Alexei and the Spring

About the Artist
Award-winning composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto has made a career of crossing musical and technological boundaries. Sakamoto has experimented with, and excelled in, many different musical styles, making a name for himself in popular, orchestral and film music. A founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), Sakamoto?s film work includes Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky, and most recently Alexei & the Spring (winner of the Readers' Prize of the Berliner Zeitung at the Berlin Film festival), and Derrida, winner of Best Documentary Honors at the San Francisco Film Festival.

Product Description
Original motion picture soundtrack from the award-winning documentary. Alexei and the Spring was awarded Readers' Prize of the Berliner Zeitung at the Berlin Film festival. Includes the previously unreleased solo piano version of the ending theme.

Alexei and the Spring,Ryuichi Sakamoto,KAB America,Classical Artists,Electronic,Japan,Pop,Progressive Electronic,Rock

Average customer rating: ANOTHER MIRRORED PLATEAU sakamoto's alexie and the spring

Alexei and the Spring Ryuichi Sakamoto Manufacturer: KAB America ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Japan | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Electronic | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Derrida Chasm Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Music Moto.Tronic World Citizen ASIN: B0000APNGQ Release Date: 2003-07-15

Tracks:

1. Opening
2. Echo
3. The Fences
4. Winter
5. Glimmer Out
6. Xianren
7. Stream
8. Izba
9. Ending - Short Version
10. Happiness
11. Plod
12. Stream-a
13. Echo of the Forest
14. Looming
15. Ending
16. Ending - Piano Version

Album Description

Original motion picture soundtrack from the award-winning documentary. Alexei and the Spring was awarded Readers' Prize of the Berliner Zeitung at the Berlin Film festival. Includes the previously unreleased solo piano version of the ending theme.

Customer Reviews:

ANOTHER MIRRORED PLATEAU.......2006-06-05

Whether it's his work in rock, experimental, orchestral or jazz forms I've always tended to prefer the interior quiet Ryuichi Sakamoto is able to create. The music of this soundtrack is of the sort that must by now come easily to Sakamoto, like breathing. There is nothing forced or artificial, no contortions, nothing extraneous. The pieces tend to do without any but the most subtle key changes and all avoid the telegraphic warnings and alarms of more traditional cadences, deciding in favor of simply letting things come to a stop.

The ensemble of instruments is small and intimate, offering a chamber feel. Piano is the favorite, along with a 'cello solo and some kalimba-like tuned percussion, a few synth thonks and some lush pads. Rarely are there more than three voices working at once, a constraint that encourages a quiet and graceful clarity.

With a complete lack of affectation and a devotion to delicacy, some pieces come strikingly close to aspects of Eno's much earlier "Music for Films". (Especially the "Sparrowfall" variations from the first "Music for Films" installment). There are also some traces of Harold Budd here and there among the 16 mostly brief tracks. Far less sentimental than Budd and infinitely less naive than Eno, each piece here is masterfully and purposefully understated.

sakamoto's alexie and the spring.......2004-11-07

truely a most beautiful soundtrack..being a big fan of sakamoto's from way back i have always found his soundtracks intriguing and worth listening to..this is by far the most delicate..at tims haunting and beautiful of all of the ones i have heard.. Not having seen the movie that this goes with.only one's imagination is there to fill in the sound images..The music is graceful..extremely melodic, nuanced and subtle...it flows from start to end..always a master of the catchy melody.Sakamoto has composed truely a wonderful work of music here.

