Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft

. . . I am consistently impressed with the beauty and refinement of the sounds he gets from the Vienna Philharmonic. Maazel in New York is hardly less successful in fine-tuning orchestral timbres . . . The sound is splendid.

DG has had success with its downloadable concerts from New York and now some performances are beginning to find their way onto disc. These live performances make an auspicious start to this series. Not only are they technically some of the finest recordings I have heard made in the -- at times intractable -- acoustics of Avery Fisher Hall, but Maazel's performances are imbued with the life and spontaneity of live music-making. The opening "Daybreak" from "Daphnis et Chloé" is quite gorgeous in its warm sensuality, with beautiful arching strings, and that same atmosphere permeates the "Rapsodie espagnole": all Ravel's lustrous detail comes through in the "Malaguena" and "Habanera", and the brilliant finales of both works have plenty of adrenalin. The balance is perhaps a shade close in Stravinsky's miraculous score for the "Song of the Nightingale"; but it's still an arresting, vivid performance. Finest of all is the wonderfully warm and atmospheric account of the "firebird" Suite -- I can't think of a more enjoyable version on record, and certainly not one more naturally recorded in translucent sound . . . Throughout, the New York Philharmonic provide playing of the highest order, and the engineering is very impressive indeed. There is 80 minutes of music on the CD, and excellent programme-notes too provided by James Keller, the NYPO's annotator.

This is a relatively lavish production, with a fairly substantial glossy booklet to match a recording that is stunning for CD . . . These four scores are a showcase for sumptuous orchestration and the New York Philharmonic sounds magnificent . . . The woodwind solos in the central panel are stylishly played . . . There are numerous instances of glorious playing throughout.

Dass es dem Dirigenten gelungen ist, den technischen Standard des Orchesters zu konsolidieren und die Ensembledisziplin zu steigern, ist offenkundig: Die Virtuosität der Bläsersoli (etwa in Strawinskys "Chant du rossignol") und die Homogenität des Streicherklangs (besonders schön am Beginn von "Lever du jour" aus Ravels "Daphnis et Chloe") machen dies unmissverständlich klar.

Brillante actuación orquestal.