MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


Availability
CD: YMSO

A Viennese Evening
Johann STRAUSS II (1825 - 1899)
Overture: Die Fledermaus (1874) [9:27]
Franz LEHÁR (1870 - 1948)
Gold and Silver Waltz (1905) [8:50]
Oscar STRAUS (1870 - 1954)
My Hero (from Chocolate Soldier) (1908) [5:40]
Carl ZELLER (1842 - 1898)
Don’t be Cross (from Master Miner) (1894) [4:48]
Franz LEHÁR
On my Lips, Every Kiss is like Wine (from Giuditta) (1934) [6:12]
Franz von SUPPÉ (1819 - 1895)
Overture: Beautiful Galatea (1865) [7:38]
Johann STRAUSS II
Roses from the South, op.388 (1880) [8:42]
Eduard STRAUSS (1835 - 1916)
Bahn Frei! Polka, op.45 [2:53]
Emmerich KÁLMÁN (1882 - 1953)
Sylvia’s Entrance (from Czardas Princess) (1915) [3:22]
Franz LEHÁR
Vilja (from The Merry Widow) (1905) [6:36]; Czardas (from Gypsy Love) (1910) [4:45]
Johann STRAUSS II
Unter Donner und Blitz, Polka Schnell, op.324 (1868) [3:32]
Johann STRAUSS I (1804 - 1849)
Radetzky March, op.228 (1848) [3:31]
Sophie Bevan (soprano)
Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, James Blair
rec. live, 30 September 2009, St John’s, Smith Square, London. DDD
YMSO (no catalogue number) [76:02]

Experience Classicsonline


This is a nicely unusual collection of Viennese music, for it goes further than the usual Strausses, father and two sons, and Franz Lehár, and brings in both older and newer compositions. The young musicians of the orchestra play with a real spirit and feel for the period. If James Blair isn’t Willi Boskovsky, he still shows a sympathy with the music, and realises that a relaxed approach is best.
 
The Overture to Die Fledermaus gets things off to a good start, but, probably because the band hadn’t warmed up, the great waltz, which makes up the middle section, doesn’t quite have the swing it should. Things are put right with Lehár’s Gold and Silver Waltz which goes very well indeed, with a good swing and a marvellously uninhibited percussion section. In both these tracks there are some vocal interruptions but whether it’s the conductor or some nutter in the audience I don’t know. My money’s on James exhorting his players to greater heights. If so, he succeeds! It won’t bother you after you’ve heard it a couple of times. The Beautiful Galatea Overture has a nicely jaunty cheekiness to it, and the orchestra offers a fulsome response in the big tune. Roses from the South is well paced and Bahn Frei! is as raucous as you like. Unter Donner und Blitz starts in a rather polite manner, but soon gets going with the entry of the cymbals, then it’s a marvellous romp of a performance.
 
Sophie Bevan sings her items with a real fervour, never overdoing the emotion, for instance in Lehár’sOn my Lips, Every Kiss is like Wine you can hear a slight sob in her voice, but it’s the merest hint, and not overdone as Gigli had a bad habit of doing. Perhaps she is over-generous with the vibrato, but she can sustain her line above a very full orchestration. Sounding every inch the opera singer she is, her contribution makes a big impact and is most welcome. Incidentally, the opening of the Czardas from Gypsy Love could be a less intense, but equally zigeuner, cousin of the opening of the Boston Pops Orchestra’s famous recording of Jacob Gade’s Jealousy.
 
This recording was made at a live concert, and there’s a small amount of applause at the end of each piece, which is no problem. The audience joins in for the final Radetzky March and I wonder why it is this piece, above all others, which evokes such a response? No matter. This is a fine performance which rises to the occasion of major crowd-pleaser and audience clap-along.
 
This is a very pleasant disk, with good playing. There are a couple of rough spots but not so much as will be disturbing to you and a very clean recording. This is most enjoyable, and a very good organisation to support. It receives no support from the government or Arts Council.
 
Bob Briggs 

 

 

 


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.