Transfigured Night / Chamber Symphony

On this CD:

1. Verklärte Nacht, for string sextet, Op. 4
Composed by Arnold Schoenberg
Performed by Transylvanica Camerata

2. Chamber Symphony, in C minor, Op 110a (arranged by Barshai from the String Quartet No. 8 )
Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich
Performed by Transylvanica Camerata

Tracks:

Mars, The Bringer Of War - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Venus, The Bringer Of Peace - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Mercury, The Winged Messenger - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Uranus, The Magician - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Neptune, The Mystic - Women's Voices Of The Roger Wagner Chorale
Sehr Langam - Arnold Schoenberg
Etwas Bewegter - Arnold Schoenberg
Schwer Betont - Arnold Schoenberg
Sehr Breit Und Langsam - Arnold Schoenberg
Sehr Ruhig - Arnold Schoenberg

Customer Reviews:

Still My Favorite.......2006-09-27

Hardly lightweight, this is the recording that first introduced me to "The Planets" years ago. Now all others take a back seat to it. Still smooth-as-silk on CD, though recorded some 50 years ago. Mr. Stokowski knew just where to add suttle fillers, and when to raise the levels of intensity. Some of the most enriching sounds ever recorded in my opinion.

Low-key in 'The Planets' but a riveting 'Verklarte Nacht'.......2006-01-09

These are early stereo recordings from 1956-57, a time when Angel Records used Capitol (Frank Sinatra's label) as its American distributor. Capitol did miserably by them, supplying us with execrable pressings of great recordings. They also had their own limited clssical division, from which came these two recordings of The Planets and Verklarte Nacht. Though clear and open, this remastering can't compete with the best modern sonics for immediacy and impact.

In a way that's to the good. Stokowski doesn't pump The Planets up on steroids; despite his carnival turn in Fantasia, Stokowski was a real musician, and here he brings out the lyrical quality in Holst's writing--the second movement, Venus, has the gossamer delicacy of Debussy. Mars is quite low-key compared to the march into the Rhineland under Karajan. The recording is fairly distant, and the Los Angeles Phil. from that era sounds fairly thin and ragged--it wouldn't be rejuvenated until Mehta joined up in the Sixties. Three stars.

The exciting thing here is the Schonberg Verklarte Nacht, something of a specialty with Stokowski, who loved to champion modernism as long as it was tonal. The strings that play the here are from "His Symphony Orchestra," hand-picekd studio musicians brought together to showcase Stokowski. They do a bang-up job, playing with free rhythm, gorgeous tone, and exciting accents. This is a fully committed Verklarte Nacht brought out of its post-romantic haze. Five stars.

Hot, hot, hot: a Planets for the ages.......2002-07-17

The best, hottest, most intense "Planets" on the...planet. Man, they really knew how to lay it down in the 1950s. The sound here is great too, probably thanks to Stokowski's total involvement. Listen to a few seconds of "Mars." Yeah... You know it's going to be a heck of a trip. Really, one of the CDs that I absolutely treasure and recommend to others. I preach Stokowski's 'Planets,' as it were. I'd say essential.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Performing Version by Deryck Cooke) / Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) - Riccardo Chailly / Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

Average customer rating:

One of Chailly's best Mahlers

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Performing Version by Deryck Cooke) / Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) - Riccardo Chailly / Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Gustav Mahler (Composer) , Arnold Schoenberg (Composer) , Riccardo Chailly (Conductor) , and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Sextets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000E3P3
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Customer Reviews:

One of Chailly's best Mahlers.......2005-10-04

This was the first recording of Mahler's Tenth Symphony that I ever listened to, and as such it has set my expectations for other recordings. Quite a good benchmark too, this recording, I would say! Sumptuous and finely honed playing (not over-characterised by mannerisms or idiosynchrasies) by this marvelous orchestra under this maestro, with beautiful, airy acoustics and a nice, naturally blended sound-picture. IMHO this must be reckoned, along with his recordings of Mahler's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies (both with the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest), as a high point in Chailly's dealings with Mahler's symphonies.
Everything is just about right in this recording, but I especially like the sound of the deep, muffled bass-drum strokes in the finale: appropriately dark and ominous but not too loud (like in Rattle's first recording with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra). And I love how the flute at the beginning of the finale is really given full opportunity shine, ushering in this wonderfully melancholic melody, which is to dominate great parts of the movement - now and then disturbed by intrusions of the hectic 'angst'-music from the preceding movements.
Really a beautiful recording which anyone who loves Mahler's (for as far as one can accept it as such) Tenth Symphony should listen to at least once or buy for her- or himself.
The coupling is a - to my taste - decent but relaxed and somewhat undercharacterized(?) performance of Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht. Here one should maybe better go to Herbert von Karajan's 1974 recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker to get a better feel for the sensuality and tensions of this piece of music.
But the main and only reason for buying this (two-for-one-pricing)CD for me was Mahler's Tenth, and as such it will probably remain one of my favorate recordings of the Tenth Symphony and of any of Mahler's symphonies in general.

Average customer rating:

Transfigured Night / Chamber Symphony
Schoenberg , Shostakovich , and Sunshine
Manufacturer: Budapest Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000065DTT
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Average customer rating:

Transfigured Night / Chamber Symphony 2
Schoenberg , Holliger , and Coe
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000009KKK
Release Date: 1994-07-05

Music Review: