Five of Fumiko Shiraga’s albums<\/strong> (5 CDs). I’ve blogged<\/a> about her recordings recently.<\/p>\n Beethoven’s symphonies<\/strong> performed by Minnesota Orchestra<\/a> & Osmo V\u00e4nsk\u00e4<\/a> (5 CDs). I’ve got several interpretations of these symphonies already, including the famous recording<\/a> of the 5th with the late Carlos Kleiber<\/a>. But this set of recordings was highly recommended on Amazon, and WOW they didn’t disappoint. Amazing lower strings section.<\/p>\n Brahms’ Serenades<\/strong> (2 CDs) performed by the Dresdner Philharmonic & Heinz Bongartz. These are some of the composer’s most lyrical compositions, but the audio quality was awful with distortion at the high frequencies. Didn’t listen to it more than once.<\/p>\n Mozart’s Piano Variations<\/strong> (3 CDs) performed by Francesco Nicolosi. I haven’t heard these works before but hey it’s Mozart.<\/p>\n Mozart’s ‘Die Zauberflote<\/em><\/strong>‘ (2 CDs) performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by octogenarian Sir Charles Mackerras. My, dunno, fifth recording of this opera…?<\/p>\n Joplin’s<\/strong> Piano Rags<\/strong><\/em>. Joplin’s most famous for The Entertainer, a piece that just about every grade VI+ piano learner will play, but he wrote several dozen other similar rags too.<\/p>\n There’s also an assortment of other works; choral selections from Handel’s oratorios (other<\/em> than ‘Messiah’ LOL), half a dozen of Bach’s cantatas, the lesser known W. F. Bach’s symphonies, trombone concertos, more piano sonatas by Haydn, overtures by Weber etc.<\/p>\n Totaled together there’s about 40 hours of music. At times like these I wish I had two or three pairs of ears so I can finish listening to all of them before the next 20th of the month comes along again.:)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s a date each month on the calendar that I look forward to these days. Specifically, it’s the 20th when my subscription on EMusic gets refreshed and I can pick up a few hundred more music pieces. I’ll be pretty<\/p>\n![\"blog-handel\"](\"https:\/\/chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/blog-handel.jpg\" "\\"blog-handel\\"")
Handel’s Organ Concertos<\/strong> (4 CDs) performed by Th\u00fcringisches Kammerorchester Weimar & Johannes-Ernst K\u00f6hler. I think I’ve got an older analog collection of these recordings on Decca CD somewhere. These are new and modern recordings with all the benefits of newer sound technology.<\/p>\n