Average customer rating: Like Rachmaninov's music? Then you will like this recording. Very impressive CUI BONO? For Russophiles, a more than worthwhile effort

César Cui: A Feast in Time of Plague Manufacturer: Chandos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Cui, César | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Balakirev: Symphony No. 1; Islamey; Tamara Felix Draeseke: Symphony 3/Funeral March Cui: Orchestral Suites Nos.2 & 4 Borodin: String Quartets Nos 1 & 2 Dohnányi: Symphony No. 2; Symphonic Minutes ASIN: B00022M478 Release Date: 2004-06-29

Tracks:

1. A Feast In Time Of Plague
2. No. 1 in C Major
3. No. 2 in F Major
4. No. 3 in Minor
5. Les Deux Menetriers, Op. 42
6. Fair Spring
7. Budrys And His Sons, Op. 98

Customer Reviews:

Like Rachmaninov's music? Then you will like this recording........2005-08-20

Top notch performances. Liner notes whet one's appetite for more from this composer. Chandos, please sir can we have some more? (My apologies to Oliver Twist).

Very impressive.......2005-05-15

Cui is one of those composers who is nowhere near as bad as he is sometimes said to be. He was a member of one of the most exciting groups of young composers ever to assemble, the Russian "Five" (the others being Balakirev, Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky Korsakov), and undoubtedly lacked some of the fire and originality of the others. That said, his best music is very listenable, and this CD contains the best available. I bought it more from curiosity than anything else, as with other Cui releases, but was most pleasantly surprised by the quality of the main work, the opera, which is taut, urgent, and exciting--and with all respect to Pushkin, this has more to do with Cui's music than the words. Cui even produces themes here which you find yourself humming several days after hearing them. A serious case for Cui's interest as an opera composer has been established with this release and it is certainly to be hoped that other Cui operas will be recorded soon. All serious lovers of Russian opera will hope that the next one is "William Ratcliff," as that was central not only to Cui's development as a composer, but to the emerging ideals of the "Five" in the 1860s.

CUI BONO?.......2004-09-19

I could not help myself but indulge in this cui-osity.
As a self-confessed collector of russian classical music it has interest.It brings us back to the bygone age when Russia was an empire and its culture was a part of the european mainstream tradition, for that it has its charms and sentimental value.
Far from being earth-moving or extravagant it tends to blandness and a narrow dynamic range but makes up for it in sensitivity of music to text and its overall lightweight easily digestible oldworld manner.
For Russians this is part of their cultural heritage and should be better known precisely because for 70 years it along with so much other music was deemed not 'socialist realist' enough and irrelevant to their society.
Chandos have done a great service in illuminating this music and filling in for us the missing pieces of Russian cultural history.
Thankyou Chandos.

For Russophiles, a more than worthwhile effort.......2004-07-20

This is a most welcome CD -- at least for this writer, who has admired the music and career of Cesar Cui for many years. This would seem to be the first complete commercial recording of an opera by Cui -- a CD of his children's opera "Puss-in-Boots" (as "Der gestiefelte Kater") was issued in Germany several years ago, but a portion of the dances was cut, and the whole was restyled for radio, with overdubbing by spoken voices. Granted, the opera presented here is barely longer than 30 minutes, but "Feast in Time of Plague" provides an excellent introduction to Cui the opera composer. This selection also now completes our audio access to all four of the operas taken from Pushkin's "Little Tragedies," the others being Dargomyzhsky's "Stone Guest," Rimsky-Korsakov's "Mozart and Salieri," and Rachmaninoff's "Miserly Knight." Cui held Pushkin in most high regard; indeed, besides composing dozens of songs to Pushkin's poems, Cui's first and last operas, "Prisoner of the Caucasus" and "The Captain's Daughter," were derived from the great Russian poet's works. Hopefully more of Cui's opera music will emerge in coming years, his arguable masterpiece "William Ratcliff" (premiered in 1869) being the most desired by this particular writer.

As the selection of works on the CD suggest, Cui was first and foremost a composer for the voice. Although not anything near a virtuoso orchestrator like Tchaikovsky or Rimsky-Korsakov, his handling of the orchestra to enhance the dramatic or emotional condition presented in the sung text is quite convincingly realized here in these performances. Cui believed that the orchestra in opera should enhance the text and dramatic situation, but not to overpower the voice or make it insignificant (as he judged was the case with Wagner's music dramas); this musical stance certainly comes through in all the vocal works on this recording. This may explain why the orchestral writing in these vocal works seems stronger than in the three orchestral scherzos on the CD. The latter, while quite charming and conscientiously rendered by the performers, make much less of an impact, as do other orchestral selections by Cui that have been made available in recent years. It is as if the lack of a vocally rendered text somehow reduced the composer's degree of inspiration from the muse of orchestration, or even of composition. (Rimsky-Korsakov distinguished between excellent capacity for orchestration and excellent capacity for composition for orchestra; perhaps Cui was not quite capable of either.)

