A rich, decadent string orchestra arrangement of Beethoven’s Op. 132 string quartet kicks off the Cleveland Orchestra’s imaginative three-volume celebration of its centenary, a collection that also includes Richard Strauss’ majestic ode to Italy and the recorded premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch’s bubbling, shimmering organ concerto, featuring soloist Paul Jacobs. One of America’s “Big Five” orchestras, the Cleveland and its conductor Franz Welser-Möst give one of the most thrilling recent performances of Prokofiev’s demonic Symphony No. 3. With Varèse’s riotous Amériques, they jolt New York City to manic life and bring into sharp relief the incredible orchestral textures of Johannes Maria Staud’s intense and dark Stromab.
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
- Michael Tilson Thomas & San Francisco Symphony
- Vienna Philharmonic & Andris Nelsons
- André Cluytens & Berlin Philharmonic
- Rudolf Buchbinder, Berlin Philharmonic & Christian Thielemann
- Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic
- Los Angeles Philharmonic & Igor Stravinsky
- Los Angeles Philharmonic & Gustavo Dudamel