Sep. 5, 2018
As many places start a new school year in September and many performance groups begin new seasons, why not educate yourself with some music? Here are some suggested study aids recently reviewed by AllMusic's classical editors. For history, try John Adams' opera, Doctor Atomic, which recounts the first American atomic bomb test. For literature, try Liszt's Faust Symphony, and for philosophy, the writings of Boethius set to music constructed in a contemporaneous manner.
Blair Sanderson
Hansjörg Albrecht - Franz Liszt: Faust - Symphonie Transcription for Organ
Jameson Cooper, James Dickenson - Spohr: Violin Duets, Vol. 1
Lance Friedel, London Philharmonic Orchestra - American Symphonies
Joanna Goldstein - Nasty Women
Paul Mann, Royal Scottish National Orchestra - David Hackbridge Johnson: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2
Mariss Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - Schubert: Symphonie Nr. 8 C-Dur "Grosse C-Dur-Symphonie"
Julia Jones, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal - Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal LIVE, Vol. 2: Wagner, Berlioz
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra - Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie; Die Frau ohne Schatten, orchestral excerpts; Dance of the Seven Veils
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra - Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie
Iain Quinn - 20th Century Organ Masterworks: Shostakovich, Hindemith, Pärt, Heiller
Roomful of Teeth, Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony - Berio: Sinfonia; Boulez: Notations I-IV; Ravel: La Valse
Christophe Rousset - Louis Couperin: Nouvelles Suites de Clavecin
Benjamin Schmid, Tibor Bogányi - Béla Bartók: Die Violinkonzerte
Van Baerle Trio - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 2
György Vashegyi, Budapest Orfeo Orchestra, Purcell Choir - Jean-Philippe Rameau: Naïs
Verbier Festival Orchestra - Verbier Festival: 25 Years of Excellence
Tom Winpenny - Messiaen: Livre d'orgue
James Manheim
John Adams, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra - John Adams: Doctor Atomic
Daniel Barenboim, Michael Barenboim, Yulia Deyneka, Kian Soltani - Mozart: Piano Quartets
Federico Colli - Domenico Scarlatti: Sonatas, Vol. 1
Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini - 1700
Lucy Crowe, Allan Clayton, Benjamin Hulett, Christian Curnyn - Handel: Acis and Galatea
Grace Davidson, Academy of Ancient Music - Vivaldi, Handel
Simone Dinnerstein, A Far Cry - Circles: Piano Concertos by Bach + Glass
Elora Singers, Noel Edison - And So It Goes: Songs of Folk and Lore
Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra - Elgar: Symphony No. 2; Serenade for Strings
Valery Gergiev, Wiener Philharmoniker - Sommernachtskonzert 2018
Pablo Heras-Casado, Philharmonia Orchestra - Debussy: La Mer; Le Martyre de saint Sébastien; Symphonic Fragments
Leila Josefowicz - John Adams: Violin Concerto
Pavel Kolesnikov - Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata & Other Piano Music
Jakob Lindberg - Nocturnal
Daniel Lozakovich - J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Partita No. 2
The Marian Consort, Rory McCleery - In Sorrow's Footsteps
Nicholas McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale & Orchestra - Rameau: Le Temple de la Gloire
Alexander Melnikov, Olga Pashchenko - Debussy: Préludes du 2e Livre; La Mer (transcr. Debussy)
Steven Osborne - Rachmaninov: Études-tableaux
Emmanuel Pahud - Solo
Monica Piccinini, Roberta Mameli, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Fabio Biondi - Francesco Feo: San Francesco di Sales
Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra - Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 10
Choir of the Queen's College, Oxford, Owen Rees - The House of the Mind
Andrew Rangell - From the Early 20th...: Ives, Nielsen, Enescu, Schoenberg
Sequentia - Boethius: Songs of Consolation
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra - Classical Piano Concerto, Vol. 5: Dussek
Mariusz Smolij, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV - Eugene Zádor: The Plains of Hungary
Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone - Vivaldi: Concerti per archi III; Concerti per viola d’amore
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Roussel: Évocations pour une fête de Printemps; Suite in F
