zeus said:

Why not link to the titles in question? The easiest way to do this is to simply include the URL instead of the disc name, namely:

/showtitle/nnnn

where nnnn is the title number in the database here. I've written logic to look for such URLs and replace them with a direct link to the page for that title. Just the title of the disc will display. Try it!

Windsurfer said:

I moved this from my previous posting on the thread concerning Tudor's Schubert Symphonies where I said I got my SACD from a store in Lausanne CH. to here where it is somewhat more appropriate. We went on an 18 day holiday to Switzerland from which we returned late Friday night.

What a vacation! The first thing that really took my notice on arriving in Lausanne was hearing Bach's Toccatta and Fugue in D minor played by two street side musicians on accordians! It was stunning! I didn't realize that the accordian has so much bass capability!

Then we had a wonderful 7 days at the Verbier Music Festival followed by a week in Wengen and the Lauterbrunnen valley. My wife was the impetus for all this and the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau were truly amazing. Our hikes were certainly rewarding but as I told her, I think I left my heart in Verbier!

The music making there was just superb and amazingly plentiful. Perhaps the most rewarding experience was sitting in on chamber music masterclasses by Gabor Takacs-Nagy (founding member and former first violinist of the Takacs string quartet).

He must be one of, if not the finest music teacher ever! The work he was doing with fledgling string quartets, teaching them to listen to each other and how to sing passionately was inspiring: best of all, was to see the smiles and wide open eyes as these recent conservatory graduates caught on to what he was telling them and implementing it - this was truly amazing! Their affection and sense of indebtedness to him was evident. A cellist whom I asked how he liked Gabor later in a market simply said: "we are sooo lucky" The second violinist of a different group said "we love him"! He is the best teacher I ever had!

Moments before leaving Verbier for Interlaken, I spoke with Gabor showing him the PentaTone SACD of the Mendelsohn Piano Trios with Julia Fischer that I bought at Passione Musique in Lausanne. I asked him if he had ever heard Julia.
His response:

OOh !! SHE is FanTAStic, that one!

But seeing those words in print, even with the emphasis I used to try to convey the tone of his voice and inflection, simply doesn't convey the excitement in his voice. But while he is well aware of Julia Fischer, he knew nothing of SACD or multi-channel.

Unfortunately, feeling crowded for time, I did a poor job of explaining the significance of the medium saying that it has 2.84 million samples per second instead of 44.1 and that these were 5 channel discs. That may have put him off since I failed to say what the 5 channels accomplish in, say, a typical PentaTone recording such as the one I was showing him.

Of the 7 concerts we attended where admission was charged, the most outstanding performance to me was, surprisingly, Paavo Jarvi's account of Schubert's 9th with the Verbier Festival Orchestra. Understand that all the performances I heard were superb, but here I was spellbound from the first note. It probably helps that this is truly one of my very favorite symphonies! Nevertheless, Jarvi really out did himself and the orchestra was splendid!

Close on to this Schubert for the sheer "Oh wow! factor, was a program including Bartok's viola concerto with Yuri Bashmet, the Shostakovitch Piano Concerto #1 with Yevgeny Kissin and Shosty's Cello Concerto #1 with Misha Miasky! That was supposed to be conducted by Temerkinov who was a no show and was replaced by Gianandrea Nosaeda who was really quite good! Also on this program was the Schumann piano concerto.

The Festival opener, Hilary Hahn's Mendelssohn concerto, while played with great virtuoso quality seemed a little perfunctory - a new thing in my experience of her. While her articulation was phenomenal, especially in the last movement taken at breakneck speed, there just seemed to lack the lyricism that the piece should have. Could have been me though, not her! Her performances later in the week, of the Mozart Piano and Violin Sonata K301 and in the Schumann Piano Quartet were exceptionally good as were those of her colleaques Nobuko Imai, Steven Isserlis and Martin Statfeld.

Vadim Repin played Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole and he seemed to be really enjoying himself, smiling broadly several times as the music proceeded. Of a performance of the Shostakovitch #1 in Boston last year one critic leveled a charge of "poker face" at him, but really, when you are playing the Shostakovitch, if you are really feeling that music, is there much to smile about?

We heard a recital by Nicola Benedetti in the church in Verbier but whether it was the acoustic of the church or the artist herself, this was something of a disappointment, the only disappointment in an entire week of concert-going. What she has going for her besides being a lovely young woman, is a tone that to me seemed reminiscent of Oistrach, Repin and Mordkovitch. My wife however disgrees with me on that point.

I listened to my new PentaTone recording of the Mendelssohn Piano Trios last evening and all three artists, Fischer, Mueller-Schott, and Gilad were outstanding. This is a beautiful, superb recording.

Another disc I picked up in Lausanne was the Avanti classic recording of Polina Leschenko where she is joined by Martha Argerich in a two piano transcription of Prokofiev's "Classical Symphony". I only got to hear that piece but if the rest of the disc is to that standard, believe me it is really well worth having, even if you (like me) never had much previous interest in duo piano. I learned something here!

Edvin said:

Th Mozart concertos from Martin Helmchen on Pentatone is wonderful with very poetic as well as crisp playing.