Seiji Ozawa has passed.
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Corelli’s op 5 violin sonatas transcribed for flute, in between sonatas by Jean-Baptiste Quentin, for flute, harpsichord / organ and gamba. Anna Besson and Jean Rondeau are part of Ensemble Nevermind, and if you enjoy their earlier recordings you will love this.
Cheers
EJ
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Seems odd to give a ‘like’, but…it means thanks for posting the sad news. I always greatly enjoyed the Ozawa/BSO recordings that I’ve heard.
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Same.
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My most recent purchase is Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony - Claudio Abbado’s 1976 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, part of Deutsche Grammophon’s limited edition The Original Source series, re-mixed and pressed on 180gm vinyl.
My copy is hand numbered 0306/2800.
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I have this Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony - Claudio Abbado’s too. I think it’s very good, but honestly, it still doesn’t hold a candle to the Mravinsky/Leningrad DGG from the early 60s.
I have been trying to buy the Mravinsky recordings of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth - mono and/or the stereo remakes - for too long, and have rather given up hope of finding them.
They should be ever-present in Deutsche Grammophon’s catalogue, but the current owners of the catalogue clearly don’t give a fig.
Why not just sort out your Discogs issues, then you can have the Mravinsky 4-6. That should give you some motivation. 
DG did reissue them some years ago, but they sold out. Maybe some day they will repress them again, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
So how do you like Abbado’s Tchaikovsky’s 4th on the new reissue? I think it sounds great, and is not a bad alternative to Mravinsky.
FWIW: I think the numbering thing is silly. I wish DG would just do what Tone Poet does: make them unlimited. It’s the same parent company, and the DG TOS series was in fact inspired by the Tone Poet series.
Did you look in Ebay as I have previously suggested to you, Graham?
There is a 5th at £10 currently, and a Heliodor double reissue of the three symphonies at £22. Finding both took me 10 seconds, and I didn’t look through all the listings. They are out there.
You just have to look…
Unfortunately, copies of the Analogphonic reissue are sold out on Discogs at the moment, and the DG Classics reissue (same pressings exactly) are €300+. Which is too bad, because when I checked in recent months they were available for less then €200.
Alondra de la Parra is a terrific interpreter of Ravel’s music – a while back I saw a very memorable Ravel concert with her conducting the WDR in Köln.
Here she leads the Queensland Symphony in a great version of the Rhapsodie espagnole - well-judged in tempo and with an emphasis on drama and, of course, colour. The climax is appropriately exuberant.
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I had a funeral today and played this piece. The subject of the funeral usually contacted me after a service when he liked something. So, on his funeral it had to be played.
I usually try to keep some distance to popular pieces though so it’ll take some time before I’ll play it again.
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A Royal question from a Yank - I watched the first half of Britten’s Gloriana this evening (Royal Opera Blu-Ray). Elizabeth I and others kept referring to Elizabeth as a Prince. Can someone explain why?
That’s a nice piece! I didn’t know you were an organist! Speaking of nice organ performances, two weeks ago I attended a funeral where the Elgar Nimrod variation was played by the organist. It was stunning. I had never heard that at a funeral before. Then again, I’m not old enough to be attending a lot of funerals yet, so perhaps it is commonly played.
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She referred to herself as a prince during the conflict with Spain and in her famous speech at Tilbury she said she had the heart and stomach of a king.
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There is a reasonably good arrangement of Nimrod available for organ indeed. I’ve done that on a funeral too on request about 3 years ago. The problem is that it is difficult to get the dynamic swings done right. A general crescendo (a pedal which allows the organist to swing from pianissimo to fortissimo and vice versa quickly) is needed. Not many organs have these in the Dutch organ landscape.
I prefer Nimrod played by an orchestra though on organ it can be ok.
It’s a good time to listen to it …
For those interested, the 5th round of DG Classics The Original Source series is announced
- Claudio Abbado & Wiener Philharmoniker - Brahms: Sinfonie Nr. 1
- Daniel Barenboim & Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Bruckner: Sinfonie Nr. 4
- Rafael Kubelik & Boston Symphony Orchestra - Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
- Karl Böhm & Wiener Philharmoniker - Beethoven: Sinfonie Nr. 6 „Pastorale“
TBH, after four rounds of excellent releases this newly announced 5th round is maybe the least exciting to me. I am in for the Brahms. I haven’t heard the Barenboim Bruckner 4 (and I like the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th symphonies better, even though the 4th is THE warhorse).
If you want a great Beethoven 6 that sounds terrific Analogue Productions has the very excellent reissue of Bruno Walter/Columbia Symphony on Columbia Records from 1958. Highly recommended, and perhaps one of the top Beethoven 6th ever. This is still available at Acoustic Sounds.
I’m curious about Kubelik’s Concerto For Orchestra. I have not heard it, but he’s an excellent conductor. However, I think one only ever needs to own one recording of the Concerto For Orchestra, and that is Frtitz Reiner/Chicago Symphony on RCA Living Stereo. It’s just that great and everything else is just left flapping in the mud, IMHO. And while you’re at it get his Bartok “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta” too. The good news is that Analogue Productions has excellent reissues of both in their RCA Living Stereo series. Best $80 you can spend on classical music today (I don’t know what UK distribution is like for these). These should be in any serious classical collection.
I’ll probably cave in and get all four TOS reissues anyway. 
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you might want to check out this one. I like it a lot
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I love Bartok’s Concerto & think I already have the Kubelik among several others, but I’d certainly buy it again on OS.
Love to hear the Reiner too. Never have. I’ll go on the hunt.