Various Artists - Ingrid Stölzel: The Gorgeous Nothings
Xiayin Wang, BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena - Ginastera: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3
Huw Wiggin - Reflections
Blair Sanderson
Hansjörg Albrecht - Franz Liszt: Faust - Symphonie Transcription for Organ
Jameson Cooper, James Dickenson - Spohr: Violin Duets, Vol. 1
Lance Friedel, London Philharmonic Orchestra - American Symphonies
Joanna Goldstein - Nasty Women
Paul Mann, Royal Scottish National Orchestra - David Hackbridge Johnson: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2
Mariss Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - Schubert: Symphonie Nr. 8 C-Dur "Grosse C-Dur-Symphonie"
Julia Jones, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal - Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal LIVE, Vol. 2: Wagner, Berlioz
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra - Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie; Die Frau ohne Schatten, orchestral excerpts; Dance of the Seven Veils
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra - Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie
Iain Quinn - 20th Century Organ Masterworks: Shostakovich, Hindemith, Pärt, Heiller
Roomful of Teeth, Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony - Berio: Sinfonia; Boulez: Notations I-IV; Ravel: La Valse
Christophe Rousset - Louis Couperin: Nouvelles Suites de Clavecin
Benjamin Schmid, Tibor Bogányi - Béla Bartók: Die Violinkonzerte
Van Baerle Trio - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 2
György Vashegyi, Budapest Orfeo Orchestra, Purcell Choir - Jean-Philippe Rameau: Naïs
Verbier Festival Orchestra - Verbier Festival: 25 Years of Excellence
Tom Winpenny - Messiaen: Livre d'orgue
James Manheim
John Adams, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra - John Adams: Doctor Atomic
Daniel Barenboim, Michael Barenboim, Yulia Deyneka, Kian Soltani - Mozart: Piano Quartets
Federico Colli - Domenico Scarlatti: Sonatas, Vol. 1
Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini - 1700
Lucy Crowe, Allan Clayton, Benjamin Hulett, Christian Curnyn - Handel: Acis and Galatea
Grace Davidson, Academy of Ancient Music - Vivaldi, Handel
Simone Dinnerstein, A Far Cry - Circles: Piano Concertos by Bach + Glass
Elora Singers, Noel Edison - And So It Goes: Songs of Folk and Lore
Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra - Elgar: Symphony No. 2; Serenade for Strings
Valery Gergiev, Wiener Philharmoniker - Sommernachtskonzert 2018
Pablo Heras-Casado, Philharmonia Orchestra - Debussy: La Mer; Le Martyre de saint Sébastien; Symphonic Fragments
Leila Josefowicz - John Adams: Violin Concerto
Pavel Kolesnikov - Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata & Other Piano Music
Jakob Lindberg - Nocturnal
Daniel Lozakovich - J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Partita No. 2
The Marian Consort, Rory McCleery - In Sorrow's Footsteps
Nicholas McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale & Orchestra - Rameau: Le Temple de la Gloire
Alexander Melnikov, Olga Pashchenko - Debussy: Préludes du 2e Livre; La Mer (transcr. Debussy)
Steven Osborne - Rachmaninov: Études-tableaux
Emmanuel Pahud - Solo
Monica Piccinini, Roberta Mameli, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Fabio Biondi - Francesco Feo: San Francesco di Sales
Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra - Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 10
Choir of the Queen's College, Oxford, Owen Rees - The House of the Mind
Andrew Rangell - From the Early 20th...: Ives, Nielsen, Enescu, Schoenberg
Sequentia - Boethius: Songs of Consolation
Howard Shelley, Ulster Orchestra - Classical Piano Concerto, Vol. 5: Dussek
Mariusz Smolij, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV - Eugene Zádor: The Plains of Hungary
Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone - Vivaldi: Concerti per archi III; Concerti per viola d’amore
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Roussel: Évocations pour une fête de Printemps; Suite in F
Various Artists - Ingrid Stölzel: The Gorgeous Nothings
Xiayin Wang, BBC Philharmonic, Juanjo Mena - Ginastera: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3
Huw Wiggin - Reflections