sound.

However, aside from Leonie Rysanek, the biggest and most urgent reason for acquiring this set is Jon Vicker's stunning Herod, one that almost upstages his Salome, or did he upstage his Salome? You could almost call this opera Herod. He is the best Herod I've ever heard. Every time he enters, it is as if a force of nature, a titanic hurricane, has swept across the stage right in front of your eyes. His enormous dramatic voice hits you like steel rod and you find yourself utterly stunned into submission by the sheer dramatic force that he unleashes upon you. Herod was a role Vickers seldom essayed (his biography only lists one performance of this role) so this recording is an all-important document preserving his incredible Herod, which is like Hercules. Leonie Rysanek as Salome and Ruth Hesse as Herodias seem to have been inspired by his electrifying portrayal of Herod. Fortunately for us, both of them are in exceptionally good voice. Ruth Hesse is highly dramatic as Herodias. Leonie Rysanek, as I mentioned earlier, also seem to have pulled out all stops in her portrayal of Salome, her intense and spine-chilling voice gripping you by the throat in high drama. She lets out a blood-curdling cry before 'Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht...', and when she sings those lines, your hair stands up in unmitigated horror. By the end of the her final scene, you're completely petrified by her dramatic necrophillic outbursts, her enormous and intense voice like waves and waves of tsunami hitting you relentlessly. This version is more expensive than the RCA version but this version has Jon Vickers, and an even more dramatic Leonie Rysanek and the extra dollars are worth it!! By the end, the performers have the audience clapping cherring in wild ecstasy.

I also very highly recommend Birgit Nilsson's Decca set and her Bueno Aires set, and also Ljuba Welitsch's reading with Fritz Reiner or with Karajan. If you love Jon Vickers, get this set. If you love Rysanek, get this set (or alternatively the RCA but that doesn't have Vickers). If you love Salome, get this set (or alternatively Birgit Nilsson's with Solti under Decca). This is Rysanek's Salome and Vicker's Herod. The incentuous Volsung twins from Wagner's Ring incarnate as the incentuous Herod and psychologically perverted Salome. No partnership could be more thrilling in Salome - except perhaps Vickers and Nilsson.

OK, so this recording was made a long time ago, and it shows.

Never mind! You will never hear grander performances of these three works. Who better to interpret Stravinsky's music than the composer himself?

The two orchestral symphonies are wonderful, but the prize on this recording is the Symphony of Psalms. The first time I ever heard the piece was at a San Francisco Symphony concert with Stravinsky conducting-- an electrifying experience. This recording, though it's of a different performance, captures that moment perfectly. I can close my eyes and see Stravinsky's tight, coiled beat-- can watch the concertmaster's eyes as he was transfixed by the composer's every move-- can see the awe-struck chorus members as they nervously blended with the orchestra.

And I can relive that moment when the sound died finally away and the audience leaped as one person to its feet.

If music can change people (and it can), then this music will change people forever.

Igor Stravinsky conducts three of his own masterpieces in this compilation of recordings from the 1960's. SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS was inspired by wartime newsreels. The vitriolic outer movements show definite jazz and big-band influence - which the CBC orchestra glories in - while the second movement is of a classical tranquility and grace. The elegant SYMPHONY IN C was meant as a tribute to Haydn and Bach; but the haunting, unresolved bitonal chord that dissolves into silence in the end makes the work quintessentially modern. And the SYMPHONY OF PSALMS, one of the great religious works of the 20th century, is heavenly music; Stravinsky and his forces give it an austere reading of almost chamber-music clarity. These performances leave nothing to be desired. This CD has become one of my most prized recordings.

Who better to interpret a composer's music than the composer himself? This CD is an excellent introduction to these 20th-century masterworks. THREE MOVEMENTS bristles with explosive energy and PSALMS is austere and perfectly controlled, the lines of polyphony in the second movement coming through with extraordinary clarity. Not only is this a great recording, but it is an important historical document which tells us how Stravinsky intended these works to sound. As such, it could be an important reference to other conductors. I enjoyed this recording very much and I highly recommend it.