It is difficult, yet not even necessary, to detect profundity in Cui's concert music for orchestra (as opposed to the orchestral moments in the operas -- those in "Feast," for instance, are quite effective for their dramatic import). The fact that he never composed a symphony, symphonic poem, or concert overture of some type would support this contention, although one should not conclude that this music is not heartfelt or sincere. His purely instrumental music comes off much better in the chamber varieties -- numerous pieces for piano, three string quartets, a violin sonata, other works for solo instrument and piano, etc.

Nevertheless, Cui's most moving music uses the voice: he composed hundreds of songs and romances, mostly in Russian, but also several solos in Polish and German, and many in French (his father's native language), and, of course, six full-length operas, a one-act comic opera ("The Mandarin's Son"), three short musical dramas (including "Feast"), four children's operas, and the first act of the collaborative opera-ballet "Mlada" from 1872. The cause of promoting Cui's music for voice and orchestra -- and demonstrating how good it is -- is well served by this recording. I resoundingly applaud the singers, instrumentalists, and conductor for making this effort.

Average customer rating:

Lieder, Songs, Aria, Duets Manufacturer: Guild ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Brahms | Brahms, Johannes | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Britten | Britten, Sir Benjamin | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Caldara, Antonio | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Cui, César | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Delibes, Léo | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Falla | Falla, Manuel de | ( F ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Giordani, Giuseppe | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Liszt | Liszt, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Medtner | Medtner, Nikolai | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Offenbach | Offenbach, Jacques | ( O ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Pergolesi | Pergolesi, Gio Battista | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Ravel, Maurice | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rossini | Rossini, Gioacchino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Robert Schumann | Schumann, Robert | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Scriabin, Alexander | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Strauss | Strauss, Richard | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolf | Wolf, Hugo | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Scriabin, Alexander | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B0002Z9X60 Release Date: 2005-01-17

Average customer rating:

Rachmaninov: The Bells; The Spring Manufacturer: Moscow Studio ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Rachmaninov-Symphony No. 3 in a/Isle of the Dead/Scherzo Rachmaninov-Symphony No. 2/The Rock Scriabin-Symphony No. 2/Poem of Ecstasy Rachmaninov-Symphonic Dances/Six Choruses Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1/Vocalise ASIN: B0007UDC7Q Release Date: 2005-03-08

Tracks:

1. I. Allegro Ma Non Tanto
2. II. Lento. Adagio
3. III. Presto
4. IV. Lento Lugubre. Allegro. Andante
5. The Spring

Average customer rating:

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 14 & 15 Manufacturer: Melodiya ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Shostakovich | Shostakovich, Dmitri | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B000023ZS8 Release Date: 1998-01-01

Average customer rating:

Arias, Duets, Songs Manufacturer: Guild ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Glinka | Glinka, Mikhail | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gounod | Gounod, Charles | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mussorgsky | Mussorgsky, Modest | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rubinstein | Rubinstein, Anton | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rossini | Rossini, Gioacchino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Robert Schumann | Schumann, Robert | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Tchaikovsky | Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Thomas | Thomas, Ambroise | ( T ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000TWAE0 Release Date: 2005-01-17

Average customer rating:

Alexander Lokshin Manufacturer: Mezhdunarodnaya Knig ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B000003WQL Release Date: 1993-09-20

Average customer rating:

Minha Vida Como un Filme Manufacturer: Wea Japan ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Sakamoto, Ryuichi | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Japan | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | New Age | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Electronic | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005YX1P Release Date: 2002-03-27

