George Szell & Cleveland Orchestra – Schubert: Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” & No. 9 “The Great” by George Szell (2023 Remastered) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:16 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alexandre Bak – Classical Music Reference Recording
Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (sometimes renumbered as Symphony No. 7, in accordance with the revised Deutsch catalogue and the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe), commonly known as the Unfinished Symphony (German: Unvollendete), is a musical composition that Schubert started in 1822 but left with only two movements—though he lived for another six years. A scherzo, nearly completed in piano score but with only two pages orchestrated, also survives.
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Cleveland Orchestra & Franz Welser-Möst – Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 39:47 minutes | 716 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra will release a new audio recording of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor on Friday, December 1, 2023. Led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, the recording will be available worldwide for digital streaming and download in spatial audio on all major platforms. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 was recorded live at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, the home of The Cleveland Orchestra, during two community appreciation concerts in the fall of 2021.
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Cleveland Orchestra & Franz Welser-Möst – Schubert: Mass No. 6 in E-Flat Major (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:26 minutes | 833 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cleveland Orchestra
Written in the final year of his life, Schubert’s Mass No. 6 in E-flat major is often regarded as the composer’s own requiem. In this recording, The Cleveland Orchestra is joined by soprano Joélle Harvey, mezzo-soprano Daryl Freedman, tenors Julian Prégardien and Martin Mitterrutzner, bass-baritone Dashon Burton, and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.
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Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell – R. Strauss: Sinfonia Domestica, Op. 53 (Remastered) (1964/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:29 minutes | 1,70 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
Part of the wave of great Hungarian conductors who took over American musical life just before and after World War II (the others included Fritz Reiner, Antal Dorati, and Eugene Ormandy), George Szell quickly transformed a middling Midwestern orchestra into one of the nation’s Big Five. His cultivation of the Cleveland Orchestra set an example of discipline and hard work that gradually helped raise the standards of orchestras across America.
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George Szell and Cleveland Orchestra – Grieg – Bizet – Mussorgsky (2001)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 76:02 minutes | Scans included | 3,07 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 1,48 GB
Originally Released in 1958 / 1963 / 1966 | Sony Classical
Sony Masterworks’ new “Expanded Edition” offers well-known recordings newly remastered using DSD technology, along with “bonus” material extending the playing time of the original LP (not the previous CD edition, if any), all at a very attractive price. The question for most collectors is a simple one: does it sound better? The answer, without reservation, is “Yes”–at least for this present issue, which offers Szell’s magnificent Pictures at an Exhibition, already well known from its Essential Classics incarnation…although Russian music was not an area in which Szell made his reputation, both he and the Cleveland Orchestra are on top form throughout. Sonically the performances feature a more open top, enhanced clarity, and richer bass than any previous edition, making this a truly first class experience on all counts.
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Emil Gilels, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell – Beethoven: 5 Piano Concertos (1968) [Japan 2015]
SACD Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 274:39 minutes | Front/Rear covers | 7,1 GB
or FLAC Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear covers | 3,68 GB
“Emil Gilels stands out as giant among giants”, wrote Gramophone when the Odessa-born pianist died in 1985. “In terms of virtuosity he was second to none, yet his leonine power was tempered by a delicacy and poetry that few have matched and none has surpassed”. Ludwig van Beethoven was at the heart of Gilels’ repertoire and in 1968 he recorded this complete cycle of the composer’s piano concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra and its long-standing maestro, another musical titan of the era, George Szell.
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Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell – Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 (1970/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 48:57 minutes | 929 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © EMI Classics
Legendary conductor George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra deliver distinguished performances of undeniable masterpieces. The recording features outstanding musicianship, performed at the highest standard. This is an essential release for any music lover’s collection.
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Cleveland Orchestra & Franz Welser-Möst – Walker Antifonys, Lilacs, Sinfonias Nos 4 & 5 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:31 minutes | 788 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cleveland Orchestra
The fifth audio release on The Cleveland Orchestra’s own label once again showcases the ensemble’s unparalleled artistry and polished music-making, alongside as its longstanding commitment to perform and present new repertory under the direction of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. This album features four works spanning half a century by pioneering American composer George Walker (1922-2018). Together, they demonstrate his wide-ranging musical vision and meticulously-crafted sound-worlds.
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Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst, Yefim Bronfman – Schnittke: Concerto for Piano and Strings – Prokofiev: Symphony No. 2 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 54:06 minutes | 964 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cleveland Orchestra
Two live recordings from Cleveland and Miami. The Schnittke Concerto for Piano and Strings was recorded in Cleveland’s Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance in October 2020. It features pianist Yefim Bronfman with the Orchestra’s strings. Prokofiev’s Second Symphony was recorded in January 2020 on tour in Miami, in Knight Concert Hall and features full orchestra ensemble in this work inspired by the early 20th century’s fascination with mechanics and industry.
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Cleveland Orchestra & George Szell – Schubert: Symphony No. 9, D. 944 “The Great” (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 50:25 minutes | 2,42 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics
Schubert’s Ninth Symphony (“The Great”) was a particular favorite of George Szell. He performed it frequently with the Cleveland Orchestra during his tenure as music director, and it remained a staple of his repertoire throughout his long career. Szell recorded the work twice with the Cleveland. This late fifties Sony recording and the 1970 version for EMI are both revered. While admirers of this conductor may argue that one is better than the other for various reasons, the truth is they are both superb performances and you really can’t go wrong with either one of them. If you collect Szell you will probably want them both.
Read more![David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell - Brahms: Violin Concerto & Double Concerto (1969) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2022/09/10/0190295863395_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell – Brahms: Violin Concerto & Double Concerto (1969)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:11 minutes | 1,46 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics
Brahms: Double Concerto – Violin Concerto is the stunning encounter that features prominent violinist David Oistrakh, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, conductor George Szell and the renowned Cleveland Orchestra. The performers craft a compassionate reading that radiates with integrity and commitment. The sonics are well-balanced and warm.
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