I agree with another poster that Leila's playing can be a little bit harsh at times on this recording. It sounds to me like the microphone was really close to the violin, because at times the violin is disproportionately loud compared to the orchestra. I would imagine that if you heard these performances live, they would be better.

The Tchaikovsky is great, though I think sometimes the transitions between sections can be a little rough. Her technique, however, is flawless and very exciting to hear such a powerful performance. The last movement is quite aggressive, but that isn't necessary a bad thing.

The Sibelius is not one of the best I've heard, though it is certainly competent. Similar to what I mentioned on the Tchaikovsky, on many spots in this concerto (particularly the third movement), the violin just sounds too loud and the general balance doesn't sound natural to me. I think this is particularly problematic because so much of this concerto places the violin against the orchestra (as opposed to playing "together") and I think that the balance issues really distract fromt this effect. Also, the last movement in particularly just sounds a little too harsh for my tastes, compared to someone like Midori or Joshua Bell who plays this piece with a beautiful fluidity. I don't necessarily mind harsh on this piece (I enjoy Salerno-Sonnenberg's rendition which is quite aggressive as well), but I think that Leila's harshness is more of a distraction than a stylistic effect.

Overall this is a good CD for the Tchaikovsky. On both pieces, Josefowicz's technique is very clean and accurate and her playing is never boring or stagnant, though I would say there are much more mature and stylistically appropriate recordings available of these pieces. Thanks

What an incredible performance. Where this lacks perfection, it more than makes up for it in passion and artistry. It is my most played cd.

Sibelius is good.
In terms of technique, this recording or tchaikovsky surpasses any other recording, however it was too harsh especially in the finale. Perhape that is the only way to produce her kind of spiccato, which is very neat.

So many beautiful and haunting passages throughout this recording and the deep source which this taps into is unmatched in any of Brahem's other works before or since.

The second piece "Kashf" is my personal favorite. "Kashf" the Arabic word meaning intuition, insight and discovery of unseen/unknown things, certainly transports one to a place they may never have visited before. And if this was all it would still be a worthwhile album, but there's so much more. The very next piece, deepens one's mood even further until the fourth where the Holland's double bass and Brahem's oud dance a musical duet. The lack of percussion is an important unifying thread through the tracks and allows the mind to fly and wander with the relaxed music.

This is music that can bring one to tears. No matter what you find in the reviews it's still indescribable and needs to be experienced. Unfortunately this trio of musicians hasn't recorded together again, which makes this even more special. A sublime recording of a very special synergy between the players and their instruments available for us to enjoy over and over.

Do yourself a favor, skip something else, and get this!

Enjoy.

In questo disco ogni musicista, preso singolarmente, non ha bisogno di particolari presentazioni...
Insieme, cosa non sempre scontata, hanno saputo costruire una deliziosa alchimia sonora che mi ha sospinto in un viaggio meraviglioso con lievissima brezza soave.
Qui "comandano" anima ed istinto, non ho dubbi: un capolavoro.

This is one of my favorites disks. You'll really like it... for sure.

I first heard this CD on a classical radio station... then spent a year trying to track down a copy. It was WELL worth the wait!

As far as violin and piano music are concerned, the Russian school has by and large got the upper hand at least in the US market even to the extent of slighting all French musicians, particuarly the pianists. If they say there is some justification for this, they might also like to lend their ears to the best Russian trumpter in history.

Why say he is the best? One, there are two concerti dedicated to him (as you can hear from this record), an honour that eclipsed the record of any other trumpeters in history. Two, his musicianship has been recognized by the fact that he had been promoted from a trumpeter to the post of the conductor in Bolsoi Theatre Orchestra, Moscow. For those who take delight in the music of the renowned French trumpeter Maurice Andre, they should also lend their ears to his Russian counterpart to see if there is any justification at all for the bias of just hearing the French to the neglect of this Russian musician of the top-notch.

