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Puccini: Turandot
Joan Sutherland, Turandot; Luciano Pavarotti, Calaf; Montserrat Caballé, Liu; Zubin Mehta conducting the London
Philharmonic Orchestra (London)
Zubin Mehta has
never been better than in this high-powered 1972 version of Puccini's
swan song. Blessed with an electric cast, Mehta raised his game
several notches and produced the best recording of Turandot ever. He
never came close to this level again. A taste of what might have
been.
John Adams: Nixon in China James Maddalena, Richard Nixon; Sanford
Sylvan, Chou En-Lai; Carolann Page, Pat Nixon; Edo De Waart
conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's (Elektra/Nonesuch)
This 1987 recording proves that great ''classical'' music can
still be written today. John Adams and his librettist Alice Goodman
have created a modern American masterpiece.
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina Soloists, with Emil Tchakarov conducting
the Chorus and Orchestra of the Sofia National Opera (Sony Classical)
Mussorgsky's other great opera is not half as famous as Boris Godunov, but it is easily half as good and deserves a
ranking near the top of the Russian operatic literature. The
all-Bulgarian cast, chorus, and orchestra deliver a rip-snorting
reading of this tale of political intrigue and religious ) fanaticism
in Mother Russia.
Bartok: Six String Quartets Emerson String Quartet (Deutsche
Grammophon)
Like the Beethoven quartets, the Bartók cycle has become a test of mettle for any string quartet. Emerson passes it
with flying colors.
The Isaac Stern Collection: The Early Concerto Recordings, Vols. 1
and 2(Sony Classical)
Isaac Stern is the
Eugene Ormandy of violinists, blessed with formidable technique and
ravishing tone, yet somehow never quite one's first choice in any
particular repertoire. Still, his legion of fans will want this
collection of (mostly) chestnuts — several of them with Ormandy
conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra in the mid-'50s.
