Krips conducts Brahms, Strauss & Stravinsky

Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

...As a fantastically talented eighteen-year-old, Anne-Sophie Mutter already awed me with her sensitive and thoughtful eloquence in her 1981 recording of the Brahms violin concerto (with Herbert von Karajan directing the Berlin Philharmonic). However, there’s an even deeper understanding in Mutter’s reading of the Brahms piece on this newer disc. This performance was taped live at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, New York City, in 1997. Kurt Masur conducts the New York Philharmonic in particularly inspired fashion. A difference of fifteen years separates the two recordings. In the time between, she married, had children, and then was widowed at a very young age. When Mutter returned to her instrument, she would bring a greater strength, emotional depth and insight to her playing, lending a maturity and assuredness to her... Read review

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Advantages: You will hear a landmark in music history
Disadvantages: Can be frightening for those only used to Bach

...Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), is best known for his ground-breaking and hugely influential music for ballet. Indeed, 'The Rite of Spring' or 'Le Sacre du Printemps' is perhaps the best example of Stravinsky's challenging and provocative interpretation of the 'Brave New World'. 'The Rite' was premiered in the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris (1913), and it all started well as a seemingly innocent bassoon melody floated out from the orchestral pit. What was to follow, however, was to shock and enrage the unprepared Parisian audience: pagan content, ritual sacrifice, wild choreography, savage and hugely unconventional music. This moment is a milestone in music history, and heralded (along with Schoenberg) a transformation in music: whilst once thought of as horrific, Stravinsky's music is now admired and is still perpetually... Read review

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Advantages: Soothing and uplifting tracks
Disadvantages: Many tracks in foreign languages

..., Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Holst, Brahms, Liszt, Handel, Mendelssohn etc. But one fact did sway me. Scientists have identified that brain waves consist of certain number sequences. Classical music also contains these numerical sequences. The inference being that if you listen to classical music, its numerical sequences will affect your brain waves and theoretically increase your intelligence. Armed with this knowledge I began to listen to Classic FM on the radio for about half an hour each day. Certainly after a few weeks of listening to classical music I did not feel less stupid. I first saw Lesley Garrett singing in 1998 in a concert to commemorate the first anniversary of the murder of Princess Diana. The first thing to strike me was how such a petite lady could generate such a loud voice. Her rendition of ‘Climb Every... Read review

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