Tracks:

1. Derrida: Jd001
2. Derrida: Jd002
3. Derrida: Jd003
4. Derrida: Jd004
5. Derrida: Jd005
6. Derrida: Jd006
7. Derrida: Jd007
8. Derrida: Jd008
9. Derrida: Jd009
10. Derrida: Jd010
11. Derrida: Jd011
12. Derrida: Jd012
13. Derrida: Jd013
14. Derrida: Jd014
15. Derrida: Jd015
16. Derrida: Jd016
17. Derrida: Jd017
18. Derrida: Jd018
19. Derrida: Jd019
20. Derrida: Jd020
21. Derrida: Jd021
22. Derrida: Jd022
23. Alexei and the Spring: Opening
24. Alexei and the Spring: The Fences
25. Alexei and the Spring: Winter
26. Alexei and the Spring: Echo of the Forest
27. Alexei and the Spring: Ending

Album Description

Japanese 2002 release featuring music produced by Sakamoto fro the film Derrida, directed by Kirby Dick & Amy Ziering Kofman (22 tracks) & from the film Alexei and the Spring (5 tracks). The release is subtitled My Life As A Film.

Album Details

Sakamoto's Original Score Compositions for the Two Films: 'derrida' and 'alexei and the Spring'.

Average customer rating: Rozhdestvensky's excellent Shostakovich cycle A collection that fills an important gap

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1-15; Orchestral Works (Box Set) Manufacturer: Melodiya ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Marches | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Variations | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Cello | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Shostakovich | Shostakovich, Dmitri | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music ASIN: B00004TCPW Release Date: 2000-06-06

Customer Reviews:

Rozhdestvensky's excellent Shostakovich cycle.......2007-03-15

Gennadi Rozhdestvensky's Shostakovich symphony cycle from the 1980s is, in my view, one of the three best cycles. These three are, in my preference order:

1. Kondrashin (originally Melodiya, now Russiandvd - a new remaster, available from Amazon sellers and at Ebay).

2. Rozhdestvensky (originally Melodiya, but it exists now also in a new Russian remaster from the VENEZIA label, in a fine slimline box which you can find at HMV's internet shop in Japan or at Ebay).

3. Barshai (originally Regis, now in a Brilliant Classics box.)

The standard bargain choice is the Barshai box, which boasts very fine playing and fine sound. Kondrashin, my first choice, is quite expensive. But the Rozhdestvensky set should not be overlooked. First, the interpretations are both illuminating and moving, carefully structured and (mostly) beautifully played by a real Russian orchestra in fine form. Second, the new remaster - available at Ebay and at HMV in Japan - is a real bargain. You may grab it for $ 30 or less. Third, the remastered sound is mostly OK, even if Melodiya's original recordings are a bit harsh. However, this is a minor complaint. Kondrashin's set has much worse sound and costs more money. But in both cases, we have excellent, classical, powerful interpretations that hardly can be surpassed.

Shostakovich collectors need all cycles above, of course. But I warmly recommend a serious search for Gennadi Rozhdestvensky's excellent cycle in its new incarnation.

A collection that fills an important gap.......2000-06-27

This collection comes in a box with seven double-discs, each with a booklet describing the work and about the conductor's relationship with the composer and his work by Sigrid Neef. No librettos are enclosed, which does hamper the full appreciation, although fans are likely to have copies of a few of these works lying about. Although all of these recordings have appeared in other guises and formats, this remarkable collection is worthy of consideration. Rozhdestvensky had an interesting relationship with the composer, although never given the opportunity to premier his major symphonic works, the conductor was of critical importance in reviving the "lost" or "unknown" Shostakovich. Rozhdestvensky's excavation into the composer's past resulted in premiering or reviving a vast body of work. An example of this is displayed on, although not limited to, the "Orchestral Works." This conductors travails through the complete symphonies are not likely to be first choice for many, however, this collection does offer a chance to hear a 1980's Soviet run through of one of the most important symphonic cycles of the 20th century.

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