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Our Latest Picks from Amazon
  • Michael Steinberg's Listener's Guides: Consisting of The Symphony and The Concerto 2-Volume Set
    Michael Steinberg's Listener's Guides: Consisting of The Symphony and The Concerto 2-Volume Set
    by Michael Steinberg
  • Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide
    Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide
    by Michael Steinberg

    Opera by Walter Braunfels “The Birds” from Aristophanes. Being staged in 2009 in LA Opera’s Recovered Voices program.

  • For The Love of Music: Invitations to Listening
    For The Love of Music: Invitations to Listening
    by Michael Steinberg, Larry Rothe
  • Bartók: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Stravinsky: 3 Movements from Petrushka
    Bartók: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Stravinsky: 3 Movements from Petrushka
    Deutsche Grammophon

    Maurizio Pollini, pianist. Claudio Abbado conducting the Chicago Symphony. The Anda recording is rightly renowned, but John finds this Pollini recording especially brilliant.

  • Bartok: The Piano Concertos / Anda, Fricsay, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin
    Bartok: The Piano Concertos / Anda, Fricsay, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin
    Deutsche Grammophon
  • Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy
    Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy
    EMI Classics Imports
  • Bartok: The String Quartets (1950 Recordings)
    Bartok: The String Quartets (1950 Recordings)
    by The Juilliard Quartet

    One of many complete recordings of Bartok quartets. Click the photo to see info on this album and then do a search for “bartok string quartets” and it’s a fair bet your favorite string quartet has recorded them.

  • The Copenhagen Ring: The Complete DVD Set
    The Copenhagen Ring: The Complete DVD Set
    starring Stig Andersen, Irenie Theorin, Gitta-Maria Sjoberg, Johan Reuter, Stephen Milling
  • Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner
    Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner
    Wergo Germany
  • Prokofiev - War and Peace / Bertini, Gunn, Kit, Mamsirova, Gouriakova, Brubaker, Paris Opera
    Prokofiev - War and Peace / Bertini, Gunn, Kit, Mamsirova, Gouriakova, Brubaker, Paris Opera
    starring Olga Gouriakova, Nathan Gunn, Robert Brubaker, Anatoli Kocherga, Yelena Obraztsova
  • Friedrich Schorr Sings Wagner
    Friedrich Schorr Sings Wagner
    Hanssler Classics

    Friedrich Schorr was a noted Wotan of the 30s and 40s. This recording features highlights from Die Meistersinger, The Flying Dutchman and a heart-rending Wotan’s Farewell.


Amazon’s Suggestions for You:

Classical Music Blogs and Commentary

Classical Ear
A blog.

ClassicalNet
A portal that’s been around for quite awhile, with reviews, articles and links by music lover Dave Lampson.

Deceptively Simple
Chicago music journalist Marc Geelhoed.

Jessica Duchen’s Blog
British classical blogger and Korngold biographer.

Future of Classical Music
Greg Sandow is a music critic and a consultant.

Klogger
Ken d blogs about classical music and film, with lots of excellent video from YouTube of historical performances. Those who are interested in John Gibbons’s subject matter will likely be interested in Ken’s choices as well.

Listen 101
Covers 101 essential works of 20th century music.

Living at the Opera
Priginal performance reviews and news by Nick del Vecchio, and republished reviews from other sources.

Michael Tilson Thomas - “Keeping Score” Website
Keeping Score is a program by Michael Tilson Thomas that combines live performances, DVDs, PBS programs and a multimedia website to focus in depth on a few pieces and why they are important. This is an ideal resource for John’s “What to Listen for in Classical Music” and “Intro to Music Literacy” students, but this former music grad student enjoyed playing with it too.

New Music Box
From the American Music Center.

On the Record - Exploring Orchestras
By Henry Fogel, who used to run the Chicago Symphony administration and the League of American Orchestras.

The Overgrown Path
Classical music blog

The Rest Is Noise
The blog of Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker and author of the acclaimed book The Rest Is Noise.

The View from Here
Reflections, reviews, and reports from the Andrew Patner, the Chicago-based author, broadcaster, journalist, and arts critic. Andrew offers a podcast of his “Critic’s Choice” program from WFMT radio.