Christmas Hallé
Hallé Choir & Orchestra / Maurice Handford
A somewhat boring x-mas CD. Tries to mix classical style with Christmas tunes, the result is a mixed bag, with some of the pieces sounding like Jesus' funeral music rather than celebration music in his honour.
Some of the other tracks are played better elsewhere. Disappointing.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Takuo Yuasa
A great Scheherazade if not the best. Excellent sound, and first rate performance. But what truly makes this one special, is all the different aspects Yuasa brings out in the music, making this Scheherazade very different from others in the field. I usually don't like theatrical gimmicks, but somehow Yuasa pulls them off.
CD comes with a great recording of Borodin's Polovtsian Dances (the classic Beechan/RPO recording), a not-so-great Cappriccio Espagnol (London Philharmonic/Adrian Boult), and a good Flight of the Bumble Bee (Marriner/Academy of St Martin in the Fields).

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky
Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal / Charles Dutoit
This version was not well received when it came out, and with good reason. While not a bad one, it lacks the emotion and involvement available elsewhere (Schippers, Previn). Sound is ok, but gets messy in larger passages, and the strings are burried under everything else. The chorus sings well, but again lacks an involvement with the music. The mezzo-soprano is good, but her singing is too cute for this piece.
Lieutenant Kije is something completely different: a success on all counts. Excellent reading by Dutoit, first rate performance and sonics make this one a keeper, if not the Nevsky. Suite from the Love for Three Oranges is as good as Kije, with powerful brass. The rest of the CD is fillers by Ashkenazy & Royal Concertgebouw (Dreams - Symphonic Poem), Neville Marriner & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Visions Fugitives) and Silvio Varviso & Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. All are nice works, well performed and recorded, but nothing to write home about.

Dvorak: Symphonies 8 & 9 (Philips)
Budapest Festival Orchestra / Ivan Fischer
The thickness of the low strings of the B.F.O. easily rival those of Philadelphia or Berlin in beauty and presence. The brass is not at its best, but is good enough. The woodwinds are highly satisfying. Fischer leads good energetic performances.
Where this CD is incredible is the sonics. An original DSD recording from Philips Classics, produced by Hein Dekker (the dude behind the two Goldsmith CDs from Telarc). The depth is just breathtaking, with clear definition of upper and lower frequencies. The strings are shiningly smooth, the brass is clear, and the woodwinds never sound screechy. A digital recording which does not suffer from digitalitis. And I'm talking about the CD layer, not the SACD version. I still maintain that the best Dvorak 9th is the one by Ormandy conducting the London Symphony (Sony), but this CD has a good version too.

Russian State Symphony Orchestra (the Naxos one, not the Chandos version ) / Igor Golovschin

Nino Rota: Piano concertos (EMI Classics)
Filarmonica della Scala / Riccardo Muti, with Giorgia Tomasi (piano)
Second-rate Rota film music might be one way to describe this. There are hints to his film music style throughout, but these two concerti do not have melodies and variations which make the Rota cello concertos good. The piano concertos are nice, but Rota was capable of better. Tomasi, Muti and La Scala capture the Rota's sound perfectly, and the sonics are good too.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (Naxos)
Russian State Symphony Orchestra / Dmitry Yablonsky
Not exactly the best Swan Lake out there. The orchestra's performance while not dissapointing is inferior to other orchestras. Yablonsky leads an energetic performance, but is constantly thwarted by the over-reverberative sound which is simply annoying. The only way to get some more clarity is increasing the volume beyond normal listening levels, and I don't like doing that. This probably a better Swan Lake than Naxos' previous attempt in Czechoslovakia, but it remains second rate next to Ermler/Royal Opera House, Tilson Thomas/London Symphony, Sawallisch/Philadelphia or Dutoit/Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and possibly others. Avoid if you can get better.

Dvorak: Slavonic Dances (Philips)
Budapest Festival Orchestra / Ivan Fischer
My previous encounter with the Slavonic Dances was highly disappointing, it was with Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The tempi were erratic, the slow dances too slow, the fast ones too fast, losing any dance-like aspect.
Fischer redeems Dvorak's music in energetic yet moderate performances which sound just right. The Hungarian ensemble is good, and while the sound is somewhat muted, it has a nice and warm quality to it lacking from the Harnoncourt recording.

Kubelik also did an excellent Dvorak 7 & 8 with Berlin, but I think it hasn't been remastered yet. The music is excellent, but sound-wise, I can't recommend the old DG "Resonance" release.

Regarding the Bruckner...I haven't heard this, nor the Sawallisch. I guess the Sawallisch is pretty good though. Still, if you get a chance, listen to Wand or Karajan (both Berlin), or Celibidache (if you have the patience ).

Rach