Personally speaking, I find this the most powerful and poetic trumpet music around. Furthermore, the repertoire here is well devised giving a cross section of the Barogue, classical and romantic music. The music in all three periods are extremely well interpreted: His Biber is almost as devined as Edwin Fischer's Bach; and his Hummel is almost as heartfelt as Menuhin's Mozart, and his Glazunov and especially his Arutinian is simply shattering: it's like an epic, which reminds us so much of the ups and downs of Dr Zhivago under the big wheel of Time...

This is an absolute piece of art. If you like poetry, go for it; if you like drama, don't miss it; if you like music, snatch it! He definitely ranks at least on par with Rampal, the flutist, and Holliger, the oboist amongst the top wind players. One is just left to wonder how a brass instrument could be so expressive!! And by the way, these are 1968, 1978 & 1981 recordings with excellent sound witha running timeof 70 min.

Timofei Dokschitzer starts this CD out with Concerto for Coloratura Soprano, this is beautiful, Dokschitzer shows off his tone. The transcription of Rhapsody in blue is interesting. The Biber sonata is very beautiful, but in it he shows off amazing technical command of the instrument. The Hummel concerto, why not really the definitive version, is artistically amazing! The best part of the CD is the Arutunian Concerto. He plays it with a perfect balance of technical show-off to "artistry." Dokschitzer has amazing technique and tone. His style is the old school style of playing, but once you get used to it you begin to appreciate it. I would recommend getting this CD especially if you are studying the Arutunian.

The downright stupid introductory essay in the booklet of this CD sets the tone for what one is about to hear. The playing is uninspired, the interpretations are one-dimensional. Shostakovich and listeners deserve better than this. I regret having bought it!

After dulling my senses listening to the two Shostakovich piano concertos in lackluster readings by Mihail Rudy and Mariss Jansons, I needed a tonic. This CD shoots out of the speakers with infectious joy. It's also in Sony's best 24-bit sound, and on that basis alone would rank among the veyr best. Bronfman and Salonen have decided to cut loose (something neither does that often), catching Shostakovich's witty side perfectly. The composer himself is even more unbuttoned in his classic EMI recording, but in inferior sound.

The major work here, however, is the Piano Quintet, a large-scale work in the affirmative mode of the Fifth Sym. Shostakovich seems to be parodying nothing here; although there are haunting moments, particularly the string canon in the first movement and the solo violin that opens the slow movement, the Quintet, rare for this composer, is not clouded by melanchily. The Scherzo is rollicking, the finale presents a dancing tune one could almost whistle, alternating with ghostly memories of the first movement. Sony captures the sound of Bronfman's piano and the Julliard Quartet with amazing depth and fidelity--I've never heard any chamber work recorded so brilliantly.

In all, this is Shostakovich at his most lovable--a very unlikely word applied to him--played with geniality and tremendously appealing sonics.

During the past two years the Los Angeles Philharmonic has been delighting audiences with a Shostakovich Festival and during that time frame the orchestra is performing all fifteen symphonies, most of the concerti and chamber works as well as the quartets by both members of the orchestra and visiting ensembles. It is a time to respect the spectrum of the genius of Shostakovich as well as to broaden each of our exposures to works we might not know.

This CD recorded in 1999 serves as happy adjunct to this Shostakovich Festival. Yefim Bronfman is the fine soloist who offers both piano concerto numbers 1 and 2 (with the excellent assistance of trumpeter Thomas Stevens on the first) in collaboration with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the LA Philharmonic. The performances wink and dazzle and then turn to the quiet nostalgia in the slow movements. This is simply excellent Shostakovich in writing and performance!

The final work on this ambitious CD is the Quintet for piano & strings in G Minor here performed by Bronfman and the Julliard String Quartet. The balance is perfection! This is a very fine recording that stands with the finest for the concerto recordings and adds the tasty dollop of the Quintet as a superb bonus. Recommended. Grady Harp, November 05