classical music: Nathan Berg

classical music: Nathan Berg

classical music:

Nathan Berg

Rossini - La Cenerentola / Ruxandra Donose, Maxim Mironov, Simone Alberghini, Luciano Di Pasquale, Nathan ...

BBC / Opus Arte, 2006

Superb traditional staging of a Rossini masterpiece
La Cenerentola has been well served on DVD. The recently released Jean-Pierre Ponnelle filming of the opera was an excellent production, joining Cecilia Bartoli's star vehicle with the Houston Opera as fine representatives of Rossini's unfairy tale retelling of Charles ...

Rameau - Hippolyte et Aricie / Padmore, Panzarella, Hunt, Naouri, E. James, Petibon, Mechaly, Delunsch, Les ...

Jean-Philippe Rameau, William Christie, ...

Erato / Warner Music, 1997

This is the one to have
As you know, there are two historically informed recordings of Hippolyte: the Minkowski and the Christie. There is also an older recording (not a period performance) with Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk, but that one's been out of print for years. I also have a ...

Mozart - Requiem / Panzarella, Stutzmann, Prégardin, Berg, Les Arts Florissants, Christie

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William Christie, ...

Erato, 1995

Good performance, and good quality recording
I bought this CD, because it is fairly cheap, and because it also has Ave Verum. I really enjoyed how well this conductor worked the vocal (and instrumental) parts together. That alone is worth the price of this recording. Also, the whole requiem fits together well. It ...

Dvorak - Stabat Mater / Goerke · M. Simpson · Olsen · N. Berg · Atlanta SO · R. Shaw

Antonin Dvorák, Robert Shaw, ...

Telarc, 1999

Personal Dvorak
The Stabat Mater is a Latin poem which takes place at the death of Jesus. But the subject is not about Jesus, instead, the focus is on Mary, the grieving mother. The poem opens viewing Mary from afar at the cross describing the moment and the scene. The poem moves ...

Monteverdi - L'Orfeo / Dale · Ben-Nun · Larmore · Gerimon · B. Fink · Peeters · A. Scholl · Rivenq · Concerto ...

Claudio Monteverdi, René Jacobs, ...

Harmonia Mundi Fr., 1995

Close tie but my first choice
It's difficult to choose between the two best recordings of this beautiful early opera. The John Eliot Gardiner/Anthony Rolfe Johnson set is also lovely. This set is more full-blooded and takes less liberties with the score. Occasionally with opera on CD I find myself ...

Rameau - Zoroastre / Padmore · Berg · Mechaly · Panzarella · Lecroart · Bazola · Bonnet · Revidat · Les Arts ...

Jean-Philippe Rameau, William Christie, ...

Erato, 2003

Spectacular in every sense of the word
Rameau couldn't help being a musical revolutionary. Perhaps the fact he was so far ahead of his time explains the extraordinary freshness his music seems to have in ours. Parisian audiences at the 1749 premiere of "Zoroastre", his fourth "tragedie lyrique", were just ...

Rameau - Les Indes Galantes / Petibon, Croft, Hartelius, Agnew, Rivenq, Berg, Strehl, Christie, Les Arts ...

Richard Croft, Patricia Petibon

BBC / Opus Arte, 2005

Now this is more like it!
This is far and away the best Rameau DVD out there. Though the production is modern, it stays within the Barouqe style and is not a distraction from the music. The tempi are lively and slow arias are touching. The premise of the opera is original by even today's ...

Handel - Theodora / Daneman, Croft, Taylor, Galstian, Berg, Slaars, Les Arts Florissants, Christie

George Frideric Handel, William Christie, ...

Erato, 2003

The best Theodora yet
Theodora unlike many other Handel oratorios has been very lucky on records. About 2 years ago Archiv released their own recording with The Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh conducting and it was an excellent performance. It would have been hard to believe that any ...

Mozart - Requiem / Gauvin · Lemieux · Tessier · Berg · La Chappelle de Québec · Les Violons du Roy · Labadie ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bernard Labadie, ...

Dorian Recordings, 2002

Great Mozart Recording and Great Patriotic Tribute
Of the three recordings I know of the Levin completion of Mozart's Requiem (the others being MacKerras and Pearlman) this particular one has to be the most convincing to me. It is understated but still appropriately weighty. A live recording commemorating the World ...

Mozart - Don Giovanni

Peter Mattei, Gilles Cachemaille

Bel Air Classiques, 2007

An amazing performance
Since the memorable Giulini's version recorded in 1961, I had never heard a so well balanced production of Mozart's best opera. The title role is wonderfully performed by the acclaimed Swedish baritone Peter Mattei, who has revealed as one of the best gifted Dons in ...

Bouzignac: Te Deum; Motets

Guillaume Bouzignac, William Christie, ...

Harmonia Mundi Fr., 2006

The Ultimate Musical Eccentric?
Guillaume Bouzignac (1690?-1743?) was not attached to the French Royal Court. His music was not published by Ballard, who held a royal monopoly on musical publication. He MAY have been a choirboy in Narbonne, a master of the choirboys in Grenoble, a musical servant of ...

Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 [Hybrid SACD]

Nathan Berg, Ludwig van Beethoven, ...

Universal Int'l, 2004

Third Stream Style: A Young Man's Beethoven Sound
One thing sounds clear, hearing this set of the complete Beethoven symphonies. Jaap van Zweden and his Hague players are influenced by much that we have before heard in the original or period instrument approaches to Beethoven. Since modern strings, brass, and ...

Essential Hyperion, Vol. 2

Matthias Goerne, Nathan Berg, ...

Hyperion UK, 2001

Nothing but hits
As with their first collection of label highlights, Hyperion's new two-disc collection provides a broad sampling of their exceptional catalogue and performers. Particularly rewarding are the selections from Beethoven (Scherzo from String Trio in C minor, op 9 no 3, ...

Mendelssohn: Songs and Duets

Nathan Berg, Fanny Mendelssohn, ...

Hyperion UK, 1998

Must buy for lieder lovers
Mendelssohn's genius for balancing good taste with sophistication shines forth in this collection of his songs and duets, along with two by his sister Fanny, sung by Daneman and Berg. It is music that is self-assured in its craftsmanship while remaining